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 § 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)(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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by (US App. 20190333454).
In regard to claim 1, Lin teaches a method for driving an electrophoretic display (see at least Abstract) comprising a layer of an electrophoretic medium having a viewing surface on one side thereof, and a second surface on the opposed side thereof, the electrophoretic display further comprising voltage control means for applying an electric field through the layer of electrophoretic medium, the electrophoretic medium (See Figs. 3-4, 3-5, and 26) comprising a fluid and first, second, third and fourth types of particles dispersed in the fluid, the first, second, third and fourth types of particles being respectively partially light- transmissive blue, reflective yellow, reflective red, and white (see Figs. 3-4, 3-5, 26), the first and third types of particles having charges of one polarity and the second and fourth types of particles having charges of the opposite polarity (see Para. 7), the first type of particles having a greater zeta potential or electrophoretic mobility than the third type of particles, and the second type of particles having a greater zeta potential or electrophoretic mobility than the fourth type of particles (see Para. 7), the driving method comprising:(i) applying a shaking pulse to achieve a mixed color state in which all four types of particles are randomly distributed in the fluid (see Fig. 26, shaking); (ii) after step (i), applying a first driving voltage having a first polarity, a first magnitude, and a first period of time to drive the second type of particles toward the viewing surface (towards black); (iii) after step (ii), applying a second driving voltage having a second polarity opposite the first polarity, a second magnitude smaller than the first magnitude, and a second period of time longer than the first period of time to drive the second type of particles away from the viewing surface and to drive the third type of particles toward the viewing surface (see Fig. 26, white); (iv) after step (iii), applying a third driving voltage having the first polarity, a third magnitude smaller than the first magnitude, and a third period of time being shorter than the second period of time to cause a mixture of the second and third particles to appear at the viewing surface (blue).
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin (US App. 20190333454).
Regarding claim 2, Lin teaches all the limitations of claim 1. Lin is not relied upon to teach wherein steps (ii) and (iii) are repeated at least 4 times before step (iv). However,Lin teaches wherein steps (ii) and (iii) are repeated at least 4 times before step (iv) (see Para. 114-115).
It would have been obvious to modify the steps of Lin to include the repeating of steps of Lin to allow for better optical performance through pre-conditioning of the pixel (see Para. 253-254).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure includes: Lin (US App. 20200026143) and Sugita et al. (US Pat. 8054288).
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/MATTHEW YEUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625
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