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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/19/2024 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The abstract is consistent with the requirements set forth in the MPEP 608.01(b).
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: TOUCH-SENSITIVE ASSEMBLY WITH SMALL THICKNESS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A TOUCH-SENSITIVE ASSEMBLY
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 1 recites “the touch-sensitive according to claim 2.” The word “arrangement” is missing and should be “the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 2.” Appropriate correction is required.
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 6-8, 11 and 13 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.
Claims 6-7 recite the limitation "wherein a detection area of the first number N of detection areas" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because it is unclear if the “a detection area” recited in claims 6 and 7 are the same or different from the “a detection area” recited in claim 1 which claims 6 and 7 are dependent on. For proper antecedence and for examination purposes, the limitation is interpreted as "wherein [[a]] the detection area of the first number N of detection areas." Appropriate correction is required. Claim 8 recites the limitation "the connection line distance" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because there is no previous mention of a connection line distance in the claims. For proper antecedence and for examination purposes, the limitation is interpreted as " a connection line distance" Appropriate correction is required. Claim 11 recites the limitation "a detection area of the first number N of detection areas" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because it is unclear if the “a detection area” recited in claim 11 is the same or different from the “a detection area” recited in claim 1 which claim 11is dependent on. For proper antecedence and for examination purposes, the limitation is interpreted as "[[a]] the detection area of the first number N of detection areas." Appropriate correction is required. Claim 13 recites the limitation "the photo sensor” in lines 6-7, separately. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim because there is no previous mention of a photo sensor in the claims. The claim previously recites “at least one photo sensor,” therefore, for proper antecedence and for examination purposes, the limitation is interpreted as “the at least one photo sensor.” Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(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.
Claims 1-2, 5-7, 9-11 and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Den Boer et al. US PGPub. 2017/0068362. Regarding claim 1, Den Boer teaches a touch-sensitive arrangement (10, fig. 5 and 13) [0058], [0074] comprising a carrier (20, fig. 5) [0093], an electrode layer (70, fig. 2, 13) [0058], at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40, fig. 5) [0058] and an encapsulation layer (cover 30, fig. 5) [0060], wherein the electrode layer (70) is arranged between [0060] the carrier (20) and the encapsulation layer (30) and comprises a first number N (5 per row, shown in fig. 13) of detection areas (touch sensing chiplets area 44, fig. 13; hereinafter called 44’) [0074] and a second number M (5 per row, shown in fig. 13) of illuminating areas (areas of the LEDs 40, fig. 2 and 13; hereinafter called 44’) [0058], wherein a detection area (44’) of the first number N of detection areas comprises a first electrode (80, fig. 13) [0076], wherein an illuminating area (40’) of the second number M of illuminating areas comprises a first (top line 70, fig. 1 and 13; hereinafter called 70T) and a second contact connection line (bottom line 70, fig. 1 and 13; hereinafter called 70B), and wherein the first contact connection line (70T) is coupled to a first terminal (top 42, fig. 2; hereinafter called 42T) [0058] of the at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40) and the second contact connection line (70B) is coupled to a second terminal (bottom 42, fig. 2; hereinafter called 42B) [0058] of the at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40) (Den Boer et al., fig. 2, 5 and 13).
Regarding claim 2, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the electrode layer (70; fig. 13) comprises connection lines (connection lines 70 connected to the touch chiplets 44 have both vertical and horizontal lines like a grid; fig. 13; hereinafter called 70-44) arranged as a grid (Den Boer et al., fig. 13).
Regarding claim 5, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the first electrode (70) comprises a third number L (3, fig. 13) of parallel connection lines (70-44), and where the third number L is greater than 1 (Den Boer et al., fig. 13).
Regarding claim 6, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 1, wherein a detection area (44’) of the first number N of detection areas comprises the first electrode (80, fig. 13) and a second electrode (84, fig. 113) [0076] and the first electrode (80) and the second electrode (84) have a distance (fig. 13) from each other (Den Boer et al., fig. 13, [0076]).
