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 Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on February 10, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 8, 12, 19 and 21 have been amended. Claim 7 has been canceled. Claims 1-6 and 8-21 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 9-10 of the response, filed 10 February 2026, with respect to the Double Patenting rejection in view of the amendments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant argues that patented claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,248,645 fails to disclose “a third CDA column composed of a single or a limited number of third-area CDAs. As recited in the claims, the third CDA column is further defined as: being placed adjacent to either or both of a CDA column composed of first-area CDAs and a CDA column composed of second-area CDAs; including third-area CDAs having an area size different from those of the first-area and second-area CDAs; and including a number of third-area CDAs that is less than the number of second-area CDAs, in certain embodiments being constituted by a single third-area CDA”. However, the following side-by-side comparison table is illustrating the similarity between amended present claim 1 and patented 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,248,645 and patented claim 1 clearly discloses the amended limitations. Therefore, the rejection is maintained.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-6 and 8-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-24 of U.S. Patent No. 12,248,645 in view of Jang et al. (US 2015/0261348). Below is a comparison between present claim 1 and patented claim 1:
Present claim 1
Patented claim 1
An object capacitance detection apparatus comprising:
a first area Capacitor Detect Area (CDA) having a first area that is placed on one side of a display device, wherein the first area CDA is connected at one side to one side of a first CDA signal line and is not connected to other elements or signal line;
a first CDA column comprising a plurality of first area CDAs stacked together;
a plurality of first CDA signal lines contained within the first CDA column and arranged in the same direction, wherein each of the plurality of first CDA signal fines within the first CDA column is not connected to other signal line;
a second area CDA having a second area, wherein the second area CDA is connected at one side to one side of a second CDA signal line and is not connected to other elements or signal line;
a second CDA column comprising a plurality of second area CDAs stacked together;
a plurality of second CDA signal lines contained within the second CDA column and arranged in the same direction as the plurality of first CDA signal lines, wherein each of the plurality of second CDA signal lines within the second CDA column is not connected to other signal line; and
the first CDA column and the second CDA column located on the same layer;
a third area CDA defined by a third area, connected at one side to a first side of a third CDA signal line, and not connected to other elements or signal line;
a third CDA column comprising one or a plurality of third area CDAs, located on the same layer as the first CDA column and the second CDA column and one or a plurality of third CDA signal lines included in the third CDA column, arranged in the same direction as the plurality of first CDA signal lines, wherein each of the plurality of third CDA signal lines within the third CDA column is not connected to other signal line, wherein the third area CDA is of a different area size than the first area CDA and the second area CDA, and the third area CDA is placed adjacent to either or both of the first CDA column and the second CDA column
wherein the number of CDA signal lines increases proportionally with the increasing number of CDAs from a far distance to a near distance, and the area of the CDAs gradually decreases with the increasing number of CDAs from a far distance to a near distance in both the first CDA column and the second CDA column,
the number of CDAs constituting the second CDA column is fewer than the number of CDAs constituting the first CDA column,
the second CDA column is located adjacent to the first CDA column, and when an certain nth CDA signal line is selected as a sensing signal line from either the first CDA column or the second CDA column, either (n-1) or (n+1), or both (n-1) and (n+1) CDA signal lines in the same CDA column are selected as driving signal lines, and by applying a driving voltage to the selected driving signal lines, an object capacitance added to the Detection CDA connected to the sensing signal line is detected.
