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 papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
The drawings filed 12-09-24 have been accepted by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 16 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 16 recites “the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display,” in line 17. A “second display” is not recited in the remainder of the claim, so it appears to be merely a typographical error and should instead read “the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display area”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 17 recites “the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display,” in lines 4 and 5. While claim 17 is dependent upon claim 16, for the same reason as discussed above, it appears to be a typographical error and should instead read “the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display area”. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1, 5-11, 13-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2021/0065625) in view of Seo et al. (US 2020/0159369).
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Regarding claim 1, Wang (Fig. 1, and 3, with Fig. 1O shown above modified with additional labels) discloses a display device comprising:
a display panel comprising a plurality of pixels (A01 and A02), the display panel comprising a first display area (A1) having a first resolution (eg. a “high resolution” as discussed in [0230]) and a second display area having a second resolution (eg. a “low resolution” as discussed in [0230]), the second resolution being lower than the first resolution (“a first display sub-region with high pixel distribution density (i.e., high resolution) and a second display sub-region with low pixel distribution density (i.e., low resolution)” discussed in [0230]) and the second display area having a higher light transmittance than the first display area (“pixel density of the second display sub-region A2 is less than a pixel density of the first display sub-region A1, and such that a light transmittance of the second display sub-region A2 is greater than a light transmittance of the first display sub-region A1” discussed in [0190]); and
a controller (104) configured to display an image across both of the first display area and the second display area (“driving each sub-pixel in the display” discussed in [0405], while [0404] more specifically discusses the pixels in the first and second display regions),
wherein the plurality of pixels include first light-emitting pixels corresponding to the first display area (A01), and second light-emitting pixels (30) and non-light-emitting pixels (P1) corresponding to the second display area (30 and P1 are both part of A02, inside A2, as seen in Fig. 1O),
wherein each of the first light-emitting pixels in the first display area includes a first number of subpixels (A02 includes 4 subpixels including 1, two subpixels 2, and 3, see also “the pixel unit can be a combination of sub-pixels displaying one pixel point, for example, a combination of… four or more sub-pixels selected from the group consisting of red sub-pixels, green sub-pixels and blue sub-pixels” discussed in [0093]), and has at least two subpixels configured to emit a same color of light (both subpixels 2 emit green light, see “sub-pixel 2 is a green sub-pixel” discussed in [0120]),
wherein each of the second light-emitting pixels in the second display area includes a second number of subpixels that is less than the first number of subpixels in each of the first light-emitting pixels in the first display area (30 includes only 3 subpixels, 1, 2, and 3),
wherein the second display area has a first side (eg. the left side of the area A2 seen in Fig. 1A, corresponding to the left side of A2 also seen in Fig. 1O) and a second side that is opposite to the first side (eg. the right side of the area A2, seen in Fig. 1A),
wherein a first group of subpixels among the first light-emitting pixels are in the first display area (a group of pixels A01 are in the first display area A1 to the left of A2 as seen near the center of Fig. 1O) and a second group of subpixels among the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display area (a group of pixels 30, each inside A02, are in the first display area A2 to the right of A1 as seen near the center of Fig. 1O), the first group of subpixels and the second group of subpixels being arranged along opposite sides of an interface between the first display area and the second display area corresponding to the first side (as seen in Fig. 1O, A01 is on the left of the interface between A1 and A2, while A02 is to the right),
wherein each of the first group of subpixels and the second group of subpixels are arranged along a straight line (as seen in Fig. 1O, both A01 and A02 are aligned with each other in straight lines in the horizontal and vertical directions),
wherein the second display area has a first corner region (as seen in Fig. 1O, A2 includes a bottom left corner region),
wherein a third group of subpixels among the first light-emitting pixels are in the first display area (eg. A01C in area A1, as seen in the modified Fig. 1O above), and a fourth group of subpixels among the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display area (eg. A02C in area A2, as seen in the modified Fig. 1O above), the third group of subpixels and the fourth group of subpixels being arranged along opposite sides of an interface between the first display area and the second display area corresponding to the first corner region (A01C and A02C are on opposite sides of the corner region of A2, as seen in the modified Fig. 1O above).
