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 .
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) 1-14, 20-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 CN 110568980 in view of D2 CN 113014839.
As to claims 1, 6, 20, D1 discloses an information processing method (see description, paragraphs [0016]-[0028], [0047]-[0048] and [0075]-[0131], and figures 1-2 and 4-5). The method comprises: in response to an enabling instruction, enabling an eye protection function, wherein the eye protection function comprises: if a display screen is in a lit state, determining, on the basis of an environment brightness value of the environment where the display screen is located, whether to control a controllable light source to be lit up, and if the environment brightness is lower than a preset brightness value, controlling the controllable light source to be lit up so as to change the environment brightness of the environment (equivalent to an eye protection method, which is applied to a display device, wherein the display device comprises a display screen). The controllable light source is a light source, such as a flash (equivalent to a light emitter), of a current electronic device. The method further comprises: in an eye protection function mode, adjusting a brightness value of the controllable light source on the basis of a brightness value of the display screen, so as to avoid the problem of the difference between the brightness of the display screen and the environment brightness value being too large (equivalent to disclosing: if the display screen is in a screen-on state and the brightness of an environment where the display screen is located is lower than a first brightness threshold, acquiring display information of the display screen, determining corresponding driving information on the basis of the display information, and driving, on the basis of the driving information, the light emitter to emit light, such that light emitted by the light emitter matches the display screen). D1 further discloses an electronic device, which comprises a processor 51 (equivalent to a processor). The processor 51 is configured to obtain an enabling instruction, wherein the enabling instruction is used for instructing calling of an eye protection function, and in response to the enabling instruction, enabling an eye protection function (implicitly disclosing that the processor is connected to the display screen and the light emitter). The steps of the method or an algorithm described herein may be implemented directly by means of hardware and a software module executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. The software module may be provided in a storage medium (equivalent to a storage medium, which stores a computer program) such as a random access memory, a memory, a read-only memory, an electrically programmable ROM and an electrically erasable programmable ROM.
D2 discloses an adaptive ambient light adaptation method (see description, paragraphs [0016] and [0019]- [0029], and figures 1 and 2), the method comprising: automatically detecting bright and dark conditions of a surrounding environment by means of an ambient light sensor, and automatically adapting the brightness of ambient light, such that the brightness and colors of a picture extend to the ambient light so as to softly match the brightness of the surrounding environment; partitioning a screen to divide each edge region into small sub- blocks, and correspondingly outputting an image color of each small sub-block to a group of ambilight LEDs (equivalent to light emitters); and collecting input image data of each small sub-block in screen partitions, loading data of image pixels R/G/B (equivalent to three primary colors) of each small sub-block to a system memory, converting same into data that can be identified by the ambilight, and outputting the data to an ambilight bar, so as to achieve a whole-screen visual extension effect, wherein the ambilight LEDs are spaced apart from the display screen.
The differences between claims 1 and 6 and D1 lie in: a) the display screen and the light emitters being arranged on a housing.
However, difference a) is a customary means.
The additional features of claims 2, 4, 7, 9 and 18 involve performing adjustment on the basis of brightness information or three-primary color information of a plurality of partitions. Some of the additional features are disclosed in D1 and D2, and the remaining features are conventional designs.
The additional features of claims 5, 10 involve the control of light-emitting units, and are conventional designs that would have been readily conceivable on the basis of actual display conditions.
The additional features of claims 3, 8 define the adjustment of a display brightness, and are conventional choices in the art.
Claims 11-14 relate to the arrangement of light emitters and the composition of a light-emitting unit. Some of the features are disclosed in D2, and the remaining features are conventional designs.
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.
Claims 1-5 and 20-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Gutta (US 2007/0091111) in view of Kerr er al. (US 2004/0156192).
As to claims 1, 20, Gutta teaches an eye protection method (See ¶5 and ¶ 25), applied to a display device (¶65), comprising a display screen and a light emitter arranged at an interval (See ¶25), the method comprising:
acquiring display information of a plurality of display regions of the display screen when the display screen is in a screen-on state and an ambient brightness of the display screen (See ¶93, Fig 14) is lower than a first brightness threshold (when the desired luminance of ambient light Lx is low during very dark scenes, See ¶102);
determining driving information according to the display information of each display region (see ¶28-¶30, and see also ¶71 and Fig 1 shows regions R1 to R6);
determining (determining, see ¶87) a corresponding light emitter (LEDs, see ¶100) based on a position of each display region of the display screen (display screen, see abstract, and see also ¶25-¶26)
Gutta fails to teach driving the light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, so that the light emitted by the light emitter matches the corresponding display region.
