DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 7, 12, 15, 17, 20-21 and 24 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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(s) 1, 5, 11 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a2 as being anticipated by US Patent Pub. 2006/0103611 A1 to Choi.
As to claim 1, Choi discloses a control device (See Fig. 2, 110, 120, 150) for a display panel in which multiple display units each including a first light-emitting element and a second light-emitting element are arranged along n rows and m columns (See Fig. 2, 140; The pixels 140 including first light-emitting elements OLED (Fig. 4) in the first rows connected to ELVDDo and second light-emitting elements in the second rows connected to ELVDDe.), where m and n are natural numbers of two or more, the display panel including multiple first drive circuits (See Fig. 4, 142) each including the first light-emitting element (OLED 140), the control device comprising:
a control unit (Fig. 2, 150) configured to cause the display panel to display an image based on input image data (¶ 0035),
during the write period, performs writing of data to the multiple first drive circuits based on the input image data (See Fig. 5A; ¶ 0047, “the data signals are charged in the pixels 140 of the odd horizontal lines (non-emission period: off)”),
during the light emission period, causes the multiple first light-emitting elements to emit light (See Fig. 5B; ¶ 0049, “Then, predetermined light is generated only by the pixels 140 of the odd horizontal lines in the (i+1).sup.th frame”), and
during at least part of the write period, causes the multiple second light-emitting elements to emit light (¶ 0047, “That is, the pixels 140 of the even horizontal lines generate light in response to the voltages charged in an (i-1).sup.th frame (emission period: on) in a period where the voltages corresponding to the data signals are charged in the pixels 140 of the odd horizontal lines (non-emission period: off)”).
As to claim 5, Choi discloses wherein the control unit during the write period, sequentially performs writing of data to the multiple second drive circuits based on the input image data for the n rows, row by row (¶ 0047, “That is, the pixels 140 of the even horizontal lines generate light in response to the voltages charged in an (i-1).sup.th frame (emission period: on) in a period where the voltages corresponding to the data signals are charged in the pixels 140 of the odd horizontal lines (non-emission period: off)”), and during the write period and at least part of the light emission period, causes the multiple second light-emitting elements to sequentially emit light at least row by row out of the n rows (¶ 0049, “That is, the pixels 140 of the odd horizontal lines generate light in response to the voltages charged in the i.sup.th frame in a period where the voltages corresponding to the data signals are charged in the pixels 140 of the even horizontal lines”).
As to claim 11, Choi discloses wherein the first light-emitting element is any one of a quantum dot light-emitting diode including a light-emitting layer including quantum dots, an organic light-emitting diode including an organic light-emitting layer (¶ 0041), and an inorganic light-emitting diode including an inorganic light-emitting layer, and
the second light-emitting element is any one of a quantum dot light-emitting diode including a light-emitting layer including quantum dots, an organic light-emitting diode including an organic light-emitting layer (¶ 0041), and an inorganic light-emitting diode including an inorganic light-emitting layer.
As to claim 16, Choi discloses a display device comprising:
the control device according to claim 1 (See the rejection of claim 1); and
the display panel (Fig. 2, 130),
wherein the display panel includes a substrate, and
the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element do not overlap in a plan view (See Fig. 2; The light emitting elements 140 for odd rows (E1, E3, …) do not overlap with the light emitting elements 140 for the even rows (E2, E4, …).
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, 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(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub. 2006/0103611 A1 to Choi in view of US Patent Pub. 2012/0249615 A1 to Lee.
As to claim 4, Choi fails to disclose wherein the first light-emitting element is PWM driven such that luminance is controlled by changing a current flow time while keeping an amount of current flowing through a light-emitting element constant, or the first light-emitting element is current driven such that luminance is controlled by changing an amount of current flowing through a light-emitting element;
the second light-emitting element is current driven such that luminance is controlled by changing an amount of current flowing through a light-emitting element,
the display panel includes multiple second drive circuits each including the second light-emitting element, and
the control unit
sequentially performs writing of data to the multiple second drive circuits based on the input image data for the n rows, row by row, and
sequentially causes the multiple second light-emitting elements included in the multiple second drive circuits in a row in which the writing is completed to emit light.
