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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/04/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim 17 is 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.
Claim 17 recites the limitation "each having a display panel operable to present information as visual images under management of a scalar included in each of the plural peripheral display assemblies, each scalar receiving content from the same information handling system" in lines 3-5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 17 further recites the limitation " a non-transitory memory interfaced with the scalar of each of the plural peripheral display assemblies and storing instructions that when executed on the scalar cause the peripheral display assembly that includes that scalar to individually adjust a brightness" in lines 3-5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, for being directly or indirectly dependent on claim 17.
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(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chew et al (US Pub 2021/0056877) in view of YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939) and YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274).
With respect to claim 1, Chew discloses an information handling system (fig. 11; device 100) comprising: a housing (fig. 1; discloses the device 100 includes a structure forming the housing); a processor coupled in the housing and operable to execute instructions that process information (fig. 1; CPU 102); a memory coupled in the housing and interfaced with the processor, (fig. 1; memory 104) the memory operable to store the information and instructions (par 0044; discloses the instructions may reside completely, or at least partially, within system memory 104 or another memory included at system 100, and/or within the processor 102 during execution by the information handling system 100); plural peripheral display assemblies, (fig. 11; display assemblies 135, 136) each having a display panel interfaced with the processor, (fig. 11; discloses displays assemblies 135, 136 connected to device 100), each of the plural peripheral display assemblies operable to present the information as visual images (par 0035; discloses Information handling system 100 further includes a video interface to couple video data from system 100 to display devices 135 and 136); a peripheral display stand having plural display supports each coupled to one of the peripheral display assemblies (par 0033; discloses FIG. 9 shows a monitor stand 900 including an integral color calibration assembly 138 according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. Monitor stand 900 includes a base 210, a vertical riser 220, and a horizontal member 230 to support two or more display devices);
Chew doesn’t expressly disclose each of the plural peripheral display assemblies having a scalar and a non-transitory memory; instructions stored in the non-transitory memory of each of the plural peripheral display assemblies that when executed on the scalar of that peripheral display assembly cause that peripheral display assembly to independently adjust a brightness at which visual images are presented at that peripheral display assembly;
In the same field of endeavor, YU discloses display system and display control method (see abstract); YU discloses each of the plural peripheral display assemblies having a scalar and a non-transitory memory; instructions stored in the non-transitory memory of each of the plural peripheral display assemblies that when executed on the scalar of that peripheral display assembly cause that peripheral display assembly to independently adjust a brightness at which visual images are presented at that peripheral display assembly; (fig. 2; discloses plurality of display device 20 connected to a display controller 1; fig. 8; discloses each display device 20 includes a processor 23 (i.e. scaler) and a memory 25; par 0071; discloses the processor 23 provides a master control signal to the light-emitting driver 24 according to the display control signal, so that the light-emitting driver 24 drives the light emitting elements (i.e., LEDs) to emit light or stop emitting light, or controls the brightness of the light emitting elements according to data of the display content stored);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew to incorporate the teachings of YU to include processing circuit in each of the peripheral display assemblies such that each display may perform some processing on the received image such that processing load on the main device is reduced;
Chew as modified by YU don’t expressly disclose each scalar of that peripheral display assembly cause that peripheral display assembly to independently adjust a brightness at which visual images are presented at that peripheral display assembly based upon a context as determined by the scalar at that peripheral display assembly while each of the other plural peripheral display assemblies manage brightness locally with the scalar on each of the other peripheral display assemblies;
In the same field of endeavor, YANG discloses a display system and control method (see abstract); YANG discloses instructions stored in the non-transitory memory of each of the plural peripheral display assemblies that when executed on the scalar of that peripheral display assembly cause that peripheral display assembly to independently adjust a brightness at which visual images are presented at that peripheral display assembly based upon a context as determined by the scalar at that peripheral display assembly while each of the other plural peripheral display assemblies manage brightness locally with the scalar on each of the other peripheral display assemblies (fig. 6; each display panel 40 includes calculation unit 301; par 0103; discloses When the target peak brightness parameter calculation module is disposed in the display panels, the target peak brightness parameter calculation module 30 includes N calculation units 301, and each display panel 40 is provided with one calculation unit 301. The brightness parameter output module 50 is configured to send the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel 40 where each calculation unit 301 is located and the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the adjacent display panel 40 to the calculation unit 301; and each calculation unit 301 is configured to calculate the target peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel 40 where the calculation unit is located according to the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel 40 and the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the adjacent display panel 40; par 0046; discloses the target peak brightness parameter corresponding to each display panel is obtained according to the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel and the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the adjacent display panel, that is, output brightness of each display panel considers its own screen content and also considers screen content of the adjacent display panel;);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU to incorporate the teachings of YANG to include brightness calculating circuit in each of the plurality of display assemblies such that each display device adjust the brightness of the display content independently, hence distributing the processing requirement among the plurality of displays while also maintaining the quality of content being displayed among the plurality of display devices.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chew et al (US Pub 2021/0056877) in view of YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939) and YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274) and Mizobata (US Pub 2020/0238826).
