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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/07/2024 and 08/22/2025 were considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the input sensing portion must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CHA et al. (2022/0182476). With respect to claim 1, CHA et al. discloses a display device (100), comprising: a display module (210, 410); a first body (201, 401) disposed under the display module (210, 410); a second body (202, 401) disposed under the display module (210, 410) and spaced apart from the first body (201, 401); and a hinge module HGM (500) connected to the first and second bodies (201, 401, 202, 401) to provide biaxial rotation axes to the first and second bodies (201, 401, 202, 401), wherein the hinge module (500) includes a plurality of gears (5101, 5102, 531, 5201, 5202, 532) disposed between the first and second bodies (201, 401, 202, 401) and coupled to the first and second bodies (201, 401, 202, 401), wherein the biaxial rotation axis is disposed above and spaced apart from all of the plurality of gears (5101, 5102, 531, 5201, 5202, 532). With respect to claim 2, CHA et al. discloses the display device (100) of claim 1, wherein the hinge module (500) further includes a plurality of rotation pin units (511, 521) connected to the first and second bodies (201, 401 202, 401) to provide the biaxial rotation axis to the first and second bodies (201, 401, 202, 401), wherein the plurality of gears (5101, 5102, 531, 5201, 5202, 532) rotate in conjunction with the plurality of rotation pin units (511, 521), and wherein the plurality of rotation pin units (511, 521) are disposed above the plurality of gears (5101, 5102, 531, 5201, 5202, 532) and spaced apart from the plurality of gears (5101, 5102, 531, 5201, 5202, 532). With respect to claim 3, CHA et al. discloses the display device (100) of claim 2, wherein the display module includes a first non-folding region (211, 411), a second non-folding region (212, 412), and a folding region (213, 413) disposed between the first and second non-folding region (211, 411, 212, 412); the biaxial rotation axis, the plurality of rotation pin units (511, 521), and the plurality of gears (5101, 5102, 531, 5201, 5202, 532) are extended in a first direction, and the first non-folding region (211, 411), the folding region (213, 413), and the second non-folding region (212, 412) are extended in a second direction crossing the first direction. With respect to claim 4, CHA et al. discloses the display device of claim 3, wherein the plurality of gears comprises: a plurality of first gears (531) extended in the first direction and engaged with each other in the second direction; and a plurality of second gears (532) extended in the first direction and spaced apart from each other with the plurality of first gears (531) interposed therebetween in the second direction, wherein the plurality of first gears (531) and the plurality of second gears (532) are engaged with each other in the second direction to rotate about gear rotation axes parallel to the first direction.
With respect to claim 21, CHA et al. discloses an electronic device (100), comprising: a display module (210, 410) including a display panel displaying an image and a input sensing [not shown] portion (120) sensing an external input; and a folding set (500) folding the display module (210, 410), wherein the folding set (500) includes: a first body (201, 401) disposed under the display module (210, 410); a second body (202, 401) disposed under the display module (210, 410) and spaced apart from the first body (201, 401); and a hinge module (500) connected to the first and second bodies (201, 401, 202, 401) to provide biaxial rotation axes to the first and second bodies (202, 401), wherein the hinge module (500) includes a plurality of gears (5101, 5102, 531, 5201, 5202, 532) disposed between the first and second bodies (201, 401, 202, 401) and coupled to the first and second bodies (201, 401, 202, 401), and wherein the biaxial rotation axis is disposed above and spaced apart from all of the plurality of gears (5101, 5102, 531, 5201, 5202, 532).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-20 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: as to claims 5-7, patentability resides, at least in part, in hinge module further comprising: a first frame, into which side portions of the plurality of rotation pin units and side portions of the plurality of first and second gears are inserted; and a second frame, into which opposite side portions of the plurality of first and second gears are inserted as claimed and including all of the other limitations of the base claim(s) respectfully; as to claims 8-20, patentability resides, at least in part, in the folding region comprises: a curved surface portion, which is bent to have a predetermined curvature when the display module is folded; a first extended portion between the first non-folding region and the curved surface portion; and a second extended portion between the second non-folding region and the curved surface portion as claimed and including all of the other limitations of the base claim(s) respectfully.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA LEA-EDMONDS whose telephone number is (571)272-2043. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Timothy Thompson can be reached at 571-272-2342. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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LISA LEA-EDMONDS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2847
/LISA LEA-EDMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2847 2026-03-28