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 07/29/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-5, 8-14, 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Watanabe 2015/0116389.
Regarding claim 1, Watanabe discloses a method of operating a liquid crystal display (LCD 16) panel of a consumer appliance, the method comprising [FIG 1]: directing illumination of a static image region (via backlight control signal generator unit 28) of the LCD panel at an operational brightness level [abstract] [012-14] [049]; detecting a low-power condition (brightness needs to be adjusted) [064]; and directing deviated illumination of the static image region at a reduced brightness level (backlight local dimming function, BLD, 44] for a low-power state based on the detected low-power condition [64-67] [74-80].
Regarding claim 2, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Watanabe further discloses directing illumination of the static image region of the LCD panel at the operational brightness level comprises directing uniform illumination across the LCD panel [049].
Regarding claim 3, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Watanabe further discloses directing illumination of the static image region of the LCD panel at the operational brightness level comprises directing illumination of each light source of the LCD panel [047].
Regarding claim 4, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Watanabe further discloses the LCD panel comprises a total panel set of a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) [047], wherein directing illumination of the static image region of the LCD panel at the operational brightness level comprises directing activation of an operational number of LEDs of the total panel set [047] [050], and wherein directing deviated illumination of the static image region at the reduced brightness level comprises directing activation of a reduced number of LEDs of the total panel set, the reduced number of LEDs being less than the operational number such that fewer LEDs of the LCD panel set are active at the reduced brightness level than the operational brightness level [74-80, particularly par 75].
Regarding claim 5, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Watanabe further discloses directing deviated illumination of the static image region at the reduced brightness level comprises directing a gradual brightness reduction from the operational brightness level to the reduced brightness level [FIG 4] [74-80].
Regarding claim 8, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Watanabe further discloses the LCD panel comprises a total panel set of a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), wherein directing deviated illumination of the static image region at the reduced brightness level comprises varying activation of two or more LEDs of the panel set according to a variable low-power scheme during the low-power state [072-80].
Regarding claim 9, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Watanabe further discloses the variable low-power scheme comprises a variation trigger (different illumination determination 46), and wherein the method comprises detecting a variation-trigger event to prompt varying activation of the two or more LEDs [072-76].
Regarding claim 10, Watanabe discloses An appliance user interface panel of a consumer appliance comprising: a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel (LCD 16) mounted on a body panel of the consumer appliance, the LCD panel comprising a panel set of light sources (LEDS) [abstract][19-20]; and a controller (LCD control unit 24)operably coupled to the panel set, the controller being configured to initiate a display operation [FIG 1][44-52], the display operation comprising directing illumination of a static image region of the LCD panel at an operational brightness level, detecting a low-power condition (brightness of room) [44], and directing deviated illumination of the static image region at a reduced brightness level for a low-power state based on the detected low-power condition [064-67] [74-80].
Regarding claim 11, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 10. Watanabe further discloses directing illumination of the static image region of the LCD panel at the operational brightness level comprises directing uniform illumination across the LCD panel [049].
Regarding claim 12, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 10. Watanabe further discloses directing illumination of the static image region of the LCD panel at the operational brightness level comprises directing illumination of each light source of the LCD panel [047].
Regarding claim 13, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 10. Watanabe further discloses the LCD panel comprises a total panel set of a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) [047], wherein directing illumination of the static image region of the LCD panel at the operational brightness level comprises directing activation of an operational number of LEDs of the total panel set [047] [050], and wherein directing deviated illumination of the static image region at the reduced brightness level comprises directing activation of a reduced number of LEDs of the total panel set, the reduced number of LEDs being less than the operational number such that fewer LEDs of the LCD panel set are active at the reduced brightness level than the operational brightness level [74-80, particularly par 75].
Regarding claim 14, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 10. Watanabe further discloses directing deviated illumination of the static image region at the reduced brightness level comprises directing a gradual brightness reduction from the operational brightness level to the reduced brightness level [FIG 4] [74-80].
Regarding claim 17, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 10. Watanabe further discloses the LCD panel comprises a total panel set of a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs), wherein directing deviated illumination of the static image region at the reduced brightness level comprises varying activation of two or more LEDs of the panel set according to a variable low-power scheme during the low-power state [072-80].
Regarding claim 18, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 10. Watanabe further discloses the variable low-power scheme comprises a variation trigger (different illumination determination 46), and wherein the method comprises detecting a variation-trigger event to prompt varying activation of the two or more LEDs [072-76].
