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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 2-3 and 5-11 are currently pending in this application.
Claim 4 has been canceled.
Claims 9-11 have been added.
Response to Amendments
The applicant amended independent claim 2 to include allowable subject matter of canceled claim 4.
The applicant amended the title of the specification to “Foldable Display Device comprising a Plurality of Display Regions” and the objection to the title has been withdrawn.
The applicant amended the specification to include the “Cross-reference to related applications” section and the objection to the specification has been withdrawn.
TERMINAL DISCLAIMER
The terminal disclaimer filed on December 29, 2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Patent No. 11,983,793 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on December 29, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
R1. The applicant added new claims 9-11 and argued that the prior arts of records do not disclose the features of the new claims.
The examiner disagrees respectfully. The reference of Rothkopf is interpreted to teach the features of the new claims. For details, please see the rejections to the claims below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rothkopf et al. (2013/0010405; IDS).
Regarding claim 9, Rothkopf teaches a display device (e.g., FIG. 2 is a side view of an illustrative electronic device with a flexible display and a hinge formed using a three-bar linkage arrangement in which the flexible display has been placed in a planar configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Rothkopf: [0011] L.4-11 and Fig. 2; reproduced below for reference.
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Similarly for four-bar linkage device as shown in Fig. 10) comprising:
a display panel (e.g., bending display 14; Rothkopf: [0063] L.8); and
a first support, a second support, and a third support which support the display panel (e.g., When portions 12A and 12B are folded together, the outer surface of the portion of display 14 that is supported by housing portion 12A faces the outer surface of the portion of display 14 that is supported by housing portion 12B. Rothkopf: [0045] L.1-4. Hinge 26 may, in general, be implemented using a two-bar linkage, a three-bar linkage, a four-bar linkage, or a linkage involving more than four bars. Combinations of these linkages may also be used in forming flexible connecting structures between separate housing portions such as housing portions 12A and 12B (and, if desired, one or more additional housing portions). Rothkopf: [0043] L.4-10 and Fig. 2. It is obvious that the display panel is supported with housing portion 12A (first support), housing portion 12B (second support) and the hinge 26 (third support)),
wherein, when the display device is folded, a display surface of the display panel faces inward (e.g., When portions 12A and 12B are folded together, the outer surface of the portion of display 14 that is supported by housing portion 12A faces the outer surface of the portion of display 14 that is supported by housing portion 12B. The outer surface of display 14 is therefore protected from undesired contact, as shown in the folded arrangement of FIG. 3. Rothkopf: [0045] L.1-6 and Fig. 3; reproduced below for reference.
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),
wherein the display panel comprises a first region, a second region on a back surface side of the first region and overlapping with the first region, and a third region between the first region and the second region (e.g., To accommodate sliding motion of display 14 (e.g., into and out of the page in the orientation of FIG. 7), a layer of low-friction material 70 may be placed between display 14 and the outermost surface of housing 12. For example, housing 12 may have a planar surface such as planar surface 71 that may be formed form a layer of plastic or metal. To reduce the friction that display 14 might otherwise exhibit, low-friction material 70 may be interposed between surface 71 and display 14. Material 70 may be formed from one or more coating layers on housing 12, a layer of low-friction polymer such as a sheet of polytetrafluoroethylene, etc. Rothkopf: [0056] and Fig. 7; reproduced below for reference.
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Therefore, the display 14 is taken as a first region, the outermost surface of housing 12 (planar surface 71) is taken as a second region and the material 70 is the third region used to reduce the friction between the display 14 and the housing 12),
wherein the first region comprises a first display region, a second display region, and a third display region between the first display region and the second display region (e.g., When portions 12A and 12B are rotated in directions 42 of FIG. 2, housing portions 12A and 12B may be placed in a back-to-back configuration of the type shown in FIG. 4. In this type of configuration, part of display 14 may be exposed on the outer surface of housing structure 12A and part of display 14 may be exposed on the outer surface of housing structures 12B (i.e., the display surface on housing portion 12A is oriented back to back with respect to the display surface on housing portion 12B). Rothkopf: [0046]. If, however, device 10 is placed into the position shown in FIG. 4, bent portion 44 of display will cover a height H along dimension Z. During the process of moving device 10 from the configuration of FIG. 3 into the configuration of FIG. 4, one or both ends 51 of display 41 may be permitted to slide along dimension X in direction 50 to accommodate the extra height H. Rothkopf: [0048] L.12-18 and Fig. 4 (similarly for display with four-bar linkage device as shown in Fig. 11); reproduced below for reference.
