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 .
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 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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0106122 to Ryu et al. in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0022752 to Yeh.
Regarding Claim 1, Ryu discloses (e.g., at least Figs. 61–64 and their descriptions) a display device comprising: a display panel 100; a side frame 140 extended along edges of the display panel and comprising a flat portion 141 facing a part of the back surface of the display panel (e.g., Fig. 62); a main frame 1600 coupled with the side frame; a light source 17a between the display panel and the main frame (Fig. 62); a first adhesive member 400 attached on the flat portion of the side frame and fixing the display panel to the flat portion of the side frame (e.g., Fig. 62); a second adhesive member attached on a back surface of the side frame and coupling the side frame with the main frame (e.g., where Ryu illustrates a fastener attaching side frame 140 with main frame 1600, and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that an adhesive may alternatively be used for the fastening function, thus achieving the same function using a known alternative, e.g., MPEP §§ 2144.06–07, absent evidence of criticality of the claim features or otherwise unobvious results); and a back cover 130 at a rear of the main frame (Figs. 61–62).
Ryu does not explicitly disclose a timing controller board installed at a rear of the main frame.
Yeh discloses a liquid crystal display device, and teaches that driving circuitry (such as a timing controller) 130 may be formed at a rear of backlight assembly 160 as part of a configuration to provide fixing from the bottom of the LC module and the backlight assembly (e.g., Figs. 2–4 and paragraph [0023]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing to modify the device of Ryu to include a timing controller board installed at a rear of the main frame, as suggested by Yeh, in order to provide control of the device and as a configuration to provide fixing from the bottom of the LC module and the backlight assembly.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2–14 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.
Claims 15–20 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN CROCKETT whose telephone number is (571)270-3183. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am to 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Caley can be reached at 571-272-2286. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN CROCKETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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