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 .
Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s amendment/response filed on 06/23/2026, which has been entered and made of record. Applicant’s amendments to the Drawings previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 03/23/2026.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 13, “an visually” should read “a visually”.
In claim 11, line 5, “an visually” should read “a visually”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-3, 7-9, 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eom et al. (KR 10-2021-0146095, hereinafter “Eom”) in view of Jang (US 2005/0265460 A1, hereinafter “Jang”). A machine-translated English version for Eom is attached.
Regarding claim 1, Eom discloses An electronic device comprising:
a first housing;
a driving module configured to provide driving force for moving the second housing,
a second housing disposed to move with respect to the first housing (page 10, lines 11-16, “the electronic device 100 may include a housing structure 110 that forms a partial exterior of the electronic device 100 . In an embodiment, the second housing structure 112 may be movably coupled to the first housing structure 111 . 3A and 3B , as the second housing structure 112 moves with respect to the first housing structure 111 , the size of the housing structure 110 of the electronic device 100 may increase or decrease”). Note that: (1) the electronic device 100 is an electronic device; (2) the first housing structure 111 is mapped to a first housing and the second housing structure 112 is mapped to a second housing, while they are combined into a housing 110; and (3) the second housing structure 112 (the second housing) moves with respect to the first housing structure 111 (the first housing).
at least one processor
memory storing instruction; and (page 9, lines 7-10, “the electronic device 100 may include at least one processor 130. The at least one processor 130 may be electrically or operatively connected to the display 120 … and the memory 170.”; page 27 / line 35 – page 28 /line 2, “The memory 1030 may store various data used by at least one component of the electronic device 1001 (eg, the processor 1020 or the sensor module 1076). The data may include, for example, input data or output data for software (eg, the program 1040) and instructions related thereto”).
a flexible display configured to be inserted into the first housing or withdrawn out of the first housing based on a movement of the second housing, wherein a portion of the flexible display is visually exposed outside of the electronic device, and a size of a visually exposed area of the flexible display changes based on the movement of the second housing, (page 1, lines 15-19, “The electronic device may include a flexible display that naturally expands or contracts according to a change in size of the electronic device. A portion of the flexible display may be inserted into the housing when the housing is reduced, and may be pulled out of the housing when the housing is expanded”; page 2, lines 14-16, “the electronic device may measure the number of rotations of a motor that expands the display using an encoder, and may determine the extended length of the display based on this”; page 5, lines 32-35, “the electronic device 100 may include a rollable display 120 . In an embodiment, the rollable display 120 may include a first portion 121 that is always exposed to the outside and a second portion 122 that is selectively exposed to the outside. In an embodiment, the second portion 122 of the rollable display 120 may be rolled in or rolled out into the housing structure 110”). Note that: (1) the flexible display is partially exposed to an outside of the device and partially mounted on a surface of the second housing when the housing is expanded; (2) the second housing can be driven to expend or withdraw by the motor to make a portion of the flexible display is inserted into the first housing or withdrawn out of the first housing; and (3) the portion of the flexible display 121 (the second portion) is pulled out of the housing to be exposed outside of the housing while the second portion of the flexible display 121 changes it size based on the second housing’s movement rolled in or rolled out into the housing structure 110.
wherein the flexible display includes a first area for displaying content and a second area for displaying system information and additional information when the electronic device is in a slide-in state, (page 23, lines 3-9, “[0088] Referring to FIG. 7 , according to the extension of the display 120 in an embodiment, additional content may be displayed on the display 120 . The illustrated embodiment shows that the content included in the user interface of the application providing an image changes according to the expansion of the display 120. The video providing application may provide thumbnails corresponding to various contents through a user interface Thumbnails that were not displayed in the reduced state may be displayed according to the expansion of the display 120”; FIG. 7: a first area 121 displays the contents 701 and 702 (thumbnails corresponding to various contents), a second 122 displays and system information icons (mobile signal strength and battery status) and the additional content 703 as additional information, and “
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wherein instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to: (page 27, lines 10-, “The processor 1020, for example, executes software (eg, a program 1040) to execute at least one other component … the processor 1020 converts commands or data received from other components (eg, the sensor module 1076 or the communication module 1090) to the volatile memory 1032 . may be loaded into the volatile memory 1032, and may process commands or data stored in the volatile memory 1032”). Note that: the processor executes software and command (programs) loaded and stored in memory.