However, while Wang shows at least two sides of region A2 are straight (eg. the bottom and left sides, as seen in Fig. 1O), as well as teaching “second display sub-region A2 may be of other shapes” discussed in [0079]), Wang fails to teach or suggest wherein the second display area has a second side that is opposite and “parallel to the first side,” or wherein the second display area has “a second corner region that is opposite to the first corner region,” or “wherein the third group of subpixels being arranged in a sawtooth manner or a jagged arrangement.”
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Seo (Fig. 12 and 14, with Fig. 14B shown above modified with additional labels) discloses a display device comprising:
a display panel (200) comprising a plurality of pixels (PX), the display panel comprising a first display area (AA) and a second display area (MA), the second display area having a higher light transmittance than the first display area (“second area adjacent to the first area and having a higher light transmittance than the first area” discussed in [0039]); and
a controller (MB) configured to display an image across both of the first display area and the second display area (eg. using the pixels PX, with displaying images discussed in [0086]),
wherein the plurality of pixels include first light-emitting pixels corresponding to the first display area (AA has pixels PX as seen in Fig. 14B), and second light-emitting pixels (PX) and non-light-emitting pixels (NPX) corresponding to the second display area (MA has both PX and NPX, as seen in Fig. 14B),
wherein the second display area has a first side and a second side that is opposite and parallel to the first side (as seen in Fig. 14B, the pixels PX and NPX in the MA region form a square, and so the left and right sides are opposite and parallel, additionally, see “MA may have a shape corresponding to the holes MH” discussed in [0311], while [0288] discusses how “MH are shown in a rectangular shape,” seen in Fig. 12C),
wherein a first group of the first light-emitting pixels are in the first display area (eg. the pixels PX on the left side of AA, seen in Fig. 14B) and a second group of the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display area (eg. the pixels PX in MA, seen in Fig. 14B), the first group and the second group being arranged along opposite sides of an interface between the first display area and the second display area corresponding to the first side (as seen in Fig. 14B, the PX inside AA and MA are on opposite sides of the boundary),
wherein the second display area has a first corner region (eg. the top left corner) and a second corner region that is opposite to the first corner region (eg. a bottom right corner),
wherein a third group of the first light-emitting pixels are in the first display area (eg. the pixels PX near the top left corner, labelled “3rd group” in the modified Fig. 14B above), and a fourth group of the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display area (eg. labelled “4th group” in the modified Fig. 14B above), the third group and the fourth group being arranged along opposite sides of an interface between the first display area and the second display area corresponding to the first corner region (eg. the 3rd group is outside the interface between AA and MA, while the 4th group is inside the interface, as seen in Fig. 14B), and
wherein the third group being arranged in a sawtooth manner or a jagged arrangement (as seen in the modified Fig. 14B, the “3rd group” is in a jagged arrangement).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wang so the second display area has a second side that is opposite and “parallel to the first side,” the second display area has “a second corner region that is opposite to the first corner region,” and “wherein the third group of subpixels being arranged in a sawtooth manner or a jagged arrangement” as taught by Seo because this allows the second display area to have a larger variety of shapes (“area MA may have any suitable shape, such as a circle, an ellipse, a polygon, or a polygon including curved sides on at least one side in a plan view, and is not limited to any one embodiment” discussed in [0311]).
