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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 1-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin USPA_20220404867_A1 in view of Shin’ USPA_20230099705_A1 and Fu USPA_20230354533_A1.
1. Regarding Claims 1, 3, 5, 14, 16, Shin discloses a display device (Title) comprising a display panel including a folding area and a support plate under said panel and that defines a plurality of openings (corresponding to limitation of instant Claim 5) extending in a first direction and spaced apart from each other in a second direction intersecting said first direction (Abstract). Shin does not disclose the claimed “value” of instant Claims 1, 3, 14, 16.
2. Shin’ discloses a display device including a display panel with a foldable region (Abstract) with a plurality of openings in a second direction intersecting a first direction (paragraph 0019) wherein the second openings may be formed at a porosity from about 30% to 70% (paragraph 0022). Shin’ further discloses how this relates directly to buckling (paragraphs 0312, 0313, 0316, 0317, 0318).
3. Fu discloses a support plate under a foldable display device (title) having a plurality of openings spaced apart with a given distribution density (abstract) and distance between adjacent openings (paragraph 0069), and how this relates directly to the dispersal of stress (paragraphs 0057, 0062, 0069, 0087).
4. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to modify the width of the openings and the separation distance between adjacent openings, of Shin, in view of modifying the stress and buckling, as disclosed by Shin’ and Fu. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated in obtaining the desirable properties through this result-effective variable within the art.
5. Regarding Claim 2, Shin in view of Shin’ and Fu suggests the openings penetrating entirely through the plate in the first direction (Shin: Fig. 11).
6. Regarding Claim 4, Shin in view of Shin’ and Fu suggests using an equal length of plate and opening in the first direction (Shin: paragraph 0238).
7. Regarding Claims 6, 7, Shin in view of Shin’ and Fu suggests using adhesive layers to bond the plate and panel (Fu: paragraph 0101), which would inherently lead to an overlapping of the folding area and openings. Shin also discloses a cover layer (paragraph 0154).
8. Regarding Claim 8, Shin in view of Shin’ and Fu suggests the area of the plate being equal to the area of the cover layer (Shin: paragraph 0189).
9. Regarding Claims 9, 15, Shin in view of Shin’ and Fu suggests a width of 0.2 millimeter (Shin: paragraph 0239).
10. Regarding Claims 10, 11, 12, Shin in view of Shin’ and Fu suggests using a plate that is a glass fiber reinforced plastic (Shin: paragraph 0155), or steel (Shin: paragraph 0170).
11. Regarding Claim 13, Shin in view of Shin’ and Fu suggests a method that uses laser to create said openings (Shin: paragraph 0158).
12. Regarding Claims 17-20, although not explicitly disclosed, the Examiner respectfully submits that these would be expected from one of ordinary skill in the art to know how to do to simply make a display plate.
13. Regarding Claim 21, Shin in view of Shin’ and Fu suggests using a processor (Shin’: paragraph 0063). All other limitations have been disclosed above.
Conclusion
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/TAHSEEN KHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1781 July 16, 2026
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