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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-16 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 1 recites “wherein, in the second driving mode, a period of the fourth scan signal is smaller than a period of the first scan signal”. In the Abstract of the Applicant’s publication, it is stated the first and fourth scan signals are simultaneously activated, and a period of the second scan signal is smaller than or equal to a period of the fourth scan signal. Similar language is recited in [0006] and [0068]. In [0069] it is disclosed that the period TP2 of the fourth scan signal SS4_Ai may be equal to the period TP2 of the first scan signal SS1_Ai. Since the specification discloses that the fourth scan signals and the first scan signals are simultaneously active and that they are equal, then it becomes clear that the first and fourth scan signals are equal and therefore a period fourth scan cannot be smaller than a period of the first scan signal. Therefore there is not support for the claimed limitation.
Claim 19 recites similar language as claim 1 and raise the same issues as claim 1. Although claim 19 depends from allowable claim 17 (as expressed below), the claim language presents the same issues of new matter due to lack of support in the specification. Therefore it is the Examiner’s suggestion that claim 19 be amended to either reflect language of claim one or amended to remove the claim language that presents new matter issues.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-18 and 20 are allowed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDRE L MATTHEWS whose telephone number is (571)270-5806. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-6:00.
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/ANDRE L MATTHEWS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621