3DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the communication filed on January 28, 2025 Claims 1-15 are currently pending in this application. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d) based on application filed in Korea on November 7, 2022 and December 27, 2022 has been acknowledged and considered by Examiner. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) that are placed on record in the application file.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 218. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0188639 A1 by Kim et al. (“Kim.”)
Regarding claim 10, Kim teaches the method of controlling an electronic device (Fig. 3, mobile terminal with flexible display as in [0085]), the method comprising:
identifying whether a trigger signal for reducing or expanding a flexible display to correspond to sliding in or sliding out of a second housing slidably coupled to a first housing of the electronic device is input via an input unit (Fig. 3, ; first frame 101 and second frame 102; [0119], Such a second frame 102 is movably coupled to the first frame 101, and thus may slide in the predetermined first or second direction D1 or D2 relative to the first frame 101 by touch drag operations detected by touch sensor as in [0025]); and providing a trigger selection mode for controlling sliding in or sliding out of the second housing, based on identification of input of the trigger signal ([0180]-[0181], when performing the touch drag operation for extending the display on the first display 411 of the mobile terminal 400, a separate selection menu 465 may be displayed/popped. The selection menu 465 may be displayed overlapping with a touch drag region. In this case, the user may select a size of the extended display desired by the user in the selection menu 465).
Regarding claim 11, Kim of the combination of references further teaches the method of claim 10, wherein the trigger selection mode comprises a mode of not changing a slide-in or slide-out state of the second housing in case that the trigger signal for driving the second housing to be slid in or slid out is input, and/or the method comprising in case that the trigger signal is input via the input unit, providing, by the flexible display, a pop-up message notifying that a designated mode has been configured ([0181], when performing the touch drag operation for extending the display on the first display 411 of the mobile terminal 400, a separate selection menu 465 may be displayed/popped. The selection menu 465 may be displayed overlapping with a touch drag region. In this case, the user may select a size of the extended display desired by the user in the selection menu 465.)
Regarding claim 12, Kim of the combination of references further teaches the method of claim 10, wherein the trigger selection mode comprises a mode of changing a slide-in or slide-out state of the second housing to correspond to input of the trigger signal for driving the second housing to be slid in or slid out ([0181], when performing the touch drag operation for extending the display on the first display 411 of the mobile terminal 400, a separate selection menu 465 may be displayed/popped. The selection menu 465 may be displayed overlapping with a touch drag region. In this case, the user may select a size/state of the extended display desired by the user in the selection menu 465.)
Regarding claim 13, Kim of the combination of references further teaches the method of claim 10, wherein the trigger selection mode comprises a mode of, in case that the trigger signal for driving the second housing to be slid in or slid out is input, identifying a state of the second housing, and changing a slide-in or slide-out state of the second housing, based on state identification information of the second housing ([0180]-[0181], when performing the touch drag operation for extending the display on the first display 411 of the mobile terminal 400, a separate selection menu 465 may be displayed/popped. The selection menu 465 may be displayed overlapping with a touch drag region. In this case, the user may select a size/state of the extended display desired by the user in the selection menu 465. Therefore, when the display is extended in step 1 by one touch drag operation and then the touch drag operation is performed again, the display may be extended in the two steps based on the previous state by trigger selection menu).
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 of this title, 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 1-4, 7-9 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0188369 A1 by Kim in view of U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0040057 by Seo et al. (“Seo.”)
