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 . All the claims have been examined on the basis of the merit of the claims.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
CONTINUING DATA:
This application is a CON of 18/424,859 01/28/2024 PAT 12379811. 18/424,859 is a CON of 18/113,017 02/22/2023 PAT 11914825. 18/113,017 is a CON of 17/740,237 05/09/2022 PAT 11614840. 17/740,237 is a CON of 17/007,204 08/31/2020 PAT 11327616. 17/007,204 is a CON of 16/234,603 12/28/2018 PAT 10761664. 16/234,603 is a CON of 15/153,568 05/12/2016 PAT 10168844. 15/153,568 claims foreign priority benefits from the following FOREIGN APPLICATIONS:
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2015-0091392 06/26/2015.
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2015-0163510 11/20/2015.
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2015-0187755 12/28/2015.
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2016-0002740 01/08/2016.
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2016-0008197 01/22/2016.
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2016-0008200 01/22/2016.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 08/10/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of patent#12379811 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments, see pages 7-10, filed 08/10/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 and 12 under 103 and the double patenting rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Iwasaki reference.
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) 1-5, 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurasawa et al. (US-20150332647-A1, hereinafter as Kurasawa) in view of CHEN et al. (US-20170060309-A1, hereinafter as CHEN) and further in view of IWASAKI et al. (US-20130020934-A1, hereinafter as IWASAKI).
In regard to claim 1, Kurasawa discloses an electronic device comprising: a display device, wherein the display device (figs. 1-3, display device comprising) comprises: a display panel comprising a plurality of light emitting areas and a non-light emitting area disposed adjacent to the light emitting areas (fig.4A, light emission areas corresponding to pixels and color filters and areas outside it as non-light emitting areas, para 0042, 0044);
and an input sensor disposed on the display panel (RL &CL lines as touch electrodes matrix disposed on the display panel as shown in fig.1),
a black matrix overlapped with the non-light emitting area and spaced apart from the plurality of conductive patterns in a thickness direction (black matrix 27 called as the light shielding layer, fig. 4A spaced apart from CL and RL which are used as touch electrodes); and a plurality of color filters disposed on the display panel (color filters F1, F2, F3, fig.4A), each of the plurality of color filters comprising a center portion overlapped with a corresponding light emitting area among the plurality of light emitting areas (center portion at the light emission areas, fig.4A) and an edge portion extending from the center portion and overlapped with the black matrix (boundary portions, P1, P2, P3 overlap with the black matrix 27, fig.4A), wherein the plurality of color filters comprise a first color filter and a second color filter adjacent to the first color filter (F1 and F2, fig.4A are adjacent to one another);
Kurasawa does not disclose “and the edge portion of the first color filter is overlapped with the edge portion of the second color filter in a thickness direction of the first and second color filters, wherein the input sensor comprises: a plurality of conductive patterns disposed on the display panel, overlapped with the non-light emitting area, and non-overlapped with the light emitting areas.”
CHEN discloses wherein the input sensor comprises: a plurality of conductive patterns disposed on the display panel, overlapped with the non-light emitting area, and non-overlapped with the light emitting areas (conductive patterns 104 and 105 as touch electrodes disposed on the display as shown in figs.6-7 in which the touch electrodes 104 and 105 are disposed on or overlapped with the black matrix 1022 which corresponding to the non-light emitting area and not overlapped with the light emitting areas, para 0073 and para 0076).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing of the invention, to use CHEN’s teachings to make an integrated touch display device in which the touch electrodes are disposed on the black matrix or non-light emitting areas so that they do not block the light emitted from the display device in Kurasawa.
Kurasawa as modified by Chen does not disclose “and the edge portion of the first color filter is overlapped with the edge portion of the second color filter in a thickness direction of the first and second color filters.”
IWASAKI discloses the edge portion of the first color filter is overlapped with the edge portion of the second color filter in a thickness direction of the first and second color filters (fig.2, 22R, 22G, 22B overlap with 21R, 21G and 21B respectively in the cross-sectional view as shown).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing of the invention, to use IWASAKI’s teachings to design a sub-filter layer overlapping one another in Kurasawa’s invention as modified by Chen.
In regard to claim 2, Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the input sensor further comprises an insulating layer covering the plurality of color filters (substrate 20 covers the color filters, fig.4A, Kurasawa).
In regard to claim 4, Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the black matrix contacts the plurality of color filters (fig.4A, black matrix 27 and color filter F1, F2, F3, in direct contact, Kurasawa).
In regard to claim 5, Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of conductive patterns comprise a plurality of first electrodes extending in a first direction and arranged in a second direction crossing the first direction; and each of the plurality of first electrodes comprises a plurality of openings (fig.1, RL and CL crossing one another with gaps in the touch matrix, Kurasawa).
In regard to claim 8, Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first color filter is one of a red color filter, a green color filter, and a blue color filter, and the second color filter is another one of a red color filter, a green color filter, and a blue color filter (para 0032, red, green and blue sub-pixels, Kurasawa).