With respect to claim 2, Chew as modified by YU and YANG don’t expressly disclose further comprising: one or more eye tracker sensors operable to analyze an end user gaze at the plural peripheral display assemblies; wherein the instructions dim the brightness at the individual display assemblies when an end user gaze is not detected at the individual display assemblies for a first predetermined time;
In the same field of endeavor, Mizobata discloses system and method of controlling plurality of displays (see abstract); Mizobata discloses: one or more eye tracker sensors operable to analyze an end user gaze at the plural peripheral display assemblies (par 0065; discloses the gaze detection sensor 42 is provided at the upper end portion of the steering wheel 14. The gaze detection sensor 42 faces toward the head of the driver seated in the driving seat, and is configured so as to be capable of detecting the direction of the gaze of the driver); wherein the instructions dim the brightness at the individual display assemblies when an end user gaze is not detected at the individual display assemblies for a first predetermined time (par 0069; discloses when the driver is looking ahead of the vehicle through the windshield while driving, the first display section 20, the second display section 22, and the third display section 24 have a uniform brightness. Note that this brightness is lower than in the first exemplary embodiment and the second exemplary embodiment; par 0070; discloses Note that the state in which the brightness of the third image V3 is increased is continued for a predetermined duration after the driver has shifted their gaze away from the third display section 24.);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU and YANG to incorporate the teachings of Mizobata to monitor user gaze across plurality of displays and adjust the brightness of the display based on the detected gaze in order to reduce power consumption by reducing the brightness of the displays that the user is not looking at.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chew et al (US Pub 2021/0056877) in view of YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939) and YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274), Mizobata (US Pub 2020/0238826) and KAKAPURI (US Pub 2017/0045936).
With respect to claim 3, Chew as modified by YU, YANG and Mizobata don’t expressly disclose wherein the instructions turn off the brightness at the individual display assemblies when an end user eye gaze is not detected for a second predetermined time;
In the same field of endeavor, KAKAPURI discloses system and method for controlling display brightness where KAKAPURI discloses turn off the brightness at the individual display assemblies when an end user is not detected for a second predetermined time (par 0023; disclose the controller 104 can dim the display surface 106 when the first sensor 108 does not detect the presence of the user after a first predetermined period of time (e.g., 1 minute), to conserve power consumption of the device 102. In other examples, the controller 104 can turn off the display surface 106 when the sensor 108 does not detect the presence of the user after a second predetermined period of time (e.g., 1 minutes or 2 minutes), to conserve power);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed Chew as modified by YU, YANG and Mizobata to incorporate the teachings of KAKAPURI to turn off the display when end user is not detected such that power consumption is further reduced.
Claim(s) 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chew et al (US Pub 2021/0056877) in view of YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939) and YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274), Mizobata (US Pub 2020/0238826), KAKAPURI (US Pub 2017/0045936) and Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308).
With respect to claim 4, Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata and KAKAPURI don’t expressly disclose wherein the context comprises one or more applications associated with visual images presented on each of the plural display assemblies;
In the same field of endeavor, Nishio display system and control method (see abstract); Nishio discloses wherein the context comprises one or more applications associated with visual images presented on each of the plural display assemblies (Nishio; par 0052; discloses when the external display is connected, the information processing apparatus 1 differentiates the control of whether to enable or disable the brightness reduction processing depending on whether an active window and a cursor are displayed on the external display screen or the internal display screen. Par 0061; discloses the display unit 110 (internal display) displays display data (images) generated based on system processing executed by the main processing unit 300, processing of an application program running on the system processing, and the like);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata and KAKAPURI to incorporate the teachings of Nishio to display interfaces related to applications being executed on the device such that brightness control method is also applied to content related to applications; hence saving energy by lowering the brightness when user is not looking at the displayed content.
