DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1 – 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1 and 13 recite the limitation “the pixel” (at Line 4 of Claim 1 and Line 4 of Claim 13) where antecedent basis is not clear because plural pixels are introduced (at Line 2 of Claim 1 and Line 2 of Claim 13) at it is not known as to which of the plural pixels that “the pixel” refers back to. For purposes of examination and to expedite prosecution, the Examiner considers each recitation as reciting - - a pixel - - in place of “the pixel”. In addition, Claims 1 and 13 recite the limitation “the divided period” (at Line 8 of Claim 1 and Line 9 of Claim 13) where antecedent basis in not clear because plural divided periods are introduced (at Line 5 of Claim 1 and Line 9 of Claim 13) and it is not known as to which of the plural divided periods that “the divided period” refers back to. For purposes of examination and to expedite prosecution, the Examiner considered each recitation as reciting - - a divided period - - in place of “the divided period”. Notice that Claims 2 – 12 and 14 fall rejected with Claim 1 due to dependency.
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.
Claims 1 – 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kubota et al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2019/0287460 A1), hereinafter referenced as Kubota.
Regarding Claim 1, Kubota discloses “A display device comprising: a pixel region in which a plurality of pixels is disposed” (Figure 1, Items 30 ‘display panel driving device’, 48 ‘pixel’ and 40 ‘display panel’, Paragraph [0008], and Paragraph [0021], Lines 11 - 14 (Notice that display panel driving device 20 with pixel region in display panel 40 with plural pixels 48.)), “and a light emission control unit that controls light emission and non-light emission of the pixel” (Figure 1, Item 34 ‘control circuit’ and Paragraph [0046], Lines 1 – 6 (Notice that control circuit 34 provided a light emission control unit to control on/emission and off /non-emission of pixels in the display panel.)), “wherein a length of a light emission period of the pixel in a plurality of divided periods into which one frame of a video to be displayed is divided is adjusted by controlling the light emission and the non-light emission of the pixel so as to shorten the light emission period of the pixel in the divided period, which corresponds to a range of a peak of an input drive current, among the plurality of divided periods (Figure 11, Items FF and OF (Notice that a length of a light emission period t41 of a driven pixel in the plurality of divided periods OF into witch one frame FF is divided is adjusted by controlling on an off of the driven pixel to shorten the light emission period of the driven pixel during divided period OF1 while corresponding to peak input drive current at the beginning of frame FF among divided periods OF.)), “or lengthen the light emission period of the pixel in the divided period, which corresponds to a range of blunting of an input drive current, among the plurality of divided periods” (Figure 11 (Notice that the light emission period t43 is lengthened of the driven pixel during divided period OF2 which corresponds to a range in which drive current blunts among divided periods OF.))
Regarding Claim 2, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Kubota discloses “wherein the light emission period of each divided period is adjusted to be lengthened stepwise from a first divided period to a last divided period among the plurality of divided periods” (Figure 11 (Notice that light emission period of each of plural divided periods OF1 and OF2 is adjusted to be lengthened in a stepwise manner from first divided period OF1 to last divided period OF2 among the plurality of divided periods OF.)).
Regarding Claim 3, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Kubota discloses “wherein the divided period is shorter than response-capable period of human eyes” (Paragraph [0056], Lines 1 – 8 (Notice that the divided period OF for a frame rate of 30 Hz is 240 Hz, where 240 Hz provides a divided period than the response-capable period of human eyes.)).
Regarding Claim 4, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Kubota discloses “wherein the length of the light emission period of the pixel in the divided period is adjusted in a case where a frame rate of the video is low” (Figure 11 and Paragraph [0056], Line 1 - 8 (Notice that the length of the emission period t41 in the divided period OF1 is adjusted in case where frame FF is a low rate of 30 Hz.)).
Regarding Claim 5, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 4). In addition, Kubota discloses “wherein the case where the frame rate of the video is low is a case where the frame rate is 30 Hz or less” (Paragraph [0056], Line 1 – 8 (Notice the Claim 5 is met with respect to the alternative “or” condition of being 30 Hz.)).
Regarding Claim 6, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Kubota discloses “wherein the light emission period in a first divided period among the plurality of divided periods is lengthened” (Figure 11 (Notice that light emission period t43 of first divided period OF2 of plural OF’s is lengthen in comparison to OF8.)).
Regarding Claim 7, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Kubota discloses “wherein the light emission period in a first divided period among the plurality of divided periods is shortened” (Figure 11 (Notice that light emission period t41 of first divided period OF1 of plural OF’s is shortened in comparison to OF2.)).
Regarding Claim 8, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Kubota discloses “wherein the light emission period of the pixel in a divided period, which corresponds to a range of a peak of a drive current input to the pixel, among the plurality of divided periods is shortened” (Figure 11 (Notice that light emission period t41 of driven pixel in divided period OF1, corresponding to peak in drive current at frame FF beginning, is shortened compared to other divided periods OF.)).
Regarding Claim 9, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Kubota discloses “wherein the light emission period of the pixel in a divided period, which corresponds to a range of blunting of a drive current input to the pixel, among the plurality of divided periods is lengthened” (Figure 11 (Notice that light emission period t43 of driven pixel in divided period OF2, corresponding a blunting in drive current at frame FF past the beginning, is lengthened compared to other divided periods OF.)).
Regarding Claim 10, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition Kubota discloses “wherein the light emission period of each divided period is adjusted to be lengthened stepwise from a first divided period to a last divided period among the plurality of divided periods” (Figure 11 (Notice the light emission period t41 is adjusted to be lengthened stepwise from a first divided period OF1 to t43 at a las divided period OF2.)), “and an amount of change in the length of the light emission period from the first divided period to the second divided period is adjusted to be larger than an amount of change in the length of the light emission period from the second divided period to a third divided period” (Figure 11 Notice that the amount of change in the length of t41 to t43 is larger than an amount of change from t43 (second divided period) to t44 (third divided period.)).
Regarding Claim 11, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition Kubota discloses “wherein the light emission period in each divided period is adjusted to be lengthened stepwise from a second divided period to a last divided period among the plurality of divided periods” (Figure 11 (Notice that light emission period t44 is adjusted to be lengthened stepwise from a second divided period OF3 to t45 at a last divided period OF4.)), “and the light emission period in a first divided period among the plurality of divided periods is adjusted to be longer than or equal to the light emission period in the second divided period” (Figure 11 (Notice that light emission period t43 (first divided period OF2) is adjusted to be equal to the light emission period t44 in OF3 to meet Claim 11 in the alternative “or” condition.)).
Regarding Claim 12, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Kubota discloses “wherein the length of the light emission period of the pixel is adjusted by switching between the light emission and the non-light emission of the pixel” (Figure 11 (Notice the length of light emission of the driven pixel is adjusted by switching between on and off of the driven pixel with emission times ‘t’ and non-emission times ‘Nt’ for the leftmost frame FF.))
Regarding Claim 13, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). Specifically, refer back to the argument regarding Kubota providing for the device of Claim 1 and notice that the device of Claim 1 performs the method of Claim 13.
Regarding Claim 14, Kubota discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Kubota discloses “An electronic apparatus comprising the display device according to claim 1” (Figure 1, Item 10 ‘display apparatuses, and Paragraph [0021], Lines 1 – 3 (Refer back the argument regarding Claim 1 and notice that the display apparatus 10 provides an electronic apparatus that comprises the display device 30.))
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN M BUTCHER whose telephone number is (571)270-5575. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday from 6:30 AM to 3:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Ke Xiao, can be reached at (571) 272 - 7776. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRIAN M BUTCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627
June 26, 2026
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