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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 5, lines 4-5, " the FPCB " should read - - the flexible printed circuit board - -
Appropriate correction is required.
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 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 § 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.
Claims 1, 4 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fan (US 2021/0109389).
Regarding claim 1, Fan teaches a hybrid display device (Fig. 1-5, [0021-0047]) comprising:
a first display panel portion (the portion corresponding to the liquid crystal display 10 in Fig. 1-5, [0021-0027, 0035]) including a display area (the area corresponding to R1 in Fig. 3, [0033]) on which an image is displayed (Fig. 3, [0033]) at a central portion of a front surface thereof (the front surface of 100/10 in Fig. 1 and 3-4) and a non-display area (the area corresponding to R2 and S1042 in Fig. 3, [0033]) on which the image is not displayed (Fig. 3, [0033]) at an outer peripheral portion of the front surface (the front surface of 100/10 in Fig. 1 and 3-4); and
a second display panel portion (the portion corresponding to one or more of the light-emitting diode boards 11/11A in Fig. 1-5, [0021, 0035-0045]) disposed to partially overlap (Fig. 3) the first display panel portion (the portion corresponding to the liquid crystal display 10 in Fig. 1-5, [0021-0024, 0035]) and to be adjacent to (Fig. 1 and 3-4) the first display panel portion (the portion corresponding to the liquid crystal display 10 in Fig. 1-5, [0021-0022, 0035]) so that the display area (the area corresponding to R1 in Fig. 3, [0033]) is exposed forward (Fig. 1 and 3-4), and the non-display area (the area corresponding to R2 and S1042 in Fig. 3, [0033) is covered (Fig. 3), and wherein an image is displayed on an entire area (Fig. 1-5, [0044, 0049]) of a front surface thereof (the front surface of 11/11A in Fig. 3, Fig. 2 and Fig. 5).
Regarding claims 4 and 11, Fan also teaches the following elements:
(Claim 4) the second display panel portion (the portion corresponding to one or more of the light-emitting diode boards 11/11A in Fig. 1-5, [0021, 0035-0045]) includes: a plurality of LED packages (light-emitting diode packages) (112R/112G/112B in Fig. 2 and 5, [0039]) arranged in a matrix (Fig. 2 and 5) corresponding to a plurality of pixels (the pixels corresponding to 112/U in Fig. 2 and 5); and an LED board (110/110A in Fig. 2-3 and 5, [0041, 0045]) that supports the plurality of LED packages (Fig. 2-3 and 5, [0041, 0045]).
(Claim 11) a plurality of second display panel portions (the portion corresponding to one or more of the light-emitting diode boards 11/11A in Fig. 1-5, [0021, 0035-0045]) are provided to surround the outer peripheral portion (Fig. 1 and 4) of the first display panel portion (the portion corresponding to the liquid crystal display 10 in Fig. 1-5, [0021-0027, 0035]).
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 of this title, 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 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan as applied to claim 1 above, and in view of Uchida (US 2015/0015456).
Regarding claim 2, Fan teaches that the first display panel portion (the portion corresponding to the liquid crystal display 10 in Fig. 1-5, [0021-0027, 0035]) includes: a backlight unit (102 in Fig. 3, [0023]) that projects light forward (Fig. 3, [0023]); and a liquid crystal panel (100 in Fig. 3, [0023-0024]) that selectively transmits the light of the backlight unit (Fig. 3, [0023-0024]). Fan does not teach the following elements.
Uchida teaches the following elements (Fig. 1, [0042]):
(Claim 2) light projected by a backlight unit is a white light (Fig. 1, [0042]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Uchida for the system of Fan such that in the system of Fan,
(Claim 2) the light projected by the backlight unit is a white light.
The motivation is to help to provide a simple configuration for a display panel able to make seams between image modulation elements less conspicuous (Uchida, Abs, [0021]).
Regarding claim 3, Fan also teaches the following elements:
(Claim 3) the first display panel portion (the portion corresponding to the liquid crystal display 10 in Fig. 1-5, [0021-0027, 0035]) further includes a panel holder (104 in Fig. 3, [0023]) that supports the liquid crystal panel (100 in Fig. 3, [0023-0024]) and has an outer peripheral portion of the liquid crystal panel (the outer portions of 100 corresponding to R2 in Fig. 3) fitted into a front-end portion thereof (the upper horizontal portions of 104 corresponding to S1042 in Fig. 3), and the non-display area (the area corresponding to R2 and S1042 in Fig. 3, [0033) includes a front surface of the front-end portion of the panel holder (the front surface of 104 corresponding to S1042 in Fig. 3).