With respect to claim 5, Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata and KAKAPURI don’t expressly disclose wherein the context comprises mouse cursor movement at each of the plural display assemblies;
In the same field of endeavor, Nishio display system and control method (see abstract); Nishio discloses wherein the context comprises mouse cursor movement at each of the plural display assemblies (Nishio; par 0093; discloses when it is determined by the connection detection unit 312 that the external display device 5 is connected through the external connection terminal 130, the display state determination unit 314 determines whether the active window and the cursor are displayed on the screen of the internal display or on the screen of the external display. The display state determination unit 314 outputs the determination result to the brightness reduction control unit 315);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata and KAKAPURI to incorporate the teachings of Nishio to use the brightness control method to the display devices based on the mouse cursor movement at each of the plural display assemblies; hence saving energy by lowering the brightness of the display that the user is actively working on.
With respect to claim 6, Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata, KAKAPURI and Nishio don’t expressly disclose wherein the context comprises activity at a display buffer associated with each scalar and storing visual image information presented at the associated peripheral display assembly;
YU further discloses wherein the context comprises activity at a display buffer associated with each scalar and storing visual image information presented at the associated peripheral display assembly; (fig. 8; par 0071; the processor 23 provides a master control signal to the light-emitting driver 24 according to the display control signal, so that the light-emitting driver 24 drives the light emitting elements (i.e., LEDs) to emit light or stop emitting light, or controls the brightness of the light emitting elements according to data of the display content stored; i.e. based on the data stored in the memory, the brightness is individually adjusted by the processor 23 at each display screen);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata, KAKAPURI and Nishio to incorporate the teachings of YU to include memory in each display devices such that images are locally stored and locally processed to adjust the brightness of the plurality of display device independently.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chew et al (US Pub 2021/0056877) in view of YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939) and YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274), Mizobata (US Pub 2020/0238826), KAKAPURI (US Pub 2017/0045936), Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308) and TAKAO (US Pub 2022/0262284).
With respect to claim 7, Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata, KAKAPURI and Nishio discloses further comprising: an EDID non-transitory memory included in each display assembly and interfaced with the scalar (YU; fig. 8; storage 25 connected to processor 23);
Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata, KAKAPURI and Nishio don’t expressly disclose storing a position of each display assembly on the display stand, the position included in the context applied to determine the brightness;
In the same field of endeavor, TAKAO discloses storing a position of each display assembly on the display stand, the position included in the context applied to determine the brightness (par 0013; discloses a control program according to the present technology acquires arrangement of displays in a tiling display in which a plurality of displays is tiled, acquires a light-emitting characteristic of each of the displays, tracks a position and a line-of-sight direction of a user with respect to the tiling display, and adjusts a luminance value of each of the displays on the basis of the light-emitting characteristic and a tracking result by the tracking such that brightness of the displays viewed from the user becomes continuous through a boundary of the displays);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata, KAKAPURI and Nishio to incorporate the teachings of TAKAO to use display positions to adjust the brightness of the display panel that brightness of the displays viewed from the user becomes continuous through a boundary of the displays.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chew et al (US Pub 2021/0056877) in view of YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939) and YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274), Mizobata (US Pub 2020/0238826), KAKAPURI (US Pub 2017/0045936), Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308), TAKAO (US Pub 2022/0262284) and KIM et al (US Pub 2021/0373838).
With respect to claim 8, Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata, KAKAPURI, Nishio and TAKAO don’t expressly disclose further comprising: a contact pad coupled to a back side of each of the plural display assemblies; contact pins coupled to each position of the display stand; and instructions further applying contact pad detection of the contact pins to determine the display assembly position at the display stand;
In the same field of endeavor, KIM discloses display system wherein a contact pad coupled to a back side of each of the plural display assemblies; contact pins coupled to each position of the display stand; and instructions further applying contact pad detection of the contact pins to determine the display assembly position at the display stand (par 0121; discloses the processor 230 may identify a space (or coordinates) in which each display apparatus is mounted in the docking station 200; par 0122; discloses the processor 230 may identify a space where each display apparatus is mounted based on a signal applied to at least one pin electrically connected to the conductive member among a plurality of pins included in the interface 240 of the power board 220.);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata, KAKAPURI, Nishio and TAKAO to identify the position of the displays based on the connection pins as disclosed by KIM in order to accurately and easily determine the location of the plurality of displays.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chew et al (US Pub 2021/0056877) in view of YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939) and YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274), Mizobata (US Pub 2020/0238826), KAKAPURI (US Pub 2017/0045936), Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308), TAKAO (US Pub 2022/0262284), KIM et al (US Pub 2021/0373838) and Sanchez Aguilar et al (US Pat 11, 550, 532).
