Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after 16 March 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.
Claim Objections
Claims 3 and 5 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 3 recites “a gate driver that applies a gate signal to the display panel through a plurality of gate lines; and” followed by “wherein the gate lines include an adjacent gate line group that includes first to second gate lines.”
The conjunction ‘and’ following the semicolon is left without a following element by the deletion of the former light sensing driver clause.
Claim 5 recites “at least two sensing lines of the first to P-th sensing lines that are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction.”
As written, the clause “that are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction” may be read as modifying either the recited “at least two sensing lines” or “the first to P-th sensing lines”; the former is understood to be intended.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 4-6 are objected to as being dependent upon objected to base claim 3 and therefore incorporating the objected to limitations of claim 3.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3-6 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 21 each recite “a first adjacent sensing group directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction.”
A single recited group cannot be “directly adjacent to each other.”
It is unclear whether the phrase requires the sensing lines of the recited group, all of the recited plurality of sensing lines, or the recited group and some other, unrecited group to be directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction, and the scope of the claim therefore cannot be determined.
Claims 1 and 21 each recite the limitation “the first adjacent sensing line group” in the last two clauses of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
It would be unclear to one having ordinary skill in the art whether the above limitation is intended to refer to the earlier recited “first adjacent sensing group,” or to a different group of sensing lines.
The term “a plurality of sensing lines extending in the vertical direction and adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction” in claims 1 and 21 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite.
The term “adjacent to each other” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
The commonly accepted definition of “adjacent” is ‘lying near, close’ (e.g., see Random House dictionary, Dictionary.com).
It would be unclear to one having ordinary skill in the art precisely how ‘near’ or ‘close’ the plurality of sensing lines must be to each other before they would be considered ‘adjacent,’ as instantly claimed, particularly where the same claims separately recite first to second sensing lines that are ‘directly adjacent.’
Claim 5 recites the limitation “the adjacent first sensing line group” in the last clause of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
It would be unclear to one having ordinary skill in the art whether the above limitation is intended to refer to the earlier recited “first adjacent sensing group” or “first adjacent sensing line group” of claim 1.
Claims 3-6 are rejected as being dependent upon rejected base claim 1 and therefore incorporating the indefinite limitations of claim 1.
Claim Interpretation
For purposes of applying the prior art, the claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification.
(a) The recited “horizontal direction” and “vertical direction” designate two perpendicular directions of the pixel arrangement, the sensing lines extending in the one designated vertical; no absolute orientation of the display panel is claimed [e.g., Instant Specification Paragraph 49: the gate lines GL extend in a first direction D1. The sensing line SL extends in a second direction D2 that crosses the first direction D1; Instant Specification Paragraph 103: when the panel driver drives the display panel 100 in the vertical mode MODE1, the light sensing driver 700 is located at a first location or a second location of display panel 100. For example, the first location refers to either the top of the display panel 100 or the bottom of the display panel 100. For example, the second location refers to either the top of the display panel 100 or the bottom of the display panel 100. In addition, when the panel driver drives the display panel 100 in the vertical mode MODE1, the gate driver 300 is located at a third location of the display panel 100; Instant Specification Paragraph 104: when the panel driver drives the display panel 100 in the horizontal mode MODE2, the light sensing driver 700 is located at the third location of the display panel 100].
(b) The first sensing region and the second sensing region are “each displayed on the first to second pixel-columns” where each region overlies both of two directly adjacent pixel-columns; further pixel-columns may also underlie the regions [e.g., Instant Specification Paragraph 86: The adjacent vertical pixel group includes first to third pixel-columns; Instant Specification Paragraph 88: some pixels in the adjacent vertical pixel group display a first sensing region PT1A and a second sensing region PT2A].
(c) The sensing regions are “displayed on the first adjacent sensing line group” where the pixels displaying each region are connected to the sensing lines of that group [e.g., Instant Specification Paragraph 89: the first sensing region PT1A and the second sensing region PT2A are displayed on the adjacent sensing line group, so that the sensing lines SL located (or disposed) adjacently output the sensing current].
(d) The recited “first guidance image that guides a user to place fingers” is a displayed image at the locations where the user is to place fingers, the claim reciting no further content of the image beyond that it guides the placement of the fingers.
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, 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:
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.
Ground A
Claims 1, 3-6 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gruhlke et al (US 2017/0079591 A1) in view of Won et al (US 2019/0065717 A1), Kudo (JP 5767525 B2) and Jhang et al (US 11,321,958 B2).
Please note: A translation of the Kudo (JP 5767525 B2) document has been provided and relied upon for the grounds of rejection; paragraph citations to Kudo are to the numbered paragraphs of that translation.
Regarding claim 1, Gruhlke discloses a display apparatus [e.g., Fig. 3: 210; Paragraph 55: FIG. 3 illustrates a smartphone device having two contacts and an illuminated image shown on the display], comprising:
a display panel that includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction a group of pixels within the touchscreen display 250; Paragraph 66: (b) shows the colored image 430 as a horizontal line rendered by a single row of pixels; Paragraph 66: (c) shows the colored image 430 as a vertical line rendered by a single column of pixels]; and
a panel driver that drives the display panel [e.g., Paragraph 56: a group of pixels within the touchscreen display 250 may be controlled to display red light; Paragraph 59: The touchscreen display 250, in response to an instruction from the processor, may generate light in the form of a colored image displayed by a particular group of pixels],
wherein the pixels include a first adjacent horizontal pixel group that includes first to second pixel-rows that extend in the horizontal direction and are directly adjacent to each other in the vertical direction and a first adjacent vertical pixel group that includes first to second pixel-columns that extend in the vertical direction and are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction [e.g., Fig. 6: (a), (b), (c); Paragraph 66: (b) shows the colored image 430 as a horizontal line rendered by a single row of pixels; Paragraph 66: (c) shows the colored image 430 as a vertical line rendered by a single column of pixels] —
the pixels being arranged in rows and columns, and the (a) round cluster of pixels of Gruhlke, Fig. 6, necessarily comprising at least first and second directly adjacent pixel-rows and at least first and second directly adjacent pixel-columns,
wherein the pixels include an emitting pixel The generated light may be generated by elements of the touchscreen display 250 itself without the need for a discrete light source; Fig. 6: 430],
wherein the panel driver drives the display panel such that the display panel displays a first guidance image that guides a user to place fingers on a first sensing region and a second sensing region of the display panel, wherein the first guidance image is displayed before the user places fingers on the first sensing region and the second sensing region [e.g., Paragraph 30: an image of two red or green spots that the user can place his/her fingers on (e.g., one finger or thumb from each hand); Paragraph 61: The touchscreen display 250 may display colored images in two separate areas of the display; Fig. 3: two displayed spots under thumbs 230, 240; Fig. 6: left and right 430; Paragraph 59: The particular group of pixels may be located in a position where the user is expected to touch his/her finger to the touchscreen display 250; Paragraph 59: Once the user touches his/her finger 440 to the touchscreen display 250; Paragraph 65: The colored images 430 may be generated at optimal locations for a user to place his/her finger while holding the smartphone device 210 in a particular orientation],
wherein the light sensing pixel The user may touch a first finger in the first area and a second finger in the second area simultaneously; Paragraph 61: the PPG signals (e.g., measured reflected light) generated at the two different areas may have a small phase difference that can be measured; Paragraph 67: The photocurrent (e.g., the reflected light) generated by the reflected light may be modulated intentionally by the HR only; Fig. 3: displayed red or green spot on the screen used as a light source for PPG] (e.g., see Paragraphs 29–71), and
wherein the first sensing region and the second sensing region are
Gruhlke does not expressly disclose that the horizontal and vertical directions of the pixel arrangement are perpendicular to each other; that the emitting pixel includes a light emitting element and the light sensing pixel includes a photodiode outputting the sensing current; that the first and second sensing regions are each displayed on the first to second pixel-columns of the first adjacent vertical pixel group; or the light sensing driver, the sensing lines extending in the vertical direction and adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction, the first adjacent sensing group of directly adjacent first and second sensing lines, the connection of the first adjacent vertical pixel group to that group, and the display of the sensing regions on that group.
