DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to the Amendment dated 30 January 2026. Claims 1-6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16 and 18 are amended. Claim 7 has been cancelled. Claim 21 has been added. Claims 1-6 and 8-21 remain pending and have been considered below.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55 for KR10-2022-0117590. PDX retrieval was successful.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03 December 2025 has been received, entered into the record, and considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The amendment to the specification (Title of Invention) is acceptable.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. The sensor module having a second sensor to sense the angle between the first housing and second housing is already established in amended independent claim 1. Applicant may cancel the claim, amend the claim to place the claim in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-6, 8-13 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Singal et al. (US 2016/0048305 A1) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2022/0291811 A1) and further in view of Lee (US 2016/0188162 A1).
As for independent claim 1, Singal teaches a device comprising:
including a first sensor configured to sense rotation of the electronic device [(e.g. see Singal paragraph 0083) ”An input indicative of a rotation of the display device is detected (block 604). For example, sensors of the computing device 104 sense that the computing device has been rotated from the landscape orientation depicted at 202 to the portrait orientation depicted at 204. The sensors that sense this change may include an accelerometer”].
a sensor module; at least one display; memory comprising one or more storage media, storing instructions; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the sensor module, the at least one display, and the memory, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to: [(e.g. see Singal paragraphs 0083, 0099, 0102) ”The example computing device 902 as illustrated includes a processing system 904, one or more computer-readable media 906, and one or more I/O interface 908 that are communicatively coupled, one to another … Examples of output devices include a display device … The sensors that sense this change may include an accelerometer, a gyroscope”].
display a plurality of components through the display in a first mode of the electronic device [(e.g. see Singal paragraph 0062 and Fig. 3) ”With reference to the landscape orientation depicted at 302, the user interface output via the display device 112 is depicted presenting a first group 308 and second group 310 of graphics”].
determine a pivot region including a plurality of grids [(e.g. see Singal paragraphs 0033, 0043) ”The graphics may be implemented as icons, tiles, textual descriptions, and so on which may be displayed in a matrix or grid of rows and/or columns of graphics (icons, tiles, etc.) … The display manager 122 may assign priorities to the groups in a similar manner as to the graphics within a particular group. For example, the display manager 122 may determine that groups positioned in the upper-left of the user interface have a highest priority and that groups positioned in the bottom-right have a lowest priority”].
detect a change to a second mode of the electronic device based on sensing information sensed through the sensor module [(e.g. see Singal paragraph 0086) ”An input indicative of a rotation of the display device is detected (block 604). For example, sensors of the computing device 104 sense that the computing device has been rotated from the landscape orientation depicted at 202 to the portrait orientation depicted at 204. The sensors that sense this change may include an accelerometer, a gyroscope”].
and in the second mode, when the boundary of the pivot region does not overlap the at least one of the plurality of components, maintain a layout of components included in the pivot region and display the plurality of components [(e.g. see Singal paragraphs 0065, 0066, 0067 and Fig. 3) ”FIG. 3 illustrates a rearrangement of graphics for a rotation of the display device 112 from the landscape orientation at 302 to the portrait orientation at 306 … An order in which the groups are stacked may be based on prioritization of the groups. By way of example, a group with the highest priority may be arranged at a top of the stack of groups, a group with the second highest priority below the highest-priority group, and so on. The display manager 122 may determine a priority of the groups based on a defined algorithm to determine which groups are displayed closer to a top of the stack … Although an alignment of the groups in FIG. 3 has changed, one group to another, from a side-to-side alignment to a top-to-bottom alignment, the relative positioning of the graphics contained within the groups has been maintained”].
Singal does not specifically teach a first housing; a second housing; a hinge structure or a second sensor configured to sense an angle between the first housing and the second housing. However, in the same field of invention, Zhang teaches:
a first housing; a second housing; a hinge structure [(e.g. see Zhang paragraph 0071 and Fig. 2A) ”FIG. 2A(a) and FIG. 2A(b) are a schematic diagram of a foldable mobile phone to which an embodiment of this application may be applied. As shown in FIG. 2A(a), the foldable mobile phone includes a first body and a second body. An included angle between the first body and the second body may change, so that the foldable mobile phone is unfolded or folded”].
a second sensor configured to sense an angle between the first housing and the second housing [(e.g. see Zhang paragraph 0104) ”the foldable screen of the mobile phone 100 may be folded to form a screen A and a screen B shown in FIG. 4A. A gyroscope sensor A is disposed on the screen A, and a gyroscope sensor B is disposed on the screen B. Herein, this embodiment of this application describes a principle by using which the gyroscope sensor A measures an orientation (that is, a direction vector of the orientation) of the screen A, a principle by using which the gyroscope sensor B measures an orientation (that is, a direction vector of the orientation) of the screen B, and a principle by using the electronic device 100 calculates an included angle α between the screen A and the screen B based on the orientation of the screen A and the orientation of the screen B”].