Lee discloses wherein the first light-emitting element is PWM driven such that luminance is controlled by changing a current flow time while keeping an amount of current flowing through a light-emitting element constant, or the first light-emitting element is current driven such that luminance is controlled by changing an amount of current flowing through a light-emitting element (See Fig. 1A, First field; ¶ 0126, “the driving transistor ETR controls a driving current supplied to the organic light emitting diode”),
the second light-emitting element is current driven such that luminance is controlled by changing an amount of current flowing through a light-emitting element (See Fig. 1A, Second field; ¶ 0126, “the driving transistor ETR controls a driving current supplied to the organic light emitting diode”),
the display panel includes multiple second drive circuits each including the second light-emitting element (See Fig. 3B; OPX), and
the control unit
sequentially performs writing of data to the multiple second drive circuits based on the input image data for the n rows, row by row (See Fig. 1A, Second field, scan period 3; See also Fig. 2A), and
sequentially causes the multiple second light-emitting elements included in the multiple second drive circuits in a row in which the writing is completed to emit light (See Fig. 1A, Second field, light emitting period 4; See also Fig. 2A).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Choi with the teachings of Lee wherein the first light-emitting element is PWM driven such that luminance is controlled by changing a current flow time while keeping an amount of current flowing through a light-emitting element constant, or the first light-emitting element is current driven such that luminance is controlled by changing an amount of current flowing through a light-emitting element; the second light-emitting element is current driven such that luminance is controlled by changing an amount of current flowing through a light-emitting element, the display panel includes multiple second drive circuits each including the second light-emitting element, and the control unit sequentially performs writing of data to the multiple second drive circuits based on the input image data for the n rows, row by row, and sequentially causes the multiple second light-emitting elements included in the multiple second drive circuits in a row in which the writing is completed to emit light, as suggested by Lee thereby similarly using known configurations for driving first and second light emitting elements on a display device of Choi.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub. 2006/0103611 A1 to Choi in view of JP 2000-250456 to Nagatsu.
As to claim 10, Choi fails to disclose comprising: a memory, wherein the control unit, during a period in which the write period and the light emission period are combined, performs writing of the input image data to the memory once, and performs reading of the input image data from the memory twice.
Nagatsu discloses comprising: a memory, wherein the control unit, during a period in which the write period and the light emission period are combined, performs writing of the input image data to the memory once, and performs reading of the input image data from the memory twice (¶ 0014).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Choi with the teachings of Nagatus of comprising: a memory, wherein the control unit, during a period in which the write period and the light emission period are combined, performs writing of the input image data to the memory once, and performs reading of the input image data from the memory twice, as suggested by Nagatsu thereby similarly using known configurations comprising a memory for driving the operation of a display.
Claim(s) 13-14, 18-19 and 22-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub. 2006/0103611 A1 to Choi in view of US Patent Pub. 2014/0035974 A1 to Jinta et al (“Jinta”).
As to claim 13, Choi fails to disclose wherein the display unit is one pixel configured to emit multiple colors, the first light-emitting element emits a first color, and the second light-emitting element emits a color different from the first color.
Jinta discloses wherein the display unit is one pixel configured to emit multiple colors (¶ 0049), the first light-emitting element emits a first color (Fig. 11A, shaded pixels 11), and the second light-emitting element emits a color different from the first color (Fig. 11A, unshaded pixels 11).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Choi with the teachings of Jinta wherein the display unit is one pixel configured to emit multiple colors, the first light-emitting element emits a first color, and the second light-emitting element emits a color different from the first color, as suggested by Jinta thereby similarly using known configurations for arranging and driving the operation of pixels in a display device.
As to claim 14, Choi fails to disclose wherein the display unit is a subpixel configured to emit a first color, and the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element each emit the first color.
Jinta discloses wherein the display unit is a subpixel configured to emit a first color, and the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element each emit the first color (¶ 0049).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Choi with the teachings of Jinta wherein the display unit is a subpixel configured to emit a first color, and the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element each emit the first color, as suggested by Jinta thereby similarly using known configurations such that OLEDs are driven to emit a specified color.
