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 .
In the response to this Office Action, the Examiner respectfully requests that support be shown for language added to any original claims on amendment and any new claims. That is, indicate support for newly added claim language by specifically pointing to page(s) and line numbers in the specification and/or drawing figure(s). This will assist the Examiner in prosecuting this application.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species I: Figure 3 in the reply filed on 11/10/2025 is acknowledged.
The traversal is on the basis that simultaneous examination will not present an undue burden. This is not found persuasive because upon closer review, all species disclose different
display devices that will require different arrangements and configurations of touch sensing
units, driving electrodes, sensing electrodes, thin film transistor layers, encapsulation layers,
pressure sensing units, pressure sensing electrodes etc. Even though one or more elements recited in the claims of Species II are similar to one or more elements recited in the claims of Species I, the additional elements of the other species will create a serious burden for the Examiner and will require a different field of search involving searching different classes/sub-classes, electronic resources, and employing different search strategies or search queries.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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 1-2, 4, 10-11, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0008399 A1 to Mukkamala et al. (hereinafter "Mukkamala") in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2024/0000326 A1 to Mahajan et al. (hereinafter "Mahajan"), and further in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0158751 A1 to Cha et al. (hereinafter "Cha").
Regarding Claim 1, Mukkamala teaches a display device comprising: display pixels arranged in a display area of a display panel; light sensing pixels arranged in the display area; infrared light emitting pixels arranged in the display area (Figs. 1-3, 12-16; Claim 1; Para. 42-100 of Mukkamala; mobile device 100 includes a display 104 and a sensing unit 108… sensing unit 108 is operably coupled to the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100. sensing unit 108 includes a PPG sensor 320 and a pressure sensor 324, wherein the PPG sensor 320 and the pressure sensor 324 are coupled to each other by an interface unit 328. The PPG sensor 320 and the pressure sensor 324 may be coupled to the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100, wherein the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100 may subsequently determine the BP from the detected values of the PPG sensor 320 and the pressure sensor 324… photodetector 508 and light emitting diode 512 (LED) pair may be used for measurement of blood volume in a target artery 516… red, green, and blue (RGB) camera (e.g. from e-con Systems, USA) can be used as reflectance-mode PPG sensor array… PPG sensor 320 is an infrared, reflectance-mode PPG sensor… PPG sensor 320 is an LED and photodetector operating in reflectance-mode and at an infrared wavelength (940 nm) to penetrate an artery beneath the skin); a display scan driver configured to drive the display pixels to emit light; a light sensing scan driver configured to drive the light sensing pixels to sense light; and a main driving circuit configured to measure the user's biometric information using light sensing signals received from the light sensing pixels (Figs. 1-3, 12-16; Claim 1; Para. 42-100 of Mukkamala; mobile device 100 includes a display 104 and a sensing unit 108… sensing unit 108 is operably coupled to the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100… photodetector 508 and light emitting diode 512 (LED) pair may be used for measurement of blood volume in a target artery 516… red, green, and blue (RGB) camera (e.g. from e-con Systems, USA) can be used as reflectance-mode PPG sensor array. The RGB camera can operate as multiple photodetectors and the camera flash can operate as a light source. Each pixel in a RGB video provides blood volume waveforms at the three wavelengths. That is, the RGB video can construct a “PPG image”. From the PPG image, “hot spots” in the finger can be identified to measure the blood volume from the target artery 516. The RBG camera, already built in the mobile device, may be leveraged to measure the blood volume oscillations… If the pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108 and blood volume waveform are considered to be of sufficient quality, the oscillogram 128 is constructed… pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108 is lowpass filtered or a polynomial is fitted to mitigate spurious fluctuations in the pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108. The maximum and minimum of each beat of the blood volume waveform are detected. These extrema, as a function of the pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108, are median filtered to attenuate respiratory and pulse rate variability as well as artifact).
