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 .
Claims 12-13, 15, 17-19, and 21-22 are amended. Claims 9-11, 16, and 20 are cancelled. Claims 23-26 are newly added. Currently Claims 12-15, 17-19, and 21-26 are under review.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed November 24, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant argues on pages 10-13 of the remarks the restriction requirement, specifically the Office indicating “Further the specification is silent with regards to combining the embodiment of the segmented OLED with the dimming processes and only mentions that the dimming processes are applied to an emissive display without the particulars of a segmented OLED”. The Office maintains the rejection due to the inventions are related as combination and subcombination. The inventions are distinct because the combination as claimed does not require the particulars of the subcombination as claimed for patentability, and the subcombination can be shown to have utility either by itself or in another materially different combination. Claim 1 is directed to a segmented OLED with specifics not mentioned in the other claims. Claim 14 is directed to utilizing rolling shutter or global shutter to dim an OLED display with specifics not mentioned in the other claims. Claim 12 Is directed to selecting a subrange of pixel information to drive an OLED display. Claim 13 is directed to adjusting VCOM for and OLED display. Claim 15 is directed to a method of dimming an OLED display by selecting at least two dimming processes. Claim 19 is directed to non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing program code for selecting at least two dimming processes. Therefore the combination as claimed does not require the details of the subcombination as separately claimed and the subcombination has separate utility, the inventions are distinct and restriction is proper (please refer to empep 806.05(c) II. A.).
The Applicant argues on pages 15-16 of the remarks that Yu teaches gamma correction of a display, where Applicant’s claim limitations does not perform gamma correction. The Office disagrees. Neither the Applicant’s specification nor the claims specifically exclude gamma correction, therefore teaching the limitations of claim 12 and performing gamma correction is appropriate.
The Applicant argues on pages 17-18 of the remarks that Zhang does not teach global shutter, and further argues on pages 19-21 of the remarks that Zhang does not teach transitioning between rolling shutter and global shutter, therefore does not teach claim 14. The Office disagrees. The claim limitations do not define rolling shutter and global shutter; therefore it is appropriate to interpret Zhang’s teaching of controlling pixel lighting of only one row of pixels to correspond to a screen brightness of 5% as utilizing global shutter to dim the OLED display (from 0 to 5%, where global shutter applies only a single pulse to the entire frame, see paragraph 62) and to utilize rolling shutter from 10% to 100% (rolling shutter applies two or more pulses, see paragraph 62).
The Applicant simply argues on page 23 of the remarks that modulating the common power supply voltage VDD is not Applicant’s claim limitation and that Sarma’s VDD is not equivalent to Applicant’s VCOM. The Office disagrees. Claim 13 simply requires receiving as an input a dimming level setpoint signal and adjusting a VCOM voltage of the OLED display pixel, and does not specify nor further define VCOM voltage for an OLED display, therefore Sarma’s modulating of the common power supply voltage VDD controls the brightness of the overall display and meets the limitations of adjusting a VCOM voltage for an OLED display.
The Applicant argues on pages 24-26 of the remarks that that the Office dis not cite any art as a basis to reject Applicant’s number 4 dimming method in claims 15 and 19. The Office disagrees. The claims presented on March 31, 2025 only indicated utilizing one or more subpixels from each OLED display pixel, therefore by merely having a display pixel emit or not emit light in order to display an image meets the limitations.
The Applicant simply argues on pages 26-27 of the remarks rearrangement of parts from Poulose, in view of Sarma or Yu in view of Sarma and in view of Selan does not make the Applicant’s invention. The Applicant mentions claims 13, 15, and 19 on page 27 of the remarks and that none of the references provide any motivation or reason to provide Applicant’s invention. The Office disagrees. Claim 13 is broad and merely requires adjusting a VCOM voltage for dimming an OLED display, therefore there is proper motivation to combine Polouse in view of Sarma. Claims 15 and 19, only requires selecting at least two dimming processes based on a magnitude of dimming level setpoint signal and the specification is silent as to how the processes are used in combination merely indicating that they are used together. The specification does not indicate if the processes are implemented simultaneously or in sequence/the order of the sequence, therefore there is proper motivation to combine Yu, Sarma and Selan.
In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case, with respect to claims 15 and 19, Sarma’s motivation is to provide design alternatives to adjusting an operation of a display driver and to maintain color balance throughout the dimming range and maintain uniformity of the luminance and chromaticity (¶12). Selan’s motivation is to provide options or alternatives for implementing a brightness/dimming adjustment.
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 12, 15, 19 and their dependents (claims 17-18 and 21-26) 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.
