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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-16, in the reply filed on 17 November 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 17-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 17 November 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yamamoto (US 2019/0049651).
Regarding independent claim 1, Yamamoto teaches a display device comprising at least one display unit (Fig. 8, Element 60; ¶ [0050]); a cover (Fig. 8, Element 10; ¶ [0030]) disposed on a display surface side of the at least one display unit, a housing (Fig. 8, Element 50; ¶ [0030]) that accommodates the at least one display unit; and a first anti-scattering part (Fig. 8, Element 20; ¶ [0030]) disposed on the cover and extending between the display unit and an inner surface of the housing, wherein the first anti-scattering part is inclined at an acute angle with respect to a rear direction of the display unit (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 2, Yamamoto teaches the first anti-scattering part including a first fixing portion attached to the cover and a first shielding portion extending from the first fixing portion between the display unit and the inner surface of the housing and inclined at an acute angle with respect to the rear direction of the display unit (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 3, Yamamoto teaches the first shielding portion in contact with the inner surface of the housing (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 4, Yamamoto teaches the first shielding portion on the inner surface of the housing (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 5, Yamamoto teaches the first shielding portion extending to a bottom surface of the display unit (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 6, the Examiner notes that the patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production (MPEP § 2113(I)). Thus, the recited method of attaching the first fixing portion to the cover has been considered but not given any patentable weight.
Regarding claim 7, Yamamoto teaches the first fixing portion positioned between the cover and the display unit (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 8, the Examiner notes that the patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production (MPEP § 2113(I)). Thus, the recited method of adhering the first fixing portion to the cover and the side plate of the housing has been considered but not given any patentable weight.
Regarding claim 9, Yamamoto teaches the first anti-scattering part having a T-shape when viewed in cross-section (Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 10, Yamamoto teaches the first anti-scattering part surrounding the at least one display unit in a frame-like manner (Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 11, Yamamoto teaches the first anti-scattering part including a plurality of the first anti-scattering parts having different heights of end portions of the plurality of first shielding portions from the cover (Fig. 9).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12-16 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 claim 12, the closest prior art of record (Yamamoto) neither shows or suggests a display device comprising, in addition to other limitations of the claim, a plurality of the display units that are juxtaposed; and a second anti-scattering part disposed on the cover and extending between one display unit of the plurality of juxtaposed display units and the other display unit of the plurality of juxtaposed display units.
Due to their dependencies upon claim 12, claims 13-16 are also allowable.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lim (US 2022/0075225) teaches an electronic device with a hole to accommodate an optical input/output device. Oh (US 11,243,423) teaches a uniform bezel display with off-axis illumination. Xiao (US 2020/0371394) teaches display module with a light-absorbing layer. Lee (US 2020/0116917) teaches a backlight device with light guide structure. Kim (US 2017/0070601) teaches a mobile terminal with a display unit having a window.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kevin Quarterman whose telephone number is (571)272-2461. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm.
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, James Greece can be reached at (571) 272-3711. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Kevin Quarterman/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875 6 March 2026
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