Mukkamala does not explicitly disclose a touch sensing unit disposed on a front surface of the display panel to sense a user's touch and output a touch sensing signal; a touch driving circuit configured to generate touch data and touch coordinate data according to a magnitude change and an output position of the touch sensing signal.
However, Mahajan teaches a touch sensing unit disposed on a front surface of a display panel to sense a user's touch and output a touch sensing signal (Claim 1; Figs. 1-6; Para. 38-50, 61 of Mahajan; force sensor can be located under the screen (e.g., 3D touch sensor)… screen 102 can be used for displaying a visual indicator to guide the subject to place a finger (e.g., side of a finger) on the camera and the screen (e.g., to target measurement from a digital artery and display the finger pressure in real time… processor can be configured to form an oscillogram based on the measured PPG waveform and finger pressure… processor can determine the blood pressure from the oscillogram and display the determined blood pressure on the screen… 3D Touch sensors already in the smartphone).
Therefore, at the time when the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include a touch sensing unit disposed on a front surface of the display panel to sense a user's touch and output a touch sensing signal using the teachings of Mahajan in order to modify the device taught by Mukkamala. The motivation to combine these analogous arts would have been to provide methods and systems for measuring blood pressures with more convenient instrumentation (Para. 3-4 of Mahajan).
The combination of Mukkamala and Mahajan does not explicitly disclose a touch driving circuit configured to generate touch data and touch coordinate data according to a magnitude change and an output position of the touch sensing signal.
However, Cha teaches a touch driving circuit configured to generate touch data and touch coordinate data according to a magnitude change and an output position of a touch sensing signal (Figs. 1-6; Para. 52-58, 79-106 of Cha; the input sensor ISL obtains coordinate information of an external input (e.g., a touch event)… control module CM may control other modules such as the image input module IIM and the sound input module AIM, on the basis of a touch signal received from the display module DM. The control module CM may perform user authentication on the basis of a fingerprint signal received from the fingerprint readout circuit ROC… input sensor ISL is disposed on the display panel DP illustrated in FIG. 5. The input sensor ISL may sense the user input TC (illustrated in FIG. 1) to obtain position or strength information of the external touch input).
Therefore, at the time when the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include a touch driving circuit configured to generate touch data and touch coordinate data according to a magnitude change and an output position of the touch sensing signal using the teachings of Cha in order to modify the device taught by the combination of Mukkamala and Mahajan. The motivation to combine these analogous arts would have been to provide a touch screen display device having a fingerprint identification function (Para. 2-4 of Cha).
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Mukkamala, Mahajan, and Cha teaches that the main driving circuit displays a preset application program screen during a biometric information measurement period to guide the user's pulse wave signal detection process, and measures the biometric information using pulse wave signals determined to have high accuracy among pulse wave signals detected during the biometric information measurement period (Claim 1; Figs. 1-6; Para. 38-50 of Mahajan; screen 102 can be used for displaying a visual indicator to guide the subject to place a finger (e.g., side of a finger) on the camera and the screen (e.g., to target measurement from a digital artery and display the finger pressure in real time… processor can be configured to form an oscillogram based on the measured PPG waveform and finger pressure… processor can determine the blood pressure from the oscillogram and display the determined blood pressure on the screen… Figs. 1-3, 12-16; Claim 1; Para. 42-100 of Mukkamala; mobile device 100 includes a display 104 and a sensing unit 108… sensing unit 108 is operably coupled to the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100. sensing unit 108 includes a PPG sensor 320 and a pressure sensor 324, wherein the PPG sensor 320 and the pressure sensor 324 are coupled to each other by an interface unit 328. The PPG sensor 320 and the pressure sensor 324 may be coupled to the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100, wherein the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100 may subsequently determine the BP from the detected values of the PPG sensor 320 and the pressure sensor 324… photodetector 508 and light emitting diode 512 (LED) pair may be used for measurement of blood volume in a target artery 516… red, green, and blue (RGB) camera (e.g. from e-con Systems, USA) can be used as reflectance-mode PPG sensor array. The RGB camera can operate as multiple photodetectors and the camera flash can operate as a light source. Each pixel in a RGB video provides blood volume waveforms at the three wavelengths. That is, the RGB video can construct a “PPG image”. From the PPG image, “hot spots” in the finger can be identified to measure the blood volume from the target artery 516. The RBG camera, already built in the mobile device, may be leveraged to measure the blood volume oscillations… If the pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108 and blood volume waveform are considered to be of sufficient quality, the oscillogram 128 is constructed… pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108 is lowpass filtered or a polynomial is fitted to mitigate spurious fluctuations in the pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108. The maximum and minimum of each beat of the blood volume waveform are detected. These extrema, as a function of the pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108, are median filtered to attenuate respiratory and pulse rate variability as well as artifact).
