DETAILED ACTION
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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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/05/2025 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claim 2 has been amended, claims 1 and 6 – 12 have been canceled, and claims 2 – 5 are now pending.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: Paragraphs [0039] and [0041] refer to figure 2, however, the listed elements and description corresponds to figure 1, therefore the reference should be changed to figure 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 2 – 5 rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Branson (US 2003/0071832) in view of Bove (US 4,958,671).
As to claim 2, Branson discloses an electronic device comprising:
a first housing (housing of display portion 102 of fig. 5C) having a first side (side containing the display 102 of fig. 5C) and a second side (side opposite the side containing the display 102 of fig. 5C)
a second housing (housing of display portion 103 of fig. 5C) having a first side (side containing the display 103 of fig. 5C) and a second side (side opposite the side containing the display 103 of fig. 5C), wherein
the first housing is rotatably coupled with the second housing (folding operation along the vertical portion 110 of fig. 5C);
and a flexible display screen (display device 100 may be manufactured with the display is flexible liquid crystal display (LCD) panels [0027]) having a first area (102 of fig. 5C) and a second area (103 of fig. 5C) continuous with the first area (the display 102 and 103 display continuous image 113 of fig. 5C), wherein
the first area of the flexible display screen (102 offig.5C) is disposed on the first side of the first housing (side containing the display 102 of fig. 5C), and the second area of the flexible display screen (103 of fig. 5C) is disposed on the first side of the second housing (side containing the display 103 of fig. 5C), and wherein,
the first area (102 offig.5C) of the flexible display and the second area (103 offig.5C) of the flexible display are connected at an axis (vertical portion 110 of fig. 5C), wherein the display device maybe folded and unfolded [0022],
wherein the flexible display (display device 100 may be manufactured with the display is flexible liquid crystal display (LCD) panels [0027]) occupies corners of the first side (side containing the display 102 of fig. 5C) of the first housing (housing of display portion 102 of fig. 5C) formed by parallel edges of the first housing and the axis (vertical portion 110 of fig. 5C), and corners of the first side (side containing the display 103 of fig. 5C) of the second housing (housing of display portion 103 of fig. 5C) formed by parallel edges of the second housing and the axis (vertical portion 110 of fig. 5C),
but does not explicitly disclose that the first area and the second area of the flexible display are configured to move 360 degrees about the axis.
In the same filed of foldable presentation displays, Bove discloses a device comprising a display having a continuous display surface (TITLE) having a first area and a second area (multiple display areas with front surface 24 of sections A – H of fig. 1) connected by an axis (axis correspondent to hinge 60 between portions A and B of fig. 1), wherein the first area and the second area of the display are configured to move 360 degrees about the axis (display portions are rotatable 360 degrees so that front surfaces 24 of adjacent support frames are facing each other or, after rotation, rear surfaces 26 of adjacent support frames are facing each other, col. 10, lines 1 – 41).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to combine the teachings of Branson and the teachings of Bove such that the first area and the second area of the flexible display were configured to move 360 degrees about the axis with motivation to provide a foldable and portable display system which is reconfigurable from a folded portable position to an unfolded display position and which is adapted to display a substantially continuous, unbroken graphic or display surface consisting of a plurality of individual display panels (Bove, col 1, line 15).
As to claim 3, (dependent on 2), Branson discloses the electronic device, wherein, when the electronic device is in an open state (fig. 5C), the first side of the first housing and the first side of the second housing substantially form a single plane (single plane of fig. 5C), and the flexible display screen is disposed about the single plane (single plane of fig. 5C ) .
As to claim 4, (dependent on 2), Branson discloses the electronic device, wherein
the first area of the flexible display screen occupies substantially an entirety of the first side of the first housing (area of 102 of fig. 5C), and the second area of the flexible display screen occupies substantially an entirety of the first side of the second housing (area of 103 of fig. 5C).
As to claim 5, (dependent on 2), Branson discloses the electronic device, further comprising at least one processor (CPU 610 of fig. 6), and wherein
the flexible display screen is configured to provide electronic signals to the at least one processor in response to touching the flexible display screen (a portion of the display area D may be used as a touch screen [0023 – 0024], inherently data is output to the processor).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 2 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DMITRIY BOLOTIN whose telephone number is (571)270-5873. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM - 5PM.
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/DMITRIY BOLOTIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2623