DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Invention I and Species I—upon which Claims 1 – 14 are readable—in the reply filed on 28 May 2026 is acknowledged. For this traversal, Applicant asserts “simultaneous examination will not present an undue burden”. However, Applicant provides no evidence in support of this assertion, and the Examiner has previously provided sufficient evidence for said search burden in the associated restriction. Accordingly, Applicant’s argument is not found persuasive, and the restriction requirement is still deemed proper and, therefore, made FINAL.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: TRANSPARENT PROTECTIVE FILM STACK FOR DISPLAY OPENING
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 7,
Lin. 4 – 5 recite the limitation “wherein the first concave portion and the second concave portion have shapes concavely recessed at a same angle”. However, the meaning of “concavely recessed at a same angle” is unclear and renders this claim indefinite. For the purposes of examination, this limitation will be interpreted as “wherein the first concave portion and the second concave portion have shapes concavely recessed, wherein the shapes have
Examiner’s Note
With regard to the prior art references, consider the orginal documents, the associated machine translation provided, and the annotated figures below.
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Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1 – 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHANG (US 20190394316 A1) in view of SUN (CN 206475538 U) and in further view of BOYAG “Optical Characterization of Weakly Adsorbing PP, PE, and PP/PE films” 2003.
Regarding Claim 1,
ZHANG discloses:
A display module (Fig. 2: yet-to-be assembled 100), comprising:
a display panel (Fig. 2 : 30) having an opening area (Fig. 7: OA).
…
(Par. 63 describes “circuit board” 30 as being “the main board” of 100 and “electrically connected” to “display screen” 20. As such, 30 may be construed to be a “board” or “panel” of “display” 20 and, thus, under a broadest reasonable interpretation, a “display panel”.)
(Fig. 7 shows OA, which is an “area” on 30 defined by its overlap with “opening” 203 when 100 is assembled. As such, OA may be construed to be an “opening area” under a broadest reasonable interpretation. Note, while OA is defined by the assembled 100, OA is still present in the yet-to-be assembled 100 of Fig. 2.)
ZHANG does not disclose:
…
a protective film covering the opening area (OA), wherein the protective film comprises:
a first film layer shielding the opening area (OA),
the first film layer being transparent;
a second film layer disposed between the display panel (30) and the first film layer,
the second film layer being opaque;
a first adhesive layer disposed between the first film layer and the second film layer; and
a second adhesive layer disposed between the second film layer and the display panel (30).
SUN discloses:
…
a protective film (Fig. 1 – 3) covering [a potential opening area] (POA), wherein the protective film (Fig. 1 – 3) comprises:
a first film layer (10) shielding [the potential opening area] (POA),
the first film layer (10) being transparent (Par. 31);
a second film layer (20) disposed between [a bottommost surface of the protective film] (BMS) and the first film layer (10),
the second film layer (20) being opaque;
(Par. 35 teaches 20 is polyethylene, and polyethylene is known to be opaque to deep ultra-violet light, as evidenced by BOYAG Fig. 4b.)
a first adhesive layer (30; Par. 31) disposed between the first film layer (10) and the second film layer (20); and
a second adhesive layer (40; Par. 31) disposed between the second film layer (20) and [the bottommost surface of the protective film] (BMS).
Further, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of ZHANG with those of SUN such that the protective film of SUN protects the camera assembly 31 of ZHANG wherein the potential opening area (SUN POA) corresponds to the opening area (ZHANG OA) and wherein the bottommost surface (SUN BMS) contacts the display panel (ZHANG 30) thereby housing the camera assembly (ZHANG 31) within the protective film of SUN to enable a display module, comprising: a display panel having an opening area; and a protective film covering the opening area, wherein the protective film comprises: a first film layer shielding the opening area; a second film layer disposed between the display panel and the first film layer; a second adhesive layer disposed between the second film layer and the display panel in ZHANG according to the teachings of SUN for the further advantage of protecting the camera assembly (ZHANG 31) disposed in the opening area (ZHANG OA) when the camera assembly (ZHANG 31) is being installed on the display panel (ZHANG 30) and during assembly steps of the display module (ZHANG 100) that follow, as per SUN Par. 15.