However, Won discloses a display panel in which the pixels are arranged in a matrix in a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to each other [e.g., Won, Paragraph 58: the plurality of pixels may be arranged in a matrix form; Paragraph 58: the second direction (Y) may, for example, be a short side direction of the display device 300 that is substantially vertical to the first direction (X); Fig. 3A: 310, X, Y],
wherein the pixels include an emitting pixel that includes a light emitting element [e.g., Won, Fig. 3B: 312, 314, 316; Paragraph 57: Each pixel 310 may include a first sub pixel 312 outputting light of a first color, a second sub pixel 314 outputting light of a second color, a third sub pixel 316 outputting light of a third color] and
a light sensing pixel that includes a photodiode [e.g., Won, Fig. 3B: PD, 318; Paragraph 57: a light receiving module (e.g., including light receiving circuitry) 318 receiving external light; Paragraph 62: the light receiving module 318 may include various light receiving circuitry, such as, for example, and without limitation, a photo diode],
the light sensing pixel outputting a sensing current that generates biometric signals by sensing the user’s finger [e.g., Won, Paragraph 62: the light receiving module 318 may collect light that is introduced from the external or is reflected from an external object (e.g., a finger, or the like) approaching and/or contacting the display device 300; Paragraph 62: the light receiving module 318 may perform a biometric recognition function by obtaining a light quantity that is reflected from a blood flow rate of the human body of the user; Paragraph 67: drive the second sub pixel 314 and the light receiving module 318, to obtain biometric information (e.g., a heartbeat, or the like); Fig. 3E; Fig. 9: 901] —
the output of a photodiode receiving the reflected light being a photocurrent [e.g., Gruhlke, Paragraph 67: The photocurrent (e.g., the reflected light) generated by the reflected light may be modulated intentionally by the HR only; Paragraph 68: the photocurrent may be measured twice] —
with a panel driver that includes a light sensing driver receiving the outputs of the light sensing pixels [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: 320, 330, 340; Paragraph 61: the display device 300 may apply a power source to the first sub pixel 312 to third sub pixel 316 through a gate driver (or emission driver) 330; Paragraph 63: Light information collected in the light receiving module 318 may be forwarded to a sensing module (e.g., including light sensing circuitry) 340]
through a plurality of sensing lines, one per pixel column, each extending in the column direction from its column of pixels to the sensing module and the lines lying side by side, adjacent to each other, across the panel in the row direction [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the four vertical lines from the pixel columns to sensing module 340; Fig. 3B: the line from PD 318 to sensing module 340], whereby any two directly adjacent pixel columns are connected to two directly adjacent sensing lines.
Gruhlke and Won are analogous art because they are from the shared inventive field of photoplethysmography sensing devices.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Won’s pixels — the emitting pixel including its light emitting element and the light sensing pixel including its photodiode and sensing-current output — and Won’s panel driver with its sensing module and per-column sensing lines with Gruhlke’s display apparatus and sensing regions, so as to implement Gruhlke’s display-based PPG light source and finger sensing (Gruhlke, Paragraphs 56, 59, 61) with a display panel that itself emits the sensing light and senses the reflected light through its own pixels and sensing lines (Won, Paragraphs 62, 63, 67).
Gruhlke and Won do not expressly disclose the first sensing region and the second sensing region each displayed on the first to second pixel-columns of the first adjacent vertical pixel group, nor, therefore, the two sensing regions displayed on the first adjacent sensing line group including the first and second sensing lines connected to those pixel-columns.
However, Kudo discloses a liquid crystal panel with in-cell optical sensor circuits arranged in a matrix, each optical sensor circuit comprising a photodiode and outputting to a sensor signal line of its column [e.g., Paragraph 43: Optical sensor circuit 224 includes a photodiode 225, a capacitor 226, and the TFT227; Paragraph 45: The source of the TFT227 is connected to a sensor signal line SSj; Paragraph 35: The pixel circuit 221 is disposed of m n in a matrix; Fig. 2: 221, 224, 225, SSj, SS1–SSn],
the sensor signal lines extending in the column direction of the panel, side by side, to amplifiers of the peripheral circuits [e.g., Fig. 2: SS1–SSn, A1–An; Paragraph 30: the sensor signal lines SSj, and SDj, a read signal line RWi, a reset signal line RSi; Paragraph 47: Amplifier Al~An amplifies the voltage output from the sensor signal lines SS1~SSn],
the sensing results of each row being output row-sequentially on the sensor signal lines [e.g., Paragraph 73: the sensor signal lines SS1~SSn, 1 row of the sensing results, the second line of the sensing results, ..., m-th row of the sensing results are outputted in this order; Paragraph 77: the light sensor circuit 224 may output a voltage corresponding to the amount of light reflected by the finger 30 of the user from the sensor signal line SSj],
wherein two fingers are placed simultaneously on two contact areas arranged one above the other along the column direction of the panel, the two areas centered on the same columns of the sensor matrix and each spanning a plurality of adjacent columns, so that any two directly adjacent columns within the overlapping central extent of the two areas — and the sensor signal lines of those two columns — underlie both contact areas [e.g., Fig. 6: contact areas A, B on panel 22; Paragraph 79: a state where the index finger 301 and thumb 302 touches the liquid crystal panel 22 at the same time; Paragraph 79: the touch area in the B point of the thumb 302 is located on the lower side and the touch area at point A of the index finger 301 is located on the upper side; Paragraph 80: via the sensor signal lines SS1~SSn and it is supplied from the liquid crystal panel 22 to the signal processing section 253].