Therefore, considering the teachings of Singal and Zhang, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add a first housing; a second housing; a hinge structure and a second sensor configured to sense an angle between the first housing and the second housing, as taught by Zhang, to the teachings of Singal because providing a display that is able to be expanded improves screen utilization (e.g. see Zhang paragraph 0014).
Singal and Zhang do not specifically teach identify whether a boundary of the pivot region overlaps at least one of the plurality of components or in the second mode, when the boundary of the pivot region overlaps the at least one of the plurality of components, display the plurality of components by moving the pivot region or changing the size of the pivot region. However, in the same field of invention, Lee teaches:
identify whether a boundary of the pivot region overlaps at least one of the plurality of components [(e.g. see Lee paragraphs 0012, 0013, 0067, 0079, 0094 and Figs. 3 and 7) ”according to one embodiment, a display device includes a flexible display unit configured to display at least one or more icons and a control unit. If an event occurs in a manner that a partial area of the flexible display unit is overlapped with each other … The sensor unit 130 can detect an event that a partial area of the flexible display unit 120 is overlapped with each other … the overlapped event corresponds to a folding event and the control unit can arrange the at least one or more icons in proportion to a size of a folded area … if the display device 100 is folded in a specific area 13, the display device 100 can display a specific screen … An event may occur in a manner that the flexible display unit 120 is overlapped with each other. The overlapping event may correspond to a folding event. If the flexible display unit 120 is folded once, the flexible display unit 120 can be divided into a first area 121 and a second area 122”].
and in the second mode, when the boundary of the pivot region overlaps the at least one of the plurality of components, display the plurality of components by moving the pivot region or changing the size of the pivot region [(e.g. see Lee paragraphs 0081, 0082 and Fig. 3) ”The display device 100 can arrange contents in proportion to a size of a folded using area of the flexible display unit 120. Referring to FIG. 3 (b), the display device 100 can display 9 contents on the using area without changing a legacy size of the contents. The display device 100 can configure a symmetrical outer blank area. If the symmetrical outer blank area is not configured, asymmetrically arranged contents can be arranged in the using area … the display device 100 can configure a symmetrical outer blank area. The display device 100 configures a blank area and may be then able to symmetrically arrange contents … The display device 100 can calculate an area of the folded using area and an area of the contents. The display device 100 can calculate the number of contents to be arranged at the using area based on the calculated area of the folded using area and the calculated area of the contents. The display device 100 can symmetrically arrange the configured blank area and the contents”].
Therefore, considering the teachings of Singal, Zhang and Lee, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add identify whether a boundary of the pivot region overlaps at least one of the plurality of components and in the second mode, when the boundary of the pivot region overlaps the at least one of the plurality of components, display the plurality of components by moving the pivot region or changing the size of the pivot region, as taught by Lee, to the teachings of Singal and Zhang because asymmetrical content arrangement may cause inconvenience for a user (e.g. see Lee paragraph 0081).
As for dependent claim 2, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 1 and Singal further teaches:
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to: map grids of the first mode onto grids of the second mode such that the layout is maintained [(e.g. see Singal paragraphs 0033, 0066) ”The graphics may be implemented as icons, tiles, textual descriptions, and so on which may be displayed in a matrix or grid of rows and/or columns of graphics (icons, tiles, etc.) … Although an alignment of the groups in FIG. 3 has changed, one group to another, from a side-to-side alignment to a top-to-bottom alignment, the relative positioning of the graphics contained within the groups has been maintained”].
