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 .
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.
Claims 1-2 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo (US 20200218384) in the view of Hyun (US 20220004281).
Regarding claim 1: Guo teaches a touch-panel embedded display apparatus comprising: a pixel electrode (Fig. 17 and paragraph [0129-0131] teach a touch-panel embedded display apparatus comprising a pixel electrode on array substrate 100); a counter electrode arranged to face the pixel electrode and formed in a first layer; a driving electrode formed in the first layer (Figs. 5, 17 and paragraph [0104, 0116-0117, 0129-0131] teach a counter electrode 11 arranged on the first layer to face the pixel electrode on array substrate 100 and a driving electrode 131 arranged on the same first layer as the counter electrode 11); a detection electrode forming capacitance with the driving electrode (Fig. 5 and paragraph [0059-0064] teach a touch sensing electrode 132 forming capacitance with driving electrode 131); and an intermediate electrode formed in the first layer and arranged between two of the counter electrode, the driving electrode, and the detection electrode (Fig. 5 and paragraph [0082-0085] teach an intermediate electrode 30 formed in the same first layer as the counter electrode 11 and arranged as claimed).
Guo in current embodiment does not explicitly disclose a detection electrode formed in the first layer.
Hyun teaches a detection electrode formed in the first layer (Figs. 8-10 and paragraph [0157-0174] teach all of the driving electrode TE, detection electrode RE, and the intermediate electrode OE formed in the first layer). It would have been obvious for a person skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Guo’s invention by including above teachings of Hyun, because forming all the electrodes on the same layer can ease the manufacturing process and also help reduce the thickness of the device, as taught by Hyun. The rationale would have been to use a known method or technique to achieve predictable results.
Regarding claim 2: Combination of Guo and Hyun teach wherein the intermediate electrode is arranged between the counter electrode and one of the driving electrode and the detection electrode, and wherein the intermediate electrode is equal in potential to the counter electrode (Guo in Fig. 5 and paragraph [0082-0086] shows the intermediate electrode 30 arranged as claimed, and paragraph [0137] teach wherein the intermediate electrode 30 is equal in potential to the counter electrode 11. Hyun in Figs. 8-10 and paragraph [0157-0174] teach the intermediate electrode OE arranged as claimed). See claim 1 rejection for combination reasoning of Guo and Hyun, same rationale applies here.
Regarding claim 4: Guo teaches wherein the intermediate electrode comprises: a first electrode arranged between the counter electrode and one of the driving electrode and the detection electrode; and a second electrode arranged between the counter electrode and the other of the driving electrode and the detection electrode (Guo in Fig. 5 and paragraph [0082-0086] shows the intermediate electrode 30 comprising a plurality of electrodes diamond shaped arranged as claimed).
Regarding claim 5: Combination of Guo and Hyun teach wherein the intermediate electrode is arranged between the driving electrode and the detection electrode (Hyun in Figs. 8-10 and paragraph [0157-0174] teach the intermediate electrode OE arranged as claimed). See claim 1 rejection for combination reasoning of Guo and Hyun, same rationale applies here.
Regarding claim 6: Combination of Guo and Hyun teach further comprising an intermediate electrode wiring formed in a second layer different from the first layer and connected to the intermediate electrode via a contact hole (Guo in Fig. 5 and paragraph [0082-0086] teach the intermediate electrode 30 comprising wiring 21, the intermediate electrode 30 and the counter electrode 11 are formed on the same first layer and wiring 21 formed in a second layer separated via an insulator 24 and connected to the intermediate electrode 30. Further, Hyun in Fig. 10 and paragraph [0171] discloses contact holes CNT can be utilized to electrically contact components arranged in different layers. Similarly, it would have been obvious to utilize the similar contact hole structure in Guo’s invention to contact the intermediate electrode 30 and the intermediate electrode wiring 21, to properly connect the two components as taught by Hyun). Further, see claim 1 rejection for combination reasoning of Guo and Hyun, same rationale applies here.
Regarding claim 7: Guo teaches wherein the intermediate electrode is arranged between the counter electrode and the detection electrode, and wherein the intermediate electrode is equal in potential to the detection electrode (Guo in Fig. 5 and paragraph [0082-0086] shows the intermediate electrode 30 arranged as claimed, and paragraph [0137] teach wherein the intermediate electrode 30 is equal in potential to the counter electrode 11).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3: None of the cited references either alone and/or in combination teach “wherein the intermediate electrode surrounds the driving electrode and the detection electrode in a plan view, and wherein the counter electrode surrounds the intermediate electrode in a plan view”.
Conclusion
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/AMIT CHATLY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624
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