DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
SUMMARY
2. The patent application submitted on April 24, 2025, has been received and recorded. There are 1-20 claims in the application of which claims 1, 10, and 18 are independent claims. Therefore, claims 1-20 are pending for consideration.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement(IDS) submitted on September 12, 2025 was filed after the mailing date of the patent application on April 24, 2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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.
5. Claims 1 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al.(US 2013/0335343 A1)(herein after Lee).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a display device(display device with an integrated in-cell type touch screen, Para-3) comprising:
a touch panel(touch screen 110, fig.2, Para-37) comprising first touch electrodes(driving electrodes 112, or sensing electrodes 114) arranged in a first direction(horizontal or vertical direction), and second touch electrodes(sensing electrodes 114, or driving electrodes 112) arranged in a second direction (vertical or horizontal direction) crossing the first direction (fig.2, Para 36-42); and
a touch panel driver(touch IC 300, fig.2, Para-49) configured to provide touch-driving signals to the first touch electrodes(driving electrodes 112, fig.2, Para-45), and to receive touch-sensing signals corresponding to the touch-driving signals from the second touch electrodes(sensing electrodes 114, fig.2, Para-45),
wherein the second touch electrodes(114) and the first touch electrodes(112) are configured to receive a same voltage(Para-45: when the panel 100 operates in the display driving mode, the display drive IC 200 may apply a common voltage Vcom to the driving electrodes 112 and the sensing electrodes 114) in a non-touch section(examiner interprets in a way that both electrodes 112 and 114 are connected to touch IC through driving electrode lines 1122 and sensing electrode lines 1142 run through non-touch area, bezel area. As common voltage Vcom is applied to both electrodes 112 and 114 via 1122 and 1142 respectively, therefore same voltage Vcom is applied in non-touch area through 1122 and 1142).
Regarding claim 18, Lee teaches an electronic device(display device with an integrated in-cell type touch screen, Para-3) comprising:
a processor(display driver IC 200, fig.2) to provide input image data(Para-46); and
a display device(display device with integrated touch screen) to display an image based on the input image data(fig.2, Para-46), the display device comprising:
a touch panel(touch screen 110, fig.2, Para-37) comprising first touch electrodes(driving electrodes 112, or sensing electrodes 114) arranged in a first direction(horizontal or vertical direction), and second touch electrodes(sensing electrodes 114, or driving electrodes 112) arranged in a second direction (vertical or horizontal direction) crossing the first direction (fig.2, Para 36-42); and
a touch panel driver(touch IC 300, fig.2, Para-49) configured to provide touch-driving signals to the first touch electrodes(driving electrodes 112, fig.2, Para-45), and to receive touch-sensing signals corresponding to the touch-driving signals from the second touch electrodes(sensing electrodes 114, fig.2, Para-45),
wherein the second touch electrodes(114) and the first touch electrodes(112) are configured to receive a same voltage(Para-45: when the panel 100 operates in the display driving mode, the display drive IC 200 may apply a common voltage Vcom to the driving electrodes 112 and the sensing electrodes 114) in a non-touch section(examiner interprets in a way that both electrodes 112 and 114 are connected to touch IC through driving electrode lines 1122 and sensing electrode lines 1142 run through non-touch area, bezel area. As common voltage Vcom is applied to both electrodes 112 and 114 via 1122 and 1142 respectively, therefore same voltage Vcom is applied in non-touch area through 1122 and 1142).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
8. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
9. Claims 2-4, 9-12, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al.(US 2013/0335343 A1) in view of Kawaguchi et al.(US 2013/0194230 A1)(herein after Kawaguchi).
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches the display device of claim 1, wherein the touch panel driver(display driver IC 200, touch IC 300, fig.2) is configured [to operate in a first mode when an amount of change in capacitance between the first touch electrodes and the second touch electrodes is less than a reference amount of change, to operate in a second mode when the amount of the change in the capacitance is equal to or greater than the reference amount of the change, and] to apply the same voltage to the second touch electrodes and to the first touch electrodes in the non-touch section of the second mode(Para-45)(display driving mode session).