As for dependent claim 3, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 1 and Singal further teaches:
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to: determine the pivot region based on a first number of grids of the first mode in a first direction and a second number of grids of the second mode in a second direction [(e.g. see Singal paragraphs 0038, 0052) ”The display manager 122 may also be representative of functionality to manage customization of the arrangement of graphics presented via the user interface. As part of doing so, the display manager 122 may impose constraints on the customizations that a user is allowed to make to the arrangement. For example, the display manager 122 may specify that the graphics are to be arranged in groups, such that each graphic is contained within a region of the user interface designated for the corresponding group. For each such group, the display manager 122 may impose pre-defined size constraints, e.g., to restrict a width or a height of each group. By way of example, the display manager 122 may restrict a height and width of each group based on a smallest dimension of the display device 112. By restricting the groups in this way, the display manager 112 may ensure that a row of groups can fit on the display when positioned in a landscape orientation or that a column of groups can fit on the display when positioned in a portrait orientation … Given the arrangement constraints represented in FIG. 2, the display manager 122 may rearrange the graphics of the user interface in the following way when a switch from the landscape orientation to the portrait orientation is detected. Due to its positioning in the landscape orientation at 202 as the left-most group, the first group 208 may be determined the highest priority group. The second group 210, because it is positioned next to the highest priority group, may be the group with the next highest priority … Assuming though that the first group 208 has a highest priority and the second group 210 a next highest priority, the display manager 122 can rearrange the graphics so that the first group 208 is repositioned at a top of the user interface (e.g., because it has the highest priority) and the second group 210 just below the first group 208, as at 206”].
As for dependent claim 4, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 1 and Singal further teaches:
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively further cause the electronic device to: determine the pivot region based on an arrangement of widgets included in the plurality of components, or a number of the widgets [(e.g. see Singal paragraphs 0039, 0041) ”The display manager 122 also represents functionality to determine priorities for the graphics and the groups. The display manager 122 may do so based, at least in part, on where a user positions a graphic or group within the user interface. Within a particular group, for instance, the display manager 122 may determine that graphics positioned in the upper left of the group have a highest priority and that graphics positioned in the bottom right of the group have a lowest priority … the display manager 122 may also restrict a user interface to having a pre-defined number of groups, restrict each of the groups to having a pre-defined number of graphics, specify spacing between the groups, specify particular locations at which the graphics can be located on the user interface, restrict the size of each graphic, and so on”].
As for dependent claim 5, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 1 and Singal further teaches:
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to: determine a preliminary pivot region based on a first number of grids of the first mode in a first direction and a second number of grids of the second mode in a second direction and determine the pivot region by moving the preliminary pivot region or changing the size of the preliminary pivot region by reflecting an arrangement of widgets included in the plurality of components [(e.g. see Singal paragraphs 0038, 0063) ”For each such group, the display manager 122 may impose pre-defined size constraints, e.g., to restrict a width or a height of each group. By way of example, the display manager 122 may restrict a height and width of each group based on a smallest dimension of the display device 112. By restricting the groups in this way, the display manager 112 may ensure that a row of groups can fit on the display when positioned in a landscape orientation or that a column of groups can fit on the display when positioned in a portrait orientation … From the landscape orientation depicted at 302, the display device 112 may be rotated ninety degrees in the clockwise direction to temporarily result in the user interface being displayed as at 304. The user interface may be displayed in this way for the portrait orientation just until the display manager 122 detects the change in orientation and causes the graphics to be rearranged and rendered. By way of example, the display manager 122 may determine to rearrange the graphics by rotating each group as a group ninety degrees counterclockwise around an axis that runs through a center of the group in a direction substantially perpendicular to a display surface of the display device 112. For embodiments in which a width and height of the groups are not substantially equal, the display manager 122 may determine axes around which to rotate the groups and rearrange the graphics by rotating each group as a group around a respective determined axis. Further, the display manager 122 may reposition the groups so that the graphics of one group do not overlap those of another group”].
As for dependent claim 6, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 1 and Signal further teaches:
wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, further cause the electronic device to: preset a reference line for the first mode or the second mode [(e.g. see Singal paragraph 0043) ”a first radius centered at the upper-left corner of the user interface”].
determine the pivot region so as to correspond to the reference line [(e.g. see Singal paragraph 0043) ”the display manager 122 may assign a highest priority to the group or groups that are positioned within a first radius centered at the upper-left corner of the user interface,”].