With respect to Claim 12, the claim limitations indicate “the selecting is based on a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal and the selecting does not perform a gamma correction on the subrange”. The Applicant’s specification does not mention gamma correction and does not explicitly prohibit performing gamma correction when selecting is based on a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint, therefore 112(a) is applicable. For the purposes of examination, the Office will interpret “the selecting is based on a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal and the selecting does not perform a gamma correction on the subrange” simply as “the selecting is based on a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal” including performing gamma correction on the subrange.
With respect to Claims 15 and 19, the claim limitations indicate “utilizing one or more subpixels of a plurality of subpixels to display the same color of light at different brightness levels using common pixel illumination information from each OLED display pixels” which is not described in the specification. Paragraph 74 of the instant specification only mentions that “two subpixels share a common storage capacitor 1514, and therefore the two subpixels will be driven to the same level” which is not support for the claim limitations, therefore 112(a) is applicable. For the purposes of examination, the Office will interpret “utilizing one or more subpixels of a plurality of subpixels to display the same color of light at different brightness levels using common pixel illumination information from each OLED display pixels” simply as “utilizing one or more subpixels from each OLED display panel”.
With respect to Claims 23 and 25, the claim limitations require “three processes implemented simultaneously” and “only one subpixel of the plurality is used” which is not mentioned in the specification, therefore 112(a) is applicable. For the purposes of examination, the Office will interpret “three processes implemented simultaneously” and “only one subpixel of the plurality is used” simply as “three processes implemented in any manner” and “any subpixel of the plurality of subpixels is used”.
With respect to Claims 24 and 26, the claim limitations require “three processes implemented simultaneously” and “maximum subpixel area of the plurality is used” which is not mentioned in the specification, therefore 112(a) is applicable. For the purposes of examination, the Office will interpret “three processes implemented simultaneously” and “maximum subpixel area of the plurality is used” simply as “three processes implemented in any manner” and “subpixel area of the plurality of subpixels is used”.
Claim Objections
Claims 23-26 are objected to because of the following informalities: typographic errors. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 23, line 6: “3. only one subpixel of the plurality of subpixels is used.”
Claim 24, line 7: “4. maximum subpixel area of the plurality of subpixels is used.”
Claim 25, line 7: “3. only one subpixel of the plurality of subpixels is used.”
Claim 26, line 8: “4. maximum subpixel area of the plurality of subpixels is used.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yu et al. (Pub. No.:
US 2021/0097920 A1) hereinafter referred to as Yu.
With respect to Claim 12, Yu discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (¶22; ¶230) storing program code (¶23) for causing a data processing system to perform the steps comprising: receiving as an input a dimming level setpoint signal (¶51, “users adjust the display brightness of the display device (for example, a brightness slider of a display screen of an electronic terminal device such as a mobile phone is dragged to adjust the display brightness of the display screen of the electronic terminal device”); ¶50; ¶56 via a PWM dimming mechanism and a driving signal mechanism); and selecting a subrange of pixel illumination information from a range of pixel illumination information (¶59, “the target brightness adjustment value is between the brightness adjustment values corresponding to two adjacent reference points, by using a method of performing a linear interpolation on the gamma bands corresponding to the two adjacent reference points in the related art, a gamma band corresponding to the target brightness adjustment value is obtained, thereby determining a corresponding gamma curve”- a gamma band corresponds to a subrange), wherein the range spans a greater range of brightness levels than the subrange spans (the gamma curve corresponds to the range, the gamma band is part of the gamma curve), the selecting is based on a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal (¶58-59) and the selecting does not perform a gamma correction on the subrange; and driving an OLED display pixel using the subrange (¶59).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhang (Pub. No.:
US 2021/0035495 A1).
With respect to Claim 14, Zhang discloses a method (figs. 2a, 2b, 3a-3d, 4a-4d, and 5; ¶59) for
dimming an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display (¶45) comprising: receiving as an input a
dimming level setpoint signal (¶60); establishing a selected duty cycle based on the dimming level
setpoint signal (¶54; ¶61); utilizing rolling shutter to dim the OLED display when the selected duty
cycle is in a range from a first low limit to a duty cycle of 100 percent (figs. 3(b) to 3(d), the figures
show more than one pulse and therefore utilize rolling shutter; ¶62- first low limit is 5% and rolling
shutter is utilized at greater than 5% brightness with corresponding duty cycle); and utilizing global
shutter to dim the OLED display when the selected duty cycle is in a range from a second low limit to a
minimum duty cycle for the OLED display (fig. 3(a); ¶62, “As shown in FIG. 3(a), screen brightness is
(1×1)/20×100%=5%. When the brightness level is adjusted to a next brightness level, one row is
increased to a quantity of pixel rows corresponding to one pulse in the three pulses corresponding to the zero row of pixels.” – using one pulse is interpreted as utilizing global shutter – second low limit is 5% brightness with corresponding duty cycle at or below 5%).