As to claim 18, Jinta discloses wherein the multiple first light-emitting elements and the multiple second light-emitting elements are alternately arranged in both a first direction being a vertical direction of the substrate and a second direction being a horizontal direction of the substrate, and each of the multiple display units includes the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element adjacent to each other in the second direction (See Fig. 11A-B; In Fig. 11A, The shaded pixels (first light emitting elements) perform display and the unshaded pixels (second light emitting elements) are not driven. Subsequently, the shaded pixels from Fig. 11A are not driven and the unshaded pixels from Fig. 11A perform display as depicted in Fig. 11B. The shaded pixels 11 driven in Fig. 11A are alternately arranged vertically and horizontally and adjacent to the unshaded pixels 11.).
As to claim 19, Jinta discloses wherein the multiple first light-emitting elements and the multiple second light-emitting elements are alternately arranged in both a first direction being a vertical direction of the substrate and a second direction being a horizontal direction of the substrate, and each of the multiple display units includes the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element adjacent to each other in the first direction (See Fig. 11A-B; In Fig. 11A, The shaded pixels (first light emitting elements) perform display and the unshaded pixels (second light emitting elements) are not driven. Subsequently, the shaded pixels from Fig. 11A are not driven and the unshaded pixels from Fig. 11A perform display as depicted in Fig. 11B. The shaded pixels 11 driven in Fig. 11A are alternately arranged vertically and horizontally and adjacent to the unshaded pixels 11.).
As to claim 22, Jinta discloses a display device comprising:
the control device according to claim 13 (See the rejection of claim 13); and
the display panel (Fig. 1, 10),
wherein the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element do not overlap in a plan view (See Fig. 11A-B; The shaded pixels 11 (first light emitting element) do not overlap unshaded pixels (second light emitting element).), each of the multiple display units includes multiple first light-emitting elements and multiple second light-emitting elements, light-emitting elements out of the multiple first light-emitting elements and the multiple second light-emitting elements included in each of the multiple display units are green light-emitting elements, some of the other light-emitting elements out of the multiple first light-emitting elements and the multiple second light-emitting elements included in each of the multiple display units are red light-emitting elements, and the remainder of the other light-emitting elements out of the multiple first light-emitting elements and the multiple second light-emitting elements included in each of the multiple display units are a blue light-emitting elements (See Fig. 11A-B; In Fig. 11A, The shaded pixels (first light emitting elements) perform display and the unshaded pixels (second light emitting elements) are not driven. Subsequently, the shaded pixels from Fig. 11A are not driven and the unshaded pixels from Fig. 11A perform display as depicted in Fig. 11B. As depicted, the arrangement of the shaded and unshaded pixels are red R, green G, and blue B light emitting elements.).
As to claim 23, Jinta discloses a display device comprising:
the control device according to claim 13 (See the rejection of claim 13); and
the display panel (Fig. 1, 10),
wherein the display panel includes a substrate, the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element do not overlap in a plan view (See Fig. 11A-B; The shaded pixels 11 (first light emitting element) do not overlap unshaded pixels (second light emitting element).),
the multiple first light-emitting elements and the multiple second light-emitting elements are alternately arranged in both a first direction being a vertical direction of the substrate and a second direction being a horizontal direction of the substrate (See Fig. 11A-B; In Fig. 11A, The shaded pixels (first light emitting elements) perform display and the unshaded pixels (second light emitting elements) are not driven. Subsequently, the shaded pixels from Fig. 11A are not driven and the unshaded pixels from Fig. 11A perform display as depicted in Fig. 11B. The shaded pixels 11 driven in Fig. 11A are alternately arranged vertically and horizontally and adjacent to the unshaded pixels 11.), each of the multiple display units includes multiple first light-emitting elements and multiple second light-emitting elements, light-emitting elements out of the multiple first light-emitting elements and the multiple second light-emitting elements included in each of the multiple display units are a first red light-emitting element, a first green light-emitting element, and a first blue light-emitting element, and the other light-emitting elements out of the multiple first light-emitting elements and the multiple second light-emitting elements included in each of the multiple display units are a second red light-emitting element, a second green light-emitting element, and a second blue light-emitting element (See Fig. 11A-B; As depicted, the arrangement of the shaded and unshaded pixels are red R, green G, and blue B light emitting elements.).
Conclusion
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/NICHOLAS J LEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624
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