Claims 5-6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan as applied to claims 4 and 1 above, and in view of Qi (US 2022/0404659).
Regarding claims 5 and 10, Fan teaches that the LED board (110/110A in Fig. 2-3 and 5, [0041, 0045]) includes: a circuit board ([0037]) electrically connected to the plurality of LED packages (112R/112G/112B in Fig. 2 and 5, [0039]) so that the plurality of LED packages emit light (Fig. 2 and 5, [0039]); Fan does not teach the following elements.
Qi teaches the following elements (Fig. 1-4, [0035-0049, 0054-0055]):
(Claim 5) a circuit board (21 including 211 and 212 in Fig. 1-2, [0036, 0049]) is a flexible printed circuit board that is bendable (Fig. 1-2, [0036, 0049]), and a flexible support plate (24 in Fig. 1-2, [0054-0055]) that is bendable ([0055]) and supports the plurality of LED packages and the flexible printed circuit board (Fig. 1-2, [0054-0055]).
(Claim 10) a second display panel portion (the portion corresponding to 20 in Fig. 1-2, [0035, 0049, 0054-0055]) the is curved ([0049, 0055]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Qi for the system of Fan such that in the system of Fan,
(Claim 5) the LED board includes: a flexible printed circuit board that is bendable and electrically connected to the plurality of LED packages so that the plurality of LED packages emit light; and a flexible support plate that is bendable and supports the plurality of LED packages and the flexible printed circuit board
(Claim 10) the second display panel portion is curved.
The motivation is to help to provide a curved display screen with a larger area, and improve the visual effect (Qi, [0049, 0055]).
Regarding claim 6, Fan also teaches that no circuit components other than (Fig. 1-5, [0035, 0037]) the LED packages (112R/112G/112B in Fig. 2 and 5, [0039]) and the circuit board ([0037]) are disposed in a portion (the portion corresponding to R2 and S1042 in Fig. 3, [0033]) of the second display panel portion (the portion corresponding to one or more of the light-emitting diode boards 11/11A in Fig. 1-5, [0021, 0035-0045]) overlapping the non-display area (the area corresponding to R2 and S1042 in Fig. 3, [0033]). Fan in view of Qi already teaches that the circuit board is the flexible printed circuit board.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fan as applied to claims 4 and 1 above, and in view of Chen (US 2016/0342012).
Regarding claim 7, Fan does not teach the following elements.
Chen teaches the following elements (Fig. 2-3, [0024-0038]):
(Claim 7) a transparent protective panel (51 in Fig. 2-3, [0029-0030, 0038]) disposed in front of a first display panel portion (the portion corresponding to 21 in Fig. 2-3) and the second display panel portion (the portion corresponding to 11 in Fig. 2-3) to protect the front surface of the first display panel portion and the front surface of the second display panel portion (Fig. 2-3, [0029-0030, 0038]); and a rear cover (the cover of 12, or 12 and 40 in Fig. 2-3) that accommodates the first display panel portion and the second display panel portion therein (Fig.2-3), and to which an outer peripheral portion of the transparent protective panel (51 in Fig. 2-3, [0029-0030, 0038]) is bonded and fixed (Fig. 2-3, [0029, 0037]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to the artisan of ordinary skill to employ the above elements as taught by Chen for the system of Fan such that in the system of Fan,
(Claim 7) a transparent protective panel disposed in front of the first display panel portion and the second display panel portion to protect the front surface of the first display panel portion and the front surface of the second display panel portion; and a rear cover that accommodates the first display panel portion and the second display panel portion therein, and to which an outer peripheral portion of the transparent protective panel is bonded and fixed.
The motivation is to protect the first display panel portion and the second display panel portion, improve the display area and the display effect, enhance the end user's viewing experience (Chen, [0029, 0037, 0017]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9 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:
None of the prior art of record discloses or suggests all the combination of a hybrid display device as set forth in claims 8-9.
Regarding claims 8-9, none of the prior art discloses or suggests a hybrid display device recited in claim 7, wherein “the rear cover includes a rear plate portion provided behind the first display panel portion and the second display panel portion so as to be spaced apart from the second display panel portion, and the hybrid display device further comprises a spacer interposed between the second display panel portion and the rear plate portion so that the second display panel portion is spaced apart from the rear plate portion” in combination with the other required elements of the claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAN LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-0383. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am-5pm EST M-F.
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/Shan Liu/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
Prosecution Insights