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 .
In the response to this Office Action, the Examiner respectfully requests that support be shown for language added to any original claims on amendment and any new claims. That is, indicate support for newly added claim language by specifically pointing to page(s) and line numbers in the specification and/or drawing figure(s). This will assist the Examiner in prosecuting this application.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Species I: Figure 2 in the reply filed on 05/21/2026 is acknowledged.
The traversal is on the basis that Species I and II (FIGS. 2 and 5) should be examined together because they share numerous common features such that they are so inextricably interrelated (closely related) that any one of the species of cannot be comprehensively examined without also searching those areas in which the other species are classified. This is not found persuasive because upon closer review, all species above show different structures of display devices that require various arrangements and configurations of display panels, backlight units, first driver ICs, second driver ICs, first circuit boards, second circuit boards etc. for the various embodiments disclosed. Even though one or more elements recited in the claims of Species II are similar to one or more elements recited in the claims of Species I, the additional elements of the other species will create a serious burden for the Examiner and will require a different field of search (e.g., searching different classes/sub-classes or electronic resources and employing different search strategies or search queries).
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 05/21/2026.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1, 6-11, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Foreign Publication KR 20110044663 A to Jeong et al. (hereinafter "Jeong", included in IDS provided by Applicant) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0073275 A1 to Kim (hereinafter "Kim").
Regarding Claim 1, Jeong teaches a display device comprising: a display panel; a backlight unit disposed at a back surface of the display panel, and comprising a plurality of light emitting lines (Figs. 1, 3; Para. 33-52 of Jeong; liquid crystal display module 100 includes a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which an image is displayed, and a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which the liquid crystal display panel 110 is provided and a backlight unit 120… lamp driving voltage generator 305 for generating a driving voltage and a plurality of first and second light sources 153 and 151 selectively driven according to the detected external illuminance from the external illuminance detector 301, and a control unit 303 for controlling the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305… first switch 309 is provided between the second light source 151 and the second switch 307 and a second switch 307 is provided between the second light source 151 and the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305); a plurality of first connection lines configured to connect a plurality of first light emitting lines from among the plurality of light emitting lines; and a plurality of second connection lines configured to connect a plurality of second light emitting lines alternately disposed with the plurality of first light emitting lines from among the plurality of light emitting lines (Figs. 1, 3; Para. 33-52 of Jeong; Figs. 1, 3; Para. 33-52 of Jeong; liquid crystal display module 100 includes a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which an image is displayed, and a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which the liquid crystal display panel 110 is provided and a backlight unit 120… lamp driving voltage generator 305 for generating a driving voltage and a plurality of first and second light sources 153 and 151 selectively driven according to the detected external illuminance from the external illuminance detector 301, and a control unit 303 for controlling the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305… first switch 309 is provided between the second light source 151 and the second switch 307 and a second switch 307 is provided between the second light source 151 and the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305… switches 309 and 307 are turned on or off by the control unit 303… plurality of first and second light sources 153 and 151 are arranged in a zigzag manner).
Jeong does not explicitly disclose a first driver integrated circuit (IC); a second driver IC; connecting a plurality of first light emitting lines with the first driver IC; and connecting a plurality of second light emitting with the second driver IC.
However, Kim teaches a first driver integrated circuit; and a second driver IC (Figs. 1-7, 10; Para. 42-67 of Kim; backlight driver 220 includes a first light emitting diode (LED) driver IC 221 and a second LED driver IC 222); connecting a plurality of first light emitting lines with the first driver IC; and connecting a plurality of second light emitting with the second driver IC (Figs. 1-7, 10; Para. 42-67 of Kim; first to fourth LED groups 231˜234 are connected to the first to fourth LED driver ICs, respectively, and receive a driving signal from the first to fourth LED driver ICs).
