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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 12/19/23 was/were received by the Examiner before the issuance/mailing date of the first office action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) has/have been considered (except for anything in foreign language non-accompanied by an English translation) by the Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 recites “a first portion disposed in a direction to the data line” and claims 7 and 20 each recites “the first portion is disposed in a direction to the data line”. It is unclear what Applicants meant by the quoted limitations. Is the first portion disposed in a direction perpendicular, parallel or oblique to the data line? It has to be one of those three options for the quoted limitation to make sense. [0008], [0014] and [0028] of the PGPub of this application are the only paragraphs where the quoted expressions above are used without referring to anything in the drawings so that one can make sense out of what Applicants meant. The Examiner has assumed “perpendicular”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6 and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by OHORI (US 2021/0183979).
a. Re claim 1, OHORI discloses a display apparatus comprising: a scan line 3 (see figs. 1-10 and related text; see also [0062]-[0064] and remaining of disclosure for more details); a data line 6 ([0064]); a first active layer 30a ([0070]) intersecting a portion S (see portion S of line 3 delimited by the dashed lines on annotated fig. 6 below) of the scan line and having a first portion (30s&30c for example) disposed in a direction perpendicular to the data line and electrically connected to the data line (see fig. 8 and related text); and a shield 33 (left one on fig. 7, or both left and right ones as a whole; see [0070]) overlapping a portion (30s for example) of the first active layer, the portion of the first active layer overlapping the scan line (explicit on figs. 7-8).
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b. Re claim 2, he display apparatus of claim 1, further comprises: a data connection line (portion of the electrically conductive material of 6 in hole CNT1; see fig. 7, [0073]-[0075]) electrically connecting the first portion of the first active layer to the data line.
c. Re claim 3, the scan line and the data connection line are disposed on (i.e. are in contact, directly or indirectly, with) a same layer 11d (or 11c or 11b or 11a or 11a&11b&11c; see fig. 7).
d. Re claim 4, the first active layer is disposed below the scan line (this is true in a fig. 7 rotated 180 degrees around an axis perpendicular to the plan of fig. 7).
e. Re claim 6, the data line and the shield are disposed on (i.e. are in contact, directly or indirectly, with) a same layer 11a&11b&11c (see fig. 7).
f. Re claim 17, the scan line extends in a first (X) direction (see fig. 6), the display device further comprises a horizontal power line 6c [0075]; 6c is electrically connected to the drain of transistor 30, thus it is implicitly a power interconnect) extending in the first direction, and the shield (when it is both left and right layers 33 as a whole as alternatively interpreted in claim 1 rejection above) is electrically connected to the horizontal power line.
g. Re claim 18, the horizontal power line and the scan line are disposed on (i.e. contacting) a same layer 11b&11c&11d (see fig. 7).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lee et al. (US 2021/0183979) disclose a display apparatus similar to the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PENIEL M GUMEDZOE whose telephone number is (571)270-3041. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00AM - 5:30PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dale Page can be reached at 5712707877. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PENIEL M GUMEDZOE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899
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