Regarding Claim 2,
ZHANG discloses:
a component (Fig. 2 & 7: 31 “camera assembly”) disposed in the opening area (Fig. 2 & 7: OA).
Regarding Claim 3,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 1,
wherein a circumferential line of the first film layer coincides with a circumferential line of the second film layer in a plan view.
SUN discloses:
wherein a circumferential line of the first film layer (outer edge of 10 less region 50) coincides with a circumferential line of the second film layer (outer edge of 20) in a plan view.
(Clearly disclosed when Fig. 1 – 3 are considered as a whole. That is, Fig. 1 & 3 together show the outer edge of 10 less region 50 coincides with the outer edge of 40 in a plan view. And Fig. 2 shows the outer edge of 40 coincides with the outer edge of 20.)
Regarding Claim 4,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 3,
wherein a circumferential line of the first adhesive layer and a circumferential line of the second adhesive layer coincide with the circumferential line of the first film layer and the circumferential line of the second film layer in the plan view.
SUN discloses:
wherein a circumferential line of the first adhesive layer (outer edge of 30) and a circumferential line of the second adhesive layer (outer edge of 40) coincide with the circumferential line of the first film layer (outer edge of 10 less region 50) and the circumferential line of the second film layer (outer edge of 20) in the plan view.
(Clearly disclosed when Fig. 1 – 3 are considered as a whole, using logic analogous to that given for satisfying the limitations of Claim 3.)
Regarding Claim 5,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 1,
wherein the protective film further comprises:
an alignment pattern formed on at least a portion of a circumference of the protective film.
SUN discloses:
wherein the protective film (Fig. 1 – 3) further comprises:
an alignment pattern (AP) formed on at least a portion of a circumference of the protective film (outer edge of the protective film less region 50).
(Note, AP is formed on the entirety of the outer edge of the protective film less region 50.)
Regarding Claim 6,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 5,
wherein the alignment pattern has a first concave portion that is concave at a first corner where a first edge of the protective film meets a second edge of the protective film.
SUN discloses:
wherein the alignment pattern (AP) has a first concave portion (CP1) that is concave at a first corner (C1) where a first edge (E1) of the protective film (Fig. 1 – 3) meets a second edge (E2) of the protective film (Fig. 1 – 3).
(Fig. 3 shows CP1 is concave out at C1 relative to the center of 13.)
Regarding Claim 7,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 6,
wherein the alignment pattern has a second concave portion that is concave at a second corner where the second edge of the protective film meets a third edge of the protective film,
wherein the first concave portion and the second concave portion have shapes concavely recessed,
wherein the shapes have a same angle.
SUN discloses:
wherein the alignment pattern (AP) has a second concave portion (CP2) that is concave at a second corner (C2) where the second edge (E2) of the protective film (Fig. 1 – 3) meets a third edge (E3) of the protective film (Fig. 1 – 3),
(Fig. 3 shows CP2 is concave out at C2 relative to the center of 13.)
wherein the first concave portion (CP1) and the second concave portion (CP2) have shapes concavely recessed,
(Fig. 3 shows CP1 and CP2 have shapes concavely recessed relative to the center of 13.)
wherein the shapes have a same angle.
(Fig. 3 shows the shapes of CP1 and CP2 exhibit mirror symmetry about LOS and, thus, have a same angle.)
Regarding Claim 8,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 5,
wherein the alignment pattern comprises:
a first pattern formed on at least a portion of a circumference of the first film layer; and
a second pattern overlapping the first pattern on a circumference of the second film layer.
SUN discloses:
wherein the alignment pattern (AP) comprises:
a first pattern (denoted AP1 for convenience) formed on at least a portion of a circumference of the first film layer (outer edge of 10 less region 50); and
(Note, AP1 is formed on the entirety of the outer edge of 10 less region 50)
a second pattern (denoted AP2 for convenience) overlapping the first pattern (AP1) on a circumference of the second film layer (outer edge of 20).