Nevertheless, Lee is not found to teach expressly the display device, wherein the touch panel driver is configured to operate in a first mode when an amount of change in capacitance between the first touch electrodes and the second touch electrodes is less than a reference amount of change, to operate in a second mode when the amount of the change in the capacitance is equal to or greater than the reference amount of the change.
However, Kawaguchi teaches an electronic device,
wherein the touch panel driver(processing device) configured to operate in a first mode(touch state) when an amount of change in capacitance between the first touch electrodes and the second touch electrodes is less than a reference amount of change(ST 102, NO, ST103-ST105, fig.41, Para-265, 266), and to operate in a second mode(push state, Para-267) when the amount of the change in the capacitance is equal to or greater than the reference amount of the change(ST102, YES, ST106, fig.41).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the application, to have modified Lee with the teaching of Kawaguchi to include the feature in order to provide an electronic apparatus that have a simple configuration and are capable of detecting not only a touch operation of an operating element and but also a push operation.
Regarding claim 3, Lee as modified by Kawaguchi teaches the display device of claim 2, wherein the touch panel driver (driver 310, touch IC 300, fig.3, Lee) is configured to apply a reference voltage to the second touch electrodes in the touch section of the second mode and in the first mode(fig.8, Para-45, 86, Lee).
Regarding claim 4, Lee as modified by Kawaguchi teaches the display device of claim 3, wherein the first touch electrodes are configured to receive a ground voltage in the non-touch section(Para-86, Lee).
Regarding claim 9, Lee as modified by Kawaguchi teaches the display device of claim 2, wherein the touch panel driver is configured to apply a reference voltage to the second touch electrodes and to the first touch electrodes in the non-touch section of the second mode(Para-86, Lee).
Claim 10 is rejected for the same reason as mentioned in the rejection of claim 2, since both claims 2 and 10 recite identical claim limitations except claims are presented in different formats.
Claim 11 is rejected for the same reason as mentioned in the rejection of claims 2 and 3, since claim 11 recites limitations in different formats and in a broader way as presented in claims 2 and 3.
Claim 12 is rejected for the same reason as mentioned in the rejection of claim 4, since both claims 4 and 12 recite identical claim limitations except different formats.
Claim 17 is rejected for the same reason as mentioned in the rejection of claims 2 and 4, since claim 17 recites limitations in different formats and in a broader way as presented in claims 2 and 4(ground voltage is regarded as reference voltage).
10. Claims 5-7 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al.(US 2013/0335343 A1) in view of Kawaguchi et al.(US 2013/0194230 A1) and further in view of Chen et al.(US 2018/0314356 A1)(herein after Chen).
Regarding claim 5, Lee as modified by Kawaguchi teaches the display device of claim 4, wherein the touch panel driver comprises a signal receiver(sensing unit 320, fig.4, Para-68, Lee), the signal receiver comprising:
an amplifier(operational amplifier 322, fig.4, Para-68, Lee) comprising a first input terminal(inverting input terminal, Para-72), a second input terminal(non-inverting input terminal, Para-72), and an output terminal(output terminal, fig.4, Para-72) connected to at least one of the second touch electrodes (sensing electrode 114);
Nevertheless, Lee as modified by Kawaguchi is not found to teach expressly the display device comprising: a first switch comprising a first terminal connected to the first input terminal of the amplifier, and a second terminal connected to the output terminal of the amplifier; and a capacitor comprising a first electrode connected to the first input terminal of the amplifier, and a second electrode connected to the output terminal of the amplifier, and wherein the second input terminal of the amplifier is configured to selectively receive one of the ground voltage or the reference voltage.
