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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A, Sub Species A-I (Claims 1-5, 8, 11-13 and 18-20) in the reply filed on 0 is acknowledged.
Presently, Claims 1-5, 8, 11-13 and 18-20 remain pending and are hereinafter examined on the merits. Claims 6-7, 9-10 and 14-17 are withdrawn.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
“light-sensing element generating and outputting …” in Claim 11.
A review of the Specification discloses that the corresponding structure for the “light-sensing element” can be “an organic photodiode (“OPD”) sensor” (Para 0060), and includes “a pixel electrode 171, an organic material layer 172, and a common electrode 173” (Para 0110).
“light-sensing unit configured to output …” in Claim 11.
A review of the Specification discloses that the corresponding structure for the “light-sensing unit” comprises “light-sensing element”, which is further interpreted above.
“sensing driver unit configured to supply …” in Claim 11.
A review of the Specification discloses that the corresponding structure for the “sensing driver unit” is formed of “first to third sensing transistors RT1 to RT3 and a sensing capacitor” (Para 0089).
“light-emitting unit configured to emit …” in Claim 12.
A review of the Specification discloses that the corresponding structure for the “light-emitting unit” comprises “light-emitting element” (Para 0069), which may be an organic light-emitting diode, or inorganic light-emitting element, or quantum-dot light-emitting element, or micro light-emitting element (see details in Para 0075-0082).
“pixel driver unit configured to apply …” in Claim 12.
A review of the Specification discloses that the corresponding structure for the “pixel driver unit” may include “a driving transistor DT, switch elements, and a capacitor CST1” (Para 0069).
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 3, Line 2, recites “the wireless communication module sequentially is configured to transmit”, which should be changed to “the wireless communication module .
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-5, 8, 11-13 and 18-20 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1, Lines 8-9, recites “detect a pulse wave signal … and measure biometric information … by using the first light-sensing signal”. It is unclear whether both the detecting and the measuring, or only the measuring, is based on the recited first light-sensing signal. For present purposes of examination, the recited phrase is interpreted that both the detecting and the measuring are based on the first light-sensing signal.
Claim 4, Lines 6-8, recites “the connection line … be electrically connected to the antennas through at least one contact hole”. For comparison, Lines 3-5 of the same claim recites “the second end of the antenna among the antennas is electrically connected to … through at least one contact hole and a connection line”. First, it is unclear whether the recited “connection line” connects only “the antenna among the antennas” (as Lines 3-5 suggest), or all “the antennas” (as Lines 6-8 suggest). For present purposes of examination, the recited connection line is interpreted to connect to “the antenna among the antennas”, i.e. just one antenna. Second, it is unclear whether the recited “at least one contact hole” on Lines 6-8 is the same as the recited “at least one contact hole” on Lines 3-5. For present purposes of examination, the recited “at least one contact hole” at Lines 6-8 is interpreted to be the same as that on Lines 3-5; in other words, the recited “through at least one contact hole” on Lines 7-8 should be changed to “through the at least one contact hole”.
Claim 8, Lines 4-10, has the same indefiniteness as Claim 4 above, and is interpreted the same.
Claim 5, Lines 2-3, recites “the antenna is formed in a same layer as a gate electrode of a transistor formed in the biological signal detection area with the same metal material as the gate electrode”. It is unclear whether the antenna OR the biological signal detection area has the same metal material as the gate electrode. For present purposes of examination, the recited phrase is interpreted to refer to “the antenna is formed in a same layer as a gate electrode of a transistor formed in the biological signal detection area, and is made of the same metal material as the gate electrode”.
Claim 5, Lines 4-7, recites “the connection line includes a same metal material as a first anode connection electrode of a transistor formed in the biological signal detection area to be electrically connected to the antennas through …”. It is unclear which of the connection line, first anode connection electrode, and biological signal detection area is to be electrically connected to the antennas. For present purposes of examination, the recited “connection line” is interpreted to be electrically connected to the antennas.
Claim 5, Lines 4-7, recites “the connection line … be electrically connected to the antennas …”. As discussed above, for present purposes of examination, the recited “connection line” is interpreted to connect to “the antenna among the antennas” (Claim 4, Lines 3-4), but not all “the antennas”.
Claim 5, Lines 4-6, recites “the connection line … to be electrically connected to the antenna through a first connection contact hole …”. Claim 4, Lines 6-8, recites “the connection line … to be electrically connected to the antenna through at least one contact hole”. It is unclear whether the recited connection in Claim 5 is through both “at least one contact hole” and “a first connection contact hole” (i.e. the first connection contact hole is NOT a contact hole), or through “a first connection contact hole” only (i.e. the first connection contact hole is a contact hole). For present purposes of examination, the recited “first connection contact hole” in Claim 5 is interpreted to be one of the “at least one contact hole” in Claim 4.
Claims 2-3 and 11-13 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) because they inherit the indefiniteness of the claim(s) they respectively depend upon.
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 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Justice et al (US 20150342522 A1; hereafter Justice), in view of Huttunen et al (US 11911181 B1; hereafter Huttunen) and Shin et al (US 20230020039 A1; hereafter Shin).
