DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 12, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shao et al. (US 2020/0202807) in view of Jeoung et al. (US 2016/0155409).
As to Claim 12, Shao et al. discloses A method of controlling a display device including a display panel and a gate driving circuit having a plurality of stages for providing a gate signal to the display panel (fig.8; para.0061-0062), the method comprising:
when the gate driving circuit is powered off, applying a first discharge signal to all input terminals of the gate driving circuit (fig.1c-2, para.0038; shutdown discharge period t2, all signals applied to the shutdown-discharge control port Xon, the first reference voltage port VDD, the second reference voltage port VGL, and the clock port CLK, are simultaneously set to a first voltage level (a high voltage level));
discharging a Q node and a gate signal output node by applying a second discharge signal to a QB node of an N-th stage included in the gate driving circuit (para. 0039- pull up node PU and output are discharged during the shutdown discharge period t2; para.0048- the first sub-circuit 41 is configured, under control of the first signal provided at the first reference voltage port VDD1, to control a voltage level at the first pull-down node PD1 to be at the first voltage level and to set a voltage level of the pull-up node PU and the output port Output to a same voltage level of the second signal applied to the second reference voltage port VGL; para.0058); and
applying a third discharge signal to a QB node discharge transistor of the N-th stage configured to discharge the QB node, where N is a positive integer, and
wherein the first discharge signal is in a high voltage state (para.0038- all signals set a high level voltage during shutdown period t2)
Shao et al. does not expressly disclose applying a third discharge signal to a QB node discharge transistor of the N-th stage configured to discharge the QB node.
Jeoung et al. discloses a third discharge signal to a QB node discharge transistor of the N-th stage configured to discharge the QB node (fig.5, para.0054, transistor T2 discharges node N2 in response to control signal CS; para.0091- during power off sequence, transistors connected to the node controller CS are discharged).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Shao et al. with the teachings of Jeong et al., the motivation being to so that the nodes are more thoroughly discharged, and the transistors connected to nodes are less likely to be stressed, thereby increasing the lifespan and reliability of the display device. discharge the nodes
As to Claim 16, Shao et al. in view of Jeong et al. disclose wherein the input terminals include a start signal/carry signal (VST/CRY) input terminal (Jeoung-fig 1, Vst, para.0034), a high-voltage power (VDD) input terminal (Shao-fig.1c-3-Vdd; Jeoung- fig.10-VH1,VH2), a clock signal (CLK) input terminal (fig.1c-3- CLK; Jeoung-fig.10, CLK), a stable signal (Stable) input terminal (Shao-fig.1c-3; Reset). a first low-voltage power (VSS) input terminal (Jeoung-fig.10, Vss), and a second low-voltage power (VGL) input terminal (fig.1c-3; VGL).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11, 13-14 allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Independent Claims 1, 13 are allowable over the prior art of record for the reasons noted in office action 09/30/2025.
Claim 15 is 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 12 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection applied as necessitated by amendment.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: see PTO-892 form.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DISMERY E. MERCEDES whose telephone number is (571)272-7558. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ke Xiao can be reached at 571-272-7776. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DISMERY MERCEDES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627