Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/904,720

ACTIVE CONTROL OF LIGHT EMITTING DIODES AND LIGHT EMITTING DIODE DISPLAYS

Non-Final OA §DP
Filed
Oct 02, 2024
Examiner
CHAN, WEI
Art Unit
2844
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Creeled Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 3m
To Grant
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allow Rate
418 granted / 565 resolved
+6.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +15% lift
Without
With
+14.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
590
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.4%
-38.6% vs TC avg
§103
67.0%
+27.0% vs TC avg
§102
7.1%
-32.9% vs TC avg
§112
14.5%
-25.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 565 resolved cases

Office Action

§DP
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 . Double Patenting The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969). A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13. The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer. Claims 1-20 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-37 of U.S. Patent No. 12,198,605. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the difference thereof merely involves with description language that would deemed obvious variations of forms of representation to a person skilled in the art. Instant Application 18/904,720 U.S. Patent No. 12,198,605 1. A light emitting diode (LED) display, comprising: a control element configured to provide a data stream, the data stream comprising at least one data packet; and a plurality of LED packages arranged to receive the data stream from the control element, each LED package of the plurality of LED packages comprising: at least one LED; and an active electrical element within the LED package and electrically connected to the at least one LED, the active electrical element configured to receive the at least one data packet, the at least one data packet comprising a command code that at least partially identifies at least one action to take and a data section comprising at least one of color select data and brightness data for operating the at least one LED, the active electrical element further configured to replace the at least one data packet with different data in the data stream exiting the LED package, the different data being provided in a same position that was previously occupied by the data section. 2. The LED display of claim 1, wherein the different data comprises data verification information of the data stream that is provided back to the control element. 3. The LED display of claim 1, wherein the at least one data packet comprises information that is configured to provide data handshaking with another LED package of the plurality of LED packages. 4. The LED display of claim 3, wherein the at least one data packet comprises a beginning of packet section that is received before the command code, and the beginning of packet section is configured to provide the data handshaking. 5. The LED display of claim 3, wherein the at least one data packet comprises an end of packet section that is received after the command code, and the end of packet section is configured to provide the data handshaking. 6. The LED display of claim 1, wherein the data stream comprises an empty transmission period between successive data packets that is configured to control communication speed of the at least one LED packet, signal a reset or restart condition, or signal a next frame condition. 7. The LED display of claim 1, wherein the control element and the plurality of LED packages are both on a display panel. 8. The LED display of claim 7, wherein the plurality of LED packages are on a front face of the display panel and the control element is on a back face of the display panel. 9. The LED display of claim 1, wherein each LED package of the plurality of LED packages further comprises: a submount, wherein the at least one LED is mounted on the submount; and an encapsulant on the submount, wherein the encapsulant covers at least a portion of the at least one LED and at least a portion of the active electrical element. 10. The LED display of claim 1, wherein the at least one data packet comprises a first data packet and a continuation data packet that is arranged after the first data packet in the data stream, wherein the first data packet and the continuation data packet are configured to provide data to the active electrical element of at least one LED package of the plurality of LED packages. 11. The LED display of claim 10, wherein the continuation data packet includes at least one of additional color select data, additional brightness level data, setup data, option select data, or calibration data. 12. The LED display of claim 1, each LED package of the plurality of LED packages comprises at least one bidirectional communication port that is configured to be assigned as either an input port or an output port in response to receiving the data stream. 13. A light emitting diode (LED) package, comprising: a submount; at least one LED mounted on the submount; and an active electrical element on the submount and electrically connected to the at least one LED, the submount, the at least one LED, and the active electrical element forming an LED pixel for an LED display, wherein the active electrical element is configured to receive data from a data stream that is an output from an external control element, and replace the data with different data in the data stream provided back to the external control element, wherein the data comprises at least one of color select data and brightness data for operating the at least one LED and the different data is provided in a same position that was previously occupied by at least one of the color select data and the brightness data. 14. The LED package of claim 13, wherein the different data comprises data verification information of the data stream that is provided back to the external control element. 15. The LED package of claim 14, wherein the data verification information comprises data checksum parity information. 16. The LED package of claim 15, wherein the data comprises at least one data packet and the at least one data packet comprises a command code that identifies at least one action for the active electrical element to take. 17. The LED package of claim 16, wherein the at least one action comprises providing the different data to the data stream. 18. The LED package of claim 16, wherein the at least one data packet comprises a first data packet and a continuation data packet that is arranged after the first data packet in the data stream. 19. The LED package of claim 13, further comprising an encapsulant on the submount, wherein the encapsulant covers at least a portion of the at least one LED and at least a portion of the active electrical element. 20. The LED package of claim 13, further comprising at least one bidirectional communication port that is configured to be assigned as either an input port or an output port in response to receiving the data stream. 1. A light emitting diode (LED) package, comprising: a submount; at least one LED mounted on the submount; an encapsulant that covers at least a portion of the at least one LED, such that the submount, the at least one LED, and the encapsulant form an LED pixel; and an active electrical element within the LED pixel and electrically connected to the at least one LED, wherein the encapsulant is provided on at least one perimeter edge of the active electrical element, and the active electrical element is configured to: receive at least one data packet from a data stream that is an output from an external control element, wherein at least one data packet comprises a command code that at least partially identifies at least one action to take and a data section comprising at least one of color select data and brightness data for operating the at least one LED; take the at least one action in response to the command code; and replace the at least one data packet with a talk-back data packet in the data stream exiting the LED pixel, wherein the talk-back data packet comprises data verification information of the data stream provided back to the external control element and the talk-back packet is provided in a same position that was previously occupied by the data section comprising at least one of color select data and brightness data. 2. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one action comprises transmitting the at least one data packet to a port of the LED pixel. 3. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one action comprises driving the at least one LED. 4. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one action comprises driving the at least one LED without transmitting the at least one data packet through the LED pixel. 5. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one action comprises transmitting the at least one data packet without performing any other actions internal to the LED pixel. 