Kerr teaches the illumination processing 600 mimics the colors appearing at the regions of the screen display to zones of the housing. The regions of the screen display can be associated with a color configuration, and the regions of the housing can be provided with the same configuration. This is generally done to extend the feel of the display screen to the housing, the regions of the display screen are blue, then the counterpart zones of the housing are also blue. The individual sample regions correspond to individual zones positioned nearest the location of the individual sample region. The sample region 628' corresponds to zone 624'. See ¶177-¶180 and See also Figs. 35-36.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), to have the individual sample regions correspond to individual zones positioned nearest the location of the individual sample region, the regions of the screen display can be associated with a color configuration, and the regions of the housing can be provided with the same configuration as Kerr teaches, to modify the teaching of Gutta. The motivation for doing so would improve feedback to the user of the electronic device and to give users the ability to personalize or change the look of their electronic device on an on-going basis. Kerr ¶84.
As to claims 2, 21, Kerr teaches the eye protection method according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring the display information of the plurality of display regions of the display screen comprises: acquiring brightness information of each display region among the plurality of display regions of the display screen; the determining driving information according to the display information of each display region comprises: obtaining the driving information according to a correspondence between the brightness information of the light emitter and the driving information; the driving the corresponding light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, so that the light emitted by the light emitter matches the corresponding display region comprises: driving the light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, such that the brightness information of the light emitted by the light emitter matches the brightness information of the corresponding display region. (See Kerr at least ¶191 and Figures 34-37).
As to claims 3, 22, Kerr teaches the eye protection method according to claim 2, further comprising: controlling the light emitter corresponding to the display region to emit light at a first brightness value when the brightness information of the display region is lower than a second brightness threshold. (See Kerr ¶235-¶236).
As to claims 4, 23, Kerr teaches the eye protection method according to claim 1, wherein the light emitter comprises a primary color light-emitting unit, and the acquiring the display information of the plurality of display regions of the display screen comprises: acquiring primary color information of the display image of each display region among the plurality of display regions; the determining the driving information according to the display information of each display region comprises: obtaining the driving information according to a correspondence between the primary color information of the light emitter and the driving information and according to the primary color information of each display region the driving the corresponding light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, so that the light emitted by the light emitter matches the corresponding display region comprises: driving the light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, such that the primary color information of the light emitted by the light emitter matches the primary color information of the display image of the corresponding display region. (See Kerr at least ¶191 and Figures 34-37).
As to claims 5, 24, Kerr teaches the eye protection method according to claim 1, wherein the light emitter corresponding to each display region comprises a plurality of light-emitting units; the driving the corresponding light emitter to emit light according to the driving information comprises: acquiring a first region of the light emitter that is occluded and a second region that is not occluded; and controlling a light-emitting unit corresponding to the first region not emit light, and controlling a light-emitting unit corresponding to the second region to emit light.(See Kerr ¶235-¶236).
As to claim 6, Gutta teaches a display device (¶65), comprising:
a processor (¶58), connected to the display screen (screen, abstract) and the plurality of light emitters (LEDs, ¶70) , and configured to:
acquire display information of a plurality of display regions of the display screen when the display screen is in a screen-on state and an ambient brightness of the display screen (see ¶93, Fig 14) is lower than a first brightness threshold (when the desired luminance of ambient light Lx is low during very dark scenes, See ¶102);
determine driving information according to the display information of each display region (see ¶28-¶30, and see also ¶71 and Fig 1 shows regions R1 to R6);
determine (determine, see ¶87) a corresponding light emitter (LEDs, see ¶100) based on a position of each display region of the display screen (display screen, see abstract, and see also ¶25-¶26)
Gutta fails to teach a display screen disposed on the housing; a plurality of light emitters arranged at intervals from the display screen and disposed on the housing, drive the light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, so that the light emitted by the light emitter matches the corresponding display region.