However, Chen teaches a display device for sensing a stylus, comprises:
a signal receiver(touch sensing unit 20, fig.1, Para-25), the signal receiver comprising:
an amplifier(223, fig.4B, Para-29) comprising a first input terminal(“-“ terminal), a second input terminal(“+” terminal), and an output terminal(O/P) connected to at least one of the second touch electrodes(fig.4B);
a first switch(second switch Sfb, fig.4B, Para-29) comprising a first terminal connected to the first input terminal of the amplifier(“-“, fig.4B), and a second terminal connected to the output terminal(O/P) of the amplifier(223); and
a capacitor(capacitor Cfb, fig.4B, Para-29) comprising a first electrode connected to the first input terminal(“-“, fig.4B) of the amplifier(223), and a second electrode connected to the output terminal(O/P) of the amplifier(223), and wherein the second input terminal(“+“, fig.4B) of the amplifier(223) is configured to selectively(multiplexer 222) receive one of the ground voltage(ground, Para-29) or the reference voltage (Vcom).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the application, to have modified Lee further with the teaching of Chen to include the feature in order to improve touch accuracy of a sensing touch object.
Regarding claim 6, Lee as modified by Kawaguchi and Chen teaches the display device of claim 5, wherein the touch panel driver is configured to apply the ground voltage to the second input terminal of the amplifier in the non-touch section of the second mode, and to apply the reference voltage to the second input terminal of the amplifier in the touch section of the second mode and in the first mode(Lee as modified by Kawaguchi teaches the first and second different mode with applied reference voltage and Chen uses the multiplexer to apply two different voltages at two different time, therefore their combined teaching would teach the claim limitations as mentioned in claim 6) (see also the rejection of claims 2-5 above).
Regarding claim 7, [Lee as modified by Kawaguchi and] Chen teaches the display device of claim 4, wherein the touch panel driver comprises a signal receiver(20, 22, figs.1,2B, 4B), the signal receiver comprising:
an amplifier(223) comprising a first input terminal(“-“), a second input terminal(“+”), and an output terminal(O/P) connected to at least one of the second touch electrodes(C23) (Lee also discloses amplifier with three terminals and first input terminal “-“ connected to one of the second electrode 114, figs.4 &6), or configured to receive the ground voltage;
a first switch(second switch Sfb, fig.4B, Para-29) comprising a first terminal connected to the first input terminal(“-“) of the amplifier, and a second terminal connected to the output (O/P) terminal of the amplifier(223); and
a capacitor(capacitor Cfb, fig.4B, Para-29) comprising a first electrode connected to the first input terminal(“-“) of the amplifier(223), and a second electrode connected to the output terminal(O/P) of the amplifier(223)(for motivation, see the rejection of claim 5 above).
Claim 13 is rejected for the same reason as mentioned in the rejection of claim 5, since both claims 5 and 13 recite identical claim limitations except different formats.
Regarding claim 14, Lee as modified by Kawaguchi and Chen teaches the method for driving the display device of claim 13, further comprising:
applying the ground voltage(ground, fig.2B, Para-29, Chen) to the second input terminal(+) of the amplifier(amplifier 223, fig.2B, Para-29, Chen) in the non-touch section when the amount of the change of the capacitance is equal to or greater than the reference amount of the change(ST102, YES, ST106, fig.41, Para-267, Kawaguchi),
applying the reference voltage(common voltage Vcom, fig.2B, Para-29, Kawaguchi) to the second input terminal(+) of the amplifier(amplifier 223, fig.2B, Para-29, Chen) in the touch section when the amount of the change of the capacitance is equal to or greater than the reference amount of the change (ST102, YES, ST106, fig.41, Para-267, Kawaguchi), and
applying the reference voltage(common voltage Vcom, fig.2B, Para-29, Kawaguchi) to the second input terminal(+) of the amplifier(amplifier 223, fig.2B, Para-29, Chen) when the amount of the change of the capacitance is less than the reference amount of the change(ST 102, NO, ST103-ST105, fig.41, Para-265, 266, Kawaguchi)(for motivation, see the rejection of claims 2&5).