With regard to Claim 1, Justice discloses a wearable display device (Justice, Para 0009; “FIGS. 1A and 1B show aspects of an example sensory-and-logic system in the form of a wearable electronic device 10”. The disclosed device has display function, i.e. display 20) comprising:
a housing (Justice, Para 0010; “Device 10 includes at least four flexion regions 12 linking less flexible regions 14 … Wearable electronic device 10 includes various functional components integrated into regions 14.”. The disclosed regions 14 of device 10 hold the functional components) formed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape (Justice, Para 0009; “The flexion regions and fastening componentry enable the device to be closed into a loop and to be worn on a user's wrist.”);
the device configured to emit light in a first direction from an inner side and receive light incident to the inner side to detect a first light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0017; “… an optical pulse rate sensor 46. The optical pulse-rate sensor may include an LED emitter and matched photodiode to detect blood flow through the capillaries in the skin and thereby provide a measurement of the wearer's pulse rate.”. As demonstrated in Fig. 2A, the disclosed sensor 46 is disposed in the inner side of the ring-shape device) and configured to detect a second light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0015; “In wearable electronic device 10, touch-screen sensor 32 is coupled to display 20 and configured to receive touch input from the user. The touch sensor may be … optically based.”. As demonstrated in Fig. 2A, the disclosed touch-screen sensor 32 is on the side of the display, i.e. the outer side of the device);
a main driver circuit (compute system 18) configured to detect a pulse wave signal of a user and measure biometric information of the user by using the first light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0019; “Compute system 18, via the sensory functions described herein, is configured to acquire various forms of information about the wearer of wearable electronic device 10.” Here the disclosed “sensory functions” include the function of “optical pulse rate sensor 46”, which is to measure pulse rate using photodiode-collected light signal (Para 0017)); and
a wireless communication module (communication suite 24) configured to transmit the biometric information of the user to a preset other mobile display device (Justice, Para 0014; “The communication suite may further include two-way Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, near-field communication and/or other radios.”) through antennas formed in a preset pattern in the display panel (Justice, Para 0012; “… compute system 18 is situated below display 20 and operatively coupled to the display, along with loudspeaker 22, communication suite 24, and the various sensors.”).
Justice does not clearly and explicitly disclose:
a display panel disposed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape inside the housing,
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side, and
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal.
Huttunen in the same field of endeavor discloses a display panel (PCB 425) disposed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape inside the housing (Huttunen, Column 25, Lines 17-18; “… the PCB 425 may be disposed within the cavity 445 of the flexible housing …”. The disclosed PCB 425 is in a ring shape). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, as suggested by Huttunen, in order to make a panel or board in a ring shape. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of maximizing usable area of a board and therefore integrating more functional components into a ring-shaped device, and also maintaining the relative position between the sensors and exterior housing structures (Huttunen, Column 25, Lines 21-26; “Coupling the surface of the PCB 425 to the surface of the flexible housing may prevent the PCB 425 from sliding around within the flexible housing when the wearable device is elastically deformed, thereby maintaining alignment between the sensors 430 of the PCB 425 and the apertures 415 of the flexible housing.”).
Justice and Huttunen do not clearly and explicitly disclose:
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side, and
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal.
Shin in the same field of endeavor discloses:
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side (Shin, Para 0078; “… light from the LED 404 may be reflected from the thumb 306 and the reflected light may be detected by the photodetector array 406.”. Fig. 3 shows that the disclosed LED or surface is on the outer side of the ring), and
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal (Shin, Para 0057; “the user 104 may move the user's finger … over the photodetector array 110 in a smooth, continuous manner …. The touch event analyzer 122 may perform the type of spatiotemporal grouping referenced above for detection signals associated with touch events, for a single frame and across a set of frames, to evaluate the touch event as a whole.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice and Huttunen, as suggested by Shin, in order to sense movement of a touch by a subject using light-based sensor. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of optical-based detection of moving a touch being a popular and reliable approach for controlling a wearable device (Shin, para 0033; “when the OFN system is used for an intended purpose, such as controlling functionalities of devices”; Para 0082; “The user 104 may perform the scroll operations 506, 508 and many other types of navigations or uses of the OFN module 402 …”).
With regard to Claim 18, Justice discloses a wearable electric display device (Justice, Para 0009; “FIGS. 1A and 1B show aspects of an example sensory-and-logic system in the form of a wearable electronic device 10”. The disclosed device has display function, i.e. display 20) comprising:
a housing (Justice, Para 0010; “Device 10 includes at least four flexion regions 12 linking less flexible regions 14 … Wearable electronic device 10 includes various functional components integrated into regions 14.”. The disclosed regions 14 of device 10 hold the functional components) formed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape (Justice, Para 0009; “The flexion regions and fastening componentry enable the device to be closed into a loop and to be worn on a user's wrist.”);
the device configured to emit light in a first direction from an inner side and receive light incident to the inner side to detect a first light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0017; “… an optical pulse rate sensor 46. The optical pulse-rate sensor may include an LED emitter and matched photodiode to detect blood flow through the capillaries in the skin and thereby provide a measurement of the wearer's pulse rate.”. As demonstrated in Fig. 2A, the disclosed sensor 46 is disposed in the inner side of the ring-shape device) and configured to detect a second light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0015; “In wearable electronic device 10, touch-screen sensor 32 is coupled to display 20 and configured to receive touch input from the user. The touch sensor may be … optically based.”. As demonstrated in Fig. 2A, the disclosed touch-screen sensor 32 is on the side of the display, i.e. the outer side of the device);
a main driver circuit (compute system 18) configured to detect a pulse wave signal of a user and measure biometric information of the user by using the first light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0019; “Compute system 18, via the sensory functions described herein, is configured to acquire various forms of information about the wearer of wearable electronic device 10.” Here the disclosed “sensory functions” include the function of “optical pulse rate sensor 46”, which is to measure pulse rate using photodiode-collected light signal (Para 0017)); and
a wireless communication module (communication suite 24) configured to transmit the biometric information of the user to a preset other mobile display device (Justice, Para 0014; “The communication suite may further include two-way Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, near-field communication and/or other radios.”) through antennas formed in a preset pattern in the display panel (Justice, Para 0012; “… compute system 18 is situated below display 20 and operatively coupled to the display, along with loudspeaker 22, communication suite 24, and the various sensors.”).