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Therefore, the first display region is part of display 14 on the surface of housing 12A (first support), the second display region is part of display 14 on the surface of housing 12B (second support) and the third display region is the bent portion 44 which is a region between display region over surface of 12A and display region over surface of 12B. The display region refers to the display portion in each region),
wherein the first support is on a back surface side of the first display region and overlaps with the first display region (It can be seen from Figs. 2 and 4 that the first support (housing 12A) is on the back side of and overlaps the first display region (part of the display 14 on the housing 12A)),
wherein the second support is on a back surface side of the second display region and overlaps with the second display region (It can be seen from Figs. 2 and 4 that the second support (housing 12B) is on the back side of and overlaps the second display region (part of the display 14 on the housing 12B)),
wherein the third support has a flexibility (e.g., FIG. 3 is a side view of an illustrative electronic device with a flexible display and a hinge formed using a three-bar linkage arrangement in which the flexible display has been placed in a face-to-face configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Rothkopf: [0012]. FIG. 3 is a side view of an illustrative electronic device with a flexible display and a hinge formed using a three-bar linkage arrangement in which the flexible display has been placed in a face-to-face configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Rothkopf: [0013]. Hinge 26 may be based on a flexible material (e.g., a sheet of flexible polymer or metal), may be based on a single-shaft mechanism, may be based on a two-shaft mechanism, may be based on a three-shaft mechanism, or may use four or more shafts (i.e., pins or other structures that support rotational motion about a rotational axis) for allowing housing members 12A and 12B to move relative to one another. Rothkopf: [0042] L.1-7. Therefore, the hinge provides the flexibility such that the flexible display can be configured in a face-to-face configuration and back-to-back configuration),
wherein the third support is positioned on a back surface of the display panel (It can be seen from Fig. 2 that the combination of housing 12A (first support), 12B (second support) and the hinge (third support) is on the back side of the display panel 14),
wherein the first support is bonded to the third support (e.g., In the example of FIG. 2, hinge 26 has a central member 28 that has two associated shafts. Shaft 30 is attached between hinge member 28 and housing portion 12A. Hinge member 28 is attached to housing portion 12B by shaft 32. The structures for forming shafts such as shafts 30 and 32 may be formed from pins, cylindrical rods, or other suitable rotational axis mechanisms for supporting rotational motion about a rotational axis. Rothkopf: [0042] L.7-15),
wherein the second support is bonded to the third support (e.g., In the example of FIG. 2, hinge 26 has a central member 28 that has two associated shafts. Shaft 30 is attached between hinge member 28 and housing portion 12A. Hinge member 28 is attached to housing portion 12B by shaft 32. The structures for forming shafts such as shafts 30 and 32 may be formed from pins, cylindrical rods, or other suitable rotational axis mechanisms for supporting rotational motion about a rotational axis. Rothkopf: [0042] L.7-15),
wherein, when the display device is not folded, the third support has a region overlapping with each of the first display region, the second display region, and the third display region (Comparing Figs. 2 and 4, when the device is folded (Fig. 4), the third region has a height H and when the device is not folded (Fig. 2), the third region has a width W, the difference of (H-W) is the region overlapping with the display region over housing 12A and 12B),
wherein the third region has a region not overlapping with the third support (It can be seen from Fig. 4 that the third region has a height H which covers the hinge 26 (third support) and portions of thickness of housing 12A and 12B. The portions of housing 12A and 12B are not overlapping the hinge 26),
wherein, when the display device is folded, each of the third display region and the third region has a curved region (It can be seen from Fig. 4 that the third region is a curved region (region that is not overlapping with the surface of housing 12A and housing 12B. This curved region is more obvious for a hinge with four-bar linkage as shown in Fig. 11; reproduced below for reference.
