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 .
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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05 May 2026 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 2-8 and 17-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 09 July 2025.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species XII, corresponding to originally filed Claims 1, 15, 16, and 20 in the reply filed on 09 July 2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “one of the pair of electrode portions” instead of “one of the pair of electrode parts” as previously defined in the claims. The examiner assumes that Claim 20 contains typographical errors and is intended to reference the previously defined “one of the pair of electrode parts.” Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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.
Claims 1 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Okayama et al. (hereinafter “Okayama” US 2014 / 0152621).
As pertaining to Claim 1, Okayama discloses (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 10) a touch input device (100; see Fig. 1) comprising a display panel (107; see Page 2, Para. [0054]), comprising (see Fig. 10):
a touch sensor (120) comprising a plurality of first electrodes (Y) and a plurality of second electrodes (X) disposed to cross the plurality of first electrodes (Y); and
a touch controller (110, 124, 125) electrically connected to the plurality of first electrodes (Y) and the plurality of second electrodes (X) and configured to control the touch sensor (120),
wherein each of the plurality of second electrodes (X) comprises a pair of electrode parts (i.e., an upper part and a lower part; see (X11, X12), (X21, X22), etc.), one of the pair of electrode parts (i.e., an upper part; see (X12), (X22), etc.) of a corresponding one of the second electrodes (X) is disposed adjacent to at least one of the electrodes (i.e., see (Y1), (Y2), (Y3)) among the plurality of first electrodes (Y), and the other of the pair of electrode parts (i.e., a lower part; see (X11), (X21), etc.) of the same corresponding one of the second electrodes (X) is disposed so as not to be adjacent to the at least one of the electrodes (again, see (Y1), (Y2), (Y3)) and is disposed so as to be spaced apart from the at least one of the electrodes (i.e., (Y1), (Y2), (Y3)) by a predetermined distance (i.e., see at least the spacing between the upper part of each pair of electrode parts (X12), (X22), etc. and the lower part of each pair of electrode parts (X11), (X21), etc.),
wherein the touch controller (again, see (110, 124, 125)) is configured to:
apply a first driving signal (110) to the one of the pair of electrode parts (i.e., the upper part; see (X12), (X22), etc.) of the corresponding one of the second electrodes (X),
simultaneously apply a second driving signal (110, 125) to the other of the pair of electrode parts (i.e., the lower part; see (X11), (X21), etc.) of the same corresponding one of the second electrodes (X), and
receive sensing signals (i.e., detection signals) from the plurality of first electrodes (Y), and
wherein the first driving signal (110) has the same magnitude as the second driving signal (110, 125) and is 180 degrees inverted in phase with the second driving signal (see (110, 125); and see Page 7, Para. [0105]-[0106]; also see (113, 114, 115) in Fig. 3, implicit but not shown in Fig. 10; and see Page 2 through Page 3, Para. [0059]-[0060], [0062], and [0065]).
As pertaining to Claim 16, Okayama discloses (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 10) that the touch controller (again, see (110, 124, 125); and see (115) in Fig. 3) comprises a driving circuit unit (124) electrically connected to the plurality of second electrodes (X), and
the driving circuit unit (124) comprises a first switch element (see (TSW)) configured to electrically connect or open the pair of electrode parts (i.e., the upper part and the lower part; see (X11, X12), (X21, X22), etc.) of each of the second electrodes (X; again, see Page 7, Para. [0105]-[0106]).
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 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okayama in view of Uehara (US 2022 / 0236831).
As pertaining to Claim 20, Okayama discloses (see Fig. 3 and Fig. 10) that the driving circuit unit (124) further comprises:
a driving driver (see (110));
a second switch element (i.e., see any (SW1) or (SW2)) connected (i.e., electrically) between the driving driver (110) and one of the pair of electrode parts (i.e., the upper part and the lower part; see (X11, X12), (X21, X22), etc.);
a third switch element (i.e., again, see any (SW1) or (SW2); and/or see any (RSW) in (113) of Fig. 3) connected (i.e., electrically) to the one of the pair of electrode portions (i.e., the upper part and the lower part; see (X11, X12), (X21, X22), etc.); and
a receive front end (see (114) in Fig. 3) connected (i.e., electrically) to the third switch element (i.e., again, see any (SW1) or (SW2); and/or see any (RSW) in (113) of Fig. 3; see Page 7, Para. [0105]-[0106] and Page 2 through Page 3, Para. [0062]).
