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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites ‘at least one of the first bending region, the second bending region and the flat region each is provided with a plurality of spring-hole groups arranged along a first direction’. The claim is unclear since one of ordinary skill in the art does not understand whether one of the first bending region, the second bending region and the flat region is required to have a plurality of spring-hole groups arranged along a first direction, or if each region has this requirement.
Claims 2-13 are rejected for depending upon an indefinite claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2020145718A1 (using Park US 12011907 B2 as a translation, hereinafter Park) in view of CN110992838A (using Feng US 11568767 B2 as a translation, hereinafter Feng)
Claim 1. Park teaches a support for a display module (title), wherein the display module is switchable between a folded state (figs 1, 2) and an unfolded state (figs 21, 42), and the support comprises:
a first bending region (RA1, fig 21);
a plurality of second bending regions (regions of RA2 containing the holes) on two opposite sides of the first bending region (fig 21), respectively; and
a plurality of flat regions (2A, fig 21), each of which is on a side of one of the plurality of second bending regions away from the first bending region (fig 21),
, at least one of the first bending region, the second bending region and the flat region each is provided with a plurality of spring-hole groups arranged along a first direction (horizontal direction of fig 21), each of the plurality of spring-hole groups comprises a plurality of spring-holes arranged along a second direction (vertical direction of fig 21), and the first direction is different from the second direction (fig 21),
wherein the support further comprises a transition region (area within RA2 that is closest to RA1, see fig 21) between the first bending region and the second bending region, wherein the transition region is a solid member (fig 21).
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However Park fails to specifically teach wherein a bending direction of each of the plurality of second bending regions is opposite to a bending direction of the first bending region when the display module is in the folded state
Feng fig 1F teaches a bending direction of each of the plurality of second bending regions is opposite to a bending direction of the first bending region when the display module is in the folded state (fig 1F)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the arrangement as taught by Feng into the device of Park. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Park in the above manner for the purpose of fitting a larger display into a relatively smaller housing.
Claims 2-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu (US 10838457 B2, hereinafter Yu).
Claim 2. Park in view of Feng teaches a support assembly for a display module, comprising: the support according to claim 1, but fail to specifically teach:
a reinforcing member, wherein the reinforcing member is on a side of the support away from a flexible display panel of the display module, the reinforcing member comprises a first reinforcing sheet and a second reinforcing sheet, both the first reinforcing sheet and the second reinforcing sheet are connected to a back surface of the support, a surface of the first reinforcing sheet close to the support and a surface of the second reinforcing sheet close to the support are in a same plane to support at least the first bending region when the display module is in the unfolded state, and the first reinforcing sheet and the second reinforcing sheet are opened and the surface of the first reinforcing sheet close to the support and the surface of the second reinforcing sheet close to the support are opposite to each other when the display module is in the folded state
Yu teaches a reinforcing member, wherein the reinforcing member is on a side of the support away from a flexible display panel of the display module, the reinforcing member comprises a first reinforcing sheet (501, fig 2) and a second reinforcing sheet (502, fig 2), both the first reinforcing sheet and the second reinforcing sheet are connected to a back surface of a support (back surface of 100, fig 2), a surface of the first reinforcing sheet close to the support and a surface of the second reinforcing sheet close to the support are in a same plane (fig 2) to support at least the first bending region when the display module is in the unfolded state (fig 2 shows that 501, 502 support FR), and the first reinforcing sheet and the second reinforcing sheet are opened and the surface of the first reinforcing sheet close to the support and the surface of the second reinforcing sheet close to the support are opposite to each other when the display module is in the folded state (fig 5)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the arrangement as taught by Yu into the device of Park and Feng. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Park and Feng in the above manner for the purpose of preventing or mitigating unwanted bending that could be caused by external force (Yu col 11 lines 35-37 recite ‘The support plates 501 and 502 may prevent the display panel 200 from being bent due to an external force or mitigate the degree to which the display panel 200 is bent’).
Claim 3. Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu teaches the support assembly according to claim 2, wherein the reinforcing member and the support are connected to each other at positions between the first bending region and the plurality of second bending regions (the combination of references as a whole teaches this since the reinforcing member of Yu fig 2 connects between the middle first bending region and the outer edges, even though Yu does not teach second bending regions, Yu does teach connecting elements 501, 502 across the entire area corresponding to all except the middle of area of 1A of Park) .
Claim 4. Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu teaches the support assembly according to claim 2, wherein the first reinforcing sheet and the second reinforcing sheet are matched in shape when the display module is in the unfolded state (Yu fig 2).
