Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 18, 2026
Application No. 18/935,268

DISPLAY DEVICE AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Nov 01, 2024
Examiner
NGUYEN, JENNIFER T
Art Unit
2629
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
LG Electronics Inc.
OA Round
2 (Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allow Rate
833 granted / 1022 resolved
+19.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+8.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
16 currently pending
Career history
1038
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.0%
-38.0% vs TC avg
§103
50.6%
+10.6% vs TC avg
§102
29.9%
-10.1% vs TC avg
§112
6.3%
-33.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1022 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . This Office action is responsive to amendment filed on 03/23/26. 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 and 12-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2023/0024561) in view of Chen (CN107677923) and further in view of Yeh et al. (US 2022/0067163). Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses a display device (1, figs. 1-2, para. 0030), comprising: a battery (bt); a stand (20, 30, para. 0032); and a head (10, para. 0024) supported by the stand, including a display (10), wherein the head is electrically connected through a pogo pin (46, 47, paras. 0062 and 0067) provided in a connector (40, para. 0033) of the stand (20, 30, para. 0032). Lee does not specifically disclose determine whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin based on an operating state including a screen state of the display and a charging state of the battery, and an input voltage input to the head through the pogo pin. In a similar field of endeavor of display device, Chen discloses determine whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin based on a charging state of the battery, and the input voltage input to the head through the pogo pin (such as when the abnormal voltage data on the spring pins is detected, the contact is poor or the spring pins are error/damage, page 1/2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the determining whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin as taught by Chen in the system of Lee in order to avoid damage to the connecting device (summary of the invention of Chen, page 1/2). The combination of Lee and Chen does not specifically disclose determine whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin based on an operating state of a screen state of the display. In a similar field of endeavor of display device, Yeh discloses determine whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin based on an operating state of a screen state of the display (through the correspondence between the pogo pin 114a and the pogo pad 124, the second specification signal S2 is transferred to the electronic device 120 to perform a corresponding control of or a corresponding operation on the electronic device 120, para. 0034, accordingly, Yeh discloses the operating state of the electronic device is changed when the pogo pin has error). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the determining as taught by Yeh in the system of Lee and Chen in order to allow the user quickly detect the connection interface error between the electronic device and the control device which adopts unique pogo pins and pogo pads. Regarding claim 12, the combination of Lee and Chen discloses the head is further configured to display a notification indicating that the error has occurred in the pogo pin on the display when it is determined that the error has occurred in the pogo pin (the display 62 display short-circuit information, page 2/2 of Chen). Regarding claim 13, the combination of Lee and Chen discloses the head is further configured to turn off the screen of the display and turn off charging of the battery when it is determined that the error has occurred in the pogo pin (the user adopts the corresponding action, page 2/2 of Chen). Regarding claim 14, the combination of Lee and Chen discloses the head is configured to: turn on the screen of the display using a power charged in the battery while turning off the charge of the battery when it is determined that the error has occurred in the pogo pin (page 2/2 of Chen), and display a guide for a damage or a re-connection of the pogo pin on the display (page 2/2 of Chen). Regarding claim 15, the combination of Lee and Chen discloses the head is configured to determine whether the error has occurred in the pogo pin when the stand is electrically connected to the head through the pogo pin (steps A-D, page ½ of Chen). Regarding claim 16, Lee discloses the stand comprises an adapter configured to convert an alternating current power to a direct current power (para. 0116), wherein the head (10) further comprises a charging board (Pu) configured to control charging of the battery (Bt), wherein the charging board comprises: a direct current/direct current converter (not shown) configured to convert the direct current power delivered from the adapter into a constant voltage and supply the converted constant voltage to a charging circuit configured to charge the battery using the direct current power delivered from the adapter (para. 0116), and the detection circuit (CO) (para. 0116). Regarding claim 17, Lee discloses the head further comprises a head connector (40, para. 0033) for coupling with the pogo pin provided in the connector of the stand. Regarding claim 18, Lee discloses a method of operating a display device (1, figs. 1-2, para. 0030), wherein the display device comprises a battery (Bt); a stand (20, 30, para. 0032) and a head (10, para. 0024) supported by the stand, including a display (10); the head is electrically coupled to the stand through a pogo pin (46, 47, paras. 