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches an electronic device (Fig. 3 and Fig. 6) comprising:
a first housing; a second housing slidably coupled to the first housing (Fig. 3; first frame 101 and second frame 102; [0119], Such a second frame 102 is movably coupled to the first frame 101, and thus may slide in the predetermined first or second direction D1 or D2 relative to the first frame 101);
a flexible display having a visually exposed display region that is reduced or expanded based on sliding in or sliding out of the second housing; an input unit configured to receive an input (Fig. 6; [0138]-[0139], FIG. 6(b) is a diagram illustrating a state in which the display of the mobile terminal 300 is expanded by the physical key 321. The display includes a fixed display 311a in which a size thereof in (a) in FIG. 6 does not change and an extended display 311b extended by a user pressing the physical key 321. It is possible to use a touch input signal sensed by a sensing unit as well as in [0146]);
a processor ([0103], the controller 180 may be a circuit board including a processor); and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to ([0077], It is common for application programs to be stored in the memory 170, installed in the mobile terminal 100, and executed by the controller 180 to perform an operation (or function) for the mobile terminal 100):
identify whether a condition of the electronic device for disabling sliding in or sliding out of the second housing is satisfied ([0146], If the touch signal was not greater than or equal to a threshold, then the sliding did not occur),
receive an input via the input unit, operate in a first mode in which slide-in or slide-out of the second housing is controlled based on the input and the condition not being satisfied, operate in the first mode in which slide-in or slide-out of the second housing is disabled based on the condition being satisfied ([0148], Therefore, when a specific region of the first display 411 is touched, whether the threshold value is satisfied may be determined based on a touch region 421 to determine whether or not to extend the first display 411 of the mobile terminal 400).
However, Kim does not teach operate in a second mode in which the slide-in or slide-out of the second housing is disabled regardless of the condition being satisfied or not.
In the analogous art of slidable second housing relative to a first housing of a display device, Kim teaches when the processor 510 is performing or is scheduled to perform a function (e.g., signal transmission/reception through an antenna module, or communication through a wired/wireless communication circuit) through the heating part 530 disposed inside the electronic device 101, the processor 510 may restrict the supplying of the power to at least one of the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140. 0133 When the driving unit, metal plate, or support structure was restricted, the sliding movement of the second housing was restricted (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133] and [0086]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have had disabled sliding when the processor was scheduled to perform certain functions in the slidable display of Kim. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140 been restricted to reduce or prevent the electronic device 101 from an excessive increase in temperature since the processor produces or was scheduled to produce heat from by performing the function (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133]) .
Regarding claim 2, Kim of the combination of references further teaches the electronic device of claim 1, the processor is configured to provide a trigger selection mode for controlling sliding in or sliding out of the second housing, based on the input (Fig. 15; [0180]-[0181], the selection menu 465 may be displayed overlapping with a touch drag region. In this case, the user may select a size of the extended display desired by the user in the selection menu).
Regarding claim 3, Kim does not teach the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to, in the second mode, in case that the input is received via the input unit, allow the flexible display to provide a pop-up message notifying that the second mode has been configured.
In the analogous art of slidable second housing relative to a first housing of a display device, Kim teaches when the processor 510 is performing or is scheduled to perform a function (e.g., signal transmission/reception through an antenna module, or communication through a wired/wireless communication circuit) through the heating part 530 disposed inside the electronic device 101, the processor 510 may restrict the supplying of the power to at least one of the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140. 0133 When the driving unit, metal plate, or support structure was restricted, the sliding movement of the second housing was restricted (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133] and [0086]). The processor 510 may output a notification for this through the flexible display 120 in response to an operation of restricting the movement of the second housing 112. In an example, the processor 510 may output a notification message 902 stating that ‘the display extension is restricted according to the device temperature adjustment’ through the flexible display 120 (Seo Fig. 9B; [0155]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have had disabled sliding when the processor was scheduled to perform certain functions in the slidable display of Kim. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140 been restricted to reduce or prevent the electronic device 101 from an excessive increase in temperature since the processor produces or was scheduled to produce heat from by performing the function (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133]) .
Regarding claim 4, Kim of the combination of references further teaches the electronic device of claim 2, wherein the trigger selection mode comprises a third mode in which the processor is configured to control to change a slide- in or slide-out state of the second housing to correspond to the input for driving the second housing to be slid in or slid out (Fig. 15; [0180]-[0181], the selection menu 465 may be displayed overlapping with a touch drag region. In this case, the user may select a size of the extended display desired by the user in the selection menu such as between multiple steps)..
