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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/31/2026 has been entered.
Remarks
In response to applicant’s amendment, dated 03/31/2026, the examiner acknowledges the amendment to claims 1-5. Claims 1-5 are pending.
Regarding the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections set forth in the office action, mailed 01/07/2026, the examiner has considered applicant’s arguments in light of the amended claims and withdraws the rejections.
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) 1-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ueda, et al. (CN 1726696) in view of Baldwin (US 9,057,931).
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Ueda – Figure 2
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Baldwin – Figure 4(b)
Regarding claim 1, Ueda discloses “a first display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 108) including a first EL element, and a first camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 110) including a first lens on a first surface; and a second display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 109) including a second EL element, and a second camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 111) including a second lens on a second surface opposite to the first surface (See Fig. 2), wherein at least one of the first display portion and the second display portion is configured to display an image of a photographic subject taken by the first camera or the second camera before taking the image (page 5 of translation, 4th paragraph)”
Regarding claim 2, Ueda discloses “a first display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 108) including a first EL element, and a first camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 110) including a first lens on a first surface; and a second display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 109) including a second EL element, and a second camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 111) including a second lens on a second surface opposite to the first surface (See Fig. 2), wherein the first display portion is configured to display an image of a photographic subject taken by the first camera before taking the image, and to emit white flash light when taking the image, wherein the second display portion is configured to display an image of a photographic subject taken by the second camera before taking the image, and to emit white flash light when taking the image (page 5 of translation, 4th paragraph)”.
Regarding claim 3, Ueda discloses “a first display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 108) including a first EL element, and a first camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 110) including a first lens on a first surface; and a second display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 109) including a second EL element, and a second camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 111) including a second lens on a second surface opposite to the first surface (See Fig. 2), wherein at least one of the first display portion and the second display portion is configured to display an image of a photographic subject taken by the first camera or the second camera before taking the image, and to emit white flash light when taking the image (page 5 of translation, 4th paragraph)”.
Regarding claim 4, Ueda discloses “a first display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 108) including a first EL element, and a first camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 110) including a first lens on a first surface; and a second display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 109) including a second EL element, and a second camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 110) including a second lens on a second surface opposite to the first surface (See Fig. 2), wherein at least one of the first display portion and the second display portion is configured to display an image of a photographic subject taken by the first camera or the second camera before taking the image, and to emit white flash light when taking the image (page 5 of translation, 4th paragraph”.,
Regarding claim 5, Ueda discloses “a first display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 108) including a first EL element, and a first camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 110) including a first lens on a first surface; and a second display portion (Fig. 2, ref.# 109) including a second EL element, and a second camera (Fig. 2, ref.# 111) including a second lens on a second surface opposite to the first surface (See Fig. 2), wherein at least one of the first display portion and the second display portion is configured to display an image of a photographic subject taken by the first camera or the second camera before taking the image, and to emit white flash light when taking the image (page 5 of translation, 4th paragraph)”
Regarding claims 1-5, Ueda does not teach “wherein the second lens is surrounded by the second display portion, and is located away from a center of the second display portion”. However, a display integrated camera wherein a lens is surrounded by a display portion and wherein the lens is located away form a center of the display was well known in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention as taught by Baldwin (See Figure 4(b); column 5, lines 37-43) (Note: Reference numbers 420, 422 and 424 in Figure 4(b) correspond with the reference numbers 520, 522 and 524 respectively in column 5 with an obvious typographical error.) Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ueda wherein the second lens is surrounded by the second display portion, and is located away from a center of the second display portion in order so that the user can focus on an appropriate region of the screen as taught by Baldwin.
Further, regarding claim 3, modified Ueda does not teach wherein the white flash light is emitted for more than or equal to 1 millisecond”. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select the flash time wherein the white flash light is emitted for more than or equal to 1 millisecond, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Further, regarding claim 5, modified Ueda does not teach wherein the second lens has a larger diameter than the first lens”. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the second lens with a large diameter than the first lens, since choosing the size of each lens would involve discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable which involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Min (US 9,640,681), Son, et al. (US 2013/0182062), Rappoport, et al. (US 2013/0094126), Maglaque (US 2011/0279689), Nakamura, et al. (US 2011/0181587), Cok, et al. (US 7,714,923), Hartkop (US 2007/0002130), Yamazaki, et al. (US 2005/0052558), Choi, et al. (DE 10152905) and Terasaka (JP 2002335432) teach a camera surrounded by a display.
Nilsson, et a. (US 2008/0122821), Miyashita, et al. (US 2006/0044396), Sawahara, et al. (JP 2004274777) teaches a front camera, back camera, front display and rear display.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RODNEY FULLER whose telephone number is (571)272-2118. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Monday - Friday.
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/RODNEY E FULLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
April 27, 2026
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