(Note, AP2 is formed on the entirety of the outer edge of 20.)
(As described for Claim 3, the outer edge of 10 less region 50 and the outer edge of 20 coincide. Therefore, AP2 and AP1 overlap.)
Regarding Claim 9,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 8,
wherein the alignment pattern further comprises:
a third pattern overlapping the second pattern on a circumference of the first adhesive layer; and
a fourth pattern overlapping the second pattern on a circumference of the second adhesive layer.
SUN discloses:
wherein the alignment pattern (AP) further comprises:
a third pattern (denoted AP3 for convenience) overlapping the second pattern (AP2) on a circumference of the first adhesive layer (outer edge of 30); and
(Note, AP3 is formed on the entirety of the outer edge of 30)
a fourth pattern (denoted AP4 for convenience) overlapping the second pattern (AP2) on a circumference of the second adhesive layer (outer edge of 40).
(Note, AP4 is formed on the entirety of the outer edge of 40)
(As described for Claim 4, the outer edge of 10 less region 50 and the outer edges of 20, 30, and 40 all coincide. Therefore, AP3 and AP2 overlap, and AP4 and AP2 overlap.)
Regarding Claim 10,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 1,
wherein the second film layer has a first opening corresponding to the opening area (OA).
SUN discloses:
the second film layer (20) has a first opening (O1) corresponding to the [potential opening area] (POA).
The combination of ZHANG in view of SUN as described in the motivation statement for Claim 1 satisfies the second film layer having a first opening corresponding to the opening area, as the combination is such that the potential opening area for the protective film of SUN corresponds to the opening area of ZHANG.
Regarding Claim 11,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 10,
wherein the second film layer forms a closed loop along a circumference of the first film layer.
SUN discloses:
wherein the second film layer (20) forms a closed loop along a circumference of the first film layer (outer edge of 10 less region 50).
(As seen in Fig. 3, 40 forms a closed loop along the outer edge of 10 less region 50. Further, as described for Claim 9, the outer edge of 10 less region 50 and the outer edges of layers 20, 30, and 40 all coincide. Further still, in exact analogy to the logic used for Claims 3 & 4, layers 20, 30, & 40 are shown to clearly comprise openings—O1, O2, and O3, respectively—which align and together define “through hole” 13. See also Fig. 2 and Par. 31. As such, layers 20, 30, & 40 are all mutually coextensive. Therefore, as Fig. 3 shows 40 forms a closed loop along the outer edge of 10 less region 50, the same applies for 20.)
Regarding Claim 12,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 10,
wherein the first adhesive layer and the second adhesive layer respectively have a second opening and a third opening, which overlap the first opening in a plan view.
SUN discloses:
wherein the first adhesive layer (30) and the second adhesive layer (40) respectively have a second opening (O2) and a third opening (O3), which overlap the first opening (O1) in a plan view.
(As established in Claim 11, layers 20, 30, and 40 are mutually coextensive. See also Fig. 2 & 3.)
Regarding Claim 13,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 1,
wherein the protective film further comprises:
a concave portion disposed on one side of a circumference of the protective film.
SUN discloses:
wherein the protective film (Fig. 1 – 3) further comprises:
a concave portion (CP1) disposed on one side (E1) of a circumference of the protective film (outer edge of the protective film less region 50).
(CP1 is concave out at C1 with respect to the center of 13. Further, CP1 is disposed on both E1 and E2 of the outer edge of the protective film less region 50.)
Regarding Claim 14,
ZHANG does not disclose:
The display module of claim 1, further comprising:
a gripping portion disposed on one side of the first film layer and comprising a transparent material.
SUN discloses:
a gripping portion (50; Par. 38) disposed on one side of the first film layer (10) and comprising a transparent material (Par. 39).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kenneth S. Stephenson whose telephone number is (571)272-6686. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (EST)..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julio Maldonado can be reached at (571) 272-1864. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/K.S.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2898 /JULIO J MALDONADO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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