As for dependent claim 8, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 1 and Singal further teaches:
wherein the first sensor includes at least one of a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, or a grip sensor [(e.g. see Singal paragraph 0083) ”An input indicative of a rotation of the display device is detected (block 604). For example, sensors of the computing device 104 sense that the computing device has been rotated from the landscape orientation depicted at 202 to the portrait orientation depicted at 204. The sensors that sense this change may include an accelerometer, a gyroscope”].
As for dependent claim 9, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 1 and Signal further teaches:
wherein the first mode is one of a portrait mode or a landscape mode and wherein the second mode is the other of the portrait mode or the landscape mode [(e.g. see Singal paragraph 0046) ”The example illustrated at 200 depicts the computing device 104 of FIG. 1 initially in a landscape orientation at 202. FIG. 2 also depicts, at 204, the computing device 104 of FIG. 1 having its orientation changed to a portrait orientation (e.g., by rotating the computing device ninety degrees clockwise from the orientation depicted at 202”].
As for dependent claim 10, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 1, but Signal does not specifically teach the following limitations. However, Zhang teaches:
wherein the at least one display includes a sub-display and a flexible display [(e.g. see Zhang paragraph 0121 and Fig. 5A) ”FIG. 5A(a), FIG. 5A(b), and FIG. 5A(c) are a schematic diagram of a physical state of an inward-folding mobile phone according to an embodiment of this application. The electronic device includes a first display screen 21 and a second display screen 22. The first display screen 21 is a screen that cannot be folded, and the second display screen 22 is a screen that can be folded”].
wherein, when the first housing and the second housing are folded about the hinge structure, the sub-display is exposed to an outside [(e.g. see Zhang paragraph 0121 and Fig. 5A) ”FIG. 5A(a), FIG. 5A(b), and FIG. 5A(c) are a schematic diagram of a physical state of an inward-folding mobile phone according to an embodiment of this application. The electronic device includes a first display screen 21 and a second display screen 22. The first display screen 21 is a screen that cannot be folded, and the second display screen 22 is a screen that can be folded. As shown in FIG. 5A(a), FIG. 5A(b), and FIG. 5A(c), the first display screen 21 may be referred to as an external screen, or a secondary screen, or the like; and the second display screen 22 may be referred to as an internal screen, or a primary screen, or the like. It should be noted that an included angle between the first display screen 21 and the second display screen 22 shown in FIG. 5A(a) is 0 degrees. When the included angle between the first display screen 21 and the second display screen 22 is 30 degrees, for example, this is shown in FIG. 5A(b). When the included angle between the first display screen 21 and the second display screen 22 is 180 degrees, as shown in FIG. 5A(c), the second display screen 22 is in an unfolded state. It should be noted that in an inward-folding physical state, the first display screen 21 and the second display screen 22 are two mutually independent display screens”].
The motivation to combine is the same as that used for claim 1.
As for dependent claim 11, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 10, but Singal does not specifically teach the following limitation. However, Zhang teaches:
wherein the sensor module includes the second sensor configured to sense the angle between the first housing and the second housing [(e.g. see Zhang paragraph 0104) ”the foldable screen of the mobile phone 100 may be folded to form a screen A and a screen B shown in FIG. 4A. A gyroscope sensor A is disposed on the screen A, and a gyroscope sensor B is disposed on the screen B. Herein, this embodiment of this application describes a principle by using which the gyroscope sensor A measures an orientation (that is, a direction vector of the orientation) of the screen A, a principle by using which the gyroscope sensor B measures an orientation (that is, a direction vector of the orientation) of the screen B, and a principle by using the electronic device 100 calculates an included angle α between the screen A and the screen B based on the orientation of the screen A and the orientation of the screen B”].
The motivation to combine is the same as that used for claim 1.
As for dependent claim 12, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 11, but Singal does not specifically teach the following limitation. However, Zhang teaches:
wherein the second sensor is a hall sensor [(e.g. see Zhang paragraph 0092) ”sensor 180D includes a Hall effect sensor”].
The motivation to combine is the same as that used for claim 1.
