DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Application
1. Claims 1 – 20 are pending and are under examination in this action.
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Specification
3. The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: in paragraphs [0014] and [0023], the “high power voltage having a relatively low power voltage level” language should be amended to state “high power voltage having a relatively high power voltage level”.
Appropriate correction is required in order to be consistent with the disclosure in paragraphs [0018], [0056], and [0094].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. 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.
5. Claims 1 – 20 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 regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1, 8, 13, 17, and 20, the terms “relatively” are relative terms which render the claims indefinite. The term “relatively”, with regard to both “low power voltage level” and “high power voltage level”, are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
It is recommended that Applicant remove the term “relatively” from the claims.
Regarding claims 8 and 17, the recitation of “a high power voltage having a relatively low power voltage level” lacks proper antecedent basis, is self-contradictory, and is also inconsistent with the specification as originally filed.
First, the recitation of “a relatively low power voltage level” is previously recited in parent claims 1 and 13, respectively.
Second, it is unclear how a “high power voltage” can be a relatively “low power voltage”. This is self-contradictory.
Third, the body of the specification clearly identifies the low power voltage as ELVSS and the high power voltage as ELVDD. It is unclear how ELVDD can have a “relatively low power” when it is in fact a high power voltage.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 1 – 20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action.
Pertinent Prior Art
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon which is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure includes: Lim et al. (U.S. Pub. 2016/0042694), Liu et al. (U.S. Pub. 2023/0206834), Xu (U.S. Pub. 2019/03362674), Charisoulis et al. (U.S. Pub. 2025/0292722), Kim et al. (U.S. Pub. 2021/0049958), In et al. (U.S. Pub. 2017/0140697), Huang (U.S. Patent 11,978,393), Okabe et al. (U.S. Pub. 2021/0343238), and Park et al. (U.S. Pub.2023/0010212).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN A LUBIT whose telephone number is (571)270-3389. The examiner can normally be reached M - F, ~6am - 3pm.
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/RYAN A LUBIT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2626
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