Kudo is analogous art because it is from the shared inventive field of display panels having in-cell optical finger sensing, and is further reasonably pertinent to the problem of sensing plural, simultaneously placed fingers through the sensing lines of a display panel.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to display Gruhlke’s first and second sensing regions one above the other on the same first to second directly adjacent pixel-columns of Won’s panel, in the arrangement of Kudo’s two simultaneous contact areas, so as to place the two sensing regions where the index finger and thumb of one hand fall when placed on the panel together —
the very same-hand, two-finger use that Gruhlke contemplates for its two colored images [e.g., Gruhlke, Paragraph 61: the user may touch the touchscreen display 250 with two fingers on the same hand; Paragraph 61: the tip of the user's middle finger may be located approximately 50 mm to 70 mm farther away from the heart than the user's thumb on the same hand] [e.g., Kudo, Paragraph 79: a state where the index finger 301 and thumb 302 touches the liquid crystal panel 22 at the same time; Fig. 6: 301, 302, A, B] —
Kudo demonstrating that upper-and-lower, column-aligned placement as a known and operable arrangement for two simultaneously placed fingers on an in-cell optical sensing panel; and, with the regions so placed, both sensing regions are displayed on, and both fingers’ sensing currents are received over, the same directly adjacent sensing lines connected to those pixel-columns, so that the two PPG signals whose phase difference Gruhlke measures (Gruhlke, Paragraph 61) are read out through adjacent channels of the same light sensing driver.
Gruhlke, Won and Kudo do not expressly disclose, in words, that the plurality of sensing lines extend in the vertical direction and are adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction, or that the first and second sensing lines of the first adjacent sensing group are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction — the arrangement being drawn, but not stated, in Won’s Fig. 3A and Kudo’s Fig. 2 — and, to the extent the claim is read as additionally requiring that the directly adjacent sensing lines underlying the sensing regions be selected and read out together as a group, do not expressly disclose that operation; the express teaching of Jhang is relied on for both in preference to the drawn arrangements.
However, Jhang discloses a display panel with an optical fingerprint sensor embedded in the display panel, the sensing pixels arranged on the same layer as the display pixels [e.g., col. 4, lines 43–44: the fingerprint sensor 160 may be an optical fingerprint sensor; col. 4, lines 47–48: the fingerprint sensor 160 may be embedded in the display panel 150; col. 4, lines 61–63: The sensing units can be arranged as on a same layer or different layers as a plurality of display pixels],
wherein the panel includes sensing lines extending in the column direction of the panel, side by side and adjacent to each other across the row direction in which the scanning groups of scan lines extend, the sensing lines being grouped into sensing groups, each of one or more sensing lines [e.g., col. 7, lines 32–35: the display panel 150 includes one or more scanning groups such as SG_1, SG_2, SG_3, SG_4, . . . and SG_n (wherein n is an integer) in a row direction of the display panel 150; Fig. 3A: SG_1–SG_n, SN_1, SN_2] [e.g., col. 8, line 67 to col. 9, line 3: The display panel 150 includes one or more sensing groups extending in a column direction, for example, sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 illustrated in FIG. 3A; col. 9, lines 3–4: Each of the sensing groups includes one or more sensing lines; Fig. 3A: SN_1, SN_2], the directly adjacent sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 underlying the finger press area 20 [e.g., Fig. 3A: 20, Z1–Z4 on SN_1 and SN_2], and
a reading circuit coupled to the sensing groups through a multiplexer that reads only the sensing groups under the finger area [e.g., col. 9, lines 4–6: The multiplexer circuit 122 is coupled to the sensing groups of the fingerprint zones of the display panel 150; col. 9, lines 6–7: The fingerprint reading circuit 123 is coupled to the multiplexer circuit 122; col. 9, lines 26–30: the control circuit 121 may control the multiplexer circuit 122 to turn on one or more signal paths from the target sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 of the finger press area 20 to the fingerprint reading circuit 123; Fig. 3A: 122, 123].
Jhang’s sensing groups being each of one or more sensing lines, the claimed group of first and second directly adjacent sensing lines is met by a plural-line sensing group, or by two directly adjacent single-line sensing groups selected together as the target groups.
Jhang is analogous art because it is from the shared inventive field of display panels having in-cell optical finger sensing, and is further reasonably pertinent to the problem of reading out the sensing lines of a display panel that underlie a region touched by a finger.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the sensing lines of the combination extending in the vertical direction, side by side and adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction as Jhang expressly arranges them, and to group the directly adjacent sensing lines underlying the sensing regions into a sensing group read out together, as taught by Jhang, so as to read only the sensing lines corresponding to the finger area and accelerate the reading operation of the sensing region [e.g., col. 7, lines 3–6: by reading only sensing result from the sensing lines corresponding to the finger press area without reading any sensing result from the other sensing lines not crossing the finger press area; col. 13, lines 20–23: the fingerprint sensing control circuit 120 may further skip reading the other zones, so as to accelerate a fingerprint reading operation of the sensing region of the display panel 150].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention because all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined Won’s pixels, panel driver and sensing lines, Kudo’s column-aligned two-region arrangement and Jhang’s sensing group with Gruhlke’s sensing regions as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398 (2007); Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1 (1966).
Regarding claim 3, Won discloses the panel driver further includes: a gate driver that applies a gate signal to the display panel through a plurality of gate lines [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: 330 and its lines to the pixel rows; Paragraph 61: through a gate driver (or emission driver) 330, to control a light emitting timing of each sub pixel] [e.g., Kudo, Fig. 2: 26, G1–Gm; Paragraph 32: the scanning signal line drive circuit 26 sequentially selects one scanning signal line from among the scanning signal lines Gl~Gm every unit time]; and
wherein the gate lines include an adjacent gate line group that includes first to second gate lines [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the lines from 330 to two directly adjacent pixel rows] [e.g., Kudo, Fig. 6: contact areas A and B each spanning plural adjacent rows of the sensor matrix] [e.g., Gruhlke, Paragraph 66: (a) shows the colored image 430 as a round shape rendered by a cluster of pixels] — the (a) round cluster of Gruhlke spanning at least first and second adjacent pixel-rows and their gate lines.
The analogous-art statements and the reasons to combine set forth for claim 1 apply equally; the gate driver and gate lines of Won and Kudo are the ordinary row-addressing structure of the panels already combined.
