DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
This action is in response to remarks for application 18815877 filed on 02/11/2026. Claims 1-18 are presented for examination.
Prior Art Rejections
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis 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.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsai et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 2016/0374165 A1) in view of Qiao et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 2021/0350757 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Tsai teaches a backlight module (Tsai, Figs. 3 and 4, backlight module), comprising:
a backlight panel, comprising a plurality of light-emitting units (Tsai, Figs. 3 and 4 and [0004], panel where LEDs are rested on); and
a backlight driving circuit, electrically connected to the plurality of light-emitting units (Tsai, Figs. 3 and 4, controller 203 and dimming controller 204).
Tsai does not seem to explicitly teach wherein the backlight driving circuit is configured to respond to a first timing signal received at a first sequence frame to output a first brightness signal to drive the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light, and a light-emitting brightness of the backlight panel is a first brightness; and the backlight driving circuit is configured to respond to a second timing signal received at a second sequence frame to output a second brightness signal to drive the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light, and the light-emitting brightness of the backlight panel is a second brightness, the first sequence frame and the second sequence frame are arranged alternately, and the first brightness and the second brightness are different.
However, in a related art of driving liquid crystal displays, Qiao teaches a liquid crystal display configured to respond to a first timing signal received at a first sequence frame to output a first brightness; and configured to respond to a second timing signal received at a second sequence frame to output a second brightness, the first sequence frame and the second sequence frame are arranged alternately, and the first brightness and the second brightness are different (Qiao, [0058], odd frames and even frames of liquid crystal display device have different display brightness).
Before the time of the first effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person ordinary skill in the art to have the different brightness at different timing for a liquid crystal display as suggested by Qiao to be used together with the backlight module of Tsai. The suggestion/motivation would have been in order to provide a narrow viewing angle display without sacrificing smoothness of the display (Qiao, [0028]).
Tsai and Qiao does not explicitly disclose outputting a first brightness signal to drive the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light, and a light-emitting brightness of the backlight panel is a first brightness, and a second brightness signal to drive the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light, and the light-emitting brightness of the backlight panel is a second brightness. However, Tsai teaches that liquid crystal layer of liquid-crystal display does not in itself generate light and the backlight module is required to output light and control brightness (Tsai, [0046]). When combining Tsai and Qiao, it would have been obvious to control the brightness of the combined display, different brightness signals would be needed for the odd and even frames to generate the different brightness for the backlight module.
Hence, the limitation of claim 1 is unpatentable in view of Tsai and Qiao.
Regarding claim 2, Tsai in view of Qiao teaches the limitations of claim 1. Tsai in view of Qiao does not seem to explicitly teach the backlight driving circuit comprises a first driving circuit and a second driving circuit; and
the first driving circuit and the second driving circuit are electrically connected to the plurality of light-emitting units, and the first driving circuit is configured to respond to the first timing signal received at the first sequence frame to output the first brightness signal to drive the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light, and the second driving circuit is configured to respond to the second timing signal received at the second sequence frame to output the second brightness signal to drive the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light.
The main difference between the claim limitation and the prior art is the use of two separate driving circuit compared to the single driving circuit. However, it is well-established that making separable is a routine expedients which would have been obvious to a person ordinary skill in the art unless applicant has demonstrated the criticality of the specific limitation (see MEPE 2144.04).
Hence, the limitations of claim 2 is unpatentable in view of Tsai and Qiao.
Regarding claim 5, Tsai in view of Qiao teaches the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches the first sequence frame is an odd frame, and the second sequence frame is an even frame (Qiao, [0058], odd frames and even frames of liquid crystal display device have different display brightness).
Regarding claim 6, Tsai teaches a driving method for a backlight module (Tsai, Figs. 3 and 4, backlight module), wherein the backlight module comprises a backlight panel (Tsai, Figs. 3 and 4 and [0004], panel where LEDs are rested on) and a backlight driving circuit (Tsai, Figs. 3 and 4, controller 203 and dimming controller 204), the backlight panel comprises a plurality of light-emitting units (Tsai, Figs. 3 and 4 and [0004], panel where LEDs are rested on).
Tsai does not seem to explicitly teach the method comprises:
obtaining, by the backlight driving circuit, a first brightness signal and a second brightness signal;
outputting, by the backlight driving circuit, the first brightness signal to the plurality of light-emitting units when receiving a first timing signal, a light-emitting brightness of the backlight panel is a first brightness, and the first timing signal is a timing signal sent when displaying a frame picture of a first sequence frame; and
outputting, by the backlight driving circuit, the second brightness signal to the plurality of light-emitting units when receiving a second timing signal, a light-emitting brightness of the backlight panel is a second brightness, and the second timing signal is a timing signal sent when displaying a frame picture of a second sequence frame, the first sequence frame and the second sequence frame are arranged alternately, and the first brightness is different from the second brightness.
