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 .
Claims 1-7 are pending and prosecuted.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities:
3. The display device according to claim 2, further comprising: a first storage circuit in which information, indicating to which of the first gate line group, the second gate line group, and the third gate line group at least part of the plurality of gate lines belong, is stored in association with the detected temperature, wherein the control circuit refers to the information based on the detected temperature, and sets the at least part of the plurality of gate lines to belong to any of the first gate line group, the second gate line group, and the third gate line group.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, 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.
Claim 4 recites, “wherein the control circuit sets the third gate line group based on a detection result from the line-of-sight sensor such that the third gate line group includes the gate line corresponding to a position viewed by the user”. Where it is unclear what “sets” is referring to in this statement, as “sets” was previously used in dependent claim 2 to refer to “sets the setting number for the third gate line group” and it is unclear if the term “sets” is referring to the “setting number” or something else, thus rendering the claim indefinite.
Upon review of the specification and the drawings, the examiner believes that Claim 4 should recite the following:
The display device according to claim [[2]] 3, further comprising: a line-of-sight sensor that detects a line of sight of a user, wherein the control circuit sets the at least part of the plurality of gate lines to belong to the third gate line group based on a detection result from the line-of-sight sensor such that the third gate line group includes the gate line corresponding to a position viewed by the user.
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, 5, and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshii et al., JP 2004-163828, henceforth known as Yoshii, in further view of Sawano, US Patent Publication 2021/0325259.
Regarding Claim 1. Yoshi discloses a display device (Abstract; a liquid crystal display device) comprising:
a display panel including a plurality of pixel electrodes disposed in a matrix shape and a liquid crystal layer that is driven in response to a voltage applied to the plurality of pixel electrodes (Abstract; Figure 1 and 3; [0004]; [0034]; an active matrix liquid crystal display panel 1 comprising of a plurality of pixels (inherently comprising of a pixel electrode) that are supplied with image information where an electric charge is stored by applying an electric field to the liquid crystal);
a backlight configured to irradiate the display panel with light during a lighting period which is part of a period in one cycle of a vertical synchronization signal (Figure 1 and 3; [0034-0036]; a direct-type backlight source 3 disposed on the back of the liquid panel 1 and a light source drive unit 5 that intermittently drives the backlight light source 3 to be turned off / on within one vertical period. The light source driving unit 5 controls the timing of turning on / off the backlight light source 3 based on the vertical synchronization signal extracted by the synchronization signal extraction unit 4.);
a plurality of transistors connected to the plurality of pixel electrodes ([0004]; [0006]; [0034]; the active matrix LCD panel comprising of a plurality of TFT switches is provided for each dot of a liquid crystal display, and is inherently connected to the pixel electrodes);
a plurality of gate lines connected to the plurality of transistors ([0004]; [0006]; [0034]; a plurality of scanning electrode lines that are connected to the TFTs);
a gate drive circuit configured to supply gate signals to the plurality of gate lines ([0004]; [0006]; [0034]; an electrode driver 2 that drives the scanning electrodes of the liquid crystal display panel 1);
a control circuit configured to control the gate drive circuit to transmit the gate signals from the gate drive circuit to the plurality of gate lines during a light-out period which is a period other than the lighting period in one cycle of the vertical synchronization signal (Figure 2; [0035-0039]; a CPU 9 and a frame frequency conversion 6 converting the frame frequency of the input image signal to a high frequency and outputting it to the electrode driving unit 2. As seen in Figure 2, the scanning signals are supplied during a “light-out period” which is a period different from the backlight lighting period indicated by the hatched portion in the drawing); and
a temperature sensor, wherein the control circuit sets the number of gate lines supplied with the gate signals from the gate drive circuit in one cycle of a horizontal synchronization signal in a case that a temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than a first threshold temperature (Figure 1 and 3-9; [0039-0045]; a temperature detection unit 7 that detects the temperature inside the display device, where the frame frequency conversion 6 converts the frame frequency of the input image signal to a predetermined frequency in accordance with the temperature. When the temperature is high (20°C. or higher), the frame frequency is converted to be 240Hz. When the temperature is slightly low, 10 to 20°C, the frame frequency conversion controls the frame frequency to be 360Hz, when it is even lower (10°C) it is converted to 480hz).