In regard to claim 9, Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the edge portion of the first color filter contacts the edge portion of the second color filter (boundary of F1 and F2, fig.4A, Kurasawa).
In regard to claim 10, Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the edge portion is spaced apart from the plurality of conductive patterns in the thickness direction (the boundary portions P1, P2 and P3 are spaced apart from the touch conductive lines CL and RL, fig.4A, Kurasawa).
In regard to claim 11, Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is one of a smart phone, a digital camera, a notebook computer, a navigation unit, and a smart television set (only one limitation is read: para 0220, the electronic device 310 further includes a housing 180 having an interior in which the display device 110 is contained. For example, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, a personal computer, various information devices, etc., are used as the electronic device 310.).
In regard to claim 3, Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki discloses the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the edge portion is disposed on a corresponding conductive pattern among the plurality of conductive patterns (fig. 4A, indirectly disposed on or disposed above the conductive layer CL, Kurasawa).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 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.
In regard to claims 6, Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki discloses the electronic device of claim 5, the electronic device of claim 16, wherein: the edge portion is overlapped with the black matrix and a corresponding conductive pattern among the plurality of conductive patterns (combination of Kurasawa and Chen teaches this limitation, touch electrodes 104 and 105 disposed on the black matrix so that the boundary portion of the color filter of Kurasawa would also be overlapped with the black matrix and the touch electrodes); the plurality of conductive patterns comprise a plurality of first electrodes extending in the first direction and arranged in the second direction crossing the first direction and a plurality of second sensing parts (touch electrodes 104 and 105 of CHEN);
Kurasawa as modified by CHEN and Iwasaki does not disclose each of the plurality of first electrodes comprises a plurality of first sensing parts arranged in the first direction and a plurality of first parts each connecting two first sensing parts adjacent to each other among the plurality of first sensing parts; and the plurality of second sensing parts are disposed adjacent to the plurality of first sensing parts.
Claim 7 depends on claim 6.
Claims 12-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In regard to claim 12, Kurasawa discloses an electronic device comprising: a display device, wherein the display device (figs. 1-3, display device comprising) comprises: a display panel comprising a plurality of light emitting areas and a non-light emitting area disposed adjacent to the light emitting areas (fig.4A, light emission areas corresponding to pixels and color filters and areas outside it as non-light emitting areas, para 0042, 0044); and an input sensor disposed on the display panel (RL &CL lines as touch electrodes matrix disposed on the display panel as shown in fig.1),
a black matrix overlapped with the non-light emitting area (black matrix 27 called as the light shielding layer, fig. 4A ); and a plurality of color filters disposed on the display panel (color filters F1, F2, F3, fig.4A), each of the plurality of color filters comprising a center portion overlapped with a corresponding light emitting area among the plurality of light emitting areas (center portion at the light emission areas, fig.4A) and an edge portion extending from the center portion and overlapped with the black matrix (boundary portions, P1, P2, P3 overlap with the black matrix 27, fig.4A),
Kurasawa does not disclose “ wherein the plurality of color filters comprise a first color filter and a second color filter adjacent to and spaced apart from the first color filter by a gap; and a portion of the black matrix is exposed by the gap between the edge portion of the first color filter and the edge portion of the second color filter, wherein the input sensor comprises: a plurality of conductive patterns disposed on the display panel, overlapped with the non-light emitting area, and non-overlapped with the light emitting areas.”
CHEN discloses wherein the input sensor comprises: a plurality of conductive patterns disposed on the display panel, overlapped with the non-light emitting area, and non-overlapped with the light emitting areas (conductive patterns 104 and 105 as touch electrodes disposed on the display as shown in figs.6-7 in which the touch electrodes 104 and 105 are disposed on or overlapped with the black matrix 1022 which corresponding to the non-light emitting area and not overlapped with the light emitting areas, para 0073 and para 0076).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing of the invention, to use CHEN’s teachings to make an integrated touch display device in which the touch electrodes are disposed on the black matrix or non-light emitting areas so that they do not block the light emitted from the display device in Kurasawa.
Kurasawa as modified by Chen does not disclose “wherein the plurality of color filters comprise a first color filter and a second color filter adjacent to and spaced apart from the first color filter by a gap; and a portion of the black matrix is exposed by the gap between the edge portion of the first color filter and the edge portion of the second color filter.”
Lee et al., (US-20150331529-A1, hereinafter as Lee) discloses wherein the plurality of color filters comprise a first color filter and a second color filter adjacent to and spaced apart from the first color filter by a gap (fig.5A, RGB color filters separated by black matrix gaps BM).
The combination of Kurasawa, Chen, and Chen does not disclose “and a portion of the black matrix is exposed by the gap between the edge portion of the first color filter and the edge portion of the second color filter.”
Iwasaki also does not disclose this feature.
Accordingly, independent claim 12 is allowable. The dependent claims 13-20 are also allowable based on their respective dependencies from the independent claim 1.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 DEEPROSE SUBEDI whose telephone number is (571)270-7977. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8AM-5PM, EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KE XIAO can be reached at 571-272-7776. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DEEPROSE SUBEDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627
Prosecution Insights