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 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Poulose et al. (Pub. No.: US 2020/0394925 A1) hereinafter referred to as Poulose in view of Sarma et al. (Pub. No.: US 2006/0164345 A1) hereinafter referred to as Sarma.
With respect to Claim 13, Poulose teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a data processing system to perform the steps (¶17) comprising: receiving as an input a dimming level setpoint signal (fig. 2, item 204; ¶16; ¶20); and adjusting an operation of a display driver arrangement such as increase or decrease a gain provided to the display driver arrangement for the OLED display pixel based on the dimming level setpoint signal (¶16).
Poulose does not mention adjusting an operation of a display driver arrangement may also correspond to adjusting a VCOM voltage.
Sarma teaches adjusting a VCOM voltage by modulating the common power supply voltage for an OLED display pixel based on a dimming level setpoint signal (¶31, the dimming level setpoint signal is the same as the desired adjusted luminance value, ie brightness).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of Poulose such that adjusting an operation of a display driver arrangement corresponds to adjusting a VCOM voltage, as taught by Sarma so as to provide design alternatives to adjusting an operation of a display driver and to maintain color balance throughout the dimming range and maintain uniformity of the luminance and chromaticity (¶12).
Claims 15, 17-19, and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu, in view of Sarma, and in view of Selan (Pub. No.: US 2020/0348750 A1).
With respect to Claim 15, Yu teaches a method for dimming an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display (¶50; ¶56 via a PWM dimming mechanism and a driving signal mechanism) comprising:
receiving as an input a dimming level setpoint signal (¶51, “users adjust the display brightness of the
display device (for example, a brightness slider of a display screen of an electronic terminal device such
as a mobile phone is dragged to adjust the display brightness of the display screen of the electronic
terminal device)”); selecting at least two dimming processes from the following four dimming processes based on a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal (¶56, “Current methods of adjusting a grayscale brightness value of a pixel include: a pulse width modulation (PWM) dimming mechanism and/or a driving signal dimming mechanism” which ¶59, controls the duty cycle and/or adjust/select the magnitude of the driving signal): 1. selecting a subrange of pixel illumination levels from a range of pixel illumination levels (¶59, “the target brightness adjustment value is between the brightness adjustment values corresponding to two adjacent reference points, by using a method of performing a linear interpolation on the gamma bands corresponding to the two adjacent reference points in the related art, a gamma band corresponding to the target brightness adjustment value is obtained, thereby determining a corresponding gamma curve”- a gamma band corresponds to a subrange); 2. Adjusting driving signals for the OLED display (¶58, “adjusting a magnitude of the driving signal output from a driving integrated circuit (IC) of the display device to the pixel, that is, by controlling the magnitude of a driving current flowing through the light-emitting device corresponding to the pixel, the gray scale brightness value of the pixel is adjusted”); 3. Selecting a PWM dimming mechanism (¶59; ¶61-62); 4: utilizing one or more subpixels of a plurality of subpixels to display the same color of light at different brightness levels using common pixel illumination information from each OLED display pixel (¶56); and applying the at least two dimming processes to the OLED display (¶62 – discusses the effects on multiple pixels, ie green; ¶65, and then applying gamma correction), thereby dimming the OLED display (¶82).
Yu does not teach that adjusting driving signals is the same as adjusting a VCOM voltage.
Sarma teaches adjusting a VCOM voltage by modulating the common power supply voltage for
an OLED display pixel based on a dimming level setpoint signal (¶31, the dimming level setpoint signal is
the same as the desired adjusted luminance value, ie brightness).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the invention to modify the method of Yu such that adjusting a driving signal corresponds
to adjusting a VCOM voltage, as taught by Sarma so as to provide design alternatives to adjusting an
operation of a display driver and to maintain color balance throughout the dimming range and maintain
uniformity of the luminance and chromaticity (¶12).
Yu and Sarma combined do not teach selecting a PWM dimming mechanism is selecting
between rolling shutter and global shutter.
Selan teaches a method for dimming an organic light emitting (OLED) display (¶21),
implementing a global display driving scheme or a rolling display driving scheme (¶23; ¶46) where
adjusting the brightness is through adjusting a pulse magnitude or a pulse duration (fig. 1, item 114 or
116; ¶30).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the combined method of Yu and Sarma, such that selecting a PWM dimming
mechanism is selecting between rolling shutter and global shutter, as taught by Selan, so as to provide
options or alternatives for implementing a brightness/dimming adjustment.
With respect to Claim 17, claim 15 is incorporated, Yu teaches further comprising: selecting at
least three dimming processes from the four dimming processes based on a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal (¶56, a pwm dimming mechanism and a driving signal dimming mechanism which are both applicable to one or more pixels and both select a subrange of pixel illumination when the target brightness adjustment value is between the brightness adjustment values corresponding to two adjacent reference points).