Display, in response to receiving an input for executing the content, an image of the content in the first area of the flexible display, and the system information and the additional information in the second area of the flexible display (page 24, lines 12-20, “Referring to FIG. 8 , according to the reduction and/or expansion of the display 120 , the size of the image 801 displayed on the display 120 may be enlarged/reduced according to an embodiment. In the illustrated embodiment, as the display 120 is expanded, the image 801 may be enlarged”; FIG. 8: “
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”; FIG. 7: a first area 121 displays the contents 701 and 702 (thumbnails corresponding to various contents), a second 122 displays and system information icons (mobile signal strength and battery status) and the additional content 703 as additional information). Note that: (1) when a user clicks a thumbnail in the user interface (the first area with 701 and 702 in FIG. 7), this can be regarded as receiving an input for executing the content by the system; (2) in response to the user’s clicking, image 801 is displayed on flexible display 120’s first area 801 before the enlarging; and (3) the system information and the additional information above are displayed in the second area (area 122 in FIG. 7 above) of the flexible display.
enlarge the size of the visually exposed area to match the identified aspect ratio of the content, wherein the enlarged exposed area of the flexible display has the identified aspect ratio of the content and includes the second area, and
display the image of the content in the second area without displaying the system information and the additional information. (page 25, lines 13-15, “the electronic device 100 may determine how much the display 120 is expanded through the distance sensor 150. In an embodiment, the electronic device 100 may reduce and/or expand the housing structure 110 by a target length by actively adjusting a motor control value using the distance sensor 150”; page 24, lines 12-20, “Referring to FIG. 8 , according to the reduction and/or expansion of the display 120 , the size of the image 801 displayed on the display 120 may be enlarged/reduced according to an embodiment. In the illustrated embodiment, as the display 120 is expanded, the image 801 may be enlarged. As the difference between the aspect ratio of the image 801 and the aspect ratio of the display 120 increases, the size of the letter box 802 excluding the image 801 among the entire area of the screen increases. can grow As the display 120 expands, if the aspect ratio difference between the display 120 and the image 801 is reduced, the image 801 may be enlarged and the size of the letter box 802 excluding the image 801 may be reduced.”: FIG. 8: “
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”). Note that: (1) the electronic device 100 determines a target length to reduce or expand the housing structure 110, and adjust or control the motor driving module to enlarge the exposed area by following the extension arrows to top/bottom/diagonal/right directions to match the identified aspect ratio of the content in the first area 801 and entering or including the second area 122 in FIG. 8 above; and (2) In FIG 8 above, after enlarging the size of the visually exposed area for the content indicated by 801 and entering the second area, the image of content is display in areas 121 and 122 without displaying the system information and the additional information.
However, Eom fails to disclose, but in the same art of computer graphics, Jang discloses
Identify, while displaying the image, an aspect ratio of the content by analyzing a frame buffer of the memory (Jang, page 2, para. [0025], “a letter-box detection unit for extracting a processing area of the decoded image, and determining whether the corresponding line belongs to a letter box area by calculating a change level of pixels of the image and a change level of a line of the image in unit of a plurality of macroblocks included in the extracted processing area”; page 7, claim 1, “1. A method for detecting a letter box, comprising the steps of: performing processing area filtering for selecting a processing area of an image used to detect the letter box; performing intra-macroblock filtering for determining the letter box area based on a change level of pixels in macroblocks in one line of the image from the processing area; performing impulse data filtering for excluding the line being detected a high frequency component from the determined letter box area; performing inter-macroblock filtering for determining the letter box area based on a change level of lines between macroblocks of the image; performing inter-line filtering for determining a boundary of the letter box based on an average of the pixel values of the lines; and performing inter-picture filtering for outputting a boundary value of the letter box that has the highest frequency number”; FIG.2: “Letter-Box Detection Unit” 60; FIGs. 4-5: row-by-row or column-by-column pixel detection / processing to form the closed sections for letter-box areas). Note that: (1) all pixels in the three areas (i.e., the first, second, and third areas) are stored in the frame buffer memory of the processing system while processing and displaying the image; (2) in response to the event, the letter-box detection operation reads and processes pixels on a line-by-line basis, calculates the degree of change in line-specific pixels of an image within multiple macroblocks included in the image, and determines a boundary of a letter box, resulting in the third area (the letter-box area); (3) accordingly, the second area (the content area of the image) can be determined or identified by subtracting the third area from the first area, and the corresponding size can be determined or identified; and (4) after the sizes of three areas in terms of pixels have been determined by the determined boundaries, the image or content’s width and height can be calculated accordingly. it is obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art that: the aspect ratio of the content or the image can be identified or determined by the ratio between the image or content’s width to height.
Eom and Jang are in the same field of endeavor, namely computer graphics. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply detecting letter-box section and other areas by scanning the pixels in the frame buffer memory to determine the area sizes and aspect ratio of the content while processing and displaying the image, as taught by Jang into Eom. The motivation would have been “determining whether the corresponding line belongs to a letter box area by calculating a change level of pixels of the image and a change level of a line of the image in unit of a plurality of macroblocks included in the extracted processing area” (Jang, page 2, para. [0025]). The suggestion for doing so would allow to determine the content / letter-box area sizes and aspect ratio of the content while processing and displaying the image. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Eom and Jang.
