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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 2-5 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 2, lines 17+, recites “said drive circuits” which lacks antecedent basis and therefore renders the claim indefinite.
Dependent claims 3-5 is rejected by virtue of its dependency.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-12 provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of copending Application No. 18/639,554 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wei et al. US20210056891.
With respect to claim 1, Wei et al. discloses a control system for a light emitting device (Fig. 1), comprising: a control circuit 110 including a control terminal [paragraph 34 shows “control circuit 110 provides control data to the driver circuits 120”]; a common transmission line 115, 126, and 122 [paragraph 33 shows “the drive circuits 120 in one group are daisy-chained together via a set of address communication lines that couple adjacent drivers 120 (e.g. from the output pin 126 of one driver circuit 120 to a data input pin 122 of the next driver circuit 120).”]; and a drive circuit string 120 electrically connected to said control terminal of said control circuit and including N number of drive circuits, where N ≥ 2, each of said N number of drive circuits including an input terminal 122 and an output terminal 126, said input terminal of a first one of said N number of drive circuits being electrically connected to said control terminal of said control circuit via said common transmission line 115, said input terminal of an ith one of said N number of drive circuits being electrically connected to said output terminal of an (i-1)th one of said N number of drive circuits, where 2 ≤ i ≤ N [paragraph 33], wherein said control terminal of said control circuit is configured to transmit an address setting signal AddrN to said drive circuit string via said common transmission line [paragraph 36], the address setting signal including a preset starting address [paragraph 44 shows “the control circuit 110 outputs a logic high signal on the common address communication line Addrn for the group n and the first driver circuit 120 in group n of driver circuits 120 receives the high signal at its data input pin 122 (i.e., Di_0) as an incoming addressing signal. Responsive to detecting the high signal on Di_0, the driver circuit sets its address to an initial address value (e.g., 0000).”]; wherein said N number of drive circuits are configured to sequentially set an assigned address for each of said N number of drive circuits based on the address setting signal [paragraph 44]; wherein said control terminal of said control circuit is configured to, after the setting of the assigned address of each of said N number of drive circuits is completed, transmit a command signal to each of said N number of drive circuits via said common transmission line, the command signal including a data packet, the data packet including X number of data piece(s) that correspond respectively to X number of destination address(es), where 1 ≤ X ≤ N [paragraphs 32, 34, 36, and 38]; and wherein said N number of drive circuits are configured in such a way that, based on the assigned addresses of said N number of drive circuits, among said N number of drive circuits, X number of drive circuit(s) of which the assigned address(es) respectively conform(s) with the destination address(es) read(s) the data piece(s) [paragraphs 32, 34, 36, and 38].
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei et al. US20210056891 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Chu US20150195882.
With respect to claim 2, Wei et al. discloses a control system for a light emitting device as recited in claim 1 above. Wei et al. discloses control information may include one or more address words to identify a driver circuit 120 within a group of the drive circuits 120 and one or more data words for controlling brightness of the LED zone 130 by controlling the drive current 125 of the identified driver circuit 120 [see paragraph 38].
Wei et al. fails to explicitly disclose wherein each of said N number of drive circuits has a state setting operable to switch between a transmission state and a non-transmission state with respect to signal transmission between said input terminal and said output terminal thereof; and wherein, for each of said N number of drive circuits, when the setting of the assigned address of the drive circuit is completed, the state setting of said drive circuit is in the transmission state where a signal outputted by said output terminal of the drive circuit is received from said input terminal of said drive circuit, and has content identical to content of a signal inputted into said input terminal of said drive circuit.