Kerr teaches a housing and a display screen disposed on the housing; a plurality of light emitters, arranged at intervals from the display screen, and disposed on the housing; (Kerr ¶113-¶115); the illumination processing 600 mimics the colors appearing at the regions of the screen display to zones of the housing. The regions of the screen display can be associated with a color configuration, and the regions of the housing can be provided with the same configuration. This is generally done to extend the feel of the display screen to the housing, the regions of the display screen are blue, then the counterpart zones of the housing are also blue. The individual sample regions correspond to individual zones positioned nearest the location of the individual sample region. The sample region 628' corresponds to zone 624'. See ¶177-¶180 and See also Figs. 35-36.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), to have the individual sample regions correspond to individual zones positioned nearest the location of the individual sample region, the regions of the screen display can be associated with a color configuration, and the regions of the housing can be provided with the same configuration as Kerr teaches, to modify the teaching of Gutta. The motivation for doing so would improve feedback to the user of the electronic device and to give users the ability to personalize or change the look of their electronic device on an on-going basis. Kerr ¶84.
As to claim 7, Kerr teaches the display device according to claim 6, wherein when acquiring the display information of the plurality of display regions of the display screen, the processor is configured to acquire brightness information of each display region among the plurality of display regions of the display screen; when determining driving information according to the display information of each display region, the processor is configured to obtain the driving information according to a correspondence between the brightness information of the light emitter and the driving information; when driving the corresponding light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, so that the light emitted by the light emitter matches the corresponding display region, the processor is configured to drive the light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, such that the brightness information of the light emitted by the light emitter matches the brightness information of the corresponding display region. (See Kerr at least ¶191 and Figures 34-37).
As to claim 8, Kerr teaches the display device according to claim 7, wherein after acquiring brightness information of each display region, the processor is further configured to control the light emitter corresponding to the display region to emit light at a first brightness value when the brightness information of the display region is lower than a second brightness threshold. (Kerr ¶235-¶236).
As to claim 9, Kerr teaches the display device according to claim 6, wherein the light emitter comprises a primary color light-emitting unit; when acquiring the display information of the plurality of display regions of the display screen, the processor is configured to: acquire primary color information of the display image of each display region among the plurality of display regions; when determining the driving information according to the display information of each display region, the processor is configured to obtain the driving information according to a correspondence between the primary color information of the light emitter and the driving information and according to the primary color information of each display region; when driving the corresponding light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, so that the light emitted by the light emitter matches the corresponding display region, the processor is configured to drive the light emitter to emit light according to the driving information, such that the primary color information of the light emitted by the light emitter matches the primary color information of the display image of the corresponding display region. (See Kerr at least ¶191 and Figures 34-37).
As to claim 10, Kerr teaches the display device according to claim 6, wherein the light emitter corresponding to each display region comprises a plurality of light-emitting units; the processor is further configured to acquire a first region of the light emitter that is occluded and a second region that is not occluded; control the light-emitting units corresponding to the first region to not emit light; and control the light-emitting units corresponding to the second region to emit light. (See Kerr ¶235-¶236).
As to claim 11, Kerr teaches the display device according to claim 6, further comprising: a rear shell, disposed opposite to the display screen; and four side edges surrounding the display screen, wherein the rear shell comprises four first regions adjacent to the four side edges, and at least two of the first regions are provided with the light emitters. (See Kerr at least ¶162, Fig 28).
As to claim 12, Kerr teaches the display device according to claim 11, wherein the light emitters are disposed in the first regions and inclined toward direction of the side edges. (See Kerr at least ¶162, Fig 28).
As to claim 13, Kerr teaches the display device according to claim 6, further comprising a plurality of side edges surrounding the display screen, wherein at least two of the side edges are provided with the light emitters. (See Kerr at least ¶162, Fig 28).
As to claim 14, Kerr teaches the display device according to claim 6, wherein each light emitter comprises at least one group of light-emitting units, each group comprising at least three primary color light-emitting units. (Kerr ¶134).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kevin Nguyen whose telephone is 571-272-7697. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm Eastern Time.
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KEVIN M NGUYEN
Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2628
/Kevin M Nguyen/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628 Telephone: (571) 272-7697
Email: kevin.nguyen2@uspto.gov
