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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/28/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-10, 12, 14-21 are currently pending in this application. Claims 9, 10 and 14-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected species as indicated by the applicant in the RESPONSE TO ELECTION OF SPECIES REQUIREMENT, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/31/2025. Claims 1-8, 12, 20 and 21 are considered below.
Response to Arguments
The rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and the rejections under35 U.S.C. 103(a) in the previous Office action dated 02/03/2026 have been withdrawn in light of the amendment to the claims. However, see the new rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) necessitated by the amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1-8, 12, 20 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a), as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
As per claim 1, this claim recites limitations, (a) “wherein each of the first reference voltage signal line, the second reference signal line, and the third reference voltage signal line is directly connected to two or more sub-pixels in a same row of the display panel” in lines 15-18 and (b) “the third reference voltage signal line and the first reference voltage signal line are disposed at a capacitor metal layer of the display panel, and the second reference voltage signal line is disposed at a second metal layer of the display panel different from the capacitor metal layer” in last 4 lines.
Note that, for avoiding a confusion and easily understanding, since this application is elected the species I for examination and the Applicant has asserted this claim readable on the elected Species I, the following discussion is directed to the elected species I containing several embodiments, one of embodiments illustrated by Figs. 17-21 and described at the indicated paragraphs [0100], [0103], [0108], [0109], and [0123] that Applicant on page 10 of the amendment has relied on to support for the current claims 1 and 20.
The original disclosure, specifically the embodiment illustrated by Figs. 17-21, discloses a display panel comprising the above underlined limitations (b) (see Figs. 20-21) and features, “each of the first reference voltage signal line [301] and the third reference voltage signal line [303] having a horizontal extension X-direction so as to be directly connected to two or more sub-pixels in a same row of the sub-pixels of the display panel (see Figs. 17, 20) and the second reference voltage signal line [302] having a vertical extension Y-direction so as to be directly connected to two or more sub-pixels in a same column of the sub-pixels of the display panel,” as shown in Figs. 17 and 21, which require “the second reference voltage signal line [302] to be directly connected to two or more sub-pixels in a same column of the sub-pixels of the display panel” while the above underlined limitations (a) of this claim require “the second reference voltage signal line [302] to be directly connected to two or more sub-pixels in a same row of the sub-pixels of the display panel.” In other words, the original disclosure, specifically the above-discussed embodiment illustrated by Figs. 17-21 and the corresponding description indicated by the Applicant on page 10 of the amendment, does not explicitly disclose an embodiment of the display panel comprising both the above underlined limitations (a) and (b) of this claim, in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Further, the original disclosure, specifically another embodiment illustrated by Figs. 7-11, discloses a display panel comprising the above underlined limitations (a) (see Fig. 7) and feature, “the first reference voltage signal line, the second reference voltage signal line, and the third reference voltage signal line all are disposed at a same capacitor metal layer Mc of the display panel” (see Fig. 10,) while the above underlined limitations (b) require “the second reference voltage signal line is disposed at a second metal layer of the display panel different from the capacitor metal layer.” In other words, the original disclosure, specifically the above-discussed embodiment illustrated by Figs. 17-21 and the corresponding description indicated by the Applicant on page 10 of the amendment, does not explicitly disclose an embodiment of the display panel comprising both the above underlined limitations (a) and (b) of this claim, in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Moreover, in order to satisfy its burden under the written description requirement, a patent application must disclose the full scope of the claim. Univ. of Rochester v. G.D. Searle & Co., 358 F.3d 916, 920 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (The purpose of the written description requirement is to “ensure that the scope of the right to exclude, as set forth in the claims, does not overreach the scope of the inventor’s contribution to the field of art as described in the patent specification.”.)
Accordingly, the original disclosure does not contain such description and details regarding to the above underlined limitations of this claim, so as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
As per claims 2-8, 12 and 21, these claims are therefore rejected for at least the reason set forth in claim 1 above.
In addition to claim 21, this claim, when read together with independent claim 1, recites limitations, (a) “wherein each of the first reference voltage signal line, the second reference signal line, and the third reference voltage signal line is directly connected to two or more sub-pixels in a same row of the display panel” in lines 15-18 of claim 1 and (b) “an extension direction of the third reference voltage signal line intersects an extension direction of the first reference voltage signal line, and an extension direction of the second reference voltage signal line is same as the extension direction of the first reference voltage signal line” in last 4 lines of claim 21.
Note that, for avoiding a confusion and easily understanding, since this application is elected the species I for examination and the Applicant has asserted this claim readable on the elected Species I, the following discussion is directed to the elected species I containing several embodiments, one of embodiments illustrated by Figs. 17-21 and described at the indicated paragraphs [0100], [0103], [0108], [0109], and [0123] that Applicant on page 10 of the amendment has relied on to support for the current claims 1 and 20.
The original disclosure, specifically the embodiment illustrated by Figs. 17-21 and the corresponding description indicated by the Applicant on page 10 of the amendment, discloses the first reference voltage signal line [301] and the third reference voltage signal line [303] directly connected to two or more sub-pixels in a same row of the display panel, the second reference voltage signal line [302] directly connected to two or more sub-pixels in a same column of the display panel, an extension direction of the third reference voltage signal line [303] is same as an extension direction of the first reference voltage signal line [301], and an extension direction of the second reference voltage signal line [302] intersects the extension direction of the first reference voltage signal line [301]. However, this embodiment indicated by the Applicant does not disclose in detail “the second reference voltage signal line [302] directly connected to two or more sub-pixels in a same row of the display panel” of the above underlined limitations (a) and the above underlined limitations (b), in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Further, the original disclosure, specifically another embodiment illustrated by Figs. 7-11, discloses a display panel comprising the above underlined limitations (a) and requiring a fearure, “an extension direction of the first reference voltage signal line [301], an extension direction of the second reference voltage signal line [302], and an extension direction of the third reference voltage signal line [303] all are same,” as shown in Fig. 7 or 10, which is different from the above underlined limitations (b). In other words, the original disclosure does not explicitly disclose an embodiment of the display panel comprising both the above underlined limitations (a) and (b) of this claim, in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Moreover, in order to satisfy its burden under the written description requirement, a patent application must disclose the full scope of the claim. Univ. of Rochester v. G.D. Searle & Co., 358 F.3d 916, 920 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (The purpose of the written description requirement is to “ensure that the scope of the right to exclude, as set forth in the claims, does not overreach the scope of the inventor’s contribution to the field of art as described in the patent specification.”.)
Accordingly, the original disclosure does not contain such description and details regarding to the above underlined limitations of this claim, so as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
As per claim 20, see the above rejection of claim 1 for similar limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jimmy H Nguyen whose telephone number is (571) 272-7675. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30AM-6PM.
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/Jimmy H Nguyen/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2626
Prosecution Insights