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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 09/07/2026 has been entered.
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, 2, 4-8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishihara (US Pub. 20010024253) in view of Ishii et al. (US Pub. 20150177876) and Bao (CN 106569368, with reference made to provided machine translation).
As per claim 1, Ishihara teaches (in figures 9 and 10) a display device, comprising: a display panel (liquid crystal panel 1); a plurality of color blocks (red 8R, blue 8B, and green 8G color filters) with different colors, distributed on the display panel and a light guide plate (light guide panel 32/33) disposed above the color blocks of different colors (red 8R, blue 8B, and green 8G color filters).
Ishihara does not teach that the display panel include electrophoretic particles, a touch panel, disposed on the color blocks of different colors; and at least one birefringent material layer, disposed between the color blocks of different colors and the touch panel, and a light guide plate disposed between the color blocks of different colors and the at least one birefringent material layer, wherein the at least one birefringent material layer is disposed between the touch panel and the light guide plate and directly contacts the light guide plate, wherein after passing through the at least one birefringent material layer, a light reflected by the electrophoretic particles and passing through the color blocks with different colors is divided into an ordinary light and an extraordinary light laterally shifted by a distance from the ordinary light.
However, Ishii teaches (in figure 2) providing a touch panel (cover layer 28, adhesive layer 25, and upper electrodes 40) disposed on a display panel (image display mechanism 12); and at least one birefringent material layer (substrates 35, adhesive layer 24, lower electrodes 40, and lower adhesive connected to the display panel see paragraphs 61 and paragraph 74), disposed between the display panel and the touch panel such that it is formed directly on the uppermost surface of the display panel (see paragraph 61), wherein after passing through the birefringent material layer, a light from the display panel is divided into an ordinary light and an extraordinary light laterally shifted by a distance from the ordinary light (paragraph 83 teaches forming the slow axis of the birefringent material to be at an angle to the absorption axis of the polarizer which will result in double refraction and extraordinary light laterally shifted by a distance from the ordinary light) in order to provide touch functionality while preventing a rainbow pattern (see paragraphs 67 and 74).
Bao teaches (in figure 6) that electrophoretic particles were a known functional equivalent to liquid crystals for a reflective display device (paragraph 45) wherein the display layer is positioned such that light passes through a plurality of color blocks (421-243) with different colors after being reflected by the electrophoretic particles (paragraph 52).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the touch panel and birefringent material layer from Ishii in the device of Ishihara in order to provide touch functionality while preventing a rainbow pattern and to modify the device of Ishihara to use electrophoretic particles in place of a liquid crystal layer in order to provide a display medium which requires less power to operate.
As per claim 2, Ishihara in view of Ishii and Bao teaches that a phase difference of the birefringent material layer (substrates 35, adhesive layer 24, lower electrodes 40, and lower adhesive connected to the display panel see paragraphs 61 and paragraph 74 from Ishii) is greater than 15 nanometers (see paragraph 74 in Ishii which teaches a retardation not less than 6000 nm).
As per claim 4, Ishihara in view of Ishii and Bao teaches that the light guide plate (light guide panel 32/33 in Ishihara) has a first surface (upper surface) facing the birefringent material layer (substrates 35 from Ishii), and a second surface (bottom surface) facing the color blocks of different colors (red 8R, blue 8B, and green 8G color filters in Ishihara), as well as a light incident surface (surface of light guide panel 32/33 facing light source 22 in Ishihara) connecting the first surface and the second surface, and the light source (light source 22 in Ishihara) is disposed beside the light incident surface and emits a light toward the light incident surface.
As per claim 5, Ishihara in view of Ishii and Bao teaches that there are metal grids (electrodes 40 from Ishii) on a surface of the touch panel.
As per claim 6, Ishihara in view of Ishii and Bao teaches that the color blocks of different colors (red 8R, blue 8B, and green 8G color filters in Ishihara) comprise a plurality of red color blocks, a plurality of green color blocks, and a plurality of blue color blocks arranged alternately.
As per claim 7, Ishihara in view of Ishii and Bao teaches that the at least one birefringent material layer (substrates 35, adhesive layer 24, lower electrodes 40, and lower adhesive connected to the display panel see paragraphs 61 and paragraph 74 from Ishii) is a plurality of birefringent material layers (Ishii teaches two substrates 35) stacked from the color blocks of different colors (red 8R, blue 8B, and green 8G color filters in Ishihara) to the touch panel (cover layer 28, adhesive layer 25, and upper electrodes 40 from Ishii).
As per claim 8, Ishihara in view of Ishii and Bao teaches that the display panel is provided with an electrode layer (common transparent electrode 12a in Ishihara) on one side close to the touch panel (cover layer 28, adhesive layer 25, and upper electrodes 40 from Ishii), and the color blocks of different colors (red 8R, blue 8B, and green 8G color filters in Ishihara) directly contact the electrode layer.
As per claim 10, Ishihara in view of Ishii and Bao teaches that the at least one birefringent material layer (substrates 35, adhesive layer 24, lower electrodes 40, and lower adhesive connected to the display panel see paragraphs 61 and paragraph 74 from Ishii) directly contacts the touch panel (cover layer 28, adhesive layer 25, and upper electrodes 40 from Ishii).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/07/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's argument that the limitation of “a light guide plate disposed between the color locks of different colors and the at least one birefringent material layer, wherein the at least one birefringent material layer is disposed between the touch panel and the light guide plate and directly contacts the light guide plate” is not taught by the combination of Ishihara, Ishii, and Bao since the recited feature is not explicitly taught in one of the references individually, the test for obviousness is not whether the features of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981). In the instant case and as shown in the rejection above, the display apparatus D6 as disclosed in Ishihara which comprises a light guide plate (light guide panel 32/33) disposed above the color blocks of different colors (red 8R, blue 8B, and green 8G color filters) is modified by Ishii to include a birefringent material layer (substrates 35, adhesive layer 24, lower electrodes 40, and lower adhesive connected to the display panel see paragraphs 61 and paragraph 74) and a touch panel (cover layer 28, adhesive layer 25, and upper electrodes 40) formed directly on the outmost surface of the display apparatus which in the instant case is the upper surface of the light guide panel 32/33 in Ishihara such then when taken together the references teach every limitation of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
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/ALEXANDER P GROSS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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