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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A1 and B1 (claims 1-12) in the reply filed on 7/17/2026 is acknowledged.
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, 4, and 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cheon et al. (KR 2021-0083018).
Regarding claim 1, Cheon discloses a display device (100, Fig. 1; page 17, para [0035]) comprising:
a display panel (110, Fig. 2; page 19, para [0039]) displaying an image and having light transparency (page 19, para [0039]);
a transparent panel (transparent portion of 101 facing 110, Fig. 2; page 19, para [0038]) facing the display panel (110, Fig. 2);
a side frame (260b, Figs. 2 and 7b; page 67 para [0135]) adjacent to a side edge of the display panel (110, Fig. 2) and elongated along the side edge of the display panel, and coupled to the transparent panel (101, Fig. 2; pages 22-23, para [0045]);
a belt (262, Fig. 8a; page 75, para [0152]) in the side frame (260b, Figs. 2, 7b, 8a), and the belt moving in a longitudinal direction of the side frame (262 moving in a vertical direction, Fig. 8a);
a bar (250, Fig. 8a; page 70, para [0140]) elongated in a direction intersecting the side frame (260, Figs. 2 and 8a), the bar having one end fixed to the belt (262, Fig. 8a);
a rotatable roller (220, Fig. 8a; page 72, para [0145]) adjacent to a lower side connected to the side edge of the display panel (110, Figs. 2 and 8a), the roller (220, Fig. 8a) elongated on the lower side of the display panel (110, Figs. 2 and 8a); and
a cover layer (210, Figs. 2 and 7b; page 70, para [0145]) including one end fixed to the bar (250, Figs. 7b and 8a) and another end coupled to the roller (220, Figs. 7 and 8a; page 70, para [0145]; page 73, para [0147]), such that when the bar moves, the cover layer is wound around or unwound from the roller (Figs. 7b and 8a; page 72, para [0146]).
Regarding claim 2, Cheon discloses a display device with all the limitations of claim 1 above and further discloses:
a lower frame (bottom 260a, Fig. 7b; page 67, para [0135]) elongated along the lower side of the display panel (110, Figs. 2 and 7b) and coupled to the transparent panel (101, Figs. 2 and 7b);
a driving pulley assembly (223, Fig. 9b; page 78, para [0160]) which is rotatably coupled to the lower frame (bottom 260a, Fig. 9b), and around which the belt (262, Fig. 10) is wound; and
an upper pulley (261, Fig. 10; page 82, para [0168]) which is rotatably disposed on the side frame (260b, Fig. 10), and around which the belt (262, Fig. 10) is wound.
Regarding claim 4, Cheon discloses a display device with all the limitations of claim 2 above and further discloses a mount bracket (protruding bracket portion at bottom of 260b covering 223, Figs. 7a and 8a-9b) adjacent to a distal end of the side frame (bottom of 260b, Figs. 7a and 8a-9b) and coupled to the lower frame (bottom 260a, Figs. 7a-7b and 8a-9b),
wherein the mount bracket comprises:
a gear mount (221, Fig. 8; page 76, para [0154]) to which the driving pulley assembly (223, Fig. 9b) is rotatably coupled; and
a motor mount (230, Fig. 8; page 76, para [0154]) extending from the gear mount (221, Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 7, Cheon discloses a display device with all the limitations of claim 2 above and further discloses a S-PCB (145, Fig. 2; page 20, para [0040]) elongated along the lower side of the display panel (110, Fig. 2) and spaced apart from the display panel; and
a COF (141, Fig. 2; page 20, para [0040]) electrically connecting the display panel (110, Fig. 2) and the S-PCB (145, Fig. 2),
wherein the S-PCB is disposed on the lower frame (bottom 260a, Figs. 2 and 7b; page 67, para [0135]).
Regarding claim 8, Cheon discloses a display device with all the limitations of claim 7 above and further disclose a PCB cover (bottom portion of 101 covering PCB 145, Fig. 2) facing the lower frame (bottom 260a, Figs. 2 and 7b) and covering the S-PCB (145, Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 9, Cheon discloses a display device with all the limitations of claim 2 above and further discloses a mount bracket (protruding bracket portion at bottom of 260b covering 223, Figs. 7a and 8a-9b) adjacent to a distal end of the side frame (bottom of 260b, Figs. 7a and 8a-9b) and coupled to the lower frame (bottom 260a, Figs. 7a-7b and 8a-9b),
wherein the mount bracket comprises:
a gear mount (221, Fig. 8; page 76, para [0154]) to which the driving pulley assembly (223, Fig. 9b) is rotatably coupled;
a roller mount (230, Fig. 8; page 76, para [0154]) extending from the gear mount (221, Fig. 8);
wherein the roller mount (230, Fig. 8) has at least one roller hole formed through the roller mount (roller mount 230 has at least one roller hole that receives the gear mount, Fig. 8b).
Regarding claim 10, Cheon discloses a display device with all the limitations of claim 9 above and further discloses wherein the roller (220, Fig. 8b) is rotatably coupled to the at least one roller hole (roller 220 is coupled to the at least one roller hole of 230 via the gear mount 221, Fig. 8b).
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 (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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheon et al. (KR 2021-0083018) in view of Pyo (U.S. 2021/0201716).
Regarding claim 3, Cheon discloses a display device with all the limitations of claim 2 above and further but does not expressly disclose a frame fixer disposed between the side frame (260b, Figs. 10-11 and 14) and the transparent panel (101, Figs. 2, 7a-7b,),
wherein the upper pulley (261, Fig. 10) rotates on a pulley shaft protruding from the frame fixer and extending inside the side frame (260b, Figs. 10-11 and 14). However, Pyo discloses a frame fixer (35, Fig. 21; page 5, para [0075]) that can be coupled to a frame (100, Figs. 12 and 21; page 5, para [0075]) and a pulley shaft (142, Fig. 20; page 5, para [0074]) in order to fix the frame to the pulley shaft.
Therefore, before the time of the effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the frame fixer (Pyo: 35, Figs. 20-21) of Pyo such that the frame fixer is disposed between the side frame (Cheon: 260b, Figs. 10-11 and 14) and the transparent panel (Cheon: 101, Figs. 2, 7a-7b) of Cheon, wherein the upper pulley (Cheon: 261, Fig. 10) rotates on a pulley shaft (Pyo: 142, Fig. 20) protruding from the frame fixer (Pyo: 35, Figs. 20-21) and extending inside the frame (Cheon: 260b, Figs. 10-11 and 14; Pyo: 100, Fig. 21) in order to obtain the benefits of fixing the side frame (Cheon: 260b, Figs. 10-11 and 14), the transparent panel (Cheon: 101, Figs. 2 and 7a-7b), the pulley shaft (Pyo: 142, Fig. 20) as evidenced by Pyo (Figs. 20-21).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 and 11-12 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art as presently searched does not disclose the display device of claim 5 (having all the combination of features including wherein the driving pulley assembly comprises: a lower pulley around which the belt is wound; a pulley shaft providing a rotating axis of the lower pulley; and a bearing positioned next to and coupled to the lower pulley, the bearing having an outer diameter coupled to the gear mount and an inner diameter coupled to the pulley shaft) and does not disclose the display device of claim 11 (having all the combination of features including a guide roller extending in a longitudinal direction of the roller and disposed next to the roller, wherein the roller mount comprises a pair of roller holes to which the roller and the guide roller are coupled, wherein the guide roller contacts the light-shielding film). Claim 6 is objected to as being dependent on claim 5, and claim 12 is objected to as being dependent on claim 11.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL CHANG LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-7923. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael H Caley can be reached at 571-272-2286. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL C LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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