DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 § 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.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) 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.
Regarding Claim 3, at Lines 1 – 2 of said claim, the recitation “the number of the touch subregions” does not have antecedent basis because the antecedent basis provided by Claim 2 has been deleted. The Examiner recommends changing “the number of the touch subregions” to - - a number of the touch subregions - - to regain the antecedent basis that was provided by Claim 2.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1 and 5 – 18 are allowable over the prior art of record for reasoning reflected in the history of prosecution of the instant application. Claim 3 would be allowable over the prior art of record if amended as recommended above by the Examiner.
Response to Applicants Amendments and Arguments
Applicants amendments and arguments filed February 03, 2026 have been fully considered.
First, the amendments to each of Claims 5 – 8 and 10 have overcome the rejections of Claims 5 – 11 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as set forth and made of record in the Office Action mailed November 04, 2025.
Second, the amendments to each of Claims 1, 14, and 17 have overcome the rejections of Claims 1 – 3 and 12 – 18 as set forth and made of record in the Office Action mailed November 04, 2025.
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 BRIAN M BUTCHER whose telephone number is (571)270-5575. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday from 6:30 AM to 3:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Ke Xiao, can be reached at (571) 272 - 7776. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRIAN M BUTCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627 March 17, 2026