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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim (US 2022/0129129) in view of Chen et al. (US 2023/0140181) and further in view of Hoonbae et al. (GB 2570212).
As to claims 1 and 18, Lim discloses a touch display device (Fig. 1, [0036], comprising: a display panel (Fig. 1, (10) having a plurality of touch electrodes (Fig. 1, (RX, TX)[0036]; a drive circuit (Fig. 1, (210) configured to drive the display panel [0035]; a touch circuit (Fig. 1, (220); detect a position of a stylus relative to the display panel using a downlink signal transmitted from the stylus [0003, 0093]; supply, while operating in a global uplink mode, a global uplink signal to an entirety of the display panel [0080](the first sensor during time period t1 - t2 TX1, TX2, TX3, and TX4 can transmit uplink signals UPl); further, during the first time period, the first sensors TX3 and TX4 can transmit a first inverse signal upl1 relative to the first uplink signal up11, wherein the inverse signal iupl can be a different signal from the uplink signal upl (different phases)[0102, 0105] (The distinction between the display drive cycle and the blank cycle is displayed). and a timing controller (Fig. 2, (11) configured to control the drive circuit (Fig. 1, (210) and the touch circuit (Fig. 1, (220)[0058, 0060].
However, Lin does not specifically disclose supply, during a display-driving period while operating in a local uplink mode, a plurality of local uplink signals to a plurality of regions of the display panel.
Analogous art Chen, discloses a touch display device (Fig. 2, (200) supplying, during a display-driving period while operating in a local uplink mode, a plurality of local uplink signals to a plurality of regions of the display panel [0050]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to apply the area division driving technology of Chen, in the device of Lin, in order to reduce signal interference through area segmentation to improve touch sensing.
Further, Lin, as anticipated by Chen, does not specifically disclose supply, during a blank period while operating in a global uplink mode, a global uplink signal to an entirety of the display panel.
Hoonbae discloses supply, during a blank period [0248, 0249] while operating in a global uplink mode, a global uplink signal to an entirety of the display panel [0251]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to supply the uplink signal to the entire area of the display panel during the blanking period, as taught by Hoonbae, in the device of Lim and Chen, so that the uplink signal may be transmitted from the display panel to the pen without being affected by the display driving [0250].
As to claim 2, Lim discloses, further, a set of first touch electrodes extending in a first direction and arranged in a second direction intersecting the first direction [0048], ("Sensors TX and RX may include first sensors TX and second sensors RX"); and a set of second touch electrodes extending in the second direction and arranged in the first direction [0050}("Each first sensor TX may extend in the first direction DR1. The first sensors TX may be arranged in the second direction DR2"), and [0051]("Each second sensor RX may extend in the second direction DR2 ".); the second sensor RX can be arranged on the first direction DR1; the touch circuit is further configured to: while operating in the global uplink mode, provide the global uplink signal to all the first touch electrodes of the group of first touch electrodes [paragraph 0081]("First sensors TX1, TX2, TX3 and TX4 can transmit uplink signal up1"), and while operating in the regional uplink mode, provide the signal to each region of the regional uplink signal the domain uplink signal is provided to each of the first touch electrode subgroups of the first touch electrode group, and each of the first touch electrode subgroups corresponds to each of the regions [Section 0102]("The first sensors TX1 and TX2 of the first region arla of the sensor section 120 can transmit the first uplink signal upl1").
As to claim 3, Lim discloses that the touch circuit is further configured to provide a single-phase global uplink signal to all the first touch electrodes in the group of first touch electrodes [0080] ("the first sensors TX1, TX2, TX3 and TX4 can transmit the uplink signal upl," and the uplink signal upl corresponds to the global uplink signal described in this section.
As to claim 4, Lim discloses, further, that the first touch electrode of the group extends in one direction [Section 0049] (”Each first sensor TX can extend in the first direction DR1"), and this direction is orthogonal to one of the data lines driven by the driving circuit [0042, 0049]( "Scan line SL and data line DL", wherein the data line is perpendicular to the extension direction of the first sensor).
As to claim 5, Lim, further, discloses that while operating in the global uplink mode , based on the downlink signal transmitted by the stylus , a first local area of the display panel corresponding to the position of the stylus is detected [ 0082, 0083] (“the position signal
pos can be a signal used to specify the position of the first object OBJ1 on the sensor portion 120"); [0106] ("the first object OBJ1 is located in the first area ala").
