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 § 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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hansen (US 2020/0134279) in view of Shahparnia et al. (US 2016/0162102) further considered with Dinh (US 2006/0217915).
In regard to claim 20, Hansen teaches a method of using a device or a system comprising a sensor comprising a pixel matrix having two or more pixel arrays as separate segments logically divided in the pixel matrix, wherein the pixel matrix is a single and continuous pixel matrix (elements 2 in figs. 1 and 2. Hansen shows a pixel matrix two which is single and continuous that is logically divided by the 2 front end ASIC units), comprising steps of: detecting a presence of an object having a biometric pattern on the sensor (paragraph 21, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor) but does not teach performing a coarse scan by scanning a fraction of pixels in a pixel array to determine a contact boundary between the object and the sensor; and performing a detailed scan selectively within the contact boundary to provide image data of the pattern, wherein each pixel array comprises thermal sensing pixels and is configured to operate based on the active thermal sensing principle, in which a power heat pulse is applied to each pixel array and a response corresponding to a pattern is measured.
Shahparnia et al. teach performing a coarse scan by scanning a fraction of pixels in a pixel array to determine a contact boundary between the object and the sensor; and performing a detailed scan selectively within the contact boundary to provide image data of the pattern (paragraph 79 and fig. 5A).
The two are analogous art because they both deal with the same field of invention of input devices.
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the apparatus of Hansen with the coarse and fine scanning of Shahparnia et al. The rationale is as follows: Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to provide the apparatus of Hansen with the coarse and fine scanning of Shahparnia et al. because it would reduce power consumption.
Dinh teaches wherein each pixel array comprises thermal sensing pixels and is configured to operate based on the active thermal sensing principle, in which a power heat pulse is applied to each pixel array and a response corresponding to a pattern is measured (paragraph 34).
The three are analogous art because they all deal with the same field of invention of input devices.
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the apparatus of Hansen and Shahparnia et al. with the thermal sensing of Dinh. The rationale is as follows: Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to provide the apparatus of Hansen and Shahparnia et al. with the thermal sensing of Dinh because the sensor of Dinh can be made compact and flexible with simple and cheap production.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 and 8-19 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art fails to teach or make obvious, in combination with the claim’s other features, “each pixel array is configured to be independently driven and scanned by more than one of the plurality of ASICs…”. Hansen show each pixel array being driven and scanned by only a single ASIC.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH R HALEY whose telephone number is (571)272-0574. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30am-5pm.
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/JOSEPH R HALEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621
