Detailed Action
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 6/16/2026 has been entered and considered by the examiner.
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 .
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 16-18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by Hong (PGPUB 2023/0049523 A1).
As to claim 16, Hong (Figs. 3-6) teaches, a display apparatus (display device), comprising:
a display panel (display panel 110) on which a plurality of sub-pixels (subpixels SP) are arranged, each of the plurality of sub-pixels including an organic light-emitting diode (organic light-emitting diode OLED) and a driving transistor (driving transistor DRT) for driving the organic light-emitting diode (¶ 46, 91);
a plurality of sensing lines (reference voltage line RVL) connected to the plurality of sub-pixels (¶ 93);
a sensing circuit (analog-to-digital converter ADC) connected to the plurality of sensing lines to sense sensing voltages of the plurality of sub-pixels (¶ 98, Fig. 4); and
a controller (timing controller 140) configured to determine whether at least one of the driving transistor and the organic light-emitting diode of a sub-pixel is defective based on a sensing voltage (i.e. voltae on the node 2 and reference voltage line RVL, ¶ 98) sensed by the sensing circuit (¶ 91: i.e. characteristic value is determined via current sensing method),
wherein: a process (1st detecting and 2nd detecting in Fig. 6) for determining whether the driving transistor is defective (¶ 10]) or determining whether the organic light-emitting diode is defective is performed before a mobility sensing process (mobility sensing operation) of the driving transistor after a power-on signal (power-on signal) is generated (¶ 121: i.e. characteristic and mobility sensing is performed prior to the start of the display driving operation after a power-on signal is generated, ¶ 125-127: i.e. sensing period performed during blank period, which distinguishes from 1st and 2nd detecting periods );
the controller is configured to determine whether at least one of the driving transistor and the organic light-emitting diode is defective (¶ 91: i.e. determine characteristic value during sensing process for determining defect such as non-uniform luminance, ¶ 118: i.e. compensate based on the characteristic value, ¶ 129: i.e. further capable of detecting a defect based on RVL) based on a change in a voltage of a node (first node N1 and second node N2) of the driving transistor (Fig. 1: i.e. SCAN and SENSE turn on transistor SWT and SENT to control the voltage levels of nodes N1 and N2, ¶ 83: i.e. voltages on N1 and N2 control to generate current through OLED, Fig. 6: i.e. both SENSE and SCAN are turned on at the same time to initiate sensing process),
the sensing voltage is one of the sensing voltages sensed by the sensing circuit on a sensing line among the plurality of sensing lines (¶ 138, 139, 236: i.e. detects via RVL); and
the sensing line is connected to the sub-pixel among the plurality of sub-pixels (Fig. 4: i.e. connected via N2).
As to claim 17, Hong (Fig. 4) teaches,
a plurality of data lines (data lines DL) disposed on the display panel and connected to the plurality of sub-pixels (Figs. 1, 4);
a plurality of gate lines (gate lines GL) disposed on the display panel and connected to the plurality of sub- pixels (Figs. 1, 4);
a data driving circuit (data driving circuit 130) configured to supply data voltages (data voltage) to the plurality of data lines (¶ 44); and
a gate driving circuit (gate driving circuit 120) configured to supply gate voltages (scan signals) to the plurality of gate lines (¶ 49),
wherein the sub-pixel includes a first transistor (switching transistor SWT) electrically connected between a first node (first node N1) of the driving transistor and a data line (DL)(Fig. 4), and a second transistor (sensing transistor SENT) electrically connected between a second node (second node N2) of the driving transistor and the sensing line (Fig. 4),
the process for determining whether the driving transistor is defective (¶ 10]) or determining whether the organic light-emitting diode is defective includes an initializing operation (initialization operation INITIAL), a tracking operation (tracking operation TRACKING), and a sampling operation (sampling operation SAMPLING),
in the initializing operation, the tracking operation, and the sampling operation, a gate signal of a turn-on level (i.e. high logic of scan signal SCAN) is applied to a gate node (i.e. gate of SWT) of the first transistor and a gate node (i.e. gate of SENT) of the second transistor (Fig. 3), and
the data line is one of the plurality of data lines (Figs. 1, 3).
As to claim 18, Hong (Fig. 6) teaches, wherein the process for determining whether the driving transistor is defective includes an initializing operation, a tracking operation, and a sampling operation (Fig. 5: INITIAL, TRACKING, SAMPLING), and
when the process for determining whether the driving transistor is defective is performed, the controller outputs a defect detection signal (i.e. voltage on RVL) when the sensing voltage sensed by the sensing circuit is more than a preset first comparison voltage value (display-driving reference voltage VpreR)(¶ 136, 160, 178).
As to claim 20, Hong (Fig. 6) teaches, wherein the process for determining whether the organic light-emitting diode is defective includes an initializing operation, a tracking operation, and a sampling operation (Fig. 5: i.e. INITIAL, TRACKING, SAMPLING), and
when the process for determining whether the organic light-emitting diode is defective is performed, the controller changes image data (compensated digital image data DATA_comp) supplied to a data driving circuit when the sensing voltage sensed by the sensing circuit is less than a preset second comparison voltage value (display-driving reference voltage VpreR)(¶ 136, 160, 178).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-15 are allowed.
Claims 19 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 1 recites the limitation, “wherein a process for determining whether the driving transistor is defective or determining whether the organic light-emitting diode is defective includes an initializing operation, a tracking operation. and a sampling operation, wherein in the initializing operation, the tracking operation, and the sampling operation, a black data voltage is applied to a data line, and wherein the black data voltage is a voltage that does not turn on the driving transistor, and the data line is one of the plurality of data lines”. However, none of the prior arts from the search specifically teach the black data voltage being applied in all of the initializing operation, the tracking operation and the sampling operation as claimed in claim 1.
Claim 19 recites the limitation, “wherein, in the initializing operation, a reference voltage for determining whether the sensing line is defective is applied, and in the initializing operation, the tracking operation, and the sampling operation, a black data voltage is applied to a data line”. Examiner conducted a search to find the prior arts that would teach this limitation and has considered 0V, 0 V, ground voltage, black image, black signal, and similar terms. However, none of the prior arts from the search specifically teach the black data voltage being applied in all of the initializing operation, the tracking operation and the sampling operation as claimed in claim 19.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant has amended claim 16 to recite the new limitation, “the controller is configured to determine whether at least one of the driving transistor and the organic light-emitting diode is defective based on a change in a voltage of a node of the driving transistor”. Further, Applicant argues that Hong does not specifically teach “determining a defect of DRT or OLED based on a voltage change at the node N2 of DRT”. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant’s argument focuses on Hong teaching the defect in mobility is determined using the sensing line RLV and not being related to the voltage of nodes N1 and N2. However, Hong further teaches determining and compensating the non-uniformity of luminance, which is another defect than mobility issue, during the sensing process as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The sensing process is initiated with the SCAN/SENSE signals being applied to the transistors SWT and SENT. Based on the operation of SWT and SENT being turned on, the voltage levels of N1 and N2 would necessarily change. Further, ¶ 113 teaches the corresponding changes to the nodes N1 and N2 based on the transistor operation. The office action is maintained final as Hong prior art still reads on the claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANGHYUK PARK whose telephone number is (571)270-7359. The examiner can normally be reached on 10:00AM - 6:00 M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chanh Nguyen can be reached on ((571) 272-7772. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/SANGHYUK PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2623
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