Justice does not clearly and explicitly disclose
a display panel disposed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape inside the housing,
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side,
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal,
a circuit board on which the main driver circuit is mounted, the circuit board electrically connected to the display panel,
a sensing circuit disposed in the housing or the circuit board to sense a direction of the user's movement and a pressure applied by the user's finger, and
a memory storing and transmitting the pulse wave signals of the user and the biometric information of the user.
Huttunen in the same field of endeavor discloses a display panel (PCB 425) disposed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape inside the housing (Huttunen, Column 25, Lines 17-18; “… the PCB 425 may be disposed within the cavity 445 of the flexible housing …”. The disclosed PCB 425 is in a ring shape). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, as suggested by Huttunen, in order to make a panel or board in a ring shape. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of maximizing usable area of a board and therefore integrating more functional components into a ring-shaped device, and also maintaining the relative position between the sensors and exterior housing structures (Huttunen, Column 25, Lines 21-26; “Coupling the surface of the PCB 425 to the surface of the flexible housing may prevent the PCB 425 from sliding around within the flexible housing when the wearable device is elastically deformed, thereby maintaining alignment between the sensors 430 of the PCB 425 and the apertures 415 of the flexible housing.”).
Justice and Huttunen do not clearly and explicitly disclose:
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side,
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal,
a circuit board on which the main driver circuit is mounted, the circuit board electrically connected to the display panel,
a sensing circuit disposed in the housing or the circuit board to sense a direction of the user's movement and a pressure applied by the user's finger, and
a memory storing and transmitting the pulse wave signals of the user and the biometric information of the user.
Shin in the same field of endeavor discloses:
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side (Shin, Para 0078; “… light from the LED 404 may be reflected from the thumb 306 and the reflected light may be detected by the photodetector array 406.”. Fig. 3 shows that the disclosed LED or surface is on the outer side of the ring), and
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal (Shin, Para 0057; “the user 104 may move the user's finger … over the photodetector array 110 in a smooth, continuous manner …. The touch event analyzer 122 may perform the type of spatiotemporal grouping referenced above for detection signals associated with touch events, for a single frame and across a set of frames, to evaluate the touch event as a whole.”),
a circuit board on which the main driver circuit is mounted, the circuit board electrically connected to the display panel (Shin, Para 0121; “Each of the components 1450, 1452, 1464, 1454, 1466, and 1468, are interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard”. Of the mounted components, 1452 is a processor, which functions the same as the claimed main driver circuit) (Shin, Para 0137; “… computing device 1450 can be placed within HMD 1490 to create an integrated HMD system.” In the disclosed integrated system, the motherboard of 1450 and the OFN module of 1490 are electrically connected),
a sensing circuit disposed in the housing or the circuit board to sense a direction of the user's movement and a pressure applied by the user's finger (Shin, Para 0081; “By aggregating the total response over multiple pixels and computing optical flow, the OFN module 304 can determine the subtle direction of thumb movement.” Para 0134; “The sensors can include, but are not limited to, a touchscreen, accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, biometric sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, and ambient light sensors. Computing device 1450 (e.g., the HMD 1490) can use the sensors to determine an absolute position and/or a detected rotation of the HMD 1490 that can then be used as input for use by the HMD 1490.” The disclosed sensors can further sense or determine movement direction or a pressure by user’s finger (e.g. by the disclosed touchscreen)), and
a memory storing and transmitting the pulse wave signals of the user and the biometric information of the user (Shin, Para 0012; “The compute system includes a data-storage machine 27 to hold data …”; Para 0028; “USB port 30 comprises a plurality of charging contact pads for connecting to associated electrical contacts of a power and data connector. … A contact pad configured to receive a data signal may be electrically connected to a logic system and/or data-storage system of the wearable electronic device 10.”. These disclosures indicate that the disclosed data-storage machine 27 can store data and is connected to a contact pad of the USB port for potential data transmission).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice and Huttunen, as suggested by Shin, in order to sense movement of a touch by a user using light-based sensor, to sense user’s movement direction and pressure applied by finger, and to include a circuit board and a memory. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification of sensing movement of a touch for the benefit of optical-based detection of moving a touch being a popular and reliable approach for controlling a wearable device (Shin, para 0033; “when the OFN system is used for an intended purpose, such as controlling functionalities of devices”; Para 0082; “The user 104 may perform the scroll operations 506, 508 and many other types of navigations or uses of the OFN module 402 …”), make the modification of sensing user’s movement direction and finger-applied pressure for the benefit of properly processing and analyzing the acquired biometric data by taking into consideration of the user’s movement and the quality of a finger-touch event, and make the modification of including a circuit board and a memory for the benefit of disposing various components efficiently in a compact space of a wearable device by using a circuit board and preventing loss of data by storage in a memory.