However, Yoshi doesn’t explicitly teach a temperature sensor, wherein the control circuit sets a setting number, which is the number of gate lines supplied with the gate signals from the gate drive circuit in one cycle of a horizontal synchronization signal, to a first number that is greater than one in a case that a temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than a first threshold temperature.
Sawano, US Patent Publication 2021/0325259, teaches a control unit that sets a flag at a value of 0 or 1, based on whether a detected temperature is lower or higher than a temperature threshold value ([0085];). Where the control unit determines whether or not to start a function based on the value of the flag set ([0087];).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the disclosure of Yoshi to further include the teachings of Sawan such that when the temperature is determined to be high (20°C. or higher), slightly low, 10 to 20°C, or even lower (10°C), a flag with a different value is set to indicate which temperature was determined in order to provide a temperature sensor, wherein the control circuit sets a setting number, which is the number of gate lines supplied with the gate signals from the gate drive circuit in one cycle of a horizontal synchronization signal, to a first number that is greater than one in a case that a temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than a first threshold temperature. The motivation to combine these arts is because Sawano teaches setting flags based on detected temperature ([0085];)
Regarding Claim 5, The combination of Yoshii and Sawan doesn’t explicitly teach wherein the control circuit sets the setting number to a third number that is greater than the first number in a case that the detected temperature is lower than a second threshold temperature that is lower than the first threshold temperature.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combinational disclosure of Yoshii and Sawan to further include the teachings of Sawan such that a value for a flag set when the temperature is even lower (10°C) is higher than the value set for the flag when the temperature is slightly low, 10 to 20°C in order to provide wherein the control circuit sets the setting number to a third number that is greater than the first number in a case that the detected temperature is lower than a second threshold temperature that is lower than the first threshold temperature. The motivation to combine these arts is because Sawano teaches setting flags based on detected temperature ([0085];).
Regarding Claim 7, Yoshi discloses a control method of a display device (Abstract; a liquid crystal display device that performs the method of) including
a display panel including a plurality of pixel electrodes disposed in a matrix shape and a liquid crystal layer that is driven in response to a voltage applied to the plurality of pixel electrodes (Abstract; Figure 1 and 3; [0004]; [0034]; an active matrix liquid crystal display panel 1 comprising of a plurality of pixels (inherently comprising of a pixel electrode) that are supplied with image information where an electric charge is stored by applying an electric field to the liquid crystal),
a backlight configured to irradiate the display panel with light during a lighting period which is part of a period in one cycle of a vertical synchronization signal(Figure 1 and 3; [0034-0036]; a direct-type backlight source 3 disposed on the back of the liquid panel 1 and a light source drive unit 5 that intermittently drives the backlight light source 3 to be turned off / on within one vertical period. The light source driving unit 5 controls the timing of turning on / off the backlight light source 3 based on the vertical synchronization signal extracted by the synchronization signal extraction unit 4.),
a plurality of transistors connected to the plurality of pixel electrodes([0004]; [0006]; [0034]; the active matrix LCD panel comprising of a plurality of TFT switches is provided for each dot of a liquid crystal display, and is inherently connected to the pixel electrodes),
a plurality of gate lines connected to the plurality of transistors([0004]; [0006]; [0034]; a plurality of scanning electrode lines that are connected to the TFTs);
a gate drive circuit configured to supply gate signals to the plurality of gate lines ([0004]; [0006]; [0034]; an electrode driver 2 that drives the scanning electrodes of the liquid crystal display panel 1),
a control circuit configured to control the gate drive circuit to transmit the gate signals from the gate drive circuit to the plurality of gate lines during a light-out period which is a period other than the lighting period in one cycle of the vertical synchronization signal (Figure 2; [0035-0039]; a CPU 9 and a frame frequency conversion 6 converting the frame frequency of the input image signal to a high frequency and outputting it to the electrode driving unit 2. As seen in Figure 2, the scanning signals are supplied during a “light-out period” which is a period different from the backlight lighting period indicated by the hatched portion in the drawing), and
a temperature sensor (Figure 1 and 3-9; [0039-0045]; a temperature detection unit 7), the method comprising:
acquiring a temperature detected by the temperature sensor; and setting the number of gate lines supplied with the gate signals from the gate drive circuit in one cycle of a horizontal synchronization signal in a case that the detected temperature is lower than a first threshold temperature (Figure 1 and 3-9; [0039-0045]; a temperature detection unit 7 that detects the temperature inside the display device, where the frame frequency conversion 6 converts the frame frequency of the input image signal to a predetermined frequency in accordance with the temperature. When the temperature is high (20°C. or higher), the frame frequency is converted to be 240Hz. When the temperature is slightly low, 10 to 20°C, the frame frequency conversion controls the frame frequency to be 360Hz, when it is even lower (10°C) it is converted to 480hz).
However, Yoshii doesn’t explicitly disclose setting a setting number, which is the number of gate lines supplied with the gate signals from the gate drive circuit in one cycle of a horizontal synchronization signal, to a first number that is greater than one in a case that the detected temperature is lower than a first threshold temperature.
Sawano, US Patent Publication 2021/0325259, teaches a control unit that sets a flag at a value of 0 or 1, based on whether a detected temperature is lower or higher than a temperature threshold value ([0085];). Where the control unit determines whether or not to start a function based on the value of the flag set ([0087];).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the disclosure of Yoshi to further include the teachings of Sawan such that when the temperature is determined to be high (20°C. or higher), slightly low, 10 to 20°C, or even lower (10°C), a flag with a different value is set to indicate which temperature was determined in order to provide a setting a setting number, which is the number of gate lines supplied with the gate signals from the gate drive circuit in one cycle of a horizontal synchronization signal, to a first number that is greater than one in a case that the detected temperature is lower than a first threshold temperature. The motivation to combine these arts is because Sawano teaches setting flags based on detected temperature ([0085];).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshii et al., JP 2004-163828, henceforth known as Yoshii, in further view of Sawano, US Patent Publication 2021/0325259, in further view of Muramatsu, US Patent Publication 2007/0275272
Regarding Claim 6, The combination of Yoshii and Sawan doesn’t explicitly teach further comprising: a second storage circuit in which a number is stored in association with the detected temperature, wherein the control circuit refers to the second storage circuit based on the detected temperature, and sets the number read from the second storage circuit as the setting number.
However, Muramatsu teaches that a memory stores flags ([0073];).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the combinational disclosure of Yoshii and Sawan to further include the teachings of Muramatsu in order to provide a second storage circuit in which a number is stored in association with the detected temperature, wherein the control circuit refers to the second storage circuit based on the detected temperature, and sets the number read from the second storage circuit as the setting number. The motivation to combine these arts is because Muramatsu teaches the use of a memory for storing flags ([0073];)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, and 3 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following claim is drafted by the examiner and considered to distinguish patentably over the art of record in this application, Claim 8 is presented to applicant for consideration:
8. (New) A display device comprising:
a display panel including a plurality of pixel electrodes disposed in a matrix shape and a liquid crystal layer that is driven in response to a voltage applied to the plurality of pixel electrodes;
a backlight configured to irradiate the display panel with light during a lighting period which is part of a period in one cycle of a vertical synchronization signal; a plurality of transistors connected to the plurality of pixel electrodes;
a plurality of gate lines connected to the plurality of transistors;
a gate drive circuit configured to supply gate signals to the plurality of gate lines;
a control circuit configured to control the gate drive circuit to transmit the gate signals from the gate drive circuit to the plurality of gate lines during a light-out period which is a period other than the lighting period in one cycle of the vertical synchronization signal; and
a temperature sensor, wherein the control circuit sets a setting number, which is the number of gate lines supplied with the gate signals from the gate drive circuit in one cycle of a horizontal synchronization signal, to a first number that is greater than one in a case that a temperature detected by the temperature sensor is lower than a first threshold temperature,
a line-of-sight sensor that detects a line of sight of a user,
wherein the control circuit sets a part of the plurality of gate lines to have the setting number based on a detection result from the line-of-sight sensor such that the part of the plurality of gate lines includes the gate line corresponding to a position viewed by the user.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICK F MARINELLI whose telephone number is (571)270-3383. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday: 8:00AM - 5:00PM PST.
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/PATRICK F MARINELLI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2699