Regarding claim 4, in the combination the light sensing driver receives the sensing current from the first adjacent sensing line group connected to the first adjacent vertical pixel group: Won’s sensing module 340 receives the outputs of the light receiving modules of the pixel columns through the per-column lines [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: 340; Fig. 3B: 318, 340; Paragraph 63: Light information collected in the light receiving module 318 may be forwarded to a sensing module (e.g., including light sensing circuitry) 340],
that output being the photodiode’s photocurrent [e.g., Gruhlke, Paragraph 67: The photocurrent (e.g., the reflected light) generated by the reflected light may be modulated intentionally by the HR only];
Kudo’s amplifiers A1–An likewise receive the outputs of the sensor signal lines [e.g., Kudo, Fig. 2: A1–An; Fig. 1: 253; Paragraph 47: Amplifier Al~An amplifies the voltage output from the sensor signal lines SS1~SSn]; and
Jhang’s reading circuit receives, through the multiplexer, the signal paths of the target sensing groups underlying the finger area [e.g., Jhang, col. 9, lines 27–30: turn on one or more signal paths from the target sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 of the finger press area 20 to the fingerprint reading circuit 123; Fig. 3A: 122, 123].
Both sensing regions lie on that group in the combination as set forth for claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, Kudo, Won and Jhang each disclose wherein the plurality of sensing lines include first to P-th sensing lines, where P is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2 [e.g., Kudo, Fig. 2: SS1–SSn; Paragraph 30: j is a natural number that satisfies 1 j n] [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the four sensing lines to 340, one per pixel column] [e.g., Jhang, col. 9, lines 3–4: Each of the sensing groups includes one or more sensing lines; Fig. 3A: SN_1, SN_2 and the further column bands],
wherein the first to P-th sensing lines are sequentially disposed on the display panel in the horizontal direction [e.g., Kudo, Fig. 2: SS1–SSn sequentially disposed across the panel in the row direction] [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the four sensing lines side by side across the panel] [e.g., Jhang, Fig. 3A: SN_1, SN_2 and the further column bands to 122, side by side], and
wherein the adjacent first sensing line group includes at least two sensing lines of the first to P-th sensing lines that are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction [e.g., Kudo, Fig. 6: at least two directly adjacent central columns underlying both areas A and B] [e.g., Jhang, col. 9, lines 3–4: Each of the sensing groups includes one or more sensing lines; Fig. 3A: SN_1 and SN_2, directly adjacent].
Regarding claim 6, Kudo and Won each disclose the gate lines extend in a first direction and the sensing lines extend in a second direction different from the first direction [e.g., Kudo, Fig. 2: G1–Gm, RW1/RS1–RWm/RSm extending in the row direction; SS1–SSn extending in the column direction; Paragraph 30: a scanning signal line Gi, the data signal lines SRj, SGj, and SBj, the sensor signal lines SSj, and SDj] [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: gate lines extending from driver 330 in the Y direction, the sensing lines extending to sensing module 340 in the X direction].
Regarding claim 21, this claim is rejected by the reasoning applied in the rejection of claim 1, as claim 21 recites an electronic apparatus comprising the same display panel, panel driver, guidance image, sensing region and sensing line limitations addressed in the rejection of claim 1, and the citations and combination rationale set forth for claim 1 apply equally; Gruhlke further discloses an electronic apparatus [e.g., Fig. 3: 210; Paragraph 55: FIG. 3 illustrates a smartphone device having two contacts].
Ground B
Claims 1, 3-6 and 21 are additionally rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gruhlke et al (US 2017/0079591 A1) in view of Won et al (US 2019/0065717 A1), Chang et al (US 2014/0035946 A1) and Jhang et al (US 11,321,958 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Gruhlke discloses the display apparatus, the display panel with a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, the panel driver, the first adjacent horizontal and vertical pixel groups, the emitting pixel, the first guidance image that guides a user to place fingers on the first and second sensing regions and that is displayed before the user places fingers thereon, and the generation of photoplethysmography (PPG) signals by sensing the user’s fingers, as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 of Ground A, the citations of which apply equally; and
Won discloses the perpendicular pixel matrix, the emitting pixel that includes a light emitting element, the light sensing pixel that includes a photodiode outputting the sensing current, and the panel driver with its light sensing driver and per-column sensing lines extending in the column direction and adjacent to each other in the row direction, as set forth in Ground A [e.g., Fig. 3A: 310, 320, 330, 340; Fig. 3B: 312, 314, 316, PD, 318; Paragraph 58: the plurality of pixels may be arranged in a matrix form; Paragraph 62: the light receiving module 318 may perform a biometric recognition function by obtaining a light quantity that is reflected from a blood flow rate of the human body of the user; Paragraph 63: Light information collected in the light receiving module 318 may be forwarded to a sensing module (e.g., including light sensing circuitry) 340].
Gruhlke and Won are analogous art, and are combined, for the reasons set forth in Ground A.
Gruhlke and Won do not expressly disclose the first sensing region and the second sensing region each displayed on the first to second pixel-columns of the first adjacent vertical pixel group, nor, therefore, the two sensing regions displayed on the first adjacent sensing line group including the first and second sensing lines connected to those pixel-columns.
However, Chang discloses a display apparatus [e.g., Fig. 9: 151] wherein a first guidance image that guides a user to place fingers on a first sensing region and a second sensing region is displayed before the user places fingers on the first sensing region and the second sensing region [e.g., Fig. 9(a): displayed objects OB1 and OB2, touched by fingers F1 and F2; Paragraph 131: the controller 180 of the mobile terminal 100 can select a plurality of objects OB1 and OB2 by applying a first touch to the objects OB1 and OB2; Paragraph 132: The user can apply the first touch in such a manner that first and second fingers F1 and F2 touch the first and second objects OB1 and OB2; Paragraph 132: Touches using the first and second fingers F1 and F2 may be performed sequentially or simultaneously],
wherein the first sensing region and the second sensing region are each displayed on the first to second pixel-columns of the first adjacent vertical pixel group [e.g., Fig. 9(a): OB1 disposed directly above OB2, the column span of OB2 lying within the column span of OB1, so that the same at least two directly adjacent pixel-columns of the display underlie both displayed objects].
The recited guidance image is read as set forth in the claim interpretation above (item (d)); Chang’s displayed objects OB1 and OB2, which the user views and then touches with fingers F1 and F2, are such an image.
Chang is analogous art because it is from the shared inventive field of touchscreen display apparatuses displaying images that direct the placement of a user’s fingers, and is further reasonably pertinent to the problem of arranging plural displayed regions to be touched by plural fingers.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to display Gruhlke’s first and second sensing regions one above the other on the same first to second directly adjacent pixel-columns, as taught by Chang, so as to position the two sensing regions for convenient sequential or simultaneous touching by two fingers of the user’s same hand —
the very use posture of Gruhlke’s same-hand, two-finger embodiment (Gruhlke, Paragraph 61; Chang, Fig. 9(a) and Paragraphs 131–132) —
and, with the regions so stacked on Won’s panel, to display both regions on, and receive both regions’ sensing currents over, the same directly adjacent sensing lines extending from those pixel-columns to Won’s sensing module [e.g., Fig. 3A: 340].
