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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 17/419,713, filed on June 29, 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on May 28, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “wherein the protective layer and the coverplate are arranged at intervals” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 the limitation “wherein the protective layer and the coverplate are arranged at intervals.” However, the originally filed specification and the drawings do not show or describe how the protective layer and the coverplate are arranged at intervals. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to understand what the claimed invention is.
Claims 2-20 are rejected based on their dependency of rejected independent claim 1.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “wherein the protective layer and the coverplate are arranged at intervals.” However, it is unclear from the originally filed specification and the drawings how the protective layer and the coverplate are arranged at intervals. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to define the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Claims 2-20 are rejected based on their dependency of rejected independent claim 1.
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, 2, 6, 8, 10, 18, and 20, as best understood, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park (US Pub 2019/0339741).
In re claim 1, Park discloses a display device, comprising: a flexible screen body (i.e. 210) comprising a planar area and a bending area connected to the planar area; a color filter (i.e. 221 – see at least paragraph 0073 disclosing that the function module 221 may include at least one function layer; the functional layer may perform…a color filter feature; the functional layer may be a color filter, etc.) disposed on the flexible screen body and at least covering the planar area; a protective layer (i.e. 411) disposed on the flexible screen body and at least covering a part of the bending area; and a coverplate (i.e. 222 – in this case, the instant application does not further describe what the “coverplate” is, what material(s) the “coverplate” comprises, etc; thus, the window module 222 is the claimed “coverplate” as the term “coverplate” is a mere label) disposed on the color filter and at least covering the planar area; wherein the protective layer and the coverplate are arranged at intervals (i.e. in this case, the interval is at least one) (i.e. see at least Figure 4).
In re claim 2, Park discloses wherein in an overlapping area of the protective layer and the coverplate, a distance between the protective layer and the coverplate is greater than or equal to a default value, wherein the default value is greater than 0 (i.e. see at least Figure 4).
In re claim 6, Park discloses wherein the bending area comprises a transitional bending sub-area, a bending sub-area, and an extending bending sub-area defined in sequence, and the transitional bending sub-area is connected to and flush with the planar area (i.e. see at least Figure 4); the protective layer (i.e. 411) completely covers the bending sub-area and covers at least a part of the transitional bending sub-area; and the coverplate (i.e. 222) is connected to the color filter by an optical adhesive (i.e. NAD1), and the coverplate completely covers the planar area and covers at least the part of the transitional bending sub-area (i.e. see at least Figure 4).
In re claim 8, Park discloses wherein the protective layer (i.e. 411) further covers at least a part of the extending bending sub-area (i.e. see at least Figure 4).
In re claim 10, Park discloses further comprising: a support layer (i.e. 230), wherein one side of the support layer supports the planar area and the transitional bending sub-area, and another side of the support layer away from the planar area supports the extending bending sub-area (i.e. see at least Figure 4).
In re claim 18, Park discloses wherein the optical adhesive is an optically clear adhesive (OCA) (i.e. see at least paragraph 0075).
In re claim 20, Park discloses further comprising a driving unit (i.e. 422) disposed on one surface of the extending bending sub-area away from the support layer (i.e. see at least Figure 4).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY HO whose telephone number is (571)270-1432. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM, Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marlon Fletcher can be reached at 571-272-2063. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANTHONY HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817