Regarding claim 2, Eom in view of Jang discloses The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to identify a closed section corresponding to a third area by sequentially identifying pixel data stored in the memory. (Jang, page 2, para. [0025], “a letter-box detection unit for extracting a processing area of the decoded image, and determining whether the corresponding line belongs to a letter box area by calculating a change level of pixels of the image and a change level of a line of the image in unit of a plurality of macroblocks included in the extracted processing area”; page 7, claim 1, “1. A method for detecting a letter box, comprising the steps of: performing processing area filtering for selecting a processing area of an image used to detect the letter box; performing intra-macroblock filtering for determining the letter box area based on a change level of pixels in macroblocks in one line of the image from the processing area; performing impulse data filtering for excluding the line being detected a high frequency component from the determined letter box area; performing inter-macroblock filtering for determining the letter box area based on a change level of lines between macroblocks of the image; performing inter-line filtering for determining a boundary of the letter box based on an average of the pixel values of the lines; and performing inter-picture filtering for outputting a boundary value of the letter box that has the highest frequency number”; FIG.2: “Letter-Box Detection Unit” 60; FIGs. 4-5: row-by-row or column-by-column pixel detection / processing to form the closed sections for letter-box areas). Note that: (1) all pixels in the three areas (i.e., the first, second, and third areas) of the display can be stored in the memory of the processing system for processing while the detected letter box is regarded as the third area; and (2) the electronic device with the letter-box detection unit for a closed section corresponding to the third area by sequentially line-by-line processing and analyzing pixel data stored in the memory.
The motivation to combine Eom and Jang given in claim 1 is incorporated here.
Regarding claim 3, Eom in view of Jang discloses The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to:
Identify an event including at least one of an event of a touch input on a visual object displayed on the flexible display or an event of the size of a third area being changed. (Eom, page 28, lines 16-21, “The display device 1060 may visually provide information to the outside (eg, a user) of the electronic device 1001. The display device 1060 may include, for example, a display, a hologram device, or a projector and a control circuit for controlling the corresponding device. the display device 1060 may include a touch circuitry configured to sense a touch or a sensor circuit (eg, a pressure sensor) configured to measure the intensity of a force generated by the touch”; FIG. 8: the letter-box area 802 in black color can be regarded as a visual object displayed on the flexible display, and “
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”). Note that: (1) all pixels in the three areas (i.e., the first, second, and third areas) of the display can be stored in the memory of the processing system for processing while the detected letter box is regarded as a third area; (2) the electronic device with the letter-box detection unit for a closed section corresponding to the third area by sequentially line-by-line processing and analyzing pixel data stored in the memory; (3) when a user touches or clicks the letter-box 802 (the third area) as a visual object in the display, it can be regarded an event to change the size of the third area; and (4) the letter box area (area 802)’s size changes when the extension is performed following the direction arrows in FIG. 8, which can be identified or determined as an event.
Regarding claim 7, Eom in view of Jang discloses The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the memory is configured to store pixel data of a black color corresponding to a first color. (Eom, FIG. 8: “
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”, and pixels of black color (the first color) in letter-box 802). Note that: as explained in the rejection for claim 6, it is obvious to one having ordinary skills in the art that the memory is used to store pixel data of a black color corresponding to a first color (e.g., black color).
Regarding claim 8, Eom in view of Jang discloses The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to a third area (Eom, FIG. 8: “
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”). Note that: (1) in FIG. 8 on the left side, a third area (letter-box 802) is located at the top and bottom of the second area (the image content area) when the aspect ratio (width/height) of the second area (the image content area) is larger than the aspect ratio of the first area. Expanding the horizontal width of the flexible display to an extent so that the aspect ratio of the first area is equal to the aspect ratio of the content area so that the third area (letter-box 802) can be minimized by controlling the driving module to draw a proper portion of the display out of the housing structure; and (2) Area 802 is a third area.
