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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/27/2026 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0147032 (hereinafter Kim) in view of Lee et al. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018/0182297 (hereinafter Lee).
Consider claim 19, Kim teaches method of operating a display device (Figure 3), the method comprising: generating stress data that represents a degradation amount for a display panel of the display device ([0074], the first operator 110 may determine a degree of deterioration of the pixels 40 using the brightness characteristic stored in the third memory 150); generating corrected image data by adjusting input image data based on the stress data ([0075] and figure 3, Data2); determining a luminance of the display panel based on a display brightness value or the corrected image data ([0074], the third memory 150 may store a lookup table including values for a brightness characteristic and corresponding emission times); adjusting a second power supply voltage based on the stress data and the luminance of the display panel [0085]; and driving the display panel based on the corrected image data, a first power supply voltage and the second power supply voltage (Figure 3, Data2, ELVDD and ELVSS), wherein adjusting the second power supply voltage includes: determining a driving voltage increment for a light emitting element based on the stress data and the luminance of the display panel ([0085], e.g., increased, to compensate, e.g., substantially compensate and/or completely compensate, for a reduced brightness of the display as a result of the deterioration of the most deteriorated pixel); and adjust the second power supply voltage by the driving voltage increment for the light emitting element [0085].
Kim does not appear to specifically disclose decreasing the second power supply voltage.
However, in a related field of endeavor, Lee teaches decreasing the second power supply voltage (Figure 27, EVDS fixed and EVSS changes. [0171-0172], the level of the low level voltage EVSS is maintained at 0V level, which decrease from 6V).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to decrease EVSS in order to increase the current (see I vs Vds in figures 26-27). In addition, the circuit for changing the low level voltage may be less burdensome than the circuit for changing the high level voltage, because of fewer components and less variability or instability when the voltage is changed as suggested in [0175].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-2, 4-18 and 21 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim 1 is related to an electronic device comprising: a display panel including a plurality of pixels; and a panel driver connected to the display panel, the panel driver configured to generate accumulated corrected images data for the plurality of pixels representing a degradation amount of the plurality of pixels, to generate corrected image data by adjusting input image data based on the accumulated corrected image data for the plurality of pixels, to determine a luminance of the display panel based on a display brightness value or the corrected image data, and to drive the display panel based on the corrected image data, a first power supply voltage, and a second power supply voltage, wherein: each of the plurality of pixels includes a light emitting element, and the panel driver is configured to determine a driving voltage increment for the light emitting element based on the accumulated corrected image data and the luminance for the plurality of pixels, and to decrease the second power supply voltage by the driving voltage increment for the light emitting element.
Claim 6 is related to a display device comprising: a display panel including a plurality of pixels; and a panel driver connected to the display panel, the panel driver configured to generate stress data representing a degradation amount of the display panel, to generate corrected image data by adjusting input image data based on the stress data, to determine a luminance of the display panel based on a display brightness value or the corrected image data, to adjust a second power supply voltage based on the stress data and the luminance of the display panel, and to drive the display panel based on the corrected image data, a first power supply voltage, and the second power supply voltage, wherein: the panel driver includes: a scan driver configured to provide scan signals to the plurality of pixels; a data driver configured to provide data signals to the plurality of pixels based on the corrected image data; a power management circuit configured to provide the first power supply voltage and the second power supply voltage to the plurality of pixels; and a controller configured to control the scan driver, the data driver, and the power management circuit, and to provide a power control signal to the power management circuit to adjust the second power supply voltage, and the controller includes: a degradation accumulating circuit configured to generate the stress data based on the corrected image data; a degradation compensating circuit configured to generate the corrected image data by adjusting the input image data based on the stress data; an output image analyzing circuit configured to determine the luminance of the display panel based on the display brightness value and the corrected image data; and a driving voltage determining circuit configured to determine a voltage level of the second power supply voltage based on the stress data and the luminance of the display panel, and to provide the power control signal, which represents the determined voltage level of the second power supply voltage, to the power management circuit.
Kim teaches in [0074], the first operator 110 may determine a degree of deterioration of the pixels 40 using the brightness characteristic stored in the third memory 150 and [0085] teaches ELVDD may be changed, e.g. increased, to compensate, e.g., substantially compensate and/or completely compensate, for a reduced brightness of the display as a result of the deterioration of the most deteriorated pixel). However, Kim does not appear to specifically disclose all the above underlined limitations in combination to other limitations in the claim.
In U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016/0019839 teaches in [0050], the power supply voltage ELVDD applied to the pixel is increased by the power supply voltage increment ΔELVDD determined corresponding to the extent of degradation so that the luminance of the OLED can be maintained with substantially the same level before and after the degradation. However, In does not appear to specifically disclose all the above underlined limitations in combination to other limitations in the claim.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 17, with respect to claim 19, Applicant argues that Kim1 does not teach or even recognize as a result effective variable the voltage across the light emitting element, and that a luminance is not stress data and is not a voltage across a light emitting element. The Office respectfully disagrees for the following reasons.
Kim teaches in [0085], ELVDD may be changed, e.g., increased, to compensate, e.g., substantially compensate and/or completely compensate, for a reduced brightness of the display as a result of the deterioration of the most deteriorated pixel). Thus, Kim teaches power (e.g. ELVDD) is adjusted by a change in driving voltage of LED (see also, ELVDD, ELVSS and OLED in figure 8). Lee teaches decrease EVSS in order to increase the current in figures 26-27. Consequently, the combination disclosed the argued limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERTO W FLORES whose telephone number is (571)272-5512. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7am-4pm, EST.
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, AMR A AWAD can be reached at (571)272-7764. 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.
/ROBERTO W FLORES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621
Prosecution Insights