Regarding claim 7, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 6, wherein a detection area (44’) of the first number N of detection areas is arranged such that an electric field between the first electrode (80) and the second electrode (84) protrudes from the encapsulation layer (30) (Den Boer et al., fig. 13). Since the first (80) and the second electrode (84) will inherently have an electric field when the device is connected to a power supply and the electrode are on or within [0060] the encapsulation layer (30), then the electric field will inherently protrude from the encapsulation layer where the electrode are.
Regarding claim 9, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 6, wherein the first electrode (80) and the second electrode (84) form an interdigital capacitor [0070] (Den Boer et al., [0070]).
Regarding claim 10, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 6, wherein the first electrode (80) and the second electrode (84) are arranged parallel to one another and in a meandering manner (fig. 13, [0070]) (Den Boer et al., fig. 13, [0070]).
Regarding claim 11, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the touch-sensitive arrangement comprises a detection circuit (touch sensing chiplets 44, fig. 13) [0074] coupled to the first electrode (80) of a detection area (44’) of the first number N of detection areas and configured to detect [0074] an approach of an object to the first electrode (80) (Den Boer et al., fig. 13, [0074]).
Regarding claim 14, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the carrier (20) is realized as a film [0093] and the encapsulation layer (30) is realized as a cover film [0060] (Den Boer et al., fig. 5, [0060], [0093]).
Regarding claim 15, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the touch-sensitive arrangement comprises an intermediate layer (32, fig. 5) [0066] which is electrically insulating (OCA, [0066]), is arranged on a (bottom) first side at the electrode layer (70; 70 being on or in 30) and the at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40) and is arranged on a second (bottom) side at the encapsulation layer (30) (Den Boer et al., fig. 5).
Regarding claim 16, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 1, wherein a semiconductor body (40, fig. 5) [0066] of the at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40) has a thickness of less than 300 μm (50 μm, [0066]) (Den Boer et al., fig. 5, [0066]).
Regarding claim 17, Den Boer teaches the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40) is realized as a micro-LED [0066] (Den Boer et al., fig., 5, [0066]).
Regarding claim 18, Den Boer teaches a device, comprising a touch-sensitive arrangement (fig. 5) according to claim 1 and an element from a group comprising a steering wheel of a vehicle, a dashboard of a vehicle, a control console of a vehicle, a device of mobile communication, a computer (e-reader, [0003]), a control console of a household appliance, a control console of a device of an industrial plant, a control console of a locking device, a control console of a toy and a window pane, wherein the touch-sensitive arrangement is integrated in the element or applied to the element (Den Boer et al., [0003]).
Regarding claim 19, Den Boer teaches a method for producing a touch-sensitive arrangement (10, fig. 5 and 13) [0058], [0074], comprising: providing a carrier (20, fig. 5) [0093], applying an electrode layer (70, fig. 2, 13) [0058], to the carrier (20), applying at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40, fig. 5) [0058] to the electrode layer (70), and applying an encapsulation layer (cover 30, fig. 5) [0060], wherein the electrode layer (70) comprises a first number N (5 per row, shown in fig. 13) of detection areas (touch sensing chiplets area 44, fig. 13; hereinafter called 44’) [0074] and a second number M (5 per row, shown in fig. 13) of illuminating areas (areas of the LEDs 40, fig. 2 and 13; hereinafter called 44’) [0058], wherein a detection area (44’) of the first number N of detection areas (44) comprises a first electrode (80, fig. 13) [0076], wherein an illuminating area (40’) of the second number M of illuminating areas (40’) comprises a first (top line 70, fig. 1 and 13; hereinafter called 70T) and a second contact connection line (bottom line 70, fig. 1 and 13; hereinafter called 70B), and wherein the first contact connection line (70T) is coupled to a first terminal (top 42, fig. 2; hereinafter called 42T) [0058] of the light-emitting semiconductor body (40) and the second contact connection line (70B) is coupled to a second terminal (bottom 42, fig. 2; hereinafter called 42B) [0058] of the light-emitting semiconductor body (40) (Den Boer et al., fig. 2, 5 and 13).