Gruhlke, Won and Chang do not expressly disclose, in words, that the plurality of sensing lines extend in the vertical direction and are adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction, or that the first and second sensing lines of the first adjacent sensing group are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction — the arrangement being drawn, but not stated, in Won’s Fig. 3A — and, to the extent the claim is read as additionally requiring that the directly adjacent sensing lines underlying the sensing regions be selected and read out together as a group, do not expressly disclose that operation; the express teaching of Jhang is relied on for both in preference to the drawn arrangements.
However, Jhang discloses a display panel with an optical fingerprint sensor embedded in the display panel, the sensing pixels arranged on the same layer as the display pixels [e.g., col. 4, lines 43–44: the fingerprint sensor 160 may be an optical fingerprint sensor; col. 4, lines 47–48: the fingerprint sensor 160 may be embedded in the display panel 150; col. 4, lines 61–63: The sensing units can be arranged as on a same layer or different layers as a plurality of display pixels],
wherein the panel includes sensing lines extending in the column direction of the panel, side by side and adjacent to each other across the row direction in which the scanning groups of scan lines extend, the sensing lines being grouped into sensing groups, each of one or more sensing lines [e.g., col. 7, lines 32–35: the display panel 150 includes one or more scanning groups such as SG_1, SG_2, SG_3, SG_4, . . . and SG_n (wherein n is an integer) in a row direction of the display panel 150; Fig. 3A: SG_1–SG_n, SN_1, SN_2] [e.g., col. 8, line 67 to col. 9, line 3: The display panel 150 includes one or more sensing groups extending in a column direction, for example, sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 illustrated in FIG. 3A; col. 9, lines 3–4: Each of the sensing groups includes one or more sensing lines; Fig. 3A: SN_1, SN_2], the directly adjacent sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 underlying the finger press area 20 [e.g., Fig. 3A: 20, Z1–Z4 on SN_1 and SN_2], and
a reading circuit coupled to the sensing groups through a multiplexer that reads only the sensing groups under the finger area [e.g., col. 9, lines 4–6: The multiplexer circuit 122 is coupled to the sensing groups of the fingerprint zones of the display panel 150; col. 9, lines 6–7: The fingerprint reading circuit 123 is coupled to the multiplexer circuit 122; col. 9, lines 26–30: the control circuit 121 may control the multiplexer circuit 122 to turn on one or more signal paths from the target sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 of the finger press area 20 to the fingerprint reading circuit 123; Fig. 3A: 122, 123].
Jhang’s sensing groups being each of one or more sensing lines, the claimed group of first and second directly adjacent sensing lines is met by a plural-line sensing group, or by two directly adjacent single-line sensing groups selected together as the target groups.
Jhang is analogous art because it is from the shared inventive field of display panels having in-cell optical finger sensing, and is further reasonably pertinent to the problem of reading out the sensing lines of a display panel that underlie a region touched by a finger.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the sensing lines of the combination extending in the vertical direction, side by side and adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction as Jhang expressly arranges them, and to group the directly adjacent sensing lines underlying the sensing regions into a sensing group read out together, as taught by Jhang, so as to read only the sensing lines corresponding to the finger area and accelerate the reading operation of the sensing region [e.g., col. 7, lines 3–6: by reading only sensing result from the sensing lines corresponding to the finger press area without reading any sensing result from the other sensing lines not crossing the finger press area; col. 13, lines 20–23: the fingerprint sensing control circuit 120 may further skip reading the other zones, so as to accelerate a fingerprint reading operation of the sensing region of the display panel 150].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention because all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined Won’s pixels, panel driver and sensing lines, Chang’s vertically aligned displayed-region arrangement and Jhang’s sensing group with Gruhlke’s sensing regions as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398 (2007); Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1 (1966).
Regarding claim 3, Won discloses the gate driver that applies a gate signal to the display panel through a plurality of gate lines [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: 330 and its lines to the pixel rows; Paragraph 61: through a gate driver (or emission driver) 330, to control a light emitting timing of each sub pixel], wherein the gate lines include an adjacent gate line group that includes first to second gate lines [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the lines from 330 to two directly adjacent pixel rows] [e.g., Gruhlke, Paragraph 66: (a) shows the colored image 430 as a round shape rendered by a cluster of pixels] — the (a) round cluster of Gruhlke spanning at least first and second adjacent pixel-rows and their gate lines. The analogous-art statements and reasons to combine set forth for claim 1 of this ground apply equally.
Regarding claim 4, in the combination the light sensing driver receives the sensing current from the first adjacent sensing line group connected to the first adjacent vertical pixel group: Won’s sensing module 340 receives the outputs of the light receiving modules of the pixel columns through the per-column lines [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: 340; Fig. 3B: 318, 340; Paragraph 63: Light information collected in the light receiving module 318 may be forwarded to a sensing module (e.g., including light sensing circuitry) 340],
that output being the photodiode’s photocurrent [e.g., Gruhlke, Paragraph 67: The photocurrent (e.g., the reflected light) generated by the reflected light may be modulated intentionally by the HR only]; and
Jhang’s reading circuit receives, through the multiplexer, the signal paths of the target sensing groups underlying the finger area [e.g., Jhang, col. 9, lines 27–30: turn on one or more signal paths from the target sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 of the finger press area 20 to the fingerprint reading circuit 123; Fig. 3A: 122, 123].
Both regions lie on that group in the combination per Chang, Fig. 9(a).
Regarding claim 5, Won and Jhang each disclose wherein the plurality of sensing lines include first to P-th sensing lines, where P is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2 [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the four sensing lines to 340, one per pixel column] [e.g., Jhang, col. 9, lines 3–4: Each of the sensing groups includes one or more sensing lines; Fig. 3A: SN_1, SN_2 and the further column bands],
wherein the first to P-th sensing lines are sequentially disposed on the display panel in the horizontal direction [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the four sensing lines side by side across the panel] [e.g., Jhang, Fig. 3A: SN_1, SN_2 and the further column bands to 122, side by side], and
wherein the adjacent first sensing line group includes at least two sensing lines of the first to P-th sensing lines that are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction [e.g., Jhang, col. 9, lines 3–4: Each of the sensing groups includes one or more sensing lines; Fig. 3A: SN_1 and SN_2, directly adjacent] —
in the combination, the at least two directly adjacent lines underlying the regions stacked per Chang, Fig. 9(a).