Regarding claim 16, Wang (Fig. 1, and 3, with Fig. 1O shown above modified with additional labels) discloses a display device comprising:
a display panel comprising a plurality of pixels (A01 and A02), the display panel comprising a first display area (A1) having a first resolution (eg. a “high resolution” as discussed in [0230]) and a second display area having a second resolution (eg. a “low resolution” as discussed in [0230]), the second resolution being lower than the first resolution (“a first display sub-region with high pixel distribution density (i.e., high resolution) and a second display sub-region with low pixel distribution density (i.e., low resolution)” discussed in [0230]) and the second display area having a higher light transmittance than the first display area (“pixel density of the second display sub-region A2 is less than a pixel density of the first display sub-region A1, and such that a light transmittance of the second display sub-region A2 is greater than a light transmittance of the first display sub-region A1” discussed in [0190]); and
a controller (104) configured to display an image across both of the first display area and the second display area (“driving each sub-pixel in the display” discussed in [0405], while [0404] more specifically discusses the pixels in the first and second display regions),
wherein the plurality of pixels include first light-emitting pixels corresponding to the first display area (A01), and second light-emitting pixels (30) and transmitting areas (P1) corresponding to the second display area (30 and P1 are both part of A02, inside A2, as seen in Fig. 1O),
wherein each of the first light-emitting pixels in the first display area includes a first number of subpixels (A02 includes 4 subpixels including 1, two subpixels 2, and 3, see also “the pixel unit can be a combination of sub-pixels displaying one pixel point, for example, a combination of… four or more sub-pixels selected from the group consisting of red sub-pixels, green sub-pixels and blue sub-pixels” discussed in [0093]),
wherein the second display area has a first corner region (as seen in Fig. 1O, A2 includes a bottom left corner region),
wherein a first group of subpixels among the first light-emitting pixels are in the first display area (eg. A01C in area A1, as seen in the modified Fig. 1O above), and a second group of subpixels among the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display area (eg. A02C in area A2, as seen in the modified Fig. 1O above), the first group of subpixels and the second group of subpixels being arranged along opposite sides of an interface between the first display area and the second display area corresponding to the first corner region (A01C and A02C are on opposite sides of the corner region of A2, as seen in the modified Fig. 1O above).
However, Wang fails to teach or suggest wherein the second display area has “a second corner region that is opposite to the first corner region,” or “wherein the first group of subpixels is arranged in a sawtooth manner or a jagged arrangement.”
Seo (Fig. 12 and 14, with Fig. 14B shown above modified with additional labels) discloses a display device comprising:
a display panel (200) comprising a plurality of pixels (PX), the display panel comprising a first display area (AA) and a second display area (MA), the second display area having a higher light transmittance than the first display area (“second area adjacent to the first area and having a higher light transmittance than the first area” discussed in [0039]); and
a controller (MB) configured to display an image across both of the first display area and the second display area (eg. using the pixels PX, with displaying images discussed in [0086]),
wherein the plurality of pixels include first light-emitting pixels corresponding to the first display area (AA has pixels PX as seen in Fig. 14B), and second light-emitting pixels (PX) and transmitting areas (NPX) corresponding to the second display area (MA has both PX and NPX, as seen in Fig. 14B),
wherein the second display area has a first corner region (eg. the top left corner) and a second corner region that is opposite to the first corner region (eg. a bottom right corner),
wherein a first group of the first light-emitting pixels are in the first display area (eg. the pixels PX near the top left corner, labelled “3rd group” in the modified Fig. 14B above), and a second group of the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display area (eg. labelled “4th group” in the modified Fig. 14B above), the first group and the second group being arranged along opposite sides of an interface between the first display area and the second display area corresponding to the first corner region (eg. the 3rd group is outside the interface between AA and MA, while the 4th group is inside the interface, as seen in Fig. 14B), and
wherein the first group being arranged in a sawtooth manner or a jagged arrangement (as seen in the modified Fig. 14B, the “3rd group” is in a jagged arrangement).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wang so the second display area has “a second corner region that is opposite to the first corner region,” and “wherein the first group of subpixels being arranged in a sawtooth manner or a jagged arrangement” as taught by Seo because this allows the second display area to have a larger variety of shapes (“area MA may have any suitable shape, such as a circle, an ellipse, a polygon, or a polygon including curved sides on at least one side in a plan view, and is not limited to any one embodiment” discussed in [0311]).
Regarding claim 5, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Seo further discloses wherein the second display area has a circle shape or a square shape having diagonal corner regions (“MA may have any suitable shape, such as a circle” discussed in [0311]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Wang and Seo for the same reasons as discussed above.