Therefore, at the time when the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include a first driver integrated circuit (IC); a second driver IC; connect a plurality of first light emitting lines from among the plurality of light emitting lines with the first driver IC; and a plurality of second connection lines configured to connect a plurality of second light emitting lines alternately disposed with the plurality of first light emitting lines from among the plurality of light emitting lines with the second driver IC using the teachings of Kim in order to modify the device taught by Jeong. The motivation to combine these analogous arts would have been to provide a backlight device that realizes high brightness using light emitting diodes (Para. 9 of Kim).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Jeong and Kim teaches that the first connection lines are implemented so as to be connected at one side of the plurality of first light emitting lines comprised in a first region and a second region which is adjacent to the first region of the backlight unit, and the second connection lines are implemented so as to be connected at one side of the plurality of second light emitting lines comprised in the first region, the second region, and a third region which is adjacent to the second region of the backlight unit (Figs. 1-7, 10; Para. 42-67 of Kim; backlight unit 170 includes a light guide plate 240, a first LED group 235, and a second LED group 236, which are arranged adjacent to a side surface of the light guide plate 240. In this example, each LED group is defined as a set of the sub-LED groups that are connected to the same driver IC, each LED group includes three sub-LED groups, and the sub-LED groups included in the same LED group may be alternately arranged with respect to each other).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Jeong and Kim teaches a third driver IC; and a plurality of third connection lines configured to connect a plurality of third light emitting lines from among the plurality of light emitting lines with the third driver IC, wherein the third connection lines are implemented so as to be connected at one side of the plurality of third light emitting lines comprised in the second region, the third region, and a fourth region which is adjacent to the third region of the backlight unit (Figs. 1-7, 10; Para. 42-67 of Kim; first to fourth LED groups 231˜234 are connected to the first to fourth LED driver ICs, respectively, and receive a driving signal from the first to fourth LED driver ICs).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Jeong and Kim teaches that the plurality of second light emitting lines are alternately disposed at a n:m ratio with the plurality of first light emitting lines, and the n and m are integers greater than or equal to 1 and at least one of n or m is greater than 1 (Figs. 1, 3; Para. 33-52 of Jeong; plurality of first and second light sources 153 and 151 are arranged in a zigzag manner).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Jeong and Kim teaches a third driver IC; and a plurality of third connection lines configured to connect a plurality of third light emitting lines, which are alternately disposed with the plurality of first light emitting lines or the plurality of second light emitting lines from among the plurality of light emitting lines, with the third driver IC (Figs. 1-7, 10; Para. 42-67 of Kim; first to fourth LED groups 231˜234 are connected to the first to fourth LED driver ICs, respectively, and receive a driving signal from the first to fourth LED driver ICs).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Jeong and Kim teaches a plurality of driver ICs of at least four comprising the first driver IC and the second driver IC, wherein the respective light emitting lines corresponding to the respective driver ICs are alternately disposed in a pre-set pattern within the backlight unit (Figs. 1-7, 10; Para. 42-67 of Kim; first to fourth LED groups 231˜234 are connected to the first to fourth LED driver ICs, respectively, and receive a driving signal from the first to fourth LED driver ICs).
Regarding Claims 11 and 15, Jeong teaches a controlling method of a display device and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store computer instructions for a display device to perform an operation when executed by a processor of the display device (Figs. 1, 3; Para. 33-52 of Jeong; liquid crystal display module 100 includes a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which an image is displayed, and a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which the liquid crystal display panel 110 is provided and a backlight unit 120… lamp driving voltage generator 305 for generating a driving voltage and a plurality of first and second light sources 153 and 151 selectively driven according to the detected external illuminance from the external illuminance detector 301, and a control unit 303 for controlling the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305), the method comprising: emitting light through a backlight unit which is disposed at a back surface of the display panel and comprises a plurality of light emitting lines (Figs. 1, 3; Para. 33-52 of Jeong; liquid crystal display module 100 includes a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which an image is displayed, and a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which the liquid crystal display panel 110 is provided and a backlight unit 120… lamp driving voltage generator 305 for generating a driving voltage and a plurality of first and second light sources 153 and 151 selectively driven according to the detected external illuminance from the external illuminance detector 301, and a control unit 303 for controlling the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305); supplying current to a plurality of first light emitting lines through a plurality of first connection lines configured to connect the first light emitting lines from among the plurality of light emitting lines (Figs. 1, 3; Para. 33-52 of Jeong; liquid crystal display module 100 includes a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which an image is displayed, and a liquid crystal display panel 110 on which the liquid crystal display panel 110 is provided and a backlight unit 120… lamp driving voltage generator 305 for generating a driving voltage and a plurality of first and second light sources 153 and 151 selectively driven according to the detected external illuminance from the external illuminance detector 301, and a control unit 303 for controlling the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305… first switch 309 is provided between the second light source 151 and the second switch 307 and a second switch 307 is provided between the second light source 151 and the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305); supplying current to a plurality of second light emitting lines through a plurality of second connection lines configured to connect the second light emitting lines, which are alternately disposed with the plurality of first light emitting lines from among the plurality of light emitting lines (Figs. 1, 3; Para. 33-52 of Jeong; Figs. 1, 3; Para. 33-52 of Jeong; backlight unit 120 includes a backlight unit 120, a liquid crystal display (LCD), and a backlight unit 120… lamp driving voltage generator 305 for generating a driving voltage and a plurality of first and second light sources 153 and 151 selectively driven according to the detected external illuminance from the external illuminance detector 301, and a control unit 303 for controlling the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305… first switch 309 is provided between the second light source 151 and the second switch 307 and a second switch 307 is provided between the second light source 151 and the lamp driving voltage generating unit 305… switches 309 and 307 are turned on or off by the control unit 303… plurality of first and second light sources 153 and 151 are arranged in a zigzag manner).
Jeong does not explicitly disclose a first driver integrated circuit (IC); and a second driver IC.
However, Kim teaches a first driver integrated circuit; and a second driver IC (Figs. 1-7, 10; Para. 42-67 of Kim; backlight driver 220 includes a first light emitting diode (LED) driver IC 221 and a second LED driver IC 222).
Therefore, at the time when the invention was filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to include a first driver integrated circuit (IC); and a second driver IC using the teachings of Kim in order to modify the device taught by Jeong. The motivation to combine these analogous arts would have been to provide a backlight device that realizes high brightness using light emitting diodes (Para. 9 of Kim).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABHISHEK SARMA whose telephone number is (571)272-9887. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon - Fri 8:00-5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Amr Awad can be reached on 571-272-7764. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABHISHEK SARMA/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621
Prosecution Insights