With respect to claim 9, Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata, KAKAPURI, Nishio, TAKAO and KIM don’t expressly disclose wherein the instructions further apply contact pad detection of the contact pins to determine the display assembly orientation;
In the same field of endeavor, Sanchez Agular discloses modular display system wherein the instructions further apply contact pad detection of the contact pins to determine the display assembly orientation (col 9 lines 23-30; discloses Each of these four orientation modes based on the pin connections can thus be readily distinguished by the system, and the display control module can then be configured to output one, two, three, or four different image orientations based on the identified orientation mode. Rotation of the display unit is thereby accommodated without altering the image content, and instead automatically modifying the image's orientation based on the connection patterns.);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU, YANG, Mizobata, KAKAPURI, Nishio, TAKAO and KIM to incorporate the teachings of Sanchez Agular to determine the orientation of the plurality of displays based on the connection pins in order to image is presented on the display accurately based on the orientation of the display.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308) in view of YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274).
With respect to claim 10, Nishio discloses a method for presenting visual images of an information handling system at plural display assemblies coupled to a display stand, (fig. 5; discloses display system comprising an information handling system 1 connected to external displays 5; par 0150; discloses the configuration example in which one external display (external display device 5) is connected to the information processing apparatus 1 is described, but two or more external displays may also be connected.) the method comprising: presenting visual images from a single information handling system at the plural display assemblies (fig. 4; discloses content from device 1 is displayed on the external display 5; par 0150; discloses the configuration example in which one external display (external display device 5) is connected to the information processing apparatus 1 is described, but two or more external displays may also be connected), monitoring end user interactions with the visible images at each of the plural display assemblies; detecting a predetermined end user inactivity at a first of the plural display assemblies ; and in response to the detecting, dimming brightness at the first of the plural display assemblies of the plural display assemblies while continuing to present visual images at the rest of the plural display assemblies at the same brightness as managed at each of the plural display assemblies ((par 0054; discloses In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the active window and the cursor are displayed on the screen of the external display, and neither the active window nor the cursor is displayed on the screen of the internal display. In this case, it can be assumed that the user is looking at (paying attention to) the external display. Therefore, when both of the active window and the cursor are not displayed on the screen of the internal display, the information processing apparatus 1 enables the brightness reduction processing for the internal display regardless of whether or not there is HID input);
Nishio doesn’t expressly disclose each display assembly of the plural display assemblies including a scalar that manages presentation of the visual images at that display assembly; monitoring end user interactions with the visible images at each of the plural display assemblies individually with the scalar included in that display assembly of the plural display assemblies; dimming brightness at the first of the plural display assemblies with the scalar included in that first display assembly; while continuing to present visual images at the rest of the plural display assemblies at the same brightness as managed at each of the plural display assemblies by the scalar in each separate display assembly of the plural display assemblies;
In the same field of endeavor, YANG discloses a display system and control method (see abstract); YANG discloses each display assembly of the plural display assemblies including a scalar that manages presentation of the visual images at that display assembly (fig. 6; each display panel 40 includes corresponding calculation unit 301); monitoring end user interactions with the visible images at each of the plural display assemblies individually with the scalar included in that display assembly of the plural display assemblies; adjusting brightness at the first of the plural display assemblies with the scalar included in that first display assembly; while continuing to present visual images at the rest of the plural display assemblies at the same brightness as managed at each of the plural display assemblies by the scalar in each separate display assembly of the plural display assemblies (par 0103; discloses When the target peak brightness parameter calculation module is disposed in the display panels, the target peak brightness parameter calculation module 30 includes N calculation units 301, and each display panel 40 is provided with one calculation unit 301. The brightness parameter output module 50 is configured to send the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel 40 where each calculation unit 301 is located and the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the adjacent display panel 40 to the calculation unit 301; and each calculation unit 301 is configured to calculate the target peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel 40 where the calculation unit is located according to the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel 40 and the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the adjacent display panel 40; par 0046; discloses the target peak brightness parameter corresponding to each display panel is obtained according to the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel and the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the adjacent display panel, that is, output brightness of each display panel considers its own screen content and also considers screen content of the adjacent display panel;);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Nishio to incorporate the teachings of YANG to include brightness calculating circuit in each of the plurality of display assemblies such that each display device adjust the brightness of the display content independently, hence distributing the processing requirement among the plurality of displays while also maintaining the quality of content being displayed among the plurality of display devices;
