DETAILED ACTION
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 11/22/2024 was filed and considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
Claims 1- 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Applicant’s submitted prior art, Tang et al., CN 216351649.
Claim 1 is anticipated by Tang et al. figure 1 and accompanying text which discloses a display screen assembly comprising:
. a cover plate 40
. a liquid crystal panel 50
. a first support frame 20 comprising a first support surface 21 and a second support surface 22, wherein the cover plate covers an outer side of the liquid crystal panel (fig 1)
. first, second elastic adhesive members 80 and a first sealing member 80 is provided between the liquid crystal panel and the cover plate (fig 1).
Re claim 2, wherein the first support frame 21 comprises a first step portion (portion vertical to first support surface) and a second step portion (portion vertical to second support surface), the first step portion is higher than the second step portion, the first support surface is located at the first step portion, and the second support surface is located at the second step portion (fig 1).
Re claim 3, wherein the first step portion further comprises a first vertical surface, a first buffer member 80 (part between 23 and 40) is provided between the first vertical surface and the cover plate, and the first buffer member is bonded to the first vertical surface (fig 1).
Re claim 4, wherein the first buffer member is a rubber pad or foam ([0051]).
Re claims 5-6, wherein the second step portion further comprises a second vertical surface, a second rubber buffer member 80 is provided between the second vertical surface and the liquid crystal panel 50 and the second buffer member is bonded to the second vertical surface (fig 1).
Re claim 7, wherein the first sealing member 80 for bonding, so as it would be foam as well ([0051]).
Re claim 8, wherein both the first elastic adhesive member and the second elastic adhesive member are double-sided adhesive tapes (e.g. glue material)([0042]).
Re claim 17, a second support frame 30 surrounding peripheral edges and a back surface of the display screen assembly, wherein the second support frame is directly or indirectly fixedly connected to the first support frame 20 and a backlight module 60 fixed to a bottom of the second support frame or to a back of the first support frame (fig 1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 9-12 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant’s submitted prior art, Tang et al., CN 216351649, in view of Inui et al., US 2015/0241621 A1.
Re claim 9, Tang et al. disclose the claimed invention as described above except for a gap between the liquid crystal panel and the cover plate is not more than 1.26 mm. It has been held that where the general conditions of a claim and the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the Tang et al. gap between the cover and the panel is not more than 1.26mm, since its claimed range involves to routine skilled in the art, to reduce air gap therebetween for avoiding light losing.
Re claim 10, Tang et al. disclose the claimed invention as described above except for the first support surface 21 extends to an outer wall of the first support frame, and an outer edge of the cover plate is coplanar with the outer wall of the first support frame. Inui et al. disclose a first support surface 27a extending to an outer wall of the first support frame 27, and an outer edge of the cover plate 12 being coplanar with the outer wall of the first support frame 27 (fig. 5). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the Tang et al. first support surface and edge of the cover plate being coplanar, as shown by Imui et al., to obtain a display screen with more stable and compact (see Abstract).
Re claim 11, the modification to Tang et al. would also result a first groove (area where adhesive 80 is) provided on the first support surface 21, a second groove (area where adhesive 80 is) provided on the second support surface 22, and length directions of the first groove and the second groove are consistent with a length direction of the first support frame; the first elastic adhesive member is disposed in the first groove, and the second elastic adhesive member is disposed in the second groove (Tang et al., fig 1).
Re claim 12, Tang et al. disclose the claimed invention as described above except for the first groove has a width of not less than 2.5 mm and a depth of 0.2 to 0.6 mm; and the second groove has a width of not less than 2.5 mm and a depth of 0.2 to 0.5 mm. It has been held that where the general conditions of a claim and the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the Tang et al. the first groove has a width of not less than 2.5 mm and a depth of 0.2 to 0.6 mm; and the second groove has a width of not less than 2.5 mm and a depth of 0.2 to 0.5 mm., since its claimed range involves to routine skilled in the art, to reduce air gap therebetween for avoiding light losing.
Reclaim 18, the modification to Tang et al. also disclose a second support frame 30 surrounding the periphery of the first support frame and pressing outer surface edges of the cover plate, wherein the second support frame 30 has an inner wall (Tang et al., fig 1), the first support frame 20 would be a square support frame composed of four borders, and the outer wall of the first support frame and the outer edge of the cover plate are opposite to the inner wall; the first buffer member 32 is provided between the inner wall and the outer edge of the cover plate (Tang et al., fig 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-16 and 19-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUNG T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2297. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 - 5:00.
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/DUNG T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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