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 .
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 10, 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kishimoto et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0113824.
Kishimoto discloses a display device including a display panel, a digitizer layer, a processor and a rigid member. See abstract. The device can be foldable. See paragraph 0009. The rigid member can include a composite material comprising glass or carbon fibers. See paragraph 0022-0024. The polymer matrix of the rigid member can include epoxy, polyester, polyamide, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polybutylene or vinyl ester. See paragraph 0071. The rigid member can include a plurality of layers, wherein the first layers have fibers extending in a first direction and the second layers have fibers extending in a second different direction, wherein the layers are stacked. This structure corresponds to the claimed third layer which is different than the first and second layers, wherein a stack of three layers with two first layers would have carbon fibers in one direction and the one second layer would have carbon fibers extending in a different direction. See paragraph 0074. The rigid member can have a modulus of 20-30 GPa. See paragraph 0072.
Claim(s) 1, 10, 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0017674.
Kim discloses a foldable display device. See paragraph 0007. The device includes a panel support member which may support a display panel. The panel support member can include a plurality of layers, wherein the first layer includes a fiber extending in a second direction, a second layer having yarns extending in the first direction and a third layer having yarns extending in a second direction. See paragraph 0009. The thickness of the second layer, which is the center layer and corresponds to the claimed third layer, is thicker than the first and third layers. See paragraph 0010. Therefore, the center layer is different than the first and second layer. The display device can include a display and a digitizer on the back of the support member. See 0059-0067. A protective layer can be disposed on the back of the display panel between the support member and the display panel and can include a buffer layer. See paragraphs 0082, 0085.
Claim(s) 1, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mizoguchi et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0146556.
Mizoguchi discloses a portable foldable display device. See paragraph 0007. The structure can include a chassis which corresponds to the support member. The chassis can include fiber reinforced resin support plates. See paragraph 0045. Looking at figures 14A and paragraphs 0101-0102, layers 70a, 70b, 70c can include a polymer matrix which can be either thermoplastic or thermosetting including reinforcing fibers. The fibers can preferably include pitch based carbon fibers because they provide high rigidity and excellent modification and dent resistance. The fibers in layers 70a and 70c can be aligned in a first direction and the fibers in layer 70b can be aligned in a second direction. The pitch based fiber reinforced plate has an electrical resistance of about 10 ohms.
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) 2, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over each of Kishimoto, Kim and Mizoguchi in view of Kobomura et al, U.S. Patent No. 5,552,214.
Kishimoto, Kim and Mizoguchi disclose foldable electronic devices including support layers formed from a carbon fiber reinforced polymeric matrix.
Kishimoto, Kim and Mizoguchi differ from the claimed invention because it does not disclose employing PAN fibers and pitch-based fibers.
However, Kobomura teaches that combining PAN and pitch-based carbon fibers produces yarns having improved compressive strength and compression strain at failure. See col. 3, lines 1-40. The yarns are useful in forming carbon fiber reinforced polymeric composites. See col. 6, lines 14-56.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have employed a combination of PAN and pitch-based carbon fibers in order to provide the display devices with improved compressive strength and compression strain at failure as taught by Kobomura.
Claim(s) 3-9, 12-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over any one of Kishimoto, Kim and Mizoguchi in view of Kobomura as applied to claims above, and further in view of JP2016203493A.
Any one of Kishimoto, Kim and Mizoguchi in view of Kobomura disclose display devices and support members as set forth above.
Kishimoto, Kim and Mizoguchi in view of Kobomura differ from the claimed invention because they do not disclose the claimed basis weight, resin content, or horizontal thermal conductivity.
However, JP ‘493 discloses a support for a display, (see end of page 1 and beginning of page 2 of the supplied machine translation). The structure can include a support made from a carbon fiber reinforced sheet. The carbon fibers can be PAN fibers, which produce a tensile elastic modulus of 230-600 GPa or pitched based, which produce a tensile modulus 600-900. The fibers can be present in amounts of 25-500 gsm and the resin can be present in amounts of 18-50 wt%. See second paragraph from the bottom of page 2.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to have employed basis weights and resin content as taught by JP ‘493 in order to provide suitable modulus and bending stiffness to the structure. With regard to the thermal conductivity, since Kishimoto, Kim and Mizoguchi in view of Kobomura teach the same structure and are made using the same materials, it is reasonable to expect that either the horizontal thermal conductivity would necessarily be present or it would have been obvious to have selected the particular materials and concentrations within the ranges taught by JP ‘493 in order to provide the desired horizontal thermal conductivity.
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/ELIZABETH M IMANI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
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