Okayama does not explicitly disclose a driving driver configured to amplify and output the driving signal. Okayama further does not explicitly disclose a receive analog front end connected to the third switch element.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Uehara discloses (see Fig. 4, Fig. 18, and Fig. 22) a touch input device and a display panel (see Page 2, Para. [0033] and [0037]), comprising a touch sensor (100) with a plurality of first electrodes (see (Rx) in Fig. 18) and a plurality of second electrodes (see (Tx) in Fig. 18) disposed to cross the plurality of first electrodes (Rx; see Page 3, Para. [0042], [0044], and [0045]); and a touch controller (see (11, 14, 15, 20, 40) in Fig. 4; see Page 3 through Page 4, Para. [0048]-[0051]), wherein each of the plurality of second electrodes (Tx) comprises a pair of electrode parts (i.e., a left part of (Tx) and a right part of (Tx); see Fig. 18), and wherein the touch controller (again, see (11, 14, 15, 20, 40)) comprises a driving circuit unit (see (SW1, SW2) in Fig. 18) electrically connected to the plurality of second electrodes (Tx), and the driving circuit unit (SW1, SW2) comprises a first switch element (see any (SW1) or (SW2)) configured to electrically connect or open the pair of electrode parts (i.e., a left part of (Tx) and a right part of (Tx)) of each of the second electrodes (Tx), and wherein the driving circuit unit (SW1, SW2) further comprises: a driving driver (see (152) in Fig. 22) configured to amplify and output a driving signal (VTP) for driving the pair of electrode parts (i.e., a left part of (Tx) and a right part of (Tx)); a second switch element (see any (SW1H, SW1L) in Fig. 18) connected between the driving driver (again, see (152) in Fig. 22) and one of the pair of electrode parts (i.e., a left part of (Tx) and a right part of (Tx)); a third switch element (again, see any (SW1H, SW1L) in Fig. 18) connected to the one of the pair of electrode parts (i.e., a left part of (Tx) and a right part of (Tx)); and a receive analog front end (see (40) in Fig. 4) connected to the third switch element (again, see any (SW1H, SW1L) in Fig. 18; and see Page 3, Para. [0050]; Page 8 through Page 9, Para. [0102]-[0107] and [0113]-[0116]; and Page 10 through Page 11, Para. [0130]). It is a goal of Uehara to provide a touch input device that allows for reduced power consumption through a means of selectively coupling and decoupling driving electrodes in the touch input device (see Page 1, Para. [0005]-[0006]). Further, Uehara discloses features of a driving circuit unit that are implicit in the driving circuit unit of Okayama to support that goal.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Okayama with the teachings of Uehara, such that the driving circuit unit of Okayama comprises a driving driver configured to amplify and output the driving signal and a receive analog front end connected to the third switch element, in order to provide a touch input device that allows for reduced power consumption through a means of selectively coupling and decoupling driving electrodes in the touch input device in the manner suggested by Uehara.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. The applicant has argued that none of the references relied upon by the examiner in the prior Office Action, particularly Uehara, teach or fairly suggest the newly recited features of amended independent Claim 1 including the claimed “pair of electrode parts” associated with “each of the plurality of second electrodes” (see Remarks at Pages 7 through 9). This argument is moot in view of the newly relied upon teachings of Okayama as relied upon in the above rejection of Claim 1. The examiner respectfully reiterates that the claimed “electrode parts” are open to broad interpretation and have not been defined in the claims to distinguish over the prior art.
With respect to Claim 16 and 20, the applicant's arguments filed 05 May 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant has argued that the claimed “first switch element” of Claim 16 is distinguished from the “switch elements” of Uehara because the “switch elements” of Uehara “are configured to switch between coupling and decoupling of at least two different drive electrodes…” rather than “two physically divided parts of the same individual electrode” (see Remarks at Page 9). The examiner respectfully points out that there is no claimed physical distinction between “two different drive electrodes” and “two physically divided parts of the same individual electrode.” Therefore, the applicant’s argument is moot. The applicant has further argued that equating the “receive analog front end” of Claim 20 with the analog front end of Uehara, as shown in Figure 4 of Uehara (see (40)), “represents a factual error regarding Uehara’s circuit topology” as the analog front end of Uehara “is electrically coupled only to detection electrodes (Rx), while the switch elements SW1H and SW1L are coupled to the drive electrodes (Tx)” (again, see Remarks at Page 9). The examiner respectfully disagrees. In fact, as described throughout the disclosure of Uehara (see Page 3, Para. [0045]-[0049], for example), the analog front end (40) of Uehara performs a detection function on the “first electrodes” (Rx) while the “second electrodes” (Tx) perform a driving function. Detection signals are received at the analog front end (40) specifically according to the electrical coupling of the “first electrodes” (Rx) and the “second electrodes” (Tx) driven by a “driving signal.” Thus, in the circuit topology of Uehara, the “analog front end” (40) is electrically coupled to the detection electrodes (Rx) and the drive electrodes (Tx), as well as all of the disclosed “switching elements” in order for the detection signals to be received at the analog front end (40).
For at least these reasons, the rejection of Claims 1, 16, and 20 is maintained.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al. (US 2018 / 0329576) and Brown et al. (US 2013 / 0257785) disclose touch sensors comprising electrodes comprising pairs of electrode parts.
(Note that the Brown et al. reference was submitted by the applicant via Information Disclosure Statement on 30 October 2024).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON M MANDEVILLE whose telephone number is (571)270-3136. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 7:30AM-4:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chanh Nguyen can be reached at 571-272-7772. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON M MANDEVILLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2623
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