Claim 5. Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu teaches the support assembly according to claim 4, wherein a fit clearance between the first reinforcing sheet and the second reinforcing sheet is less than 10mm when the display module is in the unfolded state (Yu col 12 lines 1-6 recite ‘A separation distance d0 between the first support plate 501 and the second support plate 502 may be in a range of about 70 μm to about 120 μm. In one embodiment, for example, the separation distance d0 between the first support plate 501 and the second support plate 502 may be about 100 μm’).
Claim 6. Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu teaches the support assembly according to claim 5, wherein the fit clearance between the first reinforcing sheet and the second reinforcing sheet is less than or equal to 2mm when the display module is in the unfolded state (Yu col 12 lines 1-6 recite ‘A separation distance d0 between the first support plate 501 and the second support plate 502 may be in a range of about 70 μm to about 120 μm. In one embodiment, for example, the separation distance d0 between the first support plate 501 and the second support plate 502 may be about 100 μm’).
Claim 7. Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu teaches the support assembly according to claim 2, wherein a thickness of the reinforcing member is in a range of 0.05mm to 0.5mm (Yu col 11 lines 51-56 recite ‘support plates 501 and 502 may include an aluminum film having a thickness in a range of about 150 μm to about 200 μm. In one alternative embodiment, for example, the support plates 501 and 502 may include an SUS film having a thickness in a range of about 150 μm to about 200 μm’).
Claim 8. Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu teaches the support assembly according to claim 2, further comprising a flexible buffer layer (Yu 601, 602, fig 2, col 15 lines 31-32 recite ‘step compensating members 601 and 602 may be black one-sided tapes’) between the reinforcing member and the support, wherein the flexible buffer layer corresponds to the first bending region in position (Yu fig 2).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu, still further in view of CN113362706A (using Park US 20210280806 A1 as a translation, hereinafter Park’)
Claim 9. Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu teaches the support assembly according to claim 2, but fails to specifically teach at least one of the first reinforcing sheet and the second reinforcing sheet comprises a plurality of reinforcing sub-sheets sequentially connected together
Park’ teaches at least one of the first reinforcing sheet (SUP1) and the second reinforcing sheet (SUP2) comprises a plurality of reinforcing sub-sheets (SUP, AL10, RHL, AL11, INL) sequentially connected together (fig 2B)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the arrangement as taught by Park’ into the device of Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu in the above manner for the purpose of providing better heat dissipation (Park’ [0071] indicates that RHL is a heat dissipation layer)
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Feng, further in view of Official Notice, still further in view of Yu
Claim 10. Park and Feng teach a display module, comprising: the support according to claim 1; and
a flexible display panel (Feng 101, fig 1F),
However Park and Feng fail to specifically teach the first bending region, the plurality of second bending regions and the plurality of flat regions of the support are attached to a backlight surface of the flexible display panel.
It is well known in the art to have a backlight at a back surface of a display panel
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the arrangement as taught by Official Notice into the device of Park and Feng. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Park and Feng in the above manner for the purpose of using the display in the dark.
Yu teaches a support (100) is attached to a back surface of the flexible display panel (200, fig 2)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the arrangement as taught by Yu into the device of Park, Feng and Official Notice. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Park, Feng and Official Notice in the above manner for the purpose of supporting the display (Yu col 9 line 45 recites ‘a supporting function’)
Claim 11. Park, Feng, Official Notice and Yu teach a display apparatus (Yu fig 1), comprising the display module according to claim 10.
Claims 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu (US 10838457 B2, hereinafter Yu), still further in view of Official Notice
Claim 12. Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu teaches a display module, comprising: the support assembly according to claim 2; and
a flexible display panel,
but fails to teach the first bending region, the plurality of second bending regions and the plurality of flat regions of the support are attached to a backlight surface of the flexible display panel
first bending region, the plurality of second bending regions and the plurality of flat regions of the support are attached to a backlight surface of the flexible display panel
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the arrangement as taught by Official Notice into the device of Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu. The ordinary artisan would have been motivated to modify Park in view of Feng, further in view of Yu in the above manner for the purpose of using the display in the dark.
Yu already teaches a support (100, fig 2) attached to a back surface of the flexible display panel (back surface of 200, fig 2)
Claim 13. Park, Feng, Yu and Official Notice teach a display apparatus (Yu fig 1), comprising the display module according to claim 12.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular elements, columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOUGLAS R BURTNER whose telephone number is (571)272-0966. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Allen Parker can be reached at 303-297-4722. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DOUGLAS R BURTNER/Examiner, Art Unit 2841 /ROCKSHANA D CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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