With regard to Claim 19, Justice discloses an electronic device including a wearable display device (Justice, Para 0009; “FIGS. 1A and 1B show aspects of an example sensory-and-logic system in the form of a wearable electronic device 10”. The disclosed device has display function, i.e. display 20),
wherein the wearable display device comprising:
a housing (Justice, Para 0010; “Device 10 includes at least four flexion regions 12 linking less flexible regions 14 … Wearable electronic device 10 includes various functional components integrated into regions 14.”. The disclosed regions 14 of device 10 hold the functional components) formed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape (Justice, Para 0009; “The flexion regions and fastening componentry enable the device to be closed into a loop and to be worn on a user's wrist.”);
the device configured to emit light in a first direction from an inner side and receive light incident to the inner side to detect a first light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0017; “… an optical pulse rate sensor 46. The optical pulse-rate sensor may include an LED emitter and matched photodiode to detect blood flow through the capillaries in the skin and thereby provide a measurement of the wearer's pulse rate.”. As demonstrated in Fig. 2A, the disclosed sensor 46 is disposed in the inner side of the ring-shape device) and configured to detect a second light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0015; “In wearable electronic device 10, touch-screen sensor 32 is coupled to display 20 and configured to receive touch input from the user. The touch sensor may be … optically based.”. As demonstrated in Fig. 2A, the disclosed touch-screen sensor 32 is on the side of the display, i.e. the outer side of the device);
a main driver circuit (compute system 18) configured to detect a pulse wave signal of a user and measure biometric information of the user by using the first light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0019; “Compute system 18, via the sensory functions described herein, is configured to acquire various forms of information about the wearer of wearable electronic device 10.” Here the disclosed “sensory functions” include the function of “optical pulse rate sensor 46”, which is to measure pulse rate using photodiode-collected light signal (Para 0017)); and
a wireless communication module (communication suite 24) configured to transmit the biometric information of the user to a preset other mobile display device (Justice, Para 0014; “The communication suite may further include two-way Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, near-field communication and/or other radios.”) through antennas formed in a preset pattern in the display panel (Justice, Para 0012; “… compute system 18 is situated below display 20 and operatively coupled to the display, along with loudspeaker 22, communication suite 24, and the various sensors.”).
Justice does not clearly and explicitly disclose
a display panel disposed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape inside the housing,
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side, and
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal.
Huttunen in the same field of endeavor discloses a display panel (PCB 425) disposed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape inside the housing (Huttunen, Column 25, Lines 17-18; “… the PCB 425 may be disposed within the cavity 445 of the flexible housing …”. The disclosed PCB 425 is in a ring shape). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, as suggested by Huttunen, in order to make a panel or board in a ring shape. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of maximizing usable area of a board and therefore integrating more functional components into a ring-shaped device, and also maintaining the relative position between the sensors and exterior housing structures (Huttunen, Column 25, Lines 21-26; “Coupling the surface of the PCB 425 to the surface of the flexible housing may prevent the PCB 425 from sliding around within the flexible housing when the wearable device is elastically deformed, thereby maintaining alignment between the sensors 430 of the PCB 425 and the apertures 415 of the flexible housing.”).
Justice and Huttunen do not clearly and explicitly disclose:
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side, and
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal.
Shin in the same field of endeavor discloses:
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side (Shin, Para 0078; “… light from the LED 404 may be reflected from the thumb 306 and the reflected light may be detected by the photodetector array 406.”. Fig. 3 shows that the disclosed LED or surface is on the outer side of the ring), and
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal (Shin, Para 0057; “the user 104 may move the user's finger … over the photodetector array 110 in a smooth, continuous manner …. The touch event analyzer 122 may perform the type of spatiotemporal grouping referenced above for detection signals associated with touch events, for a single frame and across a set of frames, to evaluate the touch event as a whole.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice and Huttunen, as suggested by Shin, in order to sense movement of a touch by a subject using light-based sensor. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of optical-based detection of moving a touch being a popular and reliable approach for controlling a wearable device (Shin, para 0033; “when the OFN system is used for an intended purpose, such as controlling functionalities of devices”; Para 0082; “The user 104 may perform the scroll operations 506, 508 and many other types of navigations or uses of the OFN module 402 …”).
With regard to Claim 20, Justice discloses an electronic device including a wearable electric display device (Justice, Para 0009; “FIGS. 1A and 1B show aspects of an example sensory-and-logic system in the form of a wearable electronic device 10”. The disclosed device has display function, i.e. display 20),
wherein the wearable display device comprising:
a housing (Justice, Para 0010; “Device 10 includes at least four flexion regions 12 linking less flexible regions 14 … Wearable electronic device 10 includes various functional components integrated into regions 14.”. The disclosed regions 14 of device 10 hold the functional components) formed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape (Justice, Para 0009; “The flexion regions and fastening componentry enable the device to be closed into a loop and to be worn on a user's wrist.”);
the device configured to emit light in a first direction from an inner side and receive light incident to the inner side to detect a first light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0017; “… an optical pulse rate sensor 46. The optical pulse-rate sensor may include an LED emitter and matched photodiode to detect blood flow through the capillaries in the skin and thereby provide a measurement of the wearer's pulse rate.”. As demonstrated in Fig. 2A, the disclosed sensor 46 is disposed in the inner side of the ring-shape device) and configured to detect a second light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0015; “In wearable electronic device 10, touch-screen sensor 32 is coupled to display 20 and configured to receive touch input from the user. The touch sensor may be … optically based.”. As demonstrated in Fig. 2A, the disclosed touch-screen sensor 32 is on the side of the display, i.e. the outer side of the device);
a main driver circuit (compute system 18) configured to detect a pulse wave signal of a user and measure biometric information of the user by using the first light-sensing signal (Justice, Para 0019; “Compute system 18, via the sensory functions described herein, is configured to acquire various forms of information about the wearer of wearable electronic device 10.” Here the disclosed “sensory functions” include the function of “optical pulse rate sensor 46”, which is to measure pulse rate using photodiode-collected light signal (Para 0017)); and
a wireless communication module (communication suite 24) configured to transmit the biometric information of the user to a preset other mobile display device (Justice, Para 0014; “The communication suite may further include two-way Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, near-field communication and/or other radios.”) through antennas formed in a preset pattern in the display panel (Justice, Para 0012; “… compute system 18 is situated below display 20 and operatively coupled to the display, along with loudspeaker 22, communication suite 24, and the various sensors.”).