Regarding claim 6, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Seo further discloses wherein a size of one of the first light-emitting pixels is same as a size of one of the second light-emitting pixels (as seen in Fig. 14B, the pixels PX both inside AA and inside MA are the same size).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Wang and Seo for the same reasons as discussed above.
Regarding claim 7, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein a total area of the non-light-emitting pixels in the second display area is greater than a total area of the second light-emitting pixels in the second display area (for example, in the embodiment of Fig. 1E, there are 5 non-light-emitting pixels while only 3 light-emitting pixels, and so the non-light-emitting area is larger).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wang and Seo so a total area of the non-light-emitting pixels in the second display area is greater than a total area of the second light-emitting pixels in the second display area as taught by the embodiment of Fig. 1E of Wang because this provides an increased light transmittance for the area by “reducing a pixel distribution density” (see [0077]).
Regarding claim 8, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein a group of non-light-emitting pixels among the non-light-emitting pixels are continuously arranged along a diagonal line in the second display area (as seen in Fig. 1O, the non-light-emitting pixels P01, P02, and P03 form diagonal lines in area A2).
Regarding claim 9, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein a group of second light-emitting pixels among the second light-emitting pixels are alternatingly arranged with non-light emitting regions therebetween along a diagonal line in the second display area (as seen in Fig. 1O, the group of second light-emitting pixels 1, 2, and 3, inside 30, alternate with the non-light-emitting pixels P01, P02, and P03 along diagonal lines in area A2).
Regarding claim 10, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses an optical sensor disposed under the second display area (“a sensor… can be arranged in the second display sub-region” discussed in [0082]).
Regarding claim 11, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein the optical sensor includes one of a camera module (the sensor is a “camera” as discussed in [0082]), an ambient light sensor (“camera positioned under the display screen can receive ambient light” discussed in [0189]), and a fingerprint sensor (this limitation is not being examined due to the alternative language “one of”).
Regarding claim 13, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein the second display area includes a plurality of unit pixel areas (A02), each of the plurality of unit pixel areas being divided into one real pixel area corresponding to a group of light-emitting subpixels (30) and three dummy pixel areas corresponding to non-light-emitting pixels (P01, P02, and P03).
Regarding claim 14, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein the second display area includes a group of non-light-emitting pixels continuously arranged along a diagonal line (eg. the non-light-emitting pixels arranged continuously along line NLEP shown in the modified Fig. 1O above).
Regarding claim 15, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein the second display area includes some of the second light-emitting pixels and some of the non-light-emitting pixels alternately arranged along a row direction (eg. in the top most row of A1, the starting from the left, the first pixel is a non-light-emitting pixel, the second pixel is a green pixel 2, and then another non-light-emitting pixel, the fourth pixel is a blue pixel 3, etc.).
Regarding claim 17, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein the second display area has a first side (eg. the left side of the area A2 seen in Fig. 1A, corresponding to the left side of A2 also seen in Fig. 1O) and a second side that is opposite to the first side (eg. the right side of the area A2, seen in Fig. 1A),
wherein a third group of subpixels among the first light-emitting pixels are in the first display area (a group of pixels A01 are in the first display area A1 to the left of A2 as seen near the center of Fig. 1O), and a fourth group of subpixels among the second light-emitting pixels are in the second display area (a group of pixels 30, each inside A02, are in the first display area A2 to the right of A1 as seen near the center of Fig. 1O), the third group of subpixels and the fourth group of subpixels being arranged along opposite sides of an interface between the first display area and the second display area corresponding to the first side (as seen in Fig. 1O, A01 is on the left of the interface between A1 and A2, while A02 is to the right), and
wherein each of the third group of subpixels and the fourth group of subpixels are arranged along a straight line (as seen in Fig. 1O, both A01 and A02 are aligned with each other in straight lines in the horizontal and vertical directions),
Additionally, Seo further discloses wherein the second display area has a first side and a second side that is opposite and parallel to the first side (as seen in Fig. 14B, the pixels PX and NPX in the MA region form a square, and so the left and right sides are opposite and parallel, additionally, see “MA may have a shape corresponding to the holes MH” discussed in [0311], while [0288] discusses how “MH are shown in a rectangular shape,” seen in Fig. 12C).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Wang and Seo for the same reasons as discussed above.