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It is obvious that the friction reduction material placed behind display 14 follows the display 14 to have a curved region at the edge side under the third display region), and
wherein, when the display device is not folded, the third region has the curved region (It can be seen from Fig. 2 that when the device is not folded, the third region is be maintained behind display 14 as shown in Fig. 11, the housings 12A and 12B are not folding, the curved region becomes unfolded and covers the gap between housings 12A and 12B so that the viewer can see the three display regions from one side (view)).
Regarding claim 10, Rothkopf teaches the display device according to claim 9,
wherein, when the display device is folded, a center of curvature of the third display region is positioned on a display surface side of the display device (e.g., When portions 12A and 12B are folded together, the outer surface of the portion of display 14 that is supported by housing portion 12A faces the outer surface of the portion of display 14 that is supported by housing portion 12B. The outer surface of display 14 is therefore protected from undesired contact, as shown in the folded arrangement of FIG. 3. When folded into the configuration of FIG. 3, bent portion 44 of display 14 may be exhibit a bend radius of about 1 mm (e.g., 4 mm or less, 3 mm or less, 2 mm or less, 1 mm or less, or 0.5 mm or less, as examples). Configurations of the type shown in FIG. 3 are sometimes referred to as face-to-face configurations, because active surface portions of display 14 are face to face with each other. Rothkopf: [0045] L.1-6 and Fig. 3. It can be seen that the center of curvature of the third display region is on the display surface side of the display device folded in face-to-face configuration), and
wherein, when the display device is folded, a center of curvature of the third region is positioned on a back surface of the display surface side of the display device (e.g., FIG. 11 is a side view of an illustrative electronic device of the type shown in FIG.10 that has a flexible display and a hinge that is based on a four-bar linkage in which the device housing has been manipulated to place the display in a back-to-back configuration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Rothkopf: [0020] and Fig. 11. It can be seen from Fig. 11 that the third region (the four-bar linkage hinge) has a center of curvature on the back side of the display device).
Regarding claim 11, Rothkopf teaches the display device according to claim 9, wherein the second region has a terminal portion (e.g., Device 10 may include internal components 36. Components 36 may include electrical components such as display driver circuitry, one or more batteries, sensors, microphones, speakers, integrated circuits, microprocessors, power management units, radio-frequency transceiver circuitry, baseband processor circuitry, discrete components such as capacitors, resistors, and inductors, switches, vibrators, connectors, printed circuit boards, wires, transmission lines, and other electrical devices. Components 36 may be mounted on one or more substrates such as substrates 34. Substrates 34 may include rigid printed circuit boards (e.g., boards formed from fiberglass-filled epoxy such as FR4 printed circuit boards on which patterned metal traces have been formed), flexible printed circuit boards (e.g., "flex circuits" formed form sheets of polymer such as polyimide on which patterned conductive traces have been formed), rigid flex (e.g., boards with both rigid portions and flex circuit tails), plastic carriers, or other substrates. Interconnect paths such as paths 38 may be used to interconnect components 36 with each other and with components such as display 14. Interconnect paths 38 may include flex circuits (e.g., traces on flex circuits that form signal paths), wires, cables, traces on rigid printed circuit boards and other substrates, or other suitable conductive paths. Using interconnect paths 38, signals may be routed between respective components 36 and signals may be routed from between components 36 and display 14. For example, signals from a display driver integrated circuit may be routed to display pixels and traces in display 14. Rothkopf: [0041]. Therefore, terminals are provided for connecting display 14 to printed circuit boards (FR4) through interconnect paths 38 with components 36).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 and 5-8 are allowed.
Claim 2 is amended to incorporate allowable subject matter, as indicated in the previous Office Action, of canceled claim 4 and the claim is allowed.
Claims 3 and 5-8 are dependent from claim 2 and they are allowed.
Conclusion
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 SING-WAI WU whose telephone number is (571)270-5850. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am - 5:30pm (Central Time).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kee Tung can be reached at 571-272-7794. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SING-WAI WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2611