Justice does not clearly and explicitly disclose
a display panel disposed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape inside the housing,
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side,
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal,
a circuit board on which the main driver circuit is mounted, the circuit board electrically connected to the display panel,
a sensing circuit disposed in the housing or the circuit board to sense a direction of the user's movement and a pressure applied by the user's finger, and
a memory storing and transmitting the pulse wave signals of the user and the biometric information of the user.
Huttunen in the same field of endeavor discloses a display panel (PCB 425) disposed in a ring shape or a cylindrical shape inside the housing (Huttunen, Column 25, Lines 17-18; “… the PCB 425 may be disposed within the cavity 445 of the flexible housing …”. The disclosed PCB 425 is in a ring shape). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, as suggested by Huttunen, in order to make a panel or board in a ring shape. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of maximizing usable area of a board and therefore integrating more functional components into a ring-shaped device, and also maintaining the relative position between the sensors and exterior housing structures (Huttunen, Column 25, Lines 21-26; “Coupling the surface of the PCB 425 to the surface of the flexible housing may prevent the PCB 425 from sliding around within the flexible housing when the wearable device is elastically deformed, thereby maintaining alignment between the sensors 430 of the PCB 425 and the apertures 415 of the flexible housing.”).
Justice and Huttunen do not clearly and explicitly disclose:
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side,
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal,
a circuit board on which the main driver circuit is mounted, the circuit board electrically connected to the display panel,
a sensing circuit disposed in the housing or the circuit board to sense a direction of the user's movement and a pressure applied by the user's finger, and
a memory storing and transmitting the pulse wave signals of the user and the biometric information of the user.
Shin in the same field of endeavor discloses:
a display panel configured to emit light in a second direction from an outer side of the display panel and receive light incident to the outer side (Shin, Para 0078; “… light from the LED 404 may be reflected from the thumb 306 and the reflected light may be detected by the photodetector array 406.”. Fig. 3 shows that the disclosed LED or surface is on the outer side of the ring), and
a circuit configured to sense a movement of a touch by a part of the user's body by using the second light-sensing signal (Shin, Para 0057; “the user 104 may move the user's finger … over the photodetector array 110 in a smooth, continuous manner …. The touch event analyzer 122 may perform the type of spatiotemporal grouping referenced above for detection signals associated with touch events, for a single frame and across a set of frames, to evaluate the touch event as a whole.”),
a circuit board on which the main driver circuit is mounted, the circuit board electrically connected to the display panel (Shin, Para 0121; “Each of the components 1450, 1452, 1464, 1454, 1466, and 1468, are interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard”. Of the mounted components, 1452 is a processor, which functions the same as the claimed main driver circuit) (Shin, Para 0137; “… computing device 1450 can be placed within HMD 1490 to create an integrated HMD system.” In the disclosed integrated system, the motherboard of 1450 and the OFN module of 1490 are electrically connected),
a sensing circuit disposed in the housing or the circuit board to sense a direction of the user's movement and a pressure applied by the user's finger (Shin, Para 0081; “By aggregating the total response over multiple pixels and computing optical flow, the OFN module 304 can determine the subtle direction of thumb movement.” Para 0134; “The sensors can include, but are not limited to, a touchscreen, accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, biometric sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, and ambient light sensors. Computing device 1450 (e.g., the HMD 1490) can use the sensors to determine an absolute position and/or a detected rotation of the HMD 1490 that can then be used as input for use by the HMD 1490.” The disclosed sensors can further sense or determine movement direction or a pressure by user’s finger (e.g. by the disclosed touchscreen)), and
a memory storing and transmitting the pulse wave signals of the user and the biometric information of the user (Shin, Para 0012; “The compute system includes a data-storage machine 27 to hold data …”; Para 0028; “USB port 30 comprises a plurality of charging contact pads for connecting to associated electrical contacts of a power and data connector. … A contact pad configured to receive a data signal may be electrically connected to a logic system and/or data-storage system of the wearable electronic device 10.”. These disclosures indicate that the disclosed data-storage machine 27 can store data and is connected to a contact pad of the USB port for potential data transmission).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice and Huttunen, as suggested by Shin, in order to sense movement of a touch by a user using light-based sensor, to sense user’s movement direction and pressure applied by finger, and to include a circuit board and a memory. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification of sensing movement of a touch for the benefit of optical-based detection of moving a touch being a popular and reliable approach for controlling a wearable device (Shin, para 0033; “when the OFN system is used for an intended purpose, such as controlling functionalities of devices”; Para 0082; “The user 104 may perform the scroll operations 506, 508 and many other types of navigations or uses of the OFN module 402 …”), make the modification of sensing user’s movement direction and finger-applied pressure for the benefit of properly processing and analyzing the acquired biometric data by taking into consideration of the user’s movement and the quality of a finger-touch event, and make the modification of including a circuit board and a memory for the benefit of disposing various components efficiently in a compact space of a wearable device by using a circuit board and preventing loss of data by storage in a memory.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Justice, Huttunen and Shin, further in view of Lee et al (US 20210318730 A1; hereafter Lee).
With regard to Claim 2, Justice, Huttunen and Shin disclose the wearable display device of Claim 1, including the display panel (Huttunen) and emitting light and receiving reflected light from the outer side of the device (Shin).
