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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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, 8, 9, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US 2022/0173189; hereinafter Kim).
Regarding claim 1:
Kim discloses a display device (see Fig.1) comprising:
a display panel including at least one pixel including a driving transistor configured to generate a driving current and a light emitting element configured to emit light with the driving current (see Fig. 2; each pixel includes a drive transistor DT and light emitting element OLED);
an EM driver (see Fig. 1, emission signal generator 500) configured to generate an emission control signal and supply the emission control signal to the at least one pixel, so as to turn on or off light-emission of the light emitting element, one frame of the emission control signal including multiple pulses (see Fig. 3A-3D and paragraph [0091]; the pulses in Figs. 3A-3D are within one frame period); and
a scan driver (see Fig. 1, gate driver 300) configured to generate a scan signal that is turned on in at least one off period included in the emission control signal (see Fig. 3A; SC1 is turned on while EM2 is turned off during T1 period), and supply the scan signal to the at least one pixel, so as to apply an on-bias stress (OBS) voltage to an electrode of the driving transistor and reset the light emitting element (see paragraphs [0015] and [0073]),
wherein the emission control signal comprises a first pulse cycle and a second pulse cycle which are adjacent to one another in the one frame (see Fig. 3A; EM2 signal includes multiple cycles of pulses),
a first off period of a first pulse width and a first on period of a second pulse width are included in the first pulse cycle (see Fig. 3; EM2 signal includes a first off period of a first pulse width (i.e., 8 dotted intervals), a first on period of a second pulse width (i.e., 4 dotted intervals)), and
a second off period of a third pulse width which is less than the first pulse width and a second on period of a fourth pulse width which is greater than the second pulse width are included in the second pulse cycle (see Fig. 3D; EM2 signal includes a second off period of a third pulse width (i.e., 4 dotted intervals) and a second on period of fourth pulse width (i.e., 14 dotted intervals).
Regarding claim 8:
Kim discloses the display device of claim 1, wherein the one frame is one of a refresh frame where a data voltage is supplied to the at least one pixel or a skip frame where the supply of the data voltage to the at least one pixel stops (see paragraph [0068]).
Regarding claim 9:
Kim discloses a display device (see Fig. 1) comprising:
a display panel including at least one pixel including a driving transistor configured to generate a driving current and a light emitting element configured to emit light with the driving current (see Fig. 2; each pixel includes a drive transistor DT and light emitting element OLED);
an EM driver (see Fig. 1, emission signal generator 500) configured to generate an emission control signal and supply the emission control signal to the at least one pixel, so as to turn on or off light-emission of the light emitting element, one frame of the emission control signal including multiple pulses (see Fig. 3A-3D and paragraph [0091]; the pulses in Figs. 3A-3D are within one frame period); and
a scan driver (see Fig. 1, gate driver 300) configured to generate a scan signal that is turned on in at least one off period included in the emission control signal (see Fig. 3A; SC1 is turned on while EM2 is turned off during T1 period), and supply the scan signal to the at least one pixel, so as to apply an on-bias stress (OBS) voltage to one electrode of the driving transistor and reset the light emitting element (see paragraphs [0015] and [0073]),
wherein the emission control signal comprises a first pulse cycle and a second pulse cycle which are adjacent to one another in the one frame (see Fig. 3A; EM2 signal includes multiple cycles of pulses),
a first off period of a first pulse width and a first on period of a second pulse width are included in the first pulse cycle (see Fig. 3; EM2 signal includes a first off period of a first pulse width (i.e., 8 dotted intervals), a first on period of a second pulse width (i.e., 4 dotted intervals)),
a second off period of the first pulse width and a second on period of the second pulse width are included in the second pulse cycle (see Fig. 3; EM2 signal includes a second off period and a second on period following the first pulse cycle), and
the first pulse width is less than the second pulse width (see Fig. 3; for EM2 signal, the second pulse cycle includes a first pulse width that is less than the second width pulse).
Regarding claim 12:
Kim discloses the display device of claim 9, wherein the one frame is one of a refresh frame where a data voltage is supplied to the at least one pixel or a skip frame where the supply of the data voltage to the at least one pixel stops (see paragraph [0068]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-18 are allowed.