With respect to Claim 18, claim 15 is incorporated, Yu teaches further comprising: selecting all
four dimming processes, wherein a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal is used to configure the four dimming processes (¶56, a pwm dimming mechanism and a driving signal dimming
mechanism which are both applicable to one or more pixels and both select a subrange of pixel
illumination when the target brightness adjustment value is between the brightness adjustment values
corresponding to two adjacent reference points).
With respect to Claim 19, Yu teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (¶22; ¶230) storing program code (¶23) for causing a data processing system to perform the steps comprising: receiving as an input a dimming level setpoint signal (¶51, “users adjust the display brightness of the display device (for example, a brightness slider of a display screen of an electronic terminal device such as a mobile phone is dragged to adjust the display brightness of the display screen of the electronic terminal device)”; ¶50; ¶56 via a PWM dimming mechanism and a driving signal mechanism); selecting at least two dimming processes from the following four dimming processes based on a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal (¶56, “Current methods of adjusting a gray scale brightness value of a pixel include: a pulse width modulation (PWM) dimming mechanism and/or a driving signal dimming mechanism” which ¶59, controls the duty cycle and/or adjust/select the magnitude of the driving signal): 1. selecting a subrange of pixel illumination levels from a range of pixel illumination levels (¶59, “the target brightness adjustment value is between the brightness adjustment values corresponding to two adjacent reference points, by using a method of performing a linear interpolation on the gamma bands corresponding to the two adjacent reference points in the related art, a gamma band corresponding to the target brightness adjustment value is obtained, thereby determining a corresponding gamma curve”- a gamma band corresponds to a subrange); 2. adjusting driving signals for the OLED display (¶58, “adjusting a magnitude of the driving signal output from a driving integrated circuit (IC) of the display device to the pixel, that is, by controlling the magnitude of a driving current flowing through the light-emitting device corresponding to the pixel, the gray scale brightness value of the pixel is adjusted”); 3. Selecting a PWM dimming mechanism (¶59; ¶61-62); 4, utilizing one or more subpixels of a plurality of subpixels to display the same color of light at different brightness levels using common pixel illumination information from each OLED display pixel (¶56); and applying the at least two dimming processes to the OLED display (¶62 – discusses the effects on multiple pixels, ie green), thereby dimming the OLED display (¶82).
Yu does not teach that adjusting driving signals is the same as adjusting a VCOM voltage.
Sarma teaches adjusting a VCOM voltage by modulating the common power supply voltage for
an OLED display pixel based on a dimming level setpoint signal (¶31, the dimming level setpoint signal is
the same as the desired adjusted luminance value, ie brightness).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the invention to modify the computer-readable storage medium of Yu such that adjusting a
driving signal corresponds to adjusting a VCOM voltage, as taught by Sarma so as to provide design
alternatives to adjusting an operation of a display driver and to maintain color balance throughout the
dimming range and maintain uniformity of the luminance and chromaticity (¶12).
Yu and Sarma combined do not teach selecting a PWM dimming mechanism is selecting between rolling shutter and global shutter.
Selan teaches a method and computer readable storage medium (¶78-80) for dimming an
organic light emitting (OLED) display (¶21), implementing a global display driving scheme or a rolling
display driving scheme (¶23; ¶46) where adjusting the brightness is through adjusting a pulse magnitude
or a pulse duration (fig. 1, item 114 or 116; ¶30).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date to modify the combined computer-readable storage medium of Yu and Sarma, such that
selecting a PWM dimming mechanism is selecting between rolling shutter and global shutter, as taught
by Selan, so as to provide options or alternatives for implementing a brightness/dimming adjustment.
With respect to Claim 21, claim 19 is incorporated, Yu teaches further comprising: selecting at
least three dimming processes from the four dimming processes based on a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal (¶56, a pwm dimming mechanism and a driving signal dimming mechanism which are both applicable to one or more pixels and both select a subrange of pixel illumination when the target brightness adjustment value is between the brightness adjustment values corresponding to two adjacent reference points).
With respect to Claim 22, claim 19 is incorporated, Yu teaches further comprising: selecting all
four dimming processes, wherein a magnitude of the dimming level setpoint signal is used to configure the four dimming processes (¶56, a pwm dimming mechanism and a driving signal dimming
mechanism which are both applicable to one or more pixels and both select a subrange of pixel
illumination when the target brightness adjustment value is between the brightness adjustment values
corresponding to two adjacent reference points).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kim et al. (Pub. No.: US 2009/0167659 A1) hereinafter referred to as Kim. See figure 4 and paragraphs 77 and 84.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DONNA V Bocar whose telephone number is (571)272-0955. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30am to 5pm EST.
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, Amr A Awad can be reached at (571)272-7764. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DONNA V Bocar/ Examiner, Art Unit 2621