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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 17/794736, filed on 07/22/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 07/08/2025. 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 Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that use the word “means” or “step” but are nonetheless not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph because the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure, materials, or acts to entirely perform the recited function. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “touch controller” in claim 1, of which claims 2-13 are dependent.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are not being interpreted to cover only the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
Paragraphs 1909 and 2039 disclose that the “host may be a mobile system-on-chip (SoC), an application processor (AP), a media processor, a microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), or a similar device.”
If applicant intends to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to remove the structure, materials, or acts that performs the claimed function; or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) does/do not recite sufficient structure, materials, or acts to perform the claimed function.
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: there is a period in the second limitation. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, and 10-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 2015/0242029 to Kim et al. (Kim).
As to claim 1, Kim discloses an electronic device comprising:
an OLED display panel including an encapsulation substrate (Fig. 10; Para. 0100, display panel, 600 is an OLED; the second panel substrate 620, which performs the function of an encapsulation substrate for encapsulation, on the OLED);
a touch electrode layer formed directly on the top surface of the encapsulation substrate of the OLED display panel (Fig. 6-13; Para. 0081, first and second sensing electrodes 211 and 212);
a conductive wire formed directly on the upper surface of the encapsulation substrate of the OLED display panel, disposed in the same layer as the touch electrode layer (Fig. 2, 3; Para. 0039-0041, coil, 130), and configured to generate a magnetic field signal for driving a stylus pen (Fig. 3; Para. 0065-0067, electromagnetic waves are generated as the power is transmitted to the coil 130 arranged on the touch window); and
a touch controller configured to detect a position of the stylus pen on the OLED display panel (Fig. 6-9; Para. 0070, circuit board, 700).
As to claim 3, Kim discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the conductive wire has a form extending along a boundary of a display area of the OLED display panel (Fig. 1-9, coil, 130).
As to claim 4, Kim discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the conductive wire is printed directly on the upper surface of the encapsulation substrate (Fig. 7).
As to claim 5, Kim discloses the electronic device of claim 1,
wherein the OLED display panel includes at least one folding region (Para. 0029, 0119, flexible touch display),
wherein the folding area is configured with a curved surface at least partially having a predetermined curvature when the OLED display panel is folded (Para. 0029, 0119, flexible touch display), and
wherein the conductive wire has a form extending along a boundary of a display area of the OLED display panel (Fig. 2, 3; Para. 0039-0041, coil, 130).
As to claim 10, Kim discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the touch controller is configured to apply a driving signal for resonating the stylus pen to the at least one touch electrode (Fig. 1; Para. 0065-0067, A resonance circuit 300a may be provided in the digitizer pen 300 and the sensing electrode 210 senses the position of the digitizer pen 300 by detecting a signal generated from the resonance circuit 300a).
As to claim 11, Kim discloses the electronic device of claim 1,
wherein the at least one touch electrode includes a first touch electrode and a second touch electrode (Fig. 6-13; Para. 0081, first and second sensing electrodes 211 and 212), and
wherein one of the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode is configured to detect an electromagnetic signal output from the stylus pen (Fig. 1; Para. 0065-0067, sensing electrode 210 can detect the position of the digitizer pen 300 by sensing electromagnetic variation that occurs according to the approach of the digitizer pen 300).
As to claim 12, Kim discloses the electronic device of claim 1,
wherein the at least one touch electrode includes a first touch electrode and a second touch electrode (Fig. 6-13; Para. 0081, first and second sensing electrodes 211 and 212), and
wherein one of the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode is configured to detect a signal due to electromagnetic interaction with the stylus pen (Fig. 1; Para. 0065-0067, sensing electrode 210 can detect the position of the digitizer pen 300 by sensing electromagnetic variation that occurs according to the approach of the digitizer pen 300).
As to claim 13, Kim discloses the electronic device of claim 1,
wherein the touch controller is configured to apply a driving signal for resonating a resonance circuit part of the stylus pen to the conductive wire in a first period (Fig. 1; Para. 0065-0067, digitizer pen 300 may emit again the electromagnetic waves at a predetermined frequency), and
wherein the touch controller is configured to receive a detection signal received through the at least one touch electrode in a second period after the first period (Fig. 1; Para. 0065-0067, sensing electrode 210 can detect the position of the digitizer pen 300 by sensing electromagnetic variation that occurs according to the approach of the digitizer pen 300).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, and 6-9 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Lisa S Landis whose telephone number is (571)270-1061. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-6.
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/LISA S LANDIS/Examiner, Art Unit 2626