DETAILED ACTION
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 12 is a duplicate claim of claim 11. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 20 objected to because of the following informalities: the claim is grammatically incorrect. Septically, the list of displays types in claim 20 needs an “or” before the last listed display type. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-9 and 11-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yeh (US 2018/0329544).
Regarding claim 1, Yeh discloses display device (see Abstract), comprising:
a first touch electrode (TE1, fig. 8 as applied to fig. 15-16) extending in a first direction in an active area (101, fig. 1);
a first touch pad (TP_1, fig. 15), a common voltage pad (TTP_1, fig. 16A) and a first transistor (SW1, fig. 15) in a non-active area (102, fig. 1) around the active area;
a first touch line (SL_1, fig. 15) directly connecting the first touch pad to the first touch electrode (see fig. 15); and
a common voltage line (see voltage line connected to common voltage pad TTP_1 and transistor SW1 in fig. 15-16) directly connecting the first touch pad to a first electrode of the first transistor (see fig. 15-16),
wherein a second electrode of the first transistor is directly connected to the first touch electrode (see fig. 15 and para. 86).
Regarding claim 2, Yeh discloses a second touch electrode (see electrode directly below TE1 in fig. 8 as applied to fