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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jung et al. (US 2017/0285771).
As to claims 1, 8 and 15, Jung discloses an input device (Fig. 10, (20) and method for capacitive sensing [0004, 0005] comprising a display (Fig. 10, (10)configured to display frames [0063] according to vertical synchronization (Vsync) signal [0071], a touch sensor having a sensing region (Fig. 11, (TSP)[0056], comprising :a plurality of sensor electrodes (Fig. 12, (Cm)[0056, 0057]; and a touch controller (Fig. 12, (16) configured to: drive a first subset of the plurality of sensor electrodes (Fig. 12, (Tx) for sensing in a plurality of sequences [0057]comprising: a default sequence comprising a first sensing mode [0098] (in-phase) and a second sensing mode [0098](out-of-phase), wherein the first sensing mode precedes the second sensing mode[0098](“ When the palm touches only the touch screen TSP, the uplink signal of the touch screen TSP is received in in-phase by the pen 20. That is, the in-phase uplink signal of the touch screen TSP is received in in-phase by the pen 20, and the out-of-phase uplink signal of the touch screen TSP is received in out-of-phase by the pen 20”); a modified sequence comprising the first sensing mode and the second sensing mode, wherein the second sensing mode precedes the first sensing mode [0098](“when the palm touches the external case (system ground) of the touch sensing system, as well as the touch screen TSP, the uplink signal of the touch screen TSP is received in the opposite phase by the pen 20. That is, the in-phase uplink signal of the touch screen TSP is received in out-of-phase by the pen 20, and the out-of-phase uplink signal of the touch screen TSP is received in in-phase by the pen 20”); monitor timing of a vertical synchronization (Vsync) signal [0070, 0071, 0097]; determine that communication with a system component interferes with one of the first sensing mode or the second sensing mode based on the timing of the Vsync signal; drive the sensor electrodes in the modified sequence based on the determination that the communication with the system component interferes with one of the first sensing mode or the second sensing mode [0097-0099]; and receive resulting signals from a second subset of the plurality of sensor electrodes (Fig. 12, (Rx)[0057, 0098].
As to claims 3 and 10, further, Jung discloses the system component comprises an active pen (Fig. 10, (20).
As to claims 6, 13 and 19, further, Jung discloses determine that the communication with the system component does not interfere with one of the first sensing mode or the second sensing mode [0097-0099] based on the timing of the Vsync signal [0070, 0071, 0097] and drive the sensor electrodes in the default sequence(Fig. 12, (Rx)[0057, 0098].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 2, 9 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. (US 2017/0285771) in view of Kim et al. (US 2025/0208732).
As to claims 2, 9 and 16, Jung, further, does not specifically disclose the first sensing mode includes a transcapacitive sensing signal and the second sensing mode includes an absolute capacitive sensing signal.
Kim discloses the first sensing mode (Fig. 8, (S210) includes a transcapacitive sensing signal [0204] (transcapacitance is the same as mutual capacitance) and the second sensing mode (Fig. 8, (S220) includes an absolute capacitive sensing signal [0204(absolute capacitance is the same as self-capacitance]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have the transcapacitance and absolute capacitance, as taught by Kim, in the device of Jung, since it is possible to efficiently perform a display driving, a contact touch sensing, and a hover touch sensing in terms of driving time, thereby enabling low-power driving [0040].
Claim(s) 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. (US 2017/0285771) in view of Cai et al. (US 2025/0285602).
As to claims 4, 11 and 17, Jung, further, does not specifically disclose the touch controller monitors the timing of the Vsync signal with a thread.
Cai discloses the touch controller (Fig.1, (180K, 110)[0053] monitors the timing of the Vsync signal with a thread [0147]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have the thread, as taught by Cai, in the device of Jung, so that performance of the device is improved [0017].
As to claims 5, 12 and 18, Jung, further, does not specifically disclose the touch controller further monitors the Vsync signal with a timestamp.
Cai discloses, further, the touch controller further monitors the Vsync signal with a timestamp [0147]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have the timestamp, as taught by Cai, in the device of Jung, so that resources are saved and the performance of the device is improved [0017].
As to claims 7, 14 and 20, Jung, further, does not specifically disclose the timing of the Vsync signal is variable over time.
Cai discloses the timing of the Vsync signal is variable over time [00154, 00163]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have the Vsync variable over time, as taught by Cai, in the device of Jung, thus achieving the adjustment of the application refresh rate [0154], and so that the purpose of reducing power consumption is realized [0163].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al. (US 11,861,105) discloses a touch controller (Fig. 3, (102) comprising a driving method of the touch apparatus comprising in a first section, the touch apparatus 10 is driven in a first mode (S10). The first mode is a mode in which a driving signal for detection of a touch input by a touch object other than the stylus pen 20 is applied to the touch panel 100 (col. 11, lines 49-52), and In a first sub-section of a second section, the touch apparatus 10 is driven in a second mode (S12). The second mode is a mode in which a driving signal for detecting a touch input by the stylus pen 20 is applied to the touch panel 100 (col. 12, lines 14-17).
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/RICARDO OSORIO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625