Justice further discloses:
a biological signal detection area (a bottom portion of the inside surface of the wearable electronic device 10) in which, at least one first light-emitting pixel (Justice, Para 0017; “The optical pulse-rate sensor may include an LED emitter and matched photodiode”) configured to emit the light in the first direction and at least one first light-sensing pixel (Justice, Para 0017; “The optical pulse-rate sensor may include an LED emitter and matched photodiode”) configured to generate the first light-sensing signal depending on an amount of light reflected from a part of the user's body located in the first direction from the inner side of the display panel, are disposed (Justice, Para 0022; “… in a bottom portion of the inside surface of the wearable electronic device 10, shown in FIG. 2A … surrounding optical pulse rate sensor 46.” The disclosed sensor 46 is disposed in a bottom portion of the device);
a touch detection area (Justice, Para 0015; “In wearable electronic device 10, touch-screen sensor 32 is coupled to display 20”) (Justice, Fig. 1A shows that the disclosed touch-screen sensor 32 spatially aligns with display 20); and
an antenna placement area in which the antennas are formed (Justice, Para 0014; “Communication suite 24 may include any appropriate … wireless communications componentry. … The communication suite may further include two-way Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, near-field communication and/or other radios.” Fig. 1B shows the general location of the disclosed communication suite 24 in the device 10).
Justice, Huttunen and Shin as discussed above do not explicitly and clearly disclose:
at least one second light-emitting pixel and at least one second light-sensing pixel being disposed in a touch detection area,
the antennas being formed in at least one pattern shape among a zigzag shape, a circular shape, a coil shape, a polygonal block shape, or a combination of preset blocks and lines, and
wherein the antenna placement area further comprises a plurality of signal pads connected to first ends and second ends of the antennas, respectively.
Shin further discloses at least one second light-emitting pixel and at least one second light-sensing pixel being disposed in a touch detection area (Shin, Para 0042; “including a light source 108 and a photodetector array 110, e.g., a photodetector array. For example, the light source 108 may represent a light emitting diode (LED) providing one or more wavelengths of light. The photodetector array 110 may include a plurality of light-detecting surfaces (e.g., pixels, or groups of pixels) configured to capture light from the light source 108 that is transmitted through, or reflected from, the user 104”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen and Shin, as further suggested by Shin, in order to include at least one light-emitting pixel and at least one light-sensing pixel. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of properly achieving the function of light emitting and receiving.
Justice, Huttunen and Shin as discussed above do not explicitly and clearly disclose:
the antennas being formed in at least one pattern shape among a zigzag shape, a circular shape, a coil shape, a polygonal block shape, or a combination of preset blocks and lines, and
wherein the antenna placement area further comprises a plurality of signal pads connected to first ends and second ends of the antennas, respectively.
Lee in an analogous field of endeavor discloses:
the antennas being formed in at least one pattern shape among a zigzag shape, a circular shape, a coil shape, a polygonal block shape, or a combination of preset blocks and lines (Lee, Para 0173; “each of … the antenna patterns AP … may have other quadrangular shapes besides a diamond, other polygonal shapes besides a quadrangular shape, such as a circle or an ellipse when viewed from the top.”), and
wherein the antenna placement area further comprises a plurality of signal pads (first antenna pad FP1 and second antenna pad FP2) connected to first ends and second ends of the antennas, respectively (Lee, Fig. 24 (cited below) show two pads (FP1 and FP2) being connected to two ends of antenna pattern AP).
Fig. 24 of Lee
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen and Shin, as suggested by Lee, in order to form antennas in a shape of polygonal block and include contact pads for two ends of each antenna wire. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of the design being the most established for building antennas or radio-frequency coils.
With regard to Claim 3, Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee disclose the wearable display device of Claim 2, including signal pads connected to two ends of antenna wires (Lee). Justice further discloses wherein the antennas are configured to convert the electric signals into electromagnetic waves and transmit them (Justice, Para 0014; “The communication suite may further include two-way Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, near-field communication and/or other radios.”. The disclosed wireless communication approaches inherently convert electric signals to electromagnetic wave for data transmission).
Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee as discussed above do not explicitly and clearly disclose wherein the wireless communication module is configured to transmit electric signals in respect to pulse wave signals and the biometric information of the user to antenna.
Huttunen further discloses wherein the wireless communication module is configured to transmit electric signals in respect to pulse wave signals and the biometric information of the user to antenna (Huttunen, Column 9, Lines 21-26; “the ring 104 may be in wireless and/or wired communication with the user device 106. In some implementations, the ring 104 may send measured and processed data (e.g., temperature data, photoplethysmogram (PPG) data, motion/accelerometer data, ring input data, and the like) to the user device 106.”. The disclosed ring 104 performs the wireless communication by communication module 220-a (see Fig. 2)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, as further suggested by Huttunen, in order to output the measured and processed data . One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of providing more health-relevant information by transferring the acquired data for further analysis in separate user device or even a server (Huttunen, Column 9, Lines 28-30; “The user device 106 may process data. In some implementations, the user device 106 may transmit data to the server 110 for processing and/or storage.”).
With regard to Claim 4, Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee disclose the wearable display device of Claim 2, including electrically connecting the two ends of an antenna to two signal pads (Lee), but do not explicitly and clearly disclose:
wherein one end of the antenna is connected to one signal pad through at least one contact hole and a connection line, and
the antennas are formed in a same layer, and the connection line is formed in a different layer from the antennas to be electrically connected to the antennas through at least one contact hole.
Lee further discloses:
wherein one end of the antenna is connected to one signal pad through at least one contact hole and a connection line (Lee, Fig. 23 (cited below) shows an antenna feed line FL and two feed contact holes FCNT1’ and FCNT2’), and
the antennas are formed in a same layer (Lee, Para 0186; “Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, … the antenna patterns AP … are disposed on the same layer …”), and the connection line is formed in a different layer from the antennas to be electrically connected to the antennas through at least one contact hole (Lee, Para 0294; “The second subsidiary antenna feed line SFL2 may be disposed on the third buffer layer BF3 … The third subsidiary antenna feed line SFL3 may be connected to the second subsidiary antenna feed line SFL2 through a second feed contact hole FCNT2’ …”. Para 0295; “The third subsidiary antenna feed line SFL3 may be connected to the antenna pad FP disposed on the first sensor insulating layer TINS1.” The disclosed SFL2 and antenna pad are disposed on the third bugger layer BF3 and the first sensor insulating layer TINS1, respectively).