With respect to claim 11, Nishio as modified by YANG discloses further comprising: monitoring end user interactions with one or more eye tracker sensors by detecting end user gaze at each of the plural display assemblies (par 0072; discloses the face detection unit 210 processes the image data of the captured image acquired from the imaging unit 120 to perform face detection processing for detecting a face area (an area of a face image) from the captured image, detecting the orientation of a face of the face image in the detected face area); and detecting the predetermined end user inactivity as a first predetermined time without an end user gaze at the first of the plural display assemblies (par 0088; discloses The brightness reduction processing unit 311 executes brightness reduction processing to reduce the screen brightness of the display unit 110 (internal display) based on the face orientation detected by the face detection unit 210. For example, in the normal operating state, when acquiring the “No Attention” information from the face detection unit 210, the brightness reduction processing unit 311 controls the screen brightness to the low brightness; par 0090; discloses the predetermined waiting time is preset, for example, to 10 seconds. Note that this predetermined waiting time may also be settable by the user).
Claim(s) 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308) in view of YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274) and Peters (US Pat 6,516,421).
With respect to claim 12, Nishio as modified by YANG discloses further comprising: monitoring applications executing on the information handling system to associate visual images presented at each of the plural display assemblies and the applications (Nishio; par 0052; discloses when the external display is connected, the information processing apparatus 1 differentiates the control of whether to enable or disable the brightness reduction processing depending on whether an active window and a cursor are displayed on the external display screen or the internal display screen. Par 0061; discloses the display unit 110 (internal display) displays display data (images) generated based on system processing executed by the main processing unit 300, processing of an application program running on the system processing, and the like;)
Nishio as modified by YANG don’t expressly disclose adjusting the first predetermined time based upon the applications;
In the same field of endeavor, Peters discloses system and method for adjusting the timing of user-activity dependent changes of operational state of an apparatus (see abstract); Peters discloses adjusting the first predetermined time based upon the applications (col 6 lines 26-31; discloses If the user repeatedly interacts with an input device of the apparatus within a short period following a particular type of state transition, then this is interpreted as an indication that the user does not want the state transition to occur at that time and either the inactivity period is automatically changed or the user is prompted to specify a desired inactivity period for that operational state transition which will be applied thereafter.);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Nishio as modified by YANG to incorporate the teachings of Peters to adjust the predetermined time based on the user activity on the device in order to prevent unwanted changing the operational state of the device, hence reducing inconvenience.
With respect to claim 13, Nishio as modified by YANG disclose further comprising: monitoring end user interactions as mouse cursor movements at each of the plural display assemblies (Nishio; par 0052; discloses when the external display is connected, the information processing apparatus 1 differentiates the control of whether to enable or disable the brightness reduction processing depending on whether an active window and a cursor are displayed on the external display screen or the internal display screen. Par 0061; discloses the display unit 110 (internal display) displays display data (images) generated based on system processing executed by the main processing unit 300, processing of an application program running on the system processing, and the like;);
Nishio as modified by YANG don’t expressly disclose adjusting the first predetermined time based upon the mouser cursor movements;
In the same field of endeavor, Peters discloses system and method for adjusting the timing of user-activity dependent changes of operational state of an apparatus (see abstract); Peters discloses adjusting the first predetermined time based upon the mouser cursor movements (col 6 lines 26-31; discloses If the user repeatedly interacts with an input device of the apparatus within a short period following a particular type of state transition, then this is interpreted as an indication that the user does not want the state transition to occur at that time and either the inactivity period is automatically changed or the user is prompted to specify a desired inactivity period for that operational state transition which will be applied thereafter. Col 4; lines 55-67; discloses User interactions with the input devices 30,40 generate signals which are sent to the mouse or keyboard device drivers 60.);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Nishio as modified by YANG to incorporate the teachings of Peters to adjust the predetermined time based on the user activity on the device in order to prevent unwanted changing the operational state of the device, hence reducing inconvenience.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308) in view of YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274), Peters (US Pat 6,516,421) and YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939).