Regarding claim 7, Kim does not teach electronic device of claim 1, wherein the condition of the electronic device for deactivating sliding in or sliding out of the second housing is identified as being satisfied if a defined application is being executed.
In the analogous art of slidable second housing relative to a first housing of a display device, Kim teaches when the processor 510 is performing or is scheduled to perform a function (e.g., signal transmission/reception through an antenna module, or communication through a wired/wireless communication circuit) through the heating part 530 disposed inside the electronic device 101, the processor 510 may restrict the supplying of the power to at least one of the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140. 0133 When the driving unit, metal plate, or support structure was restricted, the sliding movement of the second housing was restricted (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133] and [0086]). The processor 510 may output a notification for this through the flexible display 120 in response to an operation of restricting the movement of the second housing 112. In an example, the processor 510 may output a notification message 902 stating that ‘the display extension is restricted according to the device temperature adjustment’ through the flexible display 120 (Seo Fig. 9B; [0155]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have had disabled sliding when the processor was scheduled to perform certain functions in the slidable display of Kim. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140 been restricted to reduce or prevent the electronic device 101 from an excessive increase in temperature since the processor produces or was scheduled to produce heat from by performing the function (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133]) .
Regarding claim 8, Kim does not teach electronic device of claim 1, wherein the condition of the electronic device for deactivating sliding in or sliding out of the second housing is identified as being satisfied if the electronic device is being charged.
In the analogous art of slidable second housing relative to a first housing of a display device, Kim teaches when the processor 510 is performing or is scheduled to perform a function (e.g., signal transmission/reception through an antenna module, or communication through a wired/wireless communication circuit) through the heating part 530 disposed inside the electronic device 101, the processor 510 may restrict the supplying of the power to at least one of the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140. When the driving unit, metal plate, or support structure was restricted, the sliding movement of the second housing was restricted (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133] and [0086]). The heating part 530 may include a resistance component when charge/power is provided to the heating part 530, part of power may be dissipated as thermal energy by the resistance component (Seo [0104]).. The processor 510 may output a notification for this through the flexible display 120 in response to an operation of restricting the movement of the second housing 112. In an example, the processor 510 may output a notification message 902 stating that ‘the display extension is restricted according to the device temperature adjustment’ through the flexible display 120 (Seo Fig. 9B; [0155]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have had disabled sliding when the processor was scheduled to perform certain functions in the slidable display of Kim. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140 been restricted to reduce or prevent the electronic device 101 from an excessive increase in temperature since the processor produces or was scheduled to produce heat from by performing the function (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133]) .
Regarding claim 9, Kim does not teach electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device further comprises a sensor module, and wherein the processor is configured to, in the first mode, detect an internal temperature and/or moisture of the electronic device by using the sensor module and, in case that the internal temperature of the electronic device exceeds a designated temperature or moisture is detected in the electronic device, control not to change the slide-in or slide-out state of the second housing.
In the analogous art of slidable second housing relative to a first housing of a display device, Kim teaches when the processor 510 is performing or is scheduled to perform a function (e.g., signal transmission/reception through an antenna module, or communication through a wired/wireless communication circuit) through the heating part 530 disposed inside the electronic device 101, the processor 510 may restrict the supplying of the power to at least one of the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140. 0133 When the driving unit, metal plate, or support structure was restricted, the sliding movement of the second housing was restricted (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133] and [0086]). Any excessive heat increase in the temperature was able to have measured by the processor measuring the ambient temperature of the flexible display 120, detected through at least one internal temperature sensor 520. The processor 510 may output a notification for this through the flexible display 120 in response to an operation of restricting the movement of the second housing 112. In an example, the processor 510 may output a notification message 902 stating that ‘the display extension is restricted according to the device temperature adjustment through the flexible display 120 (Seo Fig. 6A and 9B; [0155]; [0099]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have had disabled sliding when the processor was scheduled to perform certain functions in the slidable display of Kim. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140 been restricted to reduce or prevent the electronic device 101 from an excessive increase in temperature since the processor produces or was scheduled to produce heat from by performing the function (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133]).