Regarding claim 6, Won discloses the gate lines extend in a first direction and the sensing lines extend in a second direction different from the first direction [e.g., Fig. 3A: gate lines extending from driver 330 in the Y direction; the sensing lines extending to sensing module 340 in the X direction].
Regarding claim 21, this claim is rejected by the reasoning applied in the rejection of claim 1 of this ground, as claim 21 recites an electronic apparatus comprising the same limitations, and the citations and combination rationale set forth above apply equally;
Gruhlke further discloses an electronic apparatus [e.g., Fig. 3: 210; Paragraph 55: FIG. 3 illustrates a smartphone device having two contacts].
Ground C
Claims 1, 3-6 and 21 are additionally rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gruhlke et al (US 2017/0079591 A1) in view of Won et al (US 2019/0065717 A1), Suh (US 2011/0248965 A1), Morein et al (US 2019/0065814 A1) and Jhang et al (US 11,321,958 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Gruhlke discloses the display apparatus, the display panel with a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, the panel driver, the first adjacent horizontal and vertical pixel groups, the emitting pixel, the first guidance image displayed before the user places fingers on the first and second sensing regions, and PPG-signal generation, and
Won discloses the perpendicular pixel matrix, the emitting pixel including a light emitting element, the light sensing pixel including a photodiode outputting the sensing current, and the panel driver with its light sensing driver and per-column sensing lines, all as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 of Ground A, the citations of which apply equally here;
Gruhlke and Won are analogous art, and are combined, for the reasons set forth in Ground A.
Gruhlke in view of Won does not expressly disclose the first sensing region and the second sensing region each displayed on the first to second pixel-columns of the first adjacent vertical pixel group.
In this combination that limitation is met without any rearrangement of Gruhlke’s illustrated sensing regions, by the orientation of the display’s drive and sensing fabric:
Suh discloses an organic light emitting display in which the arrangement of the panel’s drive fabric is selected according to the display’s use orientation — expressly, a configuration in which the scan lines, the data lines and the pixel circuit regions are arranged in the form of a portrait type panel rotated in a horizontal direction [e.g., Paragraph 56: The scan lines S, the data lines D, and the pixel circuit regions are arranged in the form where the portrait type panel is rotated in a horizontal direction; Paragraph 56: the scan lines S are arranged in the vertical direction of the screen realized in the pixel region 140, and the data lines D are arranged in the horizontal direction of the screen],
with the scan driver in the upper or lower side and the data driver on the left or right side of the pixel region [e.g., Paragraph 57: the scan driver 110 is arranged in the upper or lower side of the pixel region 140; Paragraph 57: The data driver 130 is arranged on the left or right side of the pixel region 140; Paragraph 17: the data lines are directly coupled from the pixel region to the data driver via a wiring line region between the pixel region and the data driver without passing through an upper or lower side of the pixel region; Fig. 4: 110, 130, 140],
for the purpose of providing a landscape type display in which a dead space is effectively reduced [e.g., Paragraph 18: a landscape type organic light emitting display, where an image is horizontally displayed on a screen, is provided with a configuration in which a dead space is effectively reduced; Paragraph 9: Since the dead space limits the ratio of the area occupied by the pixel region in the entire region of the panel, there is a need to reduce the dead space].
Morein discloses an optical finger-sensing pixel array [e.g., Paragraph 23: one or more sensing elements detect light from the sensing region; Paragraph 23: Example optical sensing elements include photodiodes; Paragraph 35: Sensor device 400 has an array of sensing elements arranged in a row and column format]
in which the sides on which the gate-drive circuit and the readout circuit are disposed relative to the array are selected among the array’s edges [e.g., Paragraph 43: the gate drive circuit 604 is disposed along the x-axis of the pixel array 602, and the readout circuit 606 is disposed along the y-axis of the pixel array 602; Fig. 6: 602, 604, 606],
each column of the array being coupled to a common readout line running to the readout circuit [e.g., Paragraph 37: each transistor in a column (e.g., column 408) may be coupled to a common data readout line (e.g., line 402); Paragraph 37: The row conductor lines are coupled to gate drive circuitry 404; Fig. 4: 401, 402, 404, 405],
expressly to control the module’s dimensions [e.g., Paragraph 51: the overall dimension of the sensor device is decreased in the y-axis direction relative to the approach in FIG. 6 because the gate drive circuit is moved to the left or right sides of the sensor array, i.e., along the same axis as the readout circuit; Figs. 4, 6, 7–9].
Applying Suh’s landscape-type fabric orientation to the Gruhlke/Won apparatus, the whole of Won’s pixel-and-sensing array is oriented, as one fabric, so that its data lines — and with them the per-column sensing lines of Won’s Fig. 3A, which run parallel to the data lines — extend in the direction along which Gruhlke’s two illustrated sensing regions are separated (the long direction of Gruhlke’s landscape-held device, Fig. 3),
the scan lines crossing them [e.g., Suh, Paragraph 11: The scan lines are arranged to extend along a vertical direction of a screen realized in the pixel region; Paragraph 56: the data lines D are arranged in the horizontal direction of the screen] [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the data lines from 320 and the sensing lines to 340 running in the same direction], and,
per Morein, the readout circuit is disposed along the edge to which those column lines run [e.g., Morein, Paragraph 37: each transistor in a column (e.g., column 408) may be coupled to a common data readout line (e.g., line 402); Figs. 6, 7: 606, 706];
whereby the first sensing region and the second sensing region — unmoved from Gruhlke’s illustration — are each displayed on the same first to second directly adjacent pixel-columns of the first adjacent vertical pixel group, the recited pixel-columns being the pixel lines extending in parallel with the sensing lines and the recited vertical direction being the direction in which the sensing lines extend (claim interpretation, item (a)); and
both regions, whose extents across that direction overlap, are thereby displayed on the same first to second directly adjacent sensing lines extending from those pixel-columns to Won’s sensing module.
Suh is analogous art because it is from the shared inventive field of display panels and driver arrangements therefor, and is reasonably pertinent to the problem of arranging the drive circuitry of a display used in a landscape orientation.
Morein is analogous art because it is from the shared inventive field of optical finger-sensing pixel arrays, and is reasonably pertinent to the problem of positioning gate-drive and readout circuitry relative to a sensing pixel array.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to orient the drive and sensing fabric of the Gruhlke/Won display with the data lines and sensing lines extending in the landscape-horizontal direction of Gruhlke’s device, as taught by Suh, so as to effectively reduce the dead space of a display configured for landscape-orientation use — the very orientation in which Gruhlke’s device is held (Gruhlke, Fig. 3; Suh, Paragraphs 9, 18, 56–57) — and,
per Morein, to dispose the sensing array’s gate-drive and readout circuits along the edges that reduce the overall dimension of the module in a chosen direction, the readout circuit at the edge to which the column readout lines run (Morein, Paragraphs 37, 43, 51).