Chu, in the same field of endeavor, discloses wherein each of said N number of drive circuits has a state setting operable to switch between a transmission state and a non-transmission state with respect to signal transmission between said input terminal and said output terminal thereof; and wherein, for each of said N number of drive circuits [paragraph 19 shows “determining whether the local address code is identical to the identification code according to the identification code; transmitting a driving signal to the designated driving channel according to the work instruction by the X.sup.th driving control module if the local address code is identical to the identification code; and transmitting the command packet to a (X+1).sup.th driving control module by the X.sup.th driving control module if the local address code is not identical to the identification code” ], when the setting of the assigned address of the drive circuit is completed, the state setting of said drive circuit is in the transmission state where a signal outputted by said output terminal of the drive circuit is received from said input terminal of said drive circuit, and has content identical to content of a signal inputted into said input terminal of said drive circuit [paragraph 19 shows “determining whether the local address code is identical to the identification code according to the identification code; transmitting a driving signal to the designated driving channel according to the work instruction by the X.sup.th driving control module if the local address code is identical to the identification code;”]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the features of Chu into the device of Wei et al. to ensure the command packet is received at the proper designation as taught by Chu.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei et al. US20210056891 and Chu US20150195882 as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Strum et al. US20190132929.
With respect to claim 3, Wei et al., as modified above, discloses the control system for a light emitting device as recited above in claim 2. Wei et al, as modified above, fails to disclose wherein said control circuit further includes a feedback terminal electrically connected to a last one of said N number of drive circuits; wherein said N number of drive circuits form a pass-through signal transmission path between said control terminal and said feedback terminal of said control circuit when the state setting of every single one of said N number of drive circuits is in the transmission state.
Strum et al. discloses a control circuit further includes a feedback terminal electrically connected to a last one of said N number of drive circuits; wherein said N number of drive circuits form a pass-through signal transmission path between said control terminal and said feedback terminal of said control circuit when the state setting of every single one of said N number of drive circuits is in the transmission state [paragraphs 12 and 18]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the features of Strum et al. into the device of Wei et al. to ensure the command packet was properly received as taught by Strum et al..
With respect to claim 4, Wei et all, as modified above, discloses wherein each of said N number of drive circuits further includes a status detection unit configured to generate a status response signal upon detecting an internal abnormal situation, and to send the status response signal to said control circuit via the pass-through signal transmission path [paragraph 19 Strum et al.].
With respect to claim 5, Wei et al., as modified above, discloses wherein said control circuit is configured to transmit the command signal to each of said N number of drive circuits via said control terminal and the pass-through signal transmission path [paragraphs 12 and 18 Strum et al.], the command signal including the data packet that is a data fetch request data packet [paragraphs 8-12 Strum et al.], the data fetch request data packet including the destination address that is a target address of data fetch and that is the assigned address of a designated one of said N number of drive circuits [paragraphs 8-12 Strum et al.]; and wherein each of said N number of drive circuits is configured to, when said drive circuit receives the data fetch request data packet and when the assigned address of said drive circuit conforms with the target address of data fetch [paragraphs 8-12 Strum et al.], generate and transmit a response data packet to said feedback terminal via the pass-through signal transmission path, the response data packet including internal data of the designated one of said N number of drive circuits [paragraphs 18-19 Strum et al.].
Claims 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei et al. US20210056891 in view of Chu US20150195882.
With respect to claim 9, Wei et al. discloses a light emitting device [Fig. 1], comprising: N number of light emitting diode (LED) groups 130; and a control system including a control circuit 110 and a drive circuit string 120, said control circuit including a control terminal [paragraph 34 shows “control circuit 110 provides control data to the driver circuits 120”], said drive circuit string being electrically connected to said control terminal of said control circuit and including N number of drive circuits, where N ≥ 2, each of said N number of drive circuits including an input terminal 122 and an output terminal 126, said input terminal of a first one of said N number of drive circuits being electrically connected to said control terminal, said input terminal of an ith one of said N number of drive circuits being electrically connected to said output terminal of an (i-1)th one of said N number of drive circuits, where 2 ≤ i ≤ N [paragraph 33], wherein said control terminal of said control circuit is configured to transmit an address setting signal to said drive circuit string, the address setting signal including a preset starting address [paragraphs 36 and 44]; wherein said N number of drive circuits is configured to sequentially set an assigned address for each of said N number of drive circuits based on the address setting signal [paragraph 44]; wherein said control terminal of said control circuit is configured to, after the setting of the assigned address of each of said N number of drive circuits is completed, transmit a command signal to each of said N number of drive circuits, the command signal including a data packet, the data packet including X number of data piece(s) that correspond respectively to X number of destination address(es), where 1 ≤ X ≤ N [paragraphs 32, 34, 36, and 38]; wherein said N number of drive circuits are configured in such a way that, based on the assigned addresses of said N number of drive circuits, among said N number of drive circuits, X number of drive circuit(s) of which the assigned address(es) respectively conform(s) with the destination address(es) read(s) the data piece(s) [paragraphs 32, 34, 36, and 38]; and wherein said N number of LED groups are respectively connected to and controlled by said N number of drive circuits to emit light [Fig. 1]. Wei et al. discloses control information may include one or more address words to identify a driver circuit 120 within a group of the drive circuits 120 and one or more data words for controlling brightness of the LED zone 130 by controlling the drive current 125 of the identified driver circuit 120 [see paragraph 38].