Regarding claim 20, Den Boer teaches a touch-sensitive arrangement (10, fig. 5 and 13) [0058], [0074] comprising a carrier (20, fig. 5) [0093], an electrode layer (70, fig. 2, 13) [0058], at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40, fig. 5) [0058] and an encapsulation layer (cover 30, fig. 5) [0060], wherein the electrode layer (70) is arranged between the carrier (20) and the encapsulation layer (30) and comprises a first number N (5 per row, shown in fig. 13) of detection areas (touch sensing chiplets area 44, fig. 13; hereinafter called 44’) [0074] and a second number M (5 per row, shown in fig. 13) of illuminating areas (areas of the LEDs 40, fig. 2 and 13; hereinafter called 44’) [0058], wherein a detection area (44’) of the first number N of detection areas (44’) comprises a first electrode (80, fig. 13) [0076], wherein an illuminating area (40’) of the second number M of illuminating areas (40’) comprises a first (top line 70, fig. 1 and 13; hereinafter called 70T) and a second contact connection line (bottom line 70, fig. 1 and 13; hereinafter called 70B), wherein the first contact connection line (70T) is coupled to a first terminal (top 42, fig. 2; hereinafter called 42T) [0058] of the at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40) and the second contact connection line (70B) is coupled to a second terminal(bottom 42, fig. 2; hereinafter called 42B) [0058] of the at least one light-emitting semiconductor body (40), and wherein the carrier (20) is realized as a film [0093] and the encapsulation layer (30) is realized as a cover film [0060] (Den Boer et al., fig. 2, 5 and 13).
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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Den Boer et al. US PGPub. 2017/0068362 as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Zheng et al. US PGPub. 2017/0090664. Regarding claim 3, Den Boar does not teach the touch-sensitive arrangement according to claim 2, wherein a width of a connection line (70-44) of the grid is in a range between 0.5 μm and 20 μm.
However, Zheng teaches a touch sensitive arrangement (700, fig. 7) [0062]wherein a width of a connection line (720, fig. 7) [0067] of the grid (fig. 7) is in a range between 0.5 μm and 20 μm (2.5-3 μm, [0067]) (Zheng et al., fig. 7, [0067]). At the time before the effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art to combine the teaching of Den Boer with that of Zheng by using the width of the connection lines of the grid as taught by Zhen in the range as claimed in order to prevent the lines from influencing the light transmittance of the device (Zheng et al., [0067]), because it has been held that where the general conditions of the claims are discloses in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable range by routine experimentation. See MPEP 2144.05.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 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 arts of record taken alone or in combination neither anticipates nor renders obvious a touch-sensitive arrangement wherein “a connection line distance of two parallel connection lines of the grid is in a range between 30 μm and 300 μm” as recited in claim 4 in combination with the rest of the limitations of claims 1-2; and
a touch-sensitive arrangement wherein “the at least one light-emitting semiconductor body is arranged between the encapsulation layer and the electrode layer” as recited in claim 12 in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 1;
Claims 8 and 13 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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 arts of record taken alone or in combination neither anticipates nor renders obvious a touch-sensitive arrangement wherein “a distance between the first electrode and the second electrode is greater than or equal to the connection line distance” as recited in claim 8 and in combination with the rest of the limitations of claims 1 and 6; and a touch-sensitive arrangement wherein “the touch-sensitive arrangement comprises at least one photo sensor, wherein the electrode layer comprises a sensor area, and wherein the sensor area comprises a first sensor connection line coupled to a first terminal of the photo sensor and a second sensor connection line coupled to a second terminal of the photo sensor” as recited in claim 13 in combination with the rest of the limitations of claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cok US PGPub. 2017/0102797 teaches a touch sensitive arrangement (fig. 1) comprising illuminating devices and touch sensing electrodes.
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/NDUKA E OJEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2892
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