With respect to claim 14, Nishio as modified by YANG and Peters don’t expressly disclose further comprising: monitoring end user inactivity to dim individual display assembly brightness by monitoring changes in information stored in a display buffer at each of the plural display assemblies, the display buffer storing information scanned to display pixels to generate visual images;
In the same field of endeavor, YU discloses display system and control method (see abstract); YU discloses monitoring end user inactivity to dim individual display assembly brightness by monitoring changes in information stored in a display buffer at each of the plural display assemblies, the display buffer storing information scanned to display pixels to generate visual images; (YU; par 0071; discloses the processor 23 provides a master control signal to the light-emitting driver 24 according to the display control signal, so that the light-emitting driver 24 drives the light emitting elements (i.e., LEDs) to emit light or stop emitting light, or controls the brightness of the light emitting elements according to data of the display content stored; i.e. based on the data stored, the brightness is also adjusted);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Nishio as modified by YANG and Peters to incorporate the teachings of YU to include memory in each display devices such that images are locally stored and locally monitored to adjust the brightness of the plurality of display device independently.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308) in view of YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274), Peters (US Pat 6,516,421), YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939) and Foster (US Pub 2019/0265939).
With respect to claim 15, Nishio as modified by YANG, Peters and YU don’t expressly disclose further comprising: detecting a position of each display assembly at the display stand; and storing the position in a non-transitory memory of each display assembly;
In the same field of endeavor, Foster discloses a display system comprising plurality of display panels where Foster discloses detecting a position of each display assembly at the display stand; and storing the position in a non-transitory memory of each display assembly (par 0080; discloses each panel 100 may individually determine which panels are located to its left, right, bottom or top edge location (i.e., using NFC sensors) and store this information in a memory 206. Each panel 100 may then transmit this information to a central device (i.e., data receiver box 164, master panel, originating panel, etc.). The central device, using the collective information collected from the panels (panel orientation, panel edge information, distance from the data receiver box 164, etc.), may then determine the overall display configuration and spatial configuration of each panel.);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Nishio as modified by YANG, Peters and YU to incorporate the teachings of Foster to detect and store the positions of each display in the memory in order to determine display configuration based on the positions of the display and operate the displays based on the determined configuration.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308) in view of YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274), Peters (US Pat 6,516,421), YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939), Foster (US Pub 2019/0265939) and KIM et al (US Pub 2021/0373838).
With respect to claim 16, Nishio as modified by YANG, Peters, YU and Foster don’t expressly disclose further comprising: coupling a contact pad at the back side of each display assembly; coupling one or more contact pins on each display stand support; and analyzing contact pin interfaces with the contact pad to determine the location at each individual display assembly;
In the same field of endeavor, KIM discloses coupling a contact pad at the back side of each display assembly; coupling one or more contact pins on each display stand support; and analyzing contact pin interfaces with the contact pad to determine the location at each individual display assembly; (par 0121; discloses the processor 230 may identify a space (or coordinates) in which each display apparatus is mounted in the docking station 200; par 0122; discloses the processor 230 may identify a space where each display apparatus is mounted based on a signal applied to at least one pin electrically connected to the conductive member among a plurality of pins included in the interface 240 of the power board 220.);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Nishio as modified by YANG, Peters, YU and Foster to identify the position of the displays based on the connection pins as disclosed by KIM in order to accurately and easily determine the location of the plurality of displays.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chew et al (US Pub 2021/0056877) in view of YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939), YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274) and Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308).