However, in a related art of driving liquid crystal displays, Qiao teaches a method comprises:
obtaining a first brightness signal and a second brightness signal (Qiao, [0058], different display brightness);
outputting the first brightness signal when receiving a first timing signal, and the first timing signal is a timing signal sent when displaying a frame picture of a first sequence frame; and
outputting the second brightness signal when receiving a second timing signal, and the second timing signal is a timing signal sent when displaying a frame picture of a second sequence frame, the first sequence frame and the second sequence frame are arranged alternately, and the first brightness is different from the second brightness (Qiao, [0058], odd frames and even frames of liquid crystal display device have different display brightness).
Before the time of the first effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person ordinary skill in the art to have the different brightness at different timing for a liquid crystal display as suggested by Qiao to be used together with the backlight module of Tsai. The suggestion/motivation would have been in order to provide a narrow viewing angle display without sacrificing smoothness of the display (Qiao, [0028]).
Tsai and Qiao does not separately teach the outputting of the first brightness signal to drive the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light, and a light-emitting brightness of the backlight panel is a first brightness, and outputting the second brightness signal to drive the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light, and the light-emitting brightness of the backlight panel is a second brightness, are both by a backlight driving circuit. However, Tsai teaches that liquid crystal layer of liquid-crystal display does not in itself generate light and the backlight module is required to output light and control brightness (Tsai, [0046]). When combining Tsai and Qiao, it would have been obvious to control the brightness of the combined display, different brightness signals by the backlight driving circuit would be needed for the odd and even frames to generate the different brightness for the backlight module.
Hence, the limitation of claim 6 is unpatentable in view of Tsai and Qiao.
Regarding claim 8, Tsai in view of Qiao teaches the limitations of claim 6 and further teaches the first sequence frame is an odd frame, and the second sequence frame is an even frame (Qiao, [0058], odd frames and even frames of liquid crystal display device have different display brightness).
Regarding claim 17, Tsai in view of Qiao teaches the limitations of claim 1 and further teaches a display panel, comprising the backlight module according to claim 1 (Tsai, [0046], display panel).
Regarding claim 18, Tsai in view of Qiao teaches the limitations of claim 17 and further teaches a display device, comprising the display panel according to claim 17 (Tsai, [0046], display device).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsai et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 2016/0374165 A1) in view of Qiao et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 2021/0350757 A1) and Zhang et al. (US Patent Pub. No. 2019/0159311 A1)
Regarding claim 4, Tsai in view of Qiao teaches the limitations of claim 1. Tsai in view of Qiao does not seem to explicitly teach the backlight module further comprises a multiplexer circuit; and
the multiplexer circuit is electrically connected to the backlight driving circuit and the plurality of light-emitting units respectively, and the multiplexer circuit is configured to respond to a first multiplexed signal to a Nth multiplexed signal to sequentially connect the backlight driving circuit and the plurality of light-emitting units.
However, in a related art of backlight driving for liquid crystal display, Zhang teaches a backlight module further comprises a multiplexer circuit; and
the multiplexer circuit is electrically connected to the backlight driving circuit and the plurality of light-emitting units respectively, and the multiplexer circuit is configured to respond to a first multiplexed signal to a Nth multiplexed signal to sequentially connect the backlight driving circuit and the plurality of light-emitting units (Zhang, Figs. 3-6 and [0044], switch K2 multiplexing the output for the LEDs and the signals are sequential).
Before the time of the first effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person ordinary skill in the art to further include a multiplexer circuit as suggested by Zhang in the backlight module of Tsai in view of Qiao. The suggestion/motivation would have been in order to allow the driver to be used in larger displays and reduce the need of more complex circuits (Zhang, [0005] and [0146]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/11/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). In this case,
[0028] of Qiao clearly shows the motivation and advantage to combine the two.
Furthermore, Applicant argued that the Qiao is to perform localized fluctuation, it is unclear where the interpretation is from. Qiao mentioned a voltage is provided to the liquid crystal and not the backlight. Applicant’s argument also contains multiple quoted sections which are unclear where they are obtained from.
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., “‘different timing’ is ‘timing signals as trigger’”) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). Furthermore, the claims themselves do not recite specifics of the “first timing signal” and the “second timing signal.” Tsai combined with Qiao teaches changing of brightness and in the art of electronics, a signal is provided to control the changing, hence would read on the timing signals of the claims.
In view of the above, the rejections are maintained.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 7 and 9-16 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:
Regarding claims 3 and 7, the prior art (i.e. as representatively applied to the above detailed claim rejections and as cited below as cited pertinent prior art not used in rejection), whether considered alone or in combination, fail to disclose the technical features of the claimed invention in context as a whole. The specifics of further inclusion of the third driving circuit and compensation circuit to provide a loading signal and amplifying the loading signal when receiving the second timing signal in the manner claimed as a whole, is not sufficiently taught or suggested in the prior art.
Regarding claims 9-16, the prior art, whether considered alone or in combination, fail to disclose the technical features of the claimed invention in context as a whole. The specifics of the obtaining of positive frame adjustment picture brightness and negative frame picture brightness, and the respective performance of brightness adjustment based on the different result of the difference between the positive frame adjustment picture brightness and negative frame picture brightness in the manner claimed as a whole, is not sufficiently taught or suggested in the prior art.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/DONG HUI LIANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2629