Wei et al. fails to explicitly disclose wherein each of said N number of drive circuits has a state setting operable to switch between a transmission state and a non-transmission state with respect to signal transmission between said input terminal and said output terminal thereof; wherein, for each of said N number of drive circuits, when the setting of the assigned address of said drive circuit is completed, the state setting of said drive circuit is in the transmission state.
Chu, in the same field of endeavor, discloses wherein each of said N number of drive circuits has a state setting operable to switch between a transmission state and a non-transmission state with respect to signal transmission between said input terminal and said output terminal thereof [paragraph 19]; wherein, for each of said N number of drive circuits, when the setting of the assigned address of said drive circuit is completed, the state setting of said drive circuit is in the transmission state [paragraph 19]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the features of Chu into the device of Wei et al. to ensure the command packet is received at the proper designation as taught by Chu.
With respect to claim 10, Wei et al., as modified above, discloses wherein the command signal is a brightness control signal, the brightness control signal including the data packet that is a brightness data packet, the brightness data packet including X number of brightness data piece(s) that correspond respectively to the X number of destination address(es) that is(are) the target address(es) of brightness control [paragraphs 34 and 38].
With respect to claim 11, Wei et al., as modified above, discloses wherein said X number of said N number of drive circuits are configured to generate and output, based on the brightness data piece(s), currents to corresponding one(s) of LED groups [paragraphs 34 and 38].
With respect to claim 12, Wei et al., as modified above, discloses the device as recited in claim 9 above. Wei et al. fails to disclose wherein when the state setting of said drive circuit is in the transmission state, a signal outputted by said output terminal of the drive circuit is received from said input terminal of said drive circuit, and has content identical to content of a signal inputted into said input terminal of said drive circuit.
Chu discloses wherein when the state setting of said drive circuit is in the transmission state, a signal outputted by said output terminal of the drive circuit is received from said input terminal of said drive circuit, and has content identical to content of a signal inputted into said input terminal of said drive circuit [paragraph 19]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the features of Chu into the device of Wei et al. to ensure the command packet is received at the proper designation as taught by Chu.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
With regards to dependent claim 6, the prior art fails to teach or reasonably suggest a control system for a light emitting device comprising a multiplexer electrically connected to said decoder unit and said output terminal of the first one of said N number of drive circuits; wherein said address control logic unit is configured to perform an automatic address setting operation to set the assigned address of the first one of said N number of drive circuits based on the preset starting address, to generate a setting address for a second one of said N number of drive circuits, to packetize the setting address for the second one of said N number of drive circuits to generate a first serial address output signal, and to transmit the first serial address output signal to said multiplexer; and wherein said decoder unit is configured to, upon receiving the address setting signal from said control terminal, cause said multiplexer to select the first serial address output signal received from said address control logic unit to be transmitted to said output terminal of the first one of said N number of drive circuits.
Dependent claims 7 and 8 are objected to by virtue of its dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wu US20230343274 discloses a display device
Zheng et al. US11189220 discloses a display device
Peng US20120098444 shows a driving apparatus for light-emitting diode current lamp
Loomis US9739431 shows light-string system
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ALEXANDER H. TANINGCO
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2844
/ALEXANDER H TANINGCO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2844