The orientation of a rectangular display’s line fabric relative to its use orientation, and the edge placement of its drive and readout circuitry, are demonstrated design variables selected for panel format, dead space and module dimension; for a rectangular panel whose fabric is oriented as a whole, the sensing lines run either along or across the direction in which Gruhlke’s two regions are separated — a finite number of predictable options, either of which is operable, and the former of which places Gruhlke’s illustrated regions on shared, directly adjacent sensing lines.
See also, as evidence:
Lee et al. (US 2022/0208108 A1), Paragraphs 20–21 (a sensing processing circuit included in a source driver integrated circuit of a data driving circuit) and Paragraphs 50–51 (gate driving circuit connection and disposition types); and
Namgung et al. (US 2021/0185259 A1), Paragraph 42 (readout-circuit placement relative to a pixel array selected to avoid signal distortion of pixels distant from the readout circuit).
Gruhlke, Won, Suh and Morein do not expressly disclose, in words, that the plurality of sensing lines extend in the vertical direction and are adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction, or that the first and second sensing lines of the first adjacent sensing group are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction — the arrangement being drawn, but not stated, in Won’s Fig. 3A — and, to the extent the claim is read as additionally requiring that the directly adjacent sensing lines underlying the sensing regions be selected and read out together as a group, do not expressly disclose that operation; the express teaching of Jhang is relied on for both in preference to the drawn arrangements.
However, Jhang discloses a display panel with an optical fingerprint sensor embedded in the display panel, the sensing pixels arranged on the same layer as the display pixels [e.g., col. 4, lines 43–44: the fingerprint sensor 160 may be an optical fingerprint sensor; col. 4, lines 47–48: the fingerprint sensor 160 may be embedded in the display panel 150; col. 4, lines 61–63: The sensing units can be arranged as on a same layer or different layers as a plurality of display pixels],
wherein the panel includes sensing lines extending in the column direction of the panel, side by side and adjacent to each other across the row direction in which the scanning groups of scan lines extend, the sensing lines being grouped into sensing groups, each of one or more sensing lines [e.g., col. 7, lines 32–35: the display panel 150 includes one or more scanning groups such as SG_1, SG_2, SG_3, SG_4, . . . and SG_n (wherein n is an integer) in a row direction of the display panel 150; Fig. 3A: SG_1–SG_n, SN_1, SN_2] [e.g., col. 8, line 67 to col. 9, line 3: The display panel 150 includes one or more sensing groups extending in a column direction, for example, sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 illustrated in FIG. 3A; col. 9, lines 3–4: Each of the sensing groups includes one or more sensing lines; Fig. 3A: SN_1, SN_2],
the directly adjacent sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 underlying the finger press area 20 [e.g., Fig. 3A: 20, Z1–Z4 on SN_1 and SN_2], and
a reading circuit coupled to the sensing groups through a multiplexer that reads only the sensing groups under the finger area [e.g., col. 9, lines 4–6: The multiplexer circuit 122 is coupled to the sensing groups of the fingerprint zones of the display panel 150; col. 9, lines 6–7: The fingerprint reading circuit 123 is coupled to the multiplexer circuit 122; col. 9, lines 26–30: the control circuit 121 may control the multiplexer circuit 122 to turn on one or more signal paths from the target sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 of the finger press area 20 to the fingerprint reading circuit 123; Fig. 3A: 122, 123].
Jhang’s sensing groups being each of one or more sensing lines, the claimed group of first and second directly adjacent sensing lines is met by a plural-line sensing group, or by two directly adjacent single-line sensing groups selected together as the target groups.
Jhang is analogous art because it is from the shared inventive field of display panels having in-cell optical finger sensing, and is further reasonably pertinent to the problem of reading out the sensing lines of a display panel that underlie a region touched by a finger.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the sensing lines of the combination extending in the vertical direction, side by side and adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction as Jhang expressly arranges them, and to group the directly adjacent sensing lines underlying the sensing regions into a sensing group read out together, as taught by Jhang, so as to read only the sensing lines corresponding to the finger area and accelerate the reading operation of the sensing region [e.g., col. 7, lines 3–6: by reading only sensing result from the sensing lines corresponding to the finger press area without reading any sensing result from the other sensing lines not crossing the finger press area; col. 13, lines 20–23: the fingerprint sensing control circuit 120 may further skip reading the other zones, so as to accelerate a fingerprint reading operation of the sensing region of the display panel 150].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention because all the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined Won’s pixels, panel driver and sensing lines, Suh’s and Morein’s fabric and circuit orientations and Jhang’s sensing group with Gruhlke’s sensing regions as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded nothing more than predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398 (2007); Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1 (1966).
Regarding claim 3, Won discloses the gate driver, the gate lines and the adjacent gate line group as set forth in the rejection of claim 3 of Ground B, the citations of which apply equally; in this combination, with the sensing lines oriented per Suh and Morein to extend along the direction of separation of Gruhlke’s regions, the gate lines extend across that direction [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: 330] [e.g., Suh, Paragraph 56: the scan lines S are arranged in the vertical direction of the screen realized in the pixel region 140, and the data lines D are arranged in the horizontal direction of the screen].
The analogous-art statements and combination rationale set forth for claim 1 of this ground apply equally.
Regarding claim 4, in the combination the light sensing driver receives the sensing current from the first adjacent sensing line group connected to the first adjacent vertical pixel group: Won’s sensing module 340 receives the outputs of the light receiving modules of the pixel columns through the per-column lines [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: 340; Fig. 3B: 318, 340; Paragraph 63: Light information collected in the light receiving module 318 may be forwarded to a sensing module (e.g., including light sensing circuitry) 340],
that output being the photodiode’s photocurrent [e.g., Gruhlke, Paragraph 67: The photocurrent (e.g., the reflected light) generated by the reflected light may be modulated intentionally by the HR only]; and
Jhang’s reading circuit receives, through the multiplexer, the signal paths of the target sensing groups underlying the finger area [e.g., Jhang, col. 9, lines 27–30: turn on one or more signal paths from the target sensing groups SN_1 and SN_2 of the finger press area 20 to the fingerprint reading circuit 123; Fig. 3A: 122, 123].
Both of Gruhlke’s regions lie on that group in this combination’s orientation.