Claim 15 is rejected for the same reason as mentioned in the rejection of claim 7, since both claims 7 and 15 recite identical claim limitations except different formats.
11. Claims 8 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al.(US 2013/0335343 A1), Kawaguchi et al. (US 2013/0194230 A1), Chen et al.(US 2018/0314356 A1) and further in view of Chan et al.(US 2012/0169657 A1)(herein after Chan).
Regarding claim 8, Lee as modified by Kawaguchi and Chen is not found to teach expressly the display device of claim 7, wherein the touch panel driver is configured to apply the ground voltage to the first input terminal of the amplifier in the non-touch section of the second mode, and to connect the first input terminal of the amplifier to the at least one of the second touch electrodes in the touch section of the second mode and in the first mode.
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Fig.8(Claim invention) fig.2(Prior Art)
However, Chan teaches a touch sensing apparatus, wherein the touch panel driver(logic control module 10, driving/sensing control module 30, fig.1, Para-17, 19) is configured to apply the ground voltage(fig.2) to the first input terminal(it is obvious that buffer/amplifier has negative terminal and positive terminal and first terminal is regarded as negative terminal) of the amplifier(buffer A1, fig.2, Para-28) in the non-touch section of the second mode(Para-30)(SW1 and SW3 are open and SW2 closed), and to connect the first input terminal of the amplifier(buffer A1) to the at least one of the second touch electrodes(S11) in the touch section of the second mode and in the first mode(Para-30: After the analog data is stored in the storage capacitor C1, the logic control module 10 controls the storage switch SW3 to be deactivated (i.e. in open state) and controls the ground switch SW2 to be activated (i.e. in closed state), so that the conductive thin film sensor 100 executes the discharge process, releasing the residual charge of the conductive thin film sensor 100. When the discharge process is completed, the logic control module 10 controls the sensing switch SW1 to be deactivated).
Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the application, to have modified Lee further with the teaching of Chan to include the feature in order to provide a mutual capacitance touch sensing apparatus capable of sensing a plurality of data from a conductive thin film sensor simultaneously and avoiding noise of a liquid crystal panel from influencing the sensing data.
Regarding claim 16, Lee as modified by Kawaguchi, Chen and Chan teaches the method for driving the display device of claim 15, further comprising:
applying the ground voltage(fig.2, Chan) to the first input terminal(it is obvious that buffer/amplifier has negative terminal and positive terminal and first terminal is regarded as inverted terminal) of the amplifier(buffer A1, fig.2, Para-29, Chan) in the non-touch section, and connecting the first input terminal of the amplifier to the at least one of the second touch electrodes(S11, fig.2, Para-29, Chan), in the touch section when the amount of the change in the capacitance is equal to or greater than the reference amount of the change (ST102, YES, ST106, fig.41, Para-267, Kawaguchi), and
connecting the first input terminal of the amplifier(it is obvious that buffer/amplifier has negative terminal and positive terminal and first terminal is regarded as inverted terminal) to the at least one of the second touch electrodes(S11) in the touch section when the amount of the change in the capacitance is less than the reference amount of the change(ST 102, NO, ST103-ST105, fig.41, Para-265, 266, Kawaguchi)(for motivation, see the rejection of claims 2&58 above).
Examiner Note
12. The Examiner cites particular figures, paragraphs, columns and line numbers in the references, as applied to the claims above. Although the particular citations are representative teachings and are applied to specific limitations within the claims, other passages, internally cited references, and figures may also apply. In preparing a response, it is respectfully requested that the Applicant fully consider the references, in their entirety, as potentially disclosing or teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as fully consider the context of the passage as taught by the references or as disclosed by the Examiner.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MD SAIFUL A SIDDIQUI whose telephone number is (571)270-1530. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 9:00AM - 5:30PM.
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/MD SAIFUL A SIDDIQUI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621