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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Korea on 10/12/2020. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 10-2020-0130931 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/08/2024, 11/07/2024, 07/03/2025, and 01/08/2026 were 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.
Claim(s) 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee (10429895). With respect to claim 14, Lee discloses an electronic device (1) including: a folding area (FA) at which the electronic device (1) is foldable and a non-folding area (NF) which is adjacent to the folding area along a first direction; a window (3000); a display panel (1000) disposed below the window (3000); an upper plate (100, 102, 103, 104, 05, 106, 107, 110, 111) disposed below the display panel (1000); and a lower plate (200) disposed below the upper plate (100, 102, 103, 104, 05, 106, 107, 110, 111), wherein the upper plate (100, 102, 103, 104, 05, 106, 107, 110, 111) has a first thickness and the lower plate (200) has a second thickness, and the second thickness is at least twice the first thickness. With respect to claim 16, Lee discloses the electronic device (1) of claim 14, wherein the upper plate (100, 102, 103, 104, 05, 106, 107, 110, 111) includes a plate folding area corresponding to the folding area and at which the upper plate (100, 102, 103, 104, 05, 106, 107, 110, 111) is foldable together with the display panel (1000), and the upper plate (100, 102, 103, 104, 05, 106, 107, 110, 111) has a plurality of openings (H6) defined in the plate folding area.
With respect to claim 17, Lee discloses the electronic device (1) of claim 14, wherein the first thickness is about 15 micrometers or more, and the second thickness is about 150 micrometers or more. With respect to claim 19, Lee discloses the electronic device (1) of claim 14, further comprising: a lower protection film (5003) disposed below the display panel (1000); and a barrier layer (5004) disposed between the upper plate (100, 102, 103, 104, 05, 106, 107, 110, 111) and the lower protection film (5003). With respect to claim 20, Lee discloses the electronic device (1) of claim 19, wherein the thickness of the barrier layer(5004) is about 8 micrometers to about 40 micrometers. With respect to claim 22, Lee discloses the electronic device (1) of claim 14, wherein the electronic device (1) is a monitor or a tablet personal computer.
The applied reference appears to has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B) if the same invention is not being claimed; or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed in the reference and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-13 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: as to claims 1-13, patentability resides, at least in part, in the interconnection and interrelationship between the electronic device including: a folding area at which the electronic device is foldable and a non-folding area which is adjacent to the folding area along a first direction; a window; a display panel disposed below the window; an upper plate disposed below the display panel, the upper plate including stainless steel, a titanium alloy, a nickel alloy, a beryllium alloy or a nickel-titanium alloy; and a lower plate disposed below the upper plate, the lower plate including an aluminum alloy, a nickel alloy, a magnesium alloy, an aluminum-magnesium alloy or a glass fiber reinforced plastic as claimed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claims 15, 18, and 21 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: as to claim 15, patentability resides, at least in part, in the lower plate includes a first lower plate and a second lower plate each corresponding to the folding area and the non-folding area, and at the folding area, the second lower plate is spaced apart from the first lower plate by a gap along the first direction as claimed and including all of the other limitations of the base claim(s) respectfully; as to claim18, patentability resides, at least in part, in the upper plate and the lower plate includes a metal as claimed and including all of the other limitations of the base claim(s) respectfully; as to claim 21, patentability resides, at least in part, in the electronic device further comprising: a lower protection film disposed below the display panel; and a cushion layer disposed between the upper plate and the lower protection film as claimed and including all of the other limitations of the base claim(s) respectfully.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA LEA-EDMONDS whose telephone number is (571)272-2043. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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, Timothy Thompson can be reached at 571-272-2342. 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.
LISA LEA-EDMONDS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2847
/LISA LEA-EDMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847 2026-02-23