Fig. 23 of Lee
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, as further suggested by Lee, in order to include a connection line to connect one end of an antenna to a contact pad and form the antennas in a same layer. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of the design enabling all the antennas to be constructed in a thin layer to fit into a compact wearable device.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, further in view of Bok et al (US 20200393936 A1; hereafter Bok).
With regard to Claim 5, Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee disclose the wearable display device of Claim 4, but do not explicitly and clearly disclose
wherein the antenna is formed in a same layer as a gate electrode of a transistor formed in the biological signal detection area with the same metal material as the gate electrode, and
the connection line includes a same metal material as a first anode connection electrode of a transistor formed in the biological signal detection area to be electrically connected to the antennas through a first connection contact hole penetrating a gate insulating film and first and second interlayer-dielectric films.
Lee further discloses wherein the connection line includes a same metal material as a first anode connection electrode of a transistor (Lee, Para 0236; “… the antenna feed lines FL may be made up of a single layer of molybdenum (Mo), titanium (Ti), copper (Cu) or aluminum (Al) …”) (Lee, Para 0217; “The first connection electrode ANDE1 may be connected to the second electrode D of the thin-film transistor ST … The first connection electrode ANDE1 may be made up of a single layer or multiple layers of one of molybdenum (Mo), aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), gold (Au), titanium (Ti), nickel (Ni), neodymium (Nd) and copper (Cu) or an alloy thereof.”) formed in the biological signal detection area to be electrically connected to the antennas through a first connection contact hole penetrating a gate insulating film and first and second interlayer-dielectric films (Lee, Para 0215; “… a contact hole penetrating through the gate insulating layer 130, the first interlayer dielectric layer 141 and the second interlayer dielectric layer 142.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, as further suggested by Lee, in order to use the same material for the connection line and for a connection electrode of a transistor, and use a contact hole penetrating multiple layers. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of using the same material so as to simplify the manufacturing process by manufacturing the different parts in a same procedure, and utilizing contact hole for enabling a planar design of antenna pad.
Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee as discussed above do not explicitly and clearly disclose wherein the antenna is formed in a same layer as a gate electrode of a transistor formed in the biological signal detection area with the same metal material as the gate electrode.
Bok in an analogous field of endeavor discloses wherein the antenna is formed in a same layer as a gate electrode of a transistor with the same metal material as the gate electrode (Bok, Para 0774; “… the first conductive pattern AP may be made of the same or similar material on a same layer as the gate electrode 122 of the thin-film transistor 120 in the transmissive area TA … the first conductive pattern AP may be utilized as a patch antenna for mobile communications …”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, as suggested by Bok, in order to make an antenna the same layer and the same material as a gate electrode of a transistor. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of combining the different components into one layer so as to fit such layer into a wearable device, and using a same material for simplifying the manufacturing process.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, further in view of Mars et al (US 11850069 B1; hereafter Mars).
With regard to Claim 8, Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee disclose the wearable display device of Claim 2, including electrically connecting the two ends of an antenna to two signal pads (Lee), but do not explicitly and clearly disclose:
wherein the antenna placement area is disposed in an area between the biological signal detection area and the touch detection area,
one end of the antenna is connected to one signal pad through at least one contact hole and a connection line, and
the antennas are formed in a same layer, and the connection line is formed in a different layer from the antennas to be electrically connected to the antennas through at least one contact hole.
Lee further discloses:
wherein one end of the antenna is connected to one signal pad through at least one contact hole and a connection line (Lee, Fig. 23 (cited above) shows an antenna feed line FL and two feed contact holes FCNT1’ and FCNT2’), and
the antennas are formed in a same layer (Lee, Para 0186; “Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, … the antenna patterns AP … are disposed on the same layer …”), and the connection line is formed in a different layer from the antennas to be electrically connected to the antennas through at least one contact hole (Lee, Para 0294; “The second subsidiary antenna feed line SFL2 may be disposed on the third buffer layer BF3 … The third subsidiary antenna feed line SFL3 may be connected to the second subsidiary antenna feed line SFL2 through a second feed contact hole FCNT2’ …”. Para 0295; “The third subsidiary antenna feed line SFL3 may be connected to the antenna pad FP disposed on the first sensor insulating layer TINS1.” The disclosed SFL2 and antenna pad are disposed on the third bugger layer BF3 and the first sensor insulating layer TINS1, respectively).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, as further suggested by Lee, in order to include a connection line to connect one end of an antenna to a contact pad and form the antennas in a same layer. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of the design enabling all the antennas to be constructed in a thin layer to fit into a compact wearable device.
Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee as discussed above do not clearly and explicitly disclose wherein the antenna placement area is disposed in an area between the biological signal detection area and the touch detection area.
Mars in the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the antenna placement area is disposed in an area between the biological signal detection area and the touch detection area (Mars, Column 9, Lines 41-43; “… electronic components may include a temperature sensor 214, a presence sensor 216, an NFC interface 212; Lines 59-61; “… an additional NFC antenna 222 for the NFC device may be disposed on flex PCB 208 in the adhesive region.”. Shown in Fig. 2, both the disclosed NFC interface 212 and the antenna 222 are in an area between two disclosed sensors 214 and 216 along the disclosed PCB). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, as suggested by Mars, in order to position antenna between two detection areas or sensors. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of distributing the components along the circumference of a ring shape so as to make full use of the longest dimension of the ring shape.
Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, further in view of Matichuk et al (US 20230284905 A1; hereafter Matichuk).
With regard to Claim 11, Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee disclose the wearable display device of Claim 2. Justice further discloses:
wherein the at least one first light-sensing pixel disposed in the biological signal detection area (Justice, Para 0017; “The optical pulse-rate sensor may include an LED emitter and matched photodiode”) comprises:
a light-sensing unit configured to output a light-sensing current corresponding to an amount of received light incident in the first direction (Justice discloses detecting light with photodiode in the inner side, which inherently discloses this limitation of outputting light-sensing current); and
a sensing driver unit configured to supply the first light-sensing signal corresponding to an amount of light-sensing current to the main driver circuit (Justice, Para 0036; “… a form-agnostic sensory-and-logic system 310 that includes a sensor suite 312 operatively coupled to a compute system 314. The compute system includes a logic machine 316 and a data-storage machine 318.”. Signals acquired by the disclosed sensor suite 312 are supplied to the disclosed logic machine 316 for processing),
wherein the light-sensing unit comprises a light-sensing element generating and outputting light-sensing current corresponding to the amount of received light (Justice discloses detecting light with photodiode, which inherently discloses generating and outputting light-sensing current), and
the light-sensing element senses light incident from the first direction, which is an inner direction of the display panel, to generate the light-sensing current (Justice discloses detecting light with photodiode, which inherently discloses generating and outputting light-sensing current).
Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee as discussed above do not explicitly and clearly disclose wherein the display panel is disposed in a cylindrical shape.
Matichuk in the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the display panel is disposed in a cylindrical shape (Matichuk, Para 0034; “The sensing array 406 can be placed on an underside of the electronics module 404 …”; Para 0024; “The device 100 includes a sensing array 102.”. Fig. 1 shows the disclosed sensing array 102 in its up-down view as a circular shape, so the array in 3D space is in a cylindrical shape). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin and Lee, as suggested by Matichuk, in order to make a display panel or board in a cylindrical shape. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of saving space when integrating such module into wearable devices with cylindrical housing such as a watch.
With regard to Claim 12, Justice, Huttunen, Shin, Lee and Matichuk disclose the wearable display device of Claim 11. Justice further discloses wherein the at least one first light-emitting pixel disposed in the biological signal detection area (Justice, Para 0017; “The optical pulse-rate sensor may include an LED emitter and matched photodiode”) comprises a pixel driver unit configured to apply a driving current to a light-emitting element of the light-emitting unit (Justice discloses detecting LED emitter, which inherently discloses applying current to a light-emitting element).
Justice, Huttunen, Shin, Lee and Matichuk as discussed above do not explicitly and clearly disclose:
a light-emitting unit configured to emit light of a green wavelength range; and
wherein the light-emitting unit is formed in a circular shape or a polygonal shape and emit light in the first direction.
Huttunen further discloses a light-emitting unit configured to emit light of a green wavelength range (Huttunen; Column 5, Lines 25-29; “a ring 104 may utilize one or more light-emitting components, such as LEDs (e.g., red LEDs, green LEDs) that emit light on the palm-side of a user's finger to collect physiological data based on arterial blood flow within the user's finger.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin, Lee and Matichuk, as further suggested by Huttunen, in order to use green light for optical sensing. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of green light’s high reflection rate making it highly effective and reliable for continuous tracking during exercise (Huttunen; Column 5, Lines 53-54; “… green LEDs have been found to exhibit better performance during exercise.”).
Justice, Huttunen, Shin, Lee and Matichuk as discussed above do not explicitly and clearly disclose wherein the light-emitting unit is formed in a circular shape or a polygonal shape and emit light in the first direction.
Matichuk further discloses wherein the light-emitting unit is formed in a circular shape or a polygonal shape and emit light in the first direction (Matichuk, Fig. 1 (cited below) shows that the first light sources 104 and the second light sources 108 are respectively formed in a circular and polygonal shape). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin, Lee and Matichuk, as further suggested by Matichuk, in order to form light source in a circular or polygonal shape. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of achieving multiple measurement functions by using emitters of different lights and reducing manufacturing cost by using a single detector disposing in the center of the circle or polygon.
Fig. 1 of Matichuk
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With regard to Claim 13, Justice, Huttunen, Shin, Lee and Matichuk disclose the wearable display device of Claim 12, but do not explicitly and clearly disclose wherein the light-sensing element is formed in a circular shape or a polygonal shape to be formed in a shape surrounded by the light-emitting unit, and the light-emitting unit is formed in a circular shape or a polygonal shape to be formed in a shape surrounding the periphery of the light-sensing element.
Matichuk further discloses wherein the light-sensing element is formed in a circular shape or a polygonal shape to be formed in a shape surrounded by the light-emitting unit, and the light-emitting unit is formed in a circular shape or a polygonal shape to be formed in a shape surrounding the periphery of the light-sensing element (Matichuk, Fig. 1 (cited above) shows that the disclosed light sensors 106 and 110 are respectively formed in a polygonal shape to be surrounded by the corresponding light sources 104 and 108, each of which forms a circular or polygonal shape). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Justice, Huttunen, Shin, Lee and Matichuk, as further suggested by Matichuk, in order to dispose light sources to surround the detectors. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for the benefit of positioning detectors in a central area so as to reduce effect of ambient light and reducing manufacturing cost by sharing a detector among multiple sources.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LEI ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-7172. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm E.T..
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pascal Bui-Pho can be reached at (571) 272-2714. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/L.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 3798
/PASCAL M BUI PHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3798
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