0062 and 0067) provided in a connector (40, para. 0033) of the stand (20, 30, para. 0032). Lee does not specifically disclose determine whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin based on an operating state including a screen state of the display and a charging state of the battery, and an input voltage input to the head through the pogo pin. In a similar field of endeavor of display device, Chen discloses determine whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin based on a charging state of the battery, and the input voltage input to the head through the pogo pin (such as when the abnormal voltage data on the spring pins is detected, the contact is poor or the spring pins are error/damage, page 1/2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the determining whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin as taught by Chen in the system of Lee in order to avoid damage to the connecting device (summary of the invention of Chen, page 1/2). The combination of Lee and Chen does not specifically disclose determine whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin based on an operating state of a screen state of the display. In a similar field of endeavor of display device, Yeh discloses determine whether an error has occurred in the pogo pin based on an operating state of a screen state of the display (through the correspondence between the pogo pin 114a and the pogo pad 124, the second specification signal S2 is transferred to the electronic device 120 to perform a corresponding control of or a corresponding operation on the electronic device 120, para. 0034, accordingly, Yeh discloses the operating state of the electronic device is changed when the pogo pin has error). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the determining as taught by Yeh in the system of Lee and Chen in order to allow the user quickly detect the connection interface error between the electronic device and the control device which adopts unique pogo pins and pogo pads. Claims 2-4, 10-11 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. in view of Chen and Yeh and further in view of Jung et al. (US 2016/0064959). Regarding claims 2 and 19, the combination of Lee, Chen and Yeh does not specifically disclose "the operating state of the head a charge off state". In a similar field of endeavor of display device, Jung discloses the screen state is either a screen on state or a screen off state, and the charging state is either a charge on state or a charge off state (para. 0138). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the combination as taught by Jung in the system of Lee and Chen in order to prevent overheat or overload of the electronic device or damage the battery (para. 0160). Regarding claims 3 and 20, the combination of Lee, Chen, Yeh and Jung discloses the head further comprises a detection circuit (such as voltage detection module 4, fig. 1 of Chen, step C and page 2/2) configured to output an output voltage (such as an actual voltage) based on the input voltage, wherein the main board (Mb) is configured to: compare the output voltage and a reference voltage (such as voltage database 1, page 2/2), and determine whether the error in the pogo pin has occurred based on a comparison result (if the determination result is normal, page 2/2). Regarding claim 4, the combination of Lee, Chen, Yeh and Jung discloses the reference voltage is set differently depending on the operating state of the head (para. 0067 of Jung). Regarding claim 10, Lee discloses the main board (Mb) comprises: a comparator configured to compare the output voltage and the reference voltage (the control module 5 compares the actual voltage with the voltage data in the voltage database 1, page 2/2), and a switch circuit configured to output a signal indicating whether the error has occurred in the pogo pin based on an output value of the comparator (the prompt module 6 sends prompt information, page 2/2). Regarding claim 11, Lee discloses the switch circuit is configured to: output a low signal indicating that the error has not occurred in the pogo pin when the output value is less than or equal to a preset value (such as a signal to indicate the voltage is normal, page 2/2), and output a high signal indicating that the error has occurred in the pogo pin when the output value exceeds the preset value (such as a signal to indicate the voltage is abnormal, page 2/2). Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. in view of Chen and Jung and Yeh and further in view of Suzuki et al. (US 2020/0310505). Regarding claim 9, the combination of Lee, Chen, Yeh and Jung does not specifically disclose "the detection circuit the certain voltage is input". In a similar field of endeavor of power supply, Suzuki discloses the detection circuit (S, fig. 1) comprises: a Zener diode (Zener diode, not shown in fig. 1, para. 0019) having a Zener voltage, and a Low DropOut (LDO) circuit (11, 12) configured to output a preset voltage when a first voltage more than a certain voltage is input and output a voltage proportional to a second voltage when the second voltage less than the certain voltage is input (para. 0019). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the detection circuit as taught by Suzuki in the system of Lee, Chen, Yeh and Jung in order to provide enhanced stability for the electronic device. Allowable Subject Matter 7. Claims 5-8 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. Response to Arguments 8. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-4 and 9-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Conclusion 9. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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. 10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNIFER T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7696. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:00-5:00. 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, Benjamin C Lee can be reached at 5712722963. 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. /JENNIFER T NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2629
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 01, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 12, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Mar 23, 2026
Response Filed
Apr 04, 2026
Final Rejection — §103 (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

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+8.0%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1022 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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