Regarding claim 18, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein each of the second light-emitting pixels in the second display area includes a second number of subpixels that is less than the first number of subpixels in each of the first light-emitting pixels in the first display area (as discussed above, A01 includes 4 subpixels while 30 includes only 3 subpixels, 1, 2, and 3),
Regarding claim 19, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein the second display area includes a plurality of unit pixel areas (A02), each of the plurality of unit pixel areas being divided into one real pixel area corresponding to a group of light emitting subpixels (30) and three dummy pixel areas corresponding to some of the transmitting areas (P01, P02, and P03).
Regarding claim 20, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein the second display area includes a group of the transmitting areas continuously arranged along a diagonal line (eg. the transmitting areas arranged continuously along line NLEP shown in the modified Fig. 1O above).
Regarding claim 21, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein the second display area includes some of the second light-emitting pixels and some of the transmitting areas alternately arranged along a row direction (eg. in the top most row of A1, the starting from the left, the first pixel is a transmitting area, the second pixel is a green pixel 2, and then another transmitting area, the fourth pixel is a blue pixel 3, etc.).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang and Seo as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Zeng et al. (US 2019/0369422).
Regarding claim 12, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, however fail to teach or suggest wherein the controller is further configured to:
display an image in the second display area when the optical sensor is in a deactivated state, and display no image or a black image in the second display area when the optical sensor is in an activated state.
Zeng (Fig. 4) discloses a display device wherein a controller (“processor” discussed in [0062]) is configured to display an image in the second display area (eg. in area 121, “in the display state, both the first region 121 and the second region 122 of the light adjusting component 12 are in the polarization state, so that the effective display region of the display structure 1 may display normally” discussed in [0049]) when the optical sensor is in a deactivated state (“in the display mode, the camera structure is turned off” discussed in [0053]), and display no image or a black image in the second display area when the optical sensor is in an activated state (“in the shooting mode, the camera structure is started” as discussed in [0054] and “turning off the pixels correspond to the first region 121 so that light may pass through the display screen 11 to reach camera sensors” discussed in [0033]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wang and Seo to display an image in the second display area when the optical sensor is in a deactivated state, and display no image or a black image in the second display area when the optical sensor is in an activated state as taught by Zeng because this prevents image light from display from affecting the quality of the sensor values.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 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:
Regarding claim 2, Wang and Seo disclose a display device as discussed above, and Wang further discloses wherein the controller is further configured to:
generate display area information of the plurality of pixels (eg. as seen in Fig. 11), determine first image data corresponding to the first display area (“for a pixel in the first display sub-region, performing display according to a grayscale value of a corresponding pixel in the original image data” discussed in [0441]) and second image data corresponding to the second display area based on the display area information (“for a pixel in the second display sub-region, determining the number N of corresponding pixels in the original image data according to a ratio of the pixel distribution density of the first display sub-region to the pixel distribution density of the second display sub-region” discussed in [0441]).
However, Wang fails to teach or suggest performing “blurring.”
Krishnamurthi et al. (US 2017/0255786) discloses a display device wherein the display is divided into two regions (514 and 516) wherein a controller is configured to perform blurring on the second image data (the region 514 is blurred and region 516 not being blurred, see [0031]).
However, none of the currently cited references of record teaches or suggests wherein the controller is configured to perform blurring on the second image data “based on locations of the non-light-emitting pixels” when combined with each of the other claim limitations.
Claims 3 and 4 are dependent upon claim 2 and so would be allowable for the same reasons as discussed above.
Conclusion
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/JONATHAN M BLANCHA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2623