Regarding claim 5, Won and Jhang each disclose wherein the plurality of sensing lines include first to P-th sensing lines, where P is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2 [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the four sensing lines to 340, one per pixel column] [e.g., Jhang, col. 9, lines 3–4: Each of the sensing groups includes one or more sensing lines; Fig. 3A: SN_1, SN_2 and the further column bands],
wherein the first to P-th sensing lines are sequentially disposed on the display panel in the horizontal direction [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: the four sensing lines side by side across the panel] [e.g., Jhang, Fig. 3A: SN_1, SN_2 and the further column bands to 122, side by side], and
wherein the adjacent first sensing line group includes at least two sensing lines of the first to P-th sensing lines that are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction [e.g., Jhang, col. 9, lines 3–4: Each of the sensing groups includes one or more sensing lines; Fig. 3A: SN_1 and SN_2, directly adjacent] —
the at least two directly adjacent lines passing through both of Gruhlke’s illustrated regions in this combination’s orientation.
Regarding claim 6, in the combination the gate lines extend in a first direction and the sensing lines extend in a second direction different from the first direction — Won’s gate lines and sensing lines crossing, and the array oriented per Suh with the scan lines crossing the data-line direction along which the sensing lines run [e.g., Won, Fig. 3A: 330, 340] [e.g., Suh, Paragraph 56: the scan lines S are arranged in the vertical direction of the screen realized in the pixel region 140, and the data lines D are arranged in the horizontal direction of the screen].
It is noted that claim 6 recites only that the two directions differ from one another, attaching no absolute orientation to either.
Regarding claim 21, this claim is rejected by the reasoning applied in the rejection of claim 1 of this ground, as claim 21 recites an electronic apparatus comprising the same limitations, and the citations and combination rationale apply equally; Gruhlke further discloses an electronic apparatus [e.g., Fig. 3: 210; Paragraph 55: FIG. 3 illustrates a smartphone device having two contacts].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 22 September 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The objections to claims 1, 3–6 and 21 and the rejection of claim 5 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in the Office action of 30 July 2026 are withdrawn in view of the amendment.
The objections and the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth above are necessitated by the amendment.
The Applicant contends, “Gruhlke is completely silent with respect to these two red or green spots being displayed by first to second pixel-columns of an adjacent first vertical pixel group which extend in a vertical direction and are directly adjacent to each other in a horizontal direction” (see Page 14 of the Response filed on 22 September 2026). However, the Office respectfully disagrees.
Gruhlke is not relied upon for the display of the two sensing regions on the same first to second pixel-columns; that arrangement is supplied by Kudo (Ground A), by Chang (Ground B) and by the orientation of the line fabric per Suh and Morein (Ground C), as set forth above. In response to applicant’s arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
The Applicant contends, “Kudo does not disclose that the touch areas at points A and B may be displayed on directly adjacent sensor signal lines of the sensor signal lines SS1 to SSn” (see Page 15 of the Response). However, the Office respectfully disagrees.
Kudo’s sensor signal lines SS1 to SSn run in the column direction of the sensor matrix to the amplifiers A1 to An, one per column (Fig. 2; Paragraphs 30, 45, 47), and Kudo’s Fig. 6 draws the two simultaneous contact areas A and B one above the other on that matrix with overlapping extents across the column direction, so that the columns within that overlap — and their sensor signal lines — lie under both areas (Paragraphs 79–80).
The rejection relies on that drawn arrangement, carried onto Won’s array, not on a tracing of individual conductors through Kudo’s Fig. 6. A drawing may be relied upon for what it clearly shows (MPEP § 2125).
Moreover, the rejection as now stated relies on Jhang for the express teaching of grouping the directly adjacent sensing lines that underlie a finger area and reading them out together (Ground A).
The Applicant contends that Chang “does not disclose that the areas of the first and second objects OB1, OB2 are positioned on a first adjacent sensing group” (see Page 16 of the Response).
However, Chang is relied upon for the arrangement of two displayed, to-be-touched objects one above the other on the same pixel-columns (Fig. 9(a); Paragraphs 131–132), not for the sensing lines, which are supplied by Won and Jhang; see In re Keller and In re Merck, cited above.
The Applicant contends that the combination of Gruhlke, Won, Suh and Morein “would result in a general teaching,” “is based on impermissible hindsight reasoning,” and that “Suh and Morein are directed to disparate devices from Gruhlke” (see Page 17 of the Response). However, the Office respectfully disagrees.
In response to applicant’s argument that the examiner’s conclusion of obviousness is based upon improper hindsight reasoning, it must be recognized that any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based upon hindsight reasoning.
But so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill at the time the claimed invention was made, and does not include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant’s disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971).
The reasons to combine set forth in Ground C are drawn from the references’ own stated purposes — Suh’s reduction of the dead space of a landscape-type display (Paragraphs 9, 18) and Morein’s reduction of the sensor module’s dimension by the placement of its gate-drive and readout circuits (Paragraph 51) — not from applicant’s disclosure. In response to applicant’s argument that Suh and Morein are nonanalogous art, it has been held that a prior art reference must either be in the field of the inventor’s endeavor or, if not, then be reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the inventor was concerned, in order to be relied upon as a basis for rejection of the claimed invention. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 24 USPQ2d 1443 (Fed. Cir. 1992).
In this case, Suh is a display panel with its scan and data line fabric and drivers — the same field as the claimed display apparatus — and addresses the arrangement of that fabric for a display used in the landscape orientation in which Gruhlke’s device is held; and
Morein is an optical finger-sensing pixel array of photodiodes with gate-drive and readout circuits — the same field as the claimed light sensing pixels and light sensing driver — and addresses the placement of the readout circuit relative to the array.
The combination results in the specific structure recited, as set forth in Ground C, and not merely a general teaching.
The Applicant further contends that “the timing of the gate signals applied to the first sensing region and the second sensing region is substantially the same” so that “an influence of deviations due to different gate signal timings is reduced” (see Page 13 of the Response).
In response to applicant’s argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., a substantially same timing of the gate signals applied to the first sensing region and the second sensing region) are not recited in the rejected claim(s).
Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Yoshimoto et al (US 2023/0152926 A1) discloses a display apparatus with light-emitting and light-receiving pixels whose read-out terminals on the column wirings are multiplexed in groups of consecutive terminals (Paragraphs 233, 239–241) and two or more fingers in contact with the display portion at once (Paragraph 245).
Tada et al (US 2021/0374223 A1) discloses a detection device with a photodiode biosensor under the display panel (Paragraph 109) and a guidance image displayed to guide the user’s finger operation before the operation is performed (Paragraphs 138, 147–149).
Kamada et al (US 2023/0019576 A1) discloses a display portion that obtains fingerprint data of a plurality of fingers touching a displayed icon at the same time (Paragraphs 60, 88).
The amendment filed 22 September 2026 introduced into claims 1 and 21 the recitations that the plurality of sensing lines extend in the vertical direction and are adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction and that the first and second sensing lines of the first adjacent sensing group are directly adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction, which appeared in no claim previously examined; the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) and the application of Jhang set forth above answer those recitations.
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.
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/Jeff Piziali/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628
24 September 2026