In regards to claim 13, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests a display device comprising:
a display panel including at least one pixel including a driving transistor configured to generate a driving current and a light emitting element configured to emit light with the driving current;
an EM driver configured to generate an emission control signal and supply the emission control signal to the at least one pixel, so as to turn on or off light-emission of the light emitting element, one frame of the emission control signal including multiple pulses; and
a scan driver configured to generate a scan signal that is turned on in at least one off period included in the emission control signal, and supply the scan signal to the at least one pixel, so as to apply an on-bias stress (OBS) voltage to an electrode of the driving transistor and reset the light emitting element,
wherein the emission control signal comprises K (where K is a natural number) of X pulse cycles each having a first length during a first frame, and J (where J is a natural number of less than K) of Y pulse cycles each having a second length differing from the first length during a second frame succeeding the first frame.
Claims 14-18 depend from claim 13. Accordingly, claims 1-18 are allowed.
Claims 2-7 and 10-11 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 regards to claim 2, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the display device of claim 1, wherein the emission control signal further comprises a third pulse cycle and a fourth pulse cycle adjacent to one another in the second pulse cycle in the one frame, a third off period of the third pulse width and a third on period of the fourth pulse width are included in the third pulse cycle, a fourth off period of the third pulse width and a fourth on period of the fourth pulse width are included in the fourth pulse cycle, and the first, second, third, and fourth pulse cycles are equal to one another in length.
In regards to claim 3, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the display device of claim 2, wherein the scan signal is turned on twice with a time difference in the first off period of the first pulse cycle, turned on once in the third off period of the third pulse cycle, and continuously turned off in the second and fourth pulse cycles.
In regards to claim 4, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the display device of claim 2, wherein the scan signal is turned on twice with a time difference in the first off period of the first pulse cycle, turned on once in the second off period of the second pulse cycle, turned on once in the third off period of the third pulse cycle, and turned on once in the fourth off period of the fourth pulse cycle.
In regards to claim 5, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the display device of claim 1, wherein the emission control signal further comprises a third pulse cycle and a fourth pulse cycle adjacent to one another in the second pulse cycle in the one frame, a third off period of the first pulse width and a third on period of the second pulse width are included in the third pulse cycle, a fourth off period of the third pulse width and a fourth on period of the fourth pulse width are included in the fourth pulse cycle, and the first, second, third, and fourth pulse cycles are equal to one another in length.
In regards to claim 6, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the display device of claim 5, wherein the scan signal is turned on twice with a time difference in the first off period of the first pulse cycle, turned on twice with a time difference in the third off period of the third pulse cycle, and continuously turned off in the second and fourth pulse cycles.
In regards to claim 7, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the display device of claim 5, wherein the scan signal is turned on twice with a time difference in the first off period of the first pulse cycle, turned on once in the second off period of the second pulse cycle, turned on twice with a time difference in the third off period of the third pulse cycle, and turned on once in the fourth off period of the fourth pulse cycle.
In regards to claim 10, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the display device of claim 9, wherein the emission control signal further comprises a third pulse cycle and a fourth pulse cycle adjacent to one another in the second pulse cycle in the one frame, a third off period of the first pulse width and a third on period of the second pulse width are included in the third pulse cycle, a fourth off period of the first pulse width and a fourth on period of the second pulse width are included in the fourth pulse cycle, and the first, second, third, and fourth pulse cycles are equal to one another in length.
In regards to claim 11, none of the reference of record alone or in combination discloses or suggests the display device of claim 10, wherein the scan signal is turned on once in the first off period of the first pulse cycle, turned on once in the second off period of the second pulse cycle, turned on once in the third off period of the third pulse cycle, and turned on once in the fourth off period of the fourth pulse cycle.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al. (US 2024/0185783) discloses a display device including an emission driver configured to generate a plurality of pulse cycles in a frame period.
Oh et al. (US 2020/0082768) discloses a gate driver circuit configured to generate an emission control signal that has different off or on period pulse width in different pulse cycles.
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/LIXI C SIMPSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625