6. The LED package of claim 5, wherein said transmitting the at least one data packet without performing any other actions internal to the LED package is at least partially based on the content of one or more other data packets previously received by the LED pixel. 7. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one action comprises performing an internal action within the LED pixel and transmitting the at least one data packet. 8. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one action comprises performing an internal action within the LED pixel without transmitting the at least one data packet. 9. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one data packet comprises information that is configured to provide data handshaking with another device. 10. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the data stream comprises an empty transmission period between successive data packets that is configured to control communication speed of the LED pixel, signal a reset or restart condition, or signal a next frame condition. 11. The LED package of claim 1, wherein a plurality of data packets of the data stream have a same data length. 12. The LED package of claim 1, wherein a plurality of data packets of the data stream have varying data lengths. 13. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the external control element is part of a display panel that further includes the LED package. 14. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the active electrical element is arranged to receive the at least one data packet after the at least one data packet is transmitted by another LED pixel along a communication bus line. 15. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one data packet comprises a first data packet and a continuation data packet that is arranged after the first data packet in the data stream, wherein the first data packet and the continuation data packet are configured to provide data to the active electrical element. 16. The LED package of claim 15, wherein the continuation data packet includes at least one of additional color select data, additional brightness level data, setup data, option select data, or calibration data. 17. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one LED and the active electrical element are formed on a bottom face of the submount. 18. The LED package of claim 1, further comprising at least one bidirectional communication port, wherein the active electrical element is configured to assign the at least one bidirectional communication port as one of an input port or an output port in response to a signal received by the LED pixel. 19. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the LED pixel forms a pixel in an LED display. 20. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the active electrical element comprises a finite state machine that is configured to change between one or more of a startup or reset state, a communication port setup state, or one or more command states. 21. A light emitting diode (LED) package, comprising: a submount; at least one LED mounted on the submount; an encapsulant that covers at least a portion of the at least one LED, such that the submount, the at least one LED, and the encapsulant form an LED pixel; an active electrical element within the LED pixel and electrically connected to the at least one LED, wherein the encapsulant is provided on at least one perimeter edge of the active electrical element, and the active electrical element is configured to receive data from a data stream that is an output from an external control element, and replace the data with different data in the data stream provided back to the external control element, wherein the data comprises at least one of color select and brightness data for operating the at least one LED and the different data comprises data verification information of the data stream provided back to the external control element, and the data verification information is provided in a same position that was previously occupied by at least one of the color select data and the brightness data; and a plurality of bond pads electrically coupled with the active electrical element, wherein the plurality of bond pads comprises a first bond pad that is an input port configured to receive the data from the data stream, a second bond pad that is an output port configured to provide the different data to the data stream, a third bond pad that is a voltage port, and a fourth bond pad that is a ground port, wherein the input port, the output port, the voltage port, and the ground port are configured to be electrically connected to ports of other LED pixels in the data stream. 22. The LED package of claim 21, wherein the data comprises at least one data packet and the different data comprises a talk-back data packet, and wherein the active electrical element is configured to replace the at least one data packet with the talk-back data packet in a same position that was previously occupied by the at least one data packet in the data stream exiting the LED pixel. 23. The LED package of claim 22, wherein the data verification information comprises data checksum parity information. 24. The LED package of claim 21, wherein the data comprises at least one data packet and the at least one data packet comprises a command code that identifies at least one action for the active electrical element to take. 25. The LED package of claim 24, wherein the at least one action comprises providing the different data to the data stream. 26. The LED package of claim 24, wherein the at least one action comprises performing an internal action within the LED pixel and transmitting the data. 27. The LED package of claim 24, wherein the at least one action comprises performing an internal action within the LED pixel without transmitting the at least one data packet. 28. The LED package of claim 24, wherein the at least one action comprises transmitting the at least one data packet without performing any other actions internal to the LED pixel. 29. The LED package of claim 28, wherein said transmitting the at least one data packet without performing any other actions internal to the LED pixel is at least partially based on one or more other data packets previously received by the LED pixel. 30. The LED package of claim 22, wherein the at least one data packet comprises a first data packet and a continuation data packet that is arranged after the first data packet in the data stream, and the first data packet and the continuation data packet are configured to provide data to the active electrical element. 31. The LED package of claim 21, wherein the external control element is part of a display panel that further includes the LED package. 32. The LED package of claim 21, wherein the active electrical element is arranged to receive the data from another LED pixel. 33. The LED package of claim 21, wherein the LED pixel forms a pixel in an LED display. 34. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one data packet is one of a plurality of data packets in the data stream that corresponds with a data frame, wherein the talk-back data packet is provided in a portion of the data stream that corresponds with the data frame. 35. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the talk-back data packet further comprises at least one of an operating temperature, an operating current, a color point, and a brightness level of the at least one LED. 36. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one data packet comprises a beginning of packet section that is received before the command code, and the beginning of packet section is configured to provide data handshaking with another LED pixel in the data stream. 37. The LED package of claim 1, wherein the at least one data packet comprises an end of packet section that is received after the command code, and the end of packet section is configured to provide data handshaking with another LED pixel in the data stream. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEI (VICTOR) CHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5177. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am to 6:00pm. 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, Regis Betsch can be reached at 571-270-7101. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. WEI (VICTOR) CHAN Primary Examiner Art Unit 2844 /WEI (VICTOR) Y CHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2844
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Prosecution Timeline

Oct 02, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 09, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §DP (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
74%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (+14.7%)
2y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 565 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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