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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
1. Applicant's election, without traverse, of claims 1-13 in the “Response to Restriction Requirement” filed on 03/25/2026 is acknowledged and entered by the Examiner.
This office action consider claims 1-20 pending for prosecution, wherein claims 14-20 are withdrawn from further consideration, and claims 1-13 are presented for examination.
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.
2. Claims 1-13 are 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 1, the instant claim recites limitations, wherein the metes and bounds of the claimed method are vague and ill-defined as a result of uncertainty in the different boundaries and new limitations “a substrate, comprising at least one first groove provided on a surface of the substrate; a first driving circuit layer, located on the substrate and comprising at least one first signal line located in the first groove; and at least one first light-emitting unit group, located on a side, where the first driving circuit layer is provided, of the substrate, and comprising at least one first lamp bead, and the at least one first lamp bead being connected in series on the first signal line” (Claim 1; emphasis added). The claim is indefinite because of the following:
i) The claim is indefinite because “a substrate, comprising at least one first groove provided on a surface of the substrate; a first driving circuit layer, located on the substrate and comprising at least one first signal line located in the first groove; and at least one first light-emitting unit group, located on a side, where the first driving circuit layer is provided, of the substrate, and comprising at least one first lamp bead, and the at least one first lamp bead being connected in series on the first signal line” (Claim 1) is ambiguous and unclear. It is not clear what is meant by “and at least one first light-emitting unit group, located on a side, where the first driving circuit layer is provided, of the substrate.” It is not clear if the limitation is claiming that at least one first light-emitting unit group is located on a side of the first driving circuit layer, or that the at least one first light-emitting unit group is of the substrate, or that the first driving circuit layer is provided of the substrate. Therefore, the limitation of “a substrate, comprising at least one first groove provided on a surface of the substrate; a first driving circuit layer, located on the substrate and comprising at least one first signal line located in the first groove; and at least one first light-emitting unit group, located on a side, where the first driving circuit layer is provided, of the substrate, and comprising at least one first lamp bead, and the at least one first lamp bead being connected in series on the first signal line” (Claim 1) is indefinite and unclear.
The specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention, whereby the claims are rendered indefinite. Therefore, the resulting claim is indefinite and is failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter. Appropriate clarification and/or correction are/is required within metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
As there is a great deal of confusion and uncertainty as to the proper interpretation of the limitations of the claim, it would not be proper for the examiner to reject such a claim on the basis of prior art. See MPEP § 706 and MPEP § 2173.II (second) wherein In re Steele, 305 F.2d 859, 134 USPQ 292 (CCPA 1962), a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 should not be based on considerable speculation about the meaning of terms employed in a claim or assumptions that must be made as to the scope of the claims.
Regarding Claims 2-13, those are rejected under 112(b) because of their dependency status from claim 1.
Relevant Prior Art
3. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the applicant's disclosure.
Chen et al. (US 11670198 B2)
Wang et al. (US 20130082961 A1)
Pedder (US 20140041904 A1)
Saitou (US 20130076692 A1)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Omar Mojaddedi whose telephone number is 313-446-6582. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m..
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/OMAR F MOJADDEDI/Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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