An object capacitance detection apparatus comprising:
a first area Capacitor Detect Area (CDA) configured to locate on one side of a display device and connected at one side to one side of a first CDA signal line, wherein other side of the first area CDA is not connected to other signal line, and the first area CDA is peeled off by an empty area based on a first ratio;
a first CDA column comprising a plurality of first area CDAs stacked together;
a plurality of first CDA signal lines contained within the first CDA column and arranged in the same direction, wherein each of the plurality of first CDA signal lines within the first CDA column is not connected to other signal line;
a second area CDA, wherein the second area CDA is connected at one side to one side of a second CDA signal line and peeled off by an empty area based on a second ratio, wherein other side of the second area CDA is not connected to other signal line;
a second CDA column comprising a plurality of second area CDAs stacked together;
a plurality of second CDA signal lines contained within the second CDA column and arranged in the same direction as the plurality of first CDA signal lines, wherein each of the plurality of second CDA signal lines within the second CDA column is not connected to other signal line;
a third area CDA, connected at one side to one side of a third CDA signal line, and peeled off by an empty area based on a third ratio, wherein other side of the third area CDA is not connected to other signal line;
a third CDA column comprising one or a plurality of third area CDAs, located on the same layer as the first CDA column and the second CDA column; and one or a plurality of third CDA signal lines included in the third CDA column, arranged in the same direction as the plurality of first CDA signal lines, wherein each of the plurality of third CDA signal lines within the third CDA column is not connected to any other signal line;
wherein the number of CDA signal lines increases proportionally with the increasing number of CDAs from a far distance to a near distance, and the area of the CDAs gradually decreases with the increasing number of CDAs from a far distance to a near distance in both the first CDA column and the second CDA column,
the second CDA column is located adjacent to the first CDA column, and when an nth CDA signal line is selected as a sensing signal line from either the first CDA column or the second CDA column, either (n−1) or (n+1), or both (n−1) and (n+1) CDA signal lines in the same CDA column are selected as driving signal lines, and by applying a driving voltage to the selected driving signal lines, an object capacitance added to the Detection CDA connected to the sensing signal line is detected, and
wherein the third area CDA is of a different area size than the first area CDA and the second area CDA, and the third area CDA is placed adjacent to either or both of the first CDA column and the second CDA column.
As shown above, the main difference between the claims is that patented claim 1 fails to disclose “the number of CDAs constituting the second CDA column is fewer than the number of CDAs constituting the first CDA column.”
However, Jang discloses an object capacitance detection apparatus (Figs 1-4; [0042]-[0049], e.g., a capacitive touch panel 10) comprising:
a first area Capacitor Detect Area (CDA) having a first area that is placed on one side of a display device ([0043]-[0044], e.g., a first CDA b111 having a first area is placed on one side of a display panel);
a first CDA column comprising a plurality of first area CDAs stacked together ([0044], e.g., a first column comprises first area CDAs b111-b153stacked together);
a second area CDA having a second area (e.g., a second CDA a11 has a second area); and
a second CDA column comprising a plurality of second area CDAs stacked together (e.g., a second column comprises second area CDAs a11-a15),
wherein the number of CDAs constituting the second CDA column is fewer than the number of CDAs constituting the first CDA column and the second CDA column is located adjacent to the first CDA column (e.g., the number of second area CDAs a11-a15 in the second CDA columns is fewer the number of first area CDAs b111-b153 in the first column).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the teachings of Jang in the invention as taught by patented claim 1 for providing the number of CDAs in a second CDA column fewer than the number of CDAs in a first CDA column in order to provide a capacitive touch panel capable of being driven as a mutual capacitance type and a self-capacitance type and including touch sensors having electrode patterns capable of sensing a multi-touch in both the mutual capacitance type and self-capacitance type (Jang, [0011], [0076]).
Claim 2 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 7.
Claim 3 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 8.
Claim 4 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 9.
Claim 5 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 10.
Claim 6 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 11.
Claim 8 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 15.
Claim 9 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 16.
Claim 10 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 20.
Claim 11 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 17.
Claim 12 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 21.
Claim 13 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 18.
Claim 14 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 19.
Claim 15 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 6.
Claim 16 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 12.
Claim 17 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 13.
Claim 18 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 14.
Claim 19 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 22.
Claim 20 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 23.
Claim 21 is similarly rejected (as above) over patented claim 24.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 and 8-21 would be allowable if a Terminal Disclaimer is filed to overcome the Double Patenting rejection(s) set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HONG ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)270-5372. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:00 PM.
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, BENJAMIN C LEE can be reached at 571-272-2963. 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.
/HONG ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2629