With respect to claim 17, Chew discloses a peripheral display comprising (fig. 11; discloses display system 1100): plural peripheral display assemblies, each having a display panel operable to present information as visual images; receiving content from the same information handling system (fig. 11; discloses display system includes device 100 (i.e. information handling system) connected to plurality of peripheral displays 135, 136 that displays content received from device 100; par 0035; discloses Information handling system 100 further includes a video interface to couple video data from system 100 to display devices 135 and 136); a peripheral display stand having plural display supports each coupled to one of the peripheral display assemblies (par 0033; discloses FIG. 9 shows a monitor stand 900 including an integral color calibration assembly 138 according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. Monitor stand 900 includes a base 210, a vertical riser 220, and a horizontal member 230 to support two or more display devices);
Chew doesn’t expressly disclose each display panel operable to present information as visual images under management of a scalar included in each of the plural peripheral display assemblies, and a non-transitory memory interfaced with the scalar of each of the plural peripheral display assemblies and storing instructions that when executed on the scalar cause the peripheral display assembly that includes that scalar to individually adjust a brightness at which visual images are presented;
In the same field of endeavor, YU discloses display system and display control method (see abstract); YU discloses each display panel operable to present information as visual images under management of a scalar included in each of the plural peripheral display assemblies, and a non-transitory memory interfaced with the scalar of each of the plural peripheral display assemblies and storing instructions that when executed on the scalar cause the peripheral display assembly that includes that scalar to individually adjust a brightness at which visual images are presented (fig. 2; discloses plurality of display device 20 connected to a display controller 1; fig. 8; discloses each display device 20 includes a processor 23 (i.e. scaler) and a memory 25; par 0071; discloses the processor 23 provides a master control signal to the light-emitting driver 24 according to the display control signal, so that the light-emitting driver 24 drives the light emitting elements (i.e., LEDs) to emit light or stop emitting light, or controls the brightness of the light emitting elements according to data of the display content stored);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew to incorporate the teachings of YU to include processing circuit in each of the peripheral display assemblies such that each display may perform some processing on the received image such that processing load on the main device is reduced;
Chew as modified by YU don’t expressly disclose each scaler individually adjust a brightness based upon a context determined by that scalar including at least dimming brightness at one of the plural peripheral display assemblies under a command generated by the scalar of that one of the plural peripheral display assemblies while continuing to present visual images at the rest of the plural display assemblies at the same brightness as managed at each of the plural display assemblies by the scalar of that display assembly;
In the same field of endeavor, YANG discloses a display system and control method (see abstract); YANG discloses each scaler individually adjust a brightness based upon a context determined by that scalar under a command generated by the scalar of that one of the plural peripheral display assemblies (fig. 6; each display panel 40 includes calculation unit 301; par 0103; discloses When the target peak brightness parameter calculation module is disposed in the display panels, the target peak brightness parameter calculation module 30 includes N calculation units 301, and each display panel 40 is provided with one calculation unit 301. The brightness parameter output module 50 is configured to send the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel 40 where each calculation unit 301 is located and the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the adjacent display panel 40 to the calculation unit 301; and each calculation unit 301 is configured to calculate the target peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel 40 where the calculation unit is located according to the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel 40 and the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the adjacent display panel 40; par 0046; discloses the target peak brightness parameter corresponding to each display panel is obtained according to the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the display panel and the initial peak brightness parameter corresponding to the adjacent display panel, that is, output brightness of each display panel considers its own screen content and also considers screen content of the adjacent display panel;);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU to incorporate the teachings of YANG to include brightness calculating circuit in each of the plurality of display assemblies such that each display device adjust the brightness of the display content independently, hence distributing the processing requirement among the plurality of displays while also maintaining the quality of content being displayed among the plurality of display devices;
Chew as modified by YU and YANG don’t expressly disclose adjusting the brightness include dimming brightness at one of the plural peripheral display assemblies while continuing to present visual images at the rest of the plural display assemblies at the same brightness;
In the same field of endeavor, Nishio discloses display systema and control method (see abstract); Nishio discloses adjusting the brightness include dimming brightness at one of the plural peripheral display assemblies while continuing to present visual images at the rest of the plural display assemblies at the same brightness (par 0056; discloses In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the active window and the cursor are displayed on the screen of the external display, and neither the active window nor the cursor is displayed on the screen of the internal display. In this case, it can be assumed that the user is looking at (paying attention to) the external display. Therefore, when both of the active window and the cursor are not displayed on the screen of the internal display, the information processing apparatus 1 enables the brightness reduction processing for the internal display regardless of whether or not there is HID input);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU and YANG to incorporate the teachings of Nishio to dim the brightness of the display when no active content or cursor are displayed on the display while maintaining the brightness of the other display that displays active contents in order to reduce the energy consumption of the display system.