Regarding claim 14, Kim does not teach the method of claim 10, comprising, in case that the flexible display is identified as having been flipped over toward a ground or being in a pocket, based on state identification information of the second housing, controlling not to change a slide-in or slide-out state of the second housing, and/or in case that the electronic device is running a designated application or the electronic device is being charged, controlling not to change the slide-in or slide-out state of the second housing.
In the analogous art of slidable second housing relative to a first housing of a display device, Kim teaches when the processor 510 is performing or is scheduled to perform a function (e.g., signal transmission/reception through an antenna module, or communication through a wired/wireless communication circuit) through the heating part 530 disposed inside the electronic device 101, the processor 510 may restrict the supplying of the power to at least one of the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140. 0133 When the driving unit, metal plate, or support structure was restricted, the sliding movement of the second housing was restricted (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133] and [0086]). In an example, the processor 510 may output a notification message 902 stating that ‘the display extension is restricted according to the device temperature adjustment through the flexible display 120 (Seo Fig. 9B; [0155]). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have had disabled sliding when the processor was scheduled to perform certain functions in the slidable display of Kim. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to have the driving unit 150, the metal plate 121, and the support structure 140 been restricted to reduce or prevent the electronic device 101 from an excessive increase in temperature since the processor produces or was scheduled to produce heat from by performing the function (Seo Figs. 1-2; [0133]).
Regarding claim 15, Kim in view of Seo renders obvious the claim limitations in consideration of the grounds of rejection of claim 9 above.
Claims 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication 2023/0188369 A1 by Kim in view of U.S. Patent Publication 2023/ A1 by 2023/0040057 by Seo, and further in view of Foreign Patent Publication WO 2022/042274 A1 by Li et al. (“Li.”)
Regarding claim 5, Kim in view of Seo does not teach the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the condition of the electronic device for deactivating sliding in or sliding out of the second housing is identified as being satisfied if the flexible display of the electronic device facing down.
In the analogous art of electronic devices with display screens, Li teaches wherein there is an object occlusion within the preset distance of the screen, which may indicate that the screen is occluded, and the user does not need to watch the screen of the electronic device. For example, the electronic device is placed in a pocket, and the electronic device is placed on a table with the screen facing down (Li Page 37, last paragraph and Page 38, first paragraph). When the proximity light sensor detects that there is an object blocking within the preset distance of the screen, the electronic device 100 can keep the screen in an off-screen state (Li Page 38, third paragraph). Therefore, the touch input could not be performed on the flexible screen of the device to extend the display of Kim. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have turned off the screen in object occlusion settings for the mobile terminal with a flexible display of Kim in view of Seo. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated turning of the screen when it is determined that the user does not need to watch the screen, thereby saving power consumption and avoiding accidental touches (Li Page 44, second paragraph).
Regarding claim 6, Kim in view of Seo does not teach the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the condition of the electronic device for deactivating sliding in or sliding out of the second housing is identified as being satisfied if the electronic device is placed in a pocket.
In the analogous art of electronic devices with display screens, Li teaches wherein there is an object occlusion within the preset distance of the screen, which may indicate that the screen is occluded, and the user does not need to watch the screen of the electronic device. For example, the electronic device is placed in a pocket, and the electronic device is placed on a table with the screen facing down (Li Page 37, last paragraph and Page 38, first paragraph). When the proximity light sensor detects that there is an object blocking within the preset distance of the screen, the electronic device 100 can keep the screen in an off-screen state (Li Page 38, third paragraph). Therefore, the touch input could not be performed on the flexible screen of the device to extend the display of Kim. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have turned off the screen in object occlusion settings for the mobile terminal with a flexible display of Kim in view of Seo. One having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated turning of the screen when it is determined that the user does not need to watch the screen, thereby saving power consumption and avoiding accidental touches (Li Page 44, second paragraph).
Conclusion
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/MAHEEN I JAVED/Examiner, Art Unit 2621
/AMR A AWAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2621
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