identify a size of the flexible display corresponding to the size of a third area. (Jang, page 2, para. [0025], “a letter-box detection unit for extracting a processing area of the decoded image, and determining whether the corresponding line belongs to a letter box area by calculating a change level of pixels of the image and a change level of a line of the image in unit of a plurality of macroblocks included in the extracted processing area”; page 7, claim 1, “1. A method for detecting a letter box, comprising the steps of: performing processing area filtering for selecting a processing area of an image used to detect the letter box; performing intra-macroblock filtering for determining the letter box area based on a change level of pixels in macroblocks in one line of the image from the processing area; performing impulse data filtering for excluding the line being detected a high frequency component from the determined letter box area; performing inter-macroblock filtering for determining the letter box area based on a change level of lines between macroblocks of the image; performing inter-line filtering for determining a boundary of the letter box based on an average of the pixel values of the lines; and performing inter-picture filtering for outputting a boundary value of the letter box that has the highest frequency number”; FIG.2: “Letter-Box Detection Unit” 60; FIGs. 4-5: row-by-row or column-by-column pixel detection / processing to form the closed sections for letter-box areas). Note that: (1) all pixels in the three areas (i.e., the first, second, and third areas) are stored in the frame buffer memory of the processing system while processing and displaying the image; (2) the letter-box detection operation reads and processes pixels on a line-by-line basis, calculates the degree of change in line-specific pixels of an image within multiple macroblocks included in the image, and determines a boundary of a letter box, resulting in the third area (the letter-box area); (3) accordingly, the second area (the content area of the image) can be determined or identified by subtracting the third area from the first area, and the corresponding size can be determined or identified; and (4) after the sizes of three areas in terms of pixels have been determined by the determined boundaries, the image or content’s width and height can be calculated accordingly.
The motivation to combine Eom and Jang given in claim 1 is incorporated here.
Regarding claim 9, Eom in view of Jang discloses The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to calculate a movement distance of the driving module based on the size of the flexible display corresponding to the size of the third area. (Eom, FIG. 8: “
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”; page 2, lines 14-16, “the electronic device may measure the number of rotations of a motor that expands the display using an encoder, and may determine the extended length of the display based on this.”); Note that: (1) in FIG. 8 on the left side, the third area (letter-box 802) is located at the top and bottom of the second area (the image content area) when the aspect ratio (width/height) of the second area (the image content area) is larger than the aspect ratio of the first area. Expanding the horizontal width of the flexible display to an extent so that the aspect ratio of the first area is equal to the aspect ratio of the content area so that the third area (letter-box 802) can be minimized by controlling the driving module to draw a proper portion of the display out of the housing structure; and (2) with the utilization of the number of rotations of a motor that expands the display using an encoder, it is obvious to one having ordinary skills in the art that the electronic device to calculate a movement distance of the driving module based on the length of the flexible display corresponding to the size of the third area.
Claim 11 reciting “A method for controlling an electronic device” is corresponding to the electronic device of claim 1. Therefore, claim 11 is rejected for the same rationale for claim 1.
In addition, Eom in view of Jang discloses A method for controlling an electronic device (Eom, page 3, lines 28-30, “a control method of an electronic device including a housing structure that can be expanded and a rollable display that can be reduced or expanded according to the reduction or expansion of the housing structure”).
Claims 12-13 correspond to the electronic device of claims 2-3, respectively. Therefore, claims 12-13 are rejected for the same rationale for claims 2-3, respectively.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant alleges, “Applicant respectfully submits that claim 1 is patentable because each and every element of the claim is not disclosed or suggested by the combined references. For example, Applicant submits the cited references do not disclose or suggest a processor configured to "identify, while displaying the image, an aspect ratio of the content by analyzing a frame buffer of the memory; enlarge the size of the visually exposed area to match the identified aspect ratio of the content, wherein the enlarged exposed area of the flexible display has the identified aspect ratio of the content and includes the second area, and display the image of the content in the second area without displaying the system information and the additional information," as recited in claim 1.” (page 9 / line 33 – page 10 / line 7). However, Examiner respectfully disagrees about the respective allegations as whole because: (1) the combination of Eom and Jang discloses all amended limitations of claim 1; and (2) please see the detailed citations and rationale above. The arguments are not persuasive.
Applicant alleges, “Amended independent claim 11 recites features similar to the above-discussed features of claim 1. Accordingly, Applicant respectfully submits that independent claim 11 is patentable for reasons similar to those submitted for claim 1.” (page 10, lines 10-12). However, Examiner respectfully disagrees about the respective allegations as whole because: Independent claim 11 is corresponding to claim 1 and is rejected for the same rationale for claim 1. The arguments are not persuasive.
Applicant alleges, “Applicant respectfully submits that dependent claims 2, 3, 7-9, 1, and 13 are patentable at least due to their respective dependencies.” (page 10, lines 13-14). However, Examiner respectfully disagrees about the respective allegations as whole because: dependent claims 2, 3, 7-9, 12, and 13 are rejected for the respective rationale above. The arguments are not persuasive.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 BIAO CHEN whose telephone number is (703)756-1199. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kee M Tung can be reached at (571)272-7794. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Biao Chen/
Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2611
/KEE M TUNG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2611
Prosecution Insights