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.
Claims 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe 2015/0116389 in view of Hong et al. 10,191,655.
Regarding claim 6, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 5. However, Watanabe fails to disclose directing the gradual brightness reduction comprises transmitting a plurality of sequentially-decreasing brightness-level signals to a panel set of light sources of the LCD panel. Hong discloses directing the gradual brightness reduction comprises transmitting a plurality of sequentially-decreasing brightness-level signals to a panel set of light sources of the LCD panel [ claim 1]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, as Hong discloses, “Due to the functional support and improvement of mobile terminals and the enhancement of multimedia functions, the size of the display unit has increased and the image quality has also increased to have high-resolution, thereby requiring a lot of power consumption to drive the display unit of the mobile terminal.
In general, when the display unit is activated, the entire screen thereof may be activated to consume substantially constant power all the time. Accordingly, there is a drawback of increasing the power consumption of a battery as increasing the active period of time.
Furthermore, the brightness of the display unit may be adjusted as a whole, thereby resulting in unnecessary power consumption.” [ col 1. L. 45-58].
Regarding claim 15, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 14. However, Watanabe fails to disclose directing the gradual brightness reduction comprises transmitting a plurality of sequentially-decreasing brightness-level signals to a panel set of light sources of the LCD panel. Hong discloses directing the gradual brightness reduction comprises transmitting a plurality of sequentially-decreasing brightness-level signals to a panel set of light sources of the LCD panel [ claim 1]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, as Hong discloses, “Due to the functional support and improvement of mobile terminals and the enhancement of multimedia functions, the size of the display unit has increased and the image quality has also increased to have high-resolution, thereby requiring a lot of power consumption to drive the display unit of the mobile terminal.
In general, when the display unit is activated, the entire screen thereof may be activated to consume substantially constant power all the time. Accordingly, there is a drawback of increasing the power consumption of a battery as increasing the active period of time.
Furthermore, the brightness of the display unit may be adjusted as a whole, thereby resulting in unnecessary power consumption.” [ col 1. L. 45-58].
Claims 7 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watanabe 2015/0116389 in view of Sugiyama 2023/0041166.
Regarding claim 7, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 5. However, Watanabe fails to disclose directing the gradual brightness reduction comprises reducing voltage at a panel set of light sources of the LCD panel.
Sugiyama discloses directing the gradual brightness reduction comprises reducing voltage at a panel set of light sources of the LCD panel [019-20]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, as Sugiyama discloses, benefits of power consumption by proper voltage monitoring , “To prevent the above problems, the liquid crystal display device maybe stopped safely when the power supply voltage becomes lower than a predefined threshold. However, when the voltage drops according to the current supplied to the LEDs and the power supply voltage becomes lower than the predefined threshold, the backlight is temporally turned off and the power supply voltage recovers its original value. Accordingly, the power supply voltage becomes greater than the threshold and the backlight is turned on again and the power supply voltage drops again. This turns off the backlight again. This procedure is repeatedly performed and the backlight is turned on and off repeatedly in a periodical manner” [006].
Regarding claim 16, Watanabe discloses all of the limitations of claim 14. However, Watanabe fails to disclose directing the gradual brightness reduction comprises reducing voltage at a panel set of light sources of the LCD panel.
Sugiyama discloses directing the gradual brightness reduction comprises reducing voltage at a panel set of light sources of the LCD panel [019-20]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, as Sugiyama discloses, benefits of power consumption by proper voltage monitoring , “To prevent the above problems, the liquid crystal display device maybe stopped safely when the power supply voltage becomes lower than a predefined threshold. However, when the voltage drops according to the current supplied to the LEDs and the power supply voltage becomes lower than the predefined threshold, the backlight is temporally turned off and the power supply voltage recovers its original value. Accordingly, the power supply voltage becomes greater than the threshold and the backlight is turned on again and the power supply voltage drops again. This turns off the backlight again. This procedure is repeatedly performed and the backlight is turned on and off repeatedly in a periodical manner” [006].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ASIFA HABIB whose telephone number is (571)270-7032. The examiner can normally be reached 10-4:30pm.
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, Steve Paik can be reached at 571-272-2404. 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.
/ASIFA HABIB/Examiner, Art Unit 2876
/STEVEN S PAIK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2876