Regarding Claims 4, 11, and 18, the combination of Mukkamala, Mahajan, and Cha teaches that the main driving circuit displays a touch sensing area touched by the user's body part on the application program screen in the display area, displays waveforms of the pulse wave signals detected in real time on a display window of the application program screen, and displays a detection period of the pulse wave signals required to measure the biometric information and a period in which the pulse wave signals are detected (Claim 1; Figs. 1-6; Para. 40-50 of Mahajan; processor can be configured to form an oscillogram based on the measured PPG waveform and finger pressure… processor can determine the blood pressure from the oscillogram and display the determined blood pressure on the screen).
Regarding Claims 10 and 17, Mukkamala teaches an electronic device including a display device, wherein the display device comprises: display pixels arranged in a display area of a display panel; light sensing pixels arranged in the display area; infrared light emitting pixels arranged in the display area (Figs. 1-3, 12-16; Claim 1; Para. 42-100 of Mukkamala; mobile device 100 includes a display 104 and a sensing unit 108… sensing unit 108 is operably coupled to the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100. sensing unit 108 includes a PPG sensor 320 and a pressure sensor 324, wherein the PPG sensor 320 and the pressure sensor 324 are coupled to each other by an interface unit 328. The PPG sensor 320 and the pressure sensor 324 may be coupled to the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100, wherein the computer processor 300 of the mobile device 100 may subsequently determine the BP from the detected values of the PPG sensor 320 and the pressure sensor 324… photodetector 508 and light emitting diode 512 (LED) pair may be used for measurement of blood volume in a target artery 516… red, green, and blue (RGB) camera (e.g. from e-con Systems, USA) can be used as reflectance-mode PPG sensor array… PPG sensor 320 is an infrared, reflectance-mode PPG sensor… PPG sensor 320 is an LED and photodetector operating in reflectance-mode and at an infrared wavelength (940 nm) to penetrate an artery beneath the skin); a display scan driver configured to drive the display pixels to emit light; a light sensing scan driver configured to drive the light sensing pixels to sense light; and a main driving circuit configured to measure the user's biometric information using light sensing signals received from the light sensing pixels, and measures the biometric information using pulse wave signals determined to have high accuracy among pulse wave signals detected during the biometric information measurement period (Figs. 1-3, 12-16; Claim 1; Para. 42-100 of Mukkamala; mobile device 100 includes a display 104 and a sensing unit 108… If the pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108 and blood volume waveform are considered to be of sufficient quality, the oscillogram 128 is constructed… pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108 is lowpass filtered or a polynomial is fitted to mitigate spurious fluctuations in the pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108. The maximum and minimum of each beat of the blood volume waveform are detected. These extrema, as a function of the pressure applied 116 to the sensing unit 108, are median filtered to attenuate respiratory and pulse rate variability as well as artifact).
Mukkamala does not explicitly disclose a touch sensing unit disposed on a front surface of the display panel to sense a user's touch and output a touch sensing signal; a touch driving circuit configured to generate touch data and touch coordinate data according to a magnitude change and an output position of the touch sensing signal; wherein the main driving circuit displays a preset application program screen during a biometric information measurement period to guide the user's pulse wave signal detection process.