As for dependent claim 13, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 10, but Singal does not specifically teach the following limitation. However, Zhang teaches:
wherein the first mode or the second mode includes a mode in which a first portion of the flexible display displays the plurality of components and wherein a second portion of the flexible display receives a user input in a partially folded state such that the first housing and the second housing form a specified angle range [(e.g. see Zhang paragraphs 0074, 0200 and Fig. 15(b)) ”the foldable screen may include an unfolded state, a folded state, and a half-folded state. The unfolded state indicates that the foldable screen is fully unfolded, that is, an included angle between two adjacent sub-screens in the foldable screen is 180 degrees. The folded state indicates that the foldable screen is fully folded, that is, an included angle between two adjacent sub-screens in the foldable screen is 0 degrees. The half-folded state is a state between the unfolded state and the folded state, that is, an included angle between two adjacent sub-screens in the foldable screen is between 0 degrees and 180 degrees. For example, the schematic diagram shown in FIG. 2B(b) shows the foldable screen in the half-folded state … foldable mobile phone is used as an example. As shown in FIG. 15(a), FIG. 15(b), and FIG. 15(c), it is assumed that a user interface of the mobile phone 100 in the folded state is shown in FIG. 15(a). When the mobile phone 100 is in the half-folded state, a quantity of application icons in the DOCK region is greater than the quantity of application icons in the DOCK region in the folded state. With reference to FIG. 15(b), for example, as shown in FIG. 15(c), when the mobile phone 100 is in the unfolded state, a quantity of application icons in the DOCK region is greater than the quantity of application icons in the DOCK region in the half-folded state. Specifically, the application icon in the DOCK region may be the icon of the application recently used by the user, or may be the icon of the application highly frequently used by the user in the preset time, or may be the icon of the application used by the user for the relatively long duration in the preset time, or may be the icon of the application that meets the use rule of the user in the preset time”].
The motivation to combine is the same as that used for claim 1.
As for dependent claim 21, Singal, Zhang and Lee teach the device as described in claim 1, but Singal and Zhang do not specifically teach the following limitation. However, Lee teaches:
wherein the pivot region is an area of the display including an array of components in which a layout of the components remains unchanged from the first mode to the second mode [(e.g. see Lee paragraphs 0081, 0082 and Fig. 3) ”Referring to FIG. 3 (b), the display device 100 can display 9 contents on the using area without changing a legacy size of the contents … the display device 100 can calculate an area of the folded using area and an area of the contents. The display device 100 can calculate the number of contents to be arranged at the using area based on the calculated area of the folded using area and the calculated area of the contents. The display device 100 can symmetrically arrange the configured blank area and the contents”]. Examiner notes that, as depicted in Fig. 3, the layout of the items (4x3 grid) remains unchanged.
The motivation to combine is the same as that used for claim 1.
Claims 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Singal et al. (US 2016/0048305 A1) in view of Lee (US 2016/0188162 A1).
As for independent claim 14, Singal and Lee teach a method. Claim 14 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 1 (claim 14 lacks the device/sensor structure as claimed in claim 1, hence Zhang not being applied to this claim). Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 1. Examiner further notes that due to the conditional nature of this claim limitation present within a method claim (e.g. “whether overlapped … when not overlapped … when overlapped”), only one of the limitations carries patentable weight while giving the claim its broadest reasonable interpretation, as the claimed invention can be practiced without the first condition occurring. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. See MPEP 2111.04(II) – Contingent Limitations.
As for dependent claim 15, Singal and Lee teach the method as described in claim 14; further, claim 14 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 2. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 2.
As for dependent claim 16, Singal and Lee teach the method as described in claim 14; further, claim 16 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 3. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 3.
As for dependent claim 17, Singal and Lee teach the method as described in claim 14; further, claim 17 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 4. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 4.
As for dependent claim 18, Singal and Lee teach the method as described in claim 14; further, claim 18 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 5. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 5.
As for dependent claim 19, Singal and Lee teach the method as described in claim 14; further, claim 19 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 6. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 6.
As for dependent claim 20, Singal and Lee teach the method as described in claim 14; further, claim 20 discloses substantially the same limitations as claim 9. Therefore, it is rejected with the same rational as claim 9.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed 30 January 2026, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that [“Singal fails to disclose or render obvious the presently claimed combination of features recited in [amended] independent claim 1.” (Page 10).].
The argument described above, in paragraph number 12, with respect to the newly added limitations to the independent claims has been considered, but is moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. PGPub 2021/0318728 A1 issued to Kimura on 14 October 2021. The subject matter disclosed therein is pertinent to that of claims 1-6 and 8-21 (e.g. content overlapping a fold line region).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER J FIBBI whose telephone number is (571)-270-3358. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday (8am-6pm).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Bashore can be reached at (571)-272-4088. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER J FIBBI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2174
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