As to claim 6, Lim, further, discloses the display driver cycle overlaps with a touch driver cycle in which the touch circuit detects the stylus's touch on the display panel [0076] ("for display") (The signal displayed by part 110 is generated in the entire frame time period t.1-t.7 , so the signal can overlap with the first object sensing time period t1-t5 and the second object
sensing time period t6- t7.)
As to claim 7, Lim, further, discloses that while operating in the uplink mode, a first uplink signal with a first phase is applied to a first partial area of the display panel, the first partial area
including the position of the stylus [ 0103] ("The first sensors TX1 and TX2 in the first region arla of the sensor section 120 can transmit a first uplink signal upl1”) wherein the first region arla includes the stylus position; and a second region uplink signal having a second phase is applied to a second local region of the display panel, the second local region being different from the first local region. [ 0103] (" the first sensors TX3 and TX4 in the second region ar2a of the sensor section 120 can transmit the first inverse signal iup11 relative to the first uplink signal upl1 “).
As to Claim 8, further, Lim discloses that the second phase is opposite to the first phase [0105]
("the transition direction of the inverse signal iupl can be opposite to the transition direction of
the corresponding uplink signal upl "); [0106] ("the inverse signal iupl can be the
opposite signal of the uplink signal up1").
As to claim 9, further, Lim discloses that the first partial area and the second partial area extend along a touch drive electrode of one of the touch electrodes in a mutual capacitance-based touch
electrode structure of the display panel. [0102] (" First area arla of sensor section 120, first sensors TX1, TX2", where the first sensor TX is a touch screen.). The drive electrode [0050] ("each first sensor TX can extend in the first direction DR1").
As to claim 10, further, Lim discloses the second partial region is adjacent to one side of the first partial region or adjacent to both sides of the first partial region (Figures 11-14).
As to claim 11, further, Lim discloses that the first partial region and the second partial region have the same dimensions [0103]. ("The first sensors TX1 and TX2 in the first area arla of the sensor section 120 can transmit the first uplink signal upl1,") and have the same number of touch electrodes, that is, the area size is the same.
As to claim 12, further, Lim discloses the first partial area and the second partial area are arranged alternately relative to the position of the stylus. (Figure 14-150).
As to claim 13, further, Lim discloses that while operating in the uplink mode of that region, a third region uplink signal with a third phase is applied to a third local region of the display panel, which is different from the first local region and the second local region [0109](“during the first time period t1b-t2b, the first sensor TX3 in the fifth region ar5b between the first region arlb and the second region ar2b may not transmit the first uplink signal upl1 or the first inverse signal iupl1 In an embodiment, during the first timed during the period from t1b to t2h, the first sensor TX3 period in the fifth region ar5b can transmit the first constant voltage signal nt11").
As to claim 14, further, Lim discloses the third phase is a DC phase [0109] ( "the first
constant voltage signal nt11 can be the signal that maintains the voltage level without transitions and a constant voltage signal is a DC phase”).
As to claim 15, further, Lim discloses that the third partial region is located outside the first partial region or outside the second partial region (Figure 13).
As to claim 16, see claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, and 10.
As to claim 19, see claims 1 and 7.
As to claim 20, see claims 1, 2 and 7.
As to claim 17, further, Lim, as anticipated by Chen, does not specifically disclose that the global uplink signal, the first area uplink signal, or the second area uplink signal, contains a beacon signal or a ping signal.
Hoonbae discloses that the global uplink signal, the first area uplink signal, or the second area uplink signal contains a beacon signal or a ping test signal [0230, 0261, 0262]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have the beacon or ping test signal, as in Hoonbae, in the device of Lim and Chen, since beacon and ping signals are well known in the art of touch display panels since the beacon signal is a control signal for the touch display device 10 to control the driving of the pen 20 or for informing the pen 20 of necessary information, and may include a variety of information necessary for the driving of the pen[0231]. and the ping signal may be a synchronization control signal for synchronization of the downlink signal [0233].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICARDO OSORIO whose telephone number is (571)272-7676. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 AM-5:30 PM.
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, LunYi Lao can be reached at 571-272-7671. 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.
/RICARDO OSORIO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621