Claim(s) 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chew et al (US Pub 2021/0056877) in view of YU et al (US Pub 2023/0252939), YANG et al (US Pub 2024/0096274), Nishio et al (US Pub 2024/0355308) and KAKAPURI (US Pub 2017/0045936).
With respect to claim 18, Chew as modified by YU, YANG and Nishio don’t expressly disclose further comprising: one or more eye tracker sensors operable to analyze an end user gaze at the plural peripheral display assemblies; wherein the instructions dim the brightness at the individual display assemblies when an end user gaze is not detected at the individual display assemblies for a first predetermined time and turn off the brightness at the individual display assemblies when an end user gaze is not detected at the individual display assemblies for a second predetermined time;
Nishio further discloses display system and control method comprising: one or more eye tracker sensors operable to analyze an end user gaze at the plural peripheral display assemblies; (par 0072; discloses the face detection unit 210 processes the image data of the captured image acquired from the imaging unit 120 to perform face detection processing for detecting a face area (an area of a face image) from the captured image, detecting the orientation of a face of the face image in the detected face area); wherein the instructions dim the brightness at the individual display assemblies when an end user gaze is not detected at the individual display assemblies for a first predetermined time (par 0088; discloses The brightness reduction processing unit 311 executes brightness reduction processing to reduce the screen brightness of the display unit 110 (internal display) based on the face orientation detected by the face detection unit 210. For example, in the normal operating state, when acquiring the “No Attention” information from the face detection unit 210, the brightness reduction processing unit 311 controls the screen brightness to the low brightness; par 0090; discloses the predetermined waiting time is preset, for example, to 10 seconds. Note that this predetermined waiting time may also be settable by the user.);
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed by Chew as modified by YU and Yang to incorporate the teachings of Nishio to monitor the user gaze across plurality of display and control the brightness of displays individually to reduce the brightness of the display that the user is not looking while maintaining the brightness of the display that the user is looking in order to conserve energy and reducing waste of power;
Chew as modified by YU, Yang and Nishio don’t expressly disclose turn off the brightness at the individual display assemblies when an end user gaze is not detected at the individual display assemblies for a second predetermined time;
In the same field of endeavor, KAKAPURI discloses system and method for controlling display brightness where KAKAPURI discloses turn off the brightness at the individual display assemblies when an end user gaze is not detected at the individual display assemblies for a second predetermined time; (par 0023; disclose the controller 104 can dim the display surface 106 when the first sensor 108 does not detect the presence of the user after a first predetermined period of time (e.g., 1 minute), to conserve power consumption of the device 102. In other examples, the controller 104 can turn off the display surface 106 when the sensor 108 does not detect the presence of the user after a second predetermined period of time (e.g., 1 minutes or 2 minutes), to conserve power);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention disclosed Chew as modified by YU, Yang and Nishio to incorporate the teachings of KAKAPURI to turn off the display when end user is not detected such that power consumption is further reduced.
With respect to claim 19, Chew as modified by YU, Yang, Nishio and KAKAPURI discloses further comprising: a mouse interfaced with the plural display assemblies; wherein the context comprises mouse cursor movement at each of the individual display assemblies (Nishio; par 0093; discloses when it is determined by the connection detection unit 312 that the external display device 5 is connected through the external connection terminal 130, the display state determination unit 314 determines whether the active window and the cursor are displayed on the screen of the internal display or on the screen of the external display. The display state determination unit 314 outputs the determination result to the brightness reduction control unit 315).
With respect to claim 20, Chew as modified by YU, Yang, Nishio and KAKAPURI discloses wherein the context comprises one or more applications associated with visual images presented on each of the plural display assemblies (Nishio; par 0052; discloses when the external display is connected, the information processing apparatus 1 differentiates the control of whether to enable or disable the brightness reduction processing depending on whether an active window and a cursor are displayed on the external display screen or the internal display screen. Par 0061; discloses the display unit 110 (internal display) displays display data (images) generated based on system processing executed by the main processing unit 300, processing of an application program running on the system processing, and the like).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) with respect to claim 1, 10, 17 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to new reference being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
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/SUJIT SHAH/ Examiner, Art Unit 2624