However, Mahajan teaches a touch sensing unit disposed on a front surface of a display panel to sense a user's touch and output a touch sensing signal (Claim 1; Figs. 1-6; Para. 38-50, 61 of Mahajan; force sensor can be located under the screen (e.g., 3D touch sensor)… screen 102 can be used for displaying a visual indicator to guide the subject to place a finger (e.g., side of a finger) on the camera and the screen (e.g., to target measurement from a digital artery and display the finger pressure in real time… processor can be configured to form an oscillogram based on the measured PPG waveform and finger pressure… processor can determine the blood pressure from the oscillogram and display the determined blood pressure on the screen… 3D Touch sensors already in the smartphone); and that a main driving circuit displays a preset application program screen during a biometric information measurement period to guide a user's pulse wave signal detection process (Claim 1; Figs. 1-6; Para. 38-50 of Mahajan; screen 102 can be used for displaying a visual indicator to guide the subject to place a finger (e.g., side of a finger) on the camera and the screen (e.g., to target measurement from a digital artery and display the finger pressure in real time… processor can be configured to form an oscillogram based on the measured PPG waveform and finger pressure… processor can determine the blood pressure from the oscillogram and display the determined blood pressure on the screen).
Therefore, at the time when the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include a touch sensing unit disposed on a front surface of the display panel to sense a user's touch and output a touch sensing signal; wherein the main driving circuit displays a preset application program screen during a biometric information measurement period to guide the user's pulse wave signal detection process using the teachings of Mahajan in order to modify the device taught by Mukkamala. The motivation to combine these analogous arts would have been to provide methods and systems for measuring blood pressures with more convenient instrumentation (Para. 3-4 of Mahajan).
The combination of Mukkamala and Mahajan does not explicitly disclose a touch driving circuit configured to generate touch data and touch coordinate data according to a magnitude change and an output position of the touch sensing signal.
However, Cha teaches a touch driving circuit configured to generate touch data and touch coordinate data according to a magnitude change and an output position of a touch sensing signal (Figs. 1-6; Para. 52-58, 79-106 of Cha; the input sensor ISL obtains coordinate information of an external input (e.g., a touch event)… control module CM may control other modules such as the image input module IIM and the sound input module AIM, on the basis of a touch signal received from the display module DM. The control module CM may perform user authentication on the basis of a fingerprint signal received from the fingerprint readout circuit ROC… input sensor ISL is disposed on the display panel DP illustrated in FIG. 5. The input sensor ISL may sense the user input TC (illustrated in FIG. 1) to obtain position or strength information of the external touch input).
Therefore, at the time when the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include a touch driving circuit configured to generate touch data and touch coordinate data according to a magnitude change and an output position of the touch sensing signal using the teachings of Cha in order to modify the device taught by the combination of Mukkamala and Mahajan. The motivation to combine these analogous arts would have been to provide a touch screen display device having a fingerprint identification function (Para. 2-4 of Cha).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9, 12-16, and 19-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
None of the references, either singularly or in combination, teach or fairly suggest the display device of claim 4, wherein the main driving circuit generates the pulse wave signals corresponding to magnitudes of the light sensing signals and changes in the magnitudes of the light sensing signals, calculates an average magnitude value of high pulses and an average magnitude value of low pulses in real time by analyzing changes in magnitudes of the high pulses and magnitudes of the low pulses of the pulse wave signals in real time, and
sets a normal pulse wave signal detection period or an inaccurate pulse wave signal detection period in real time according to a comparison result between the average magnitude value of the high pulses and a preset high threshold and a comparison result between the average magnitude value of the low pulses and a preset low threshold.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABHISHEK SARMA whose telephone number is (571)272-9887. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon - Fri 8:00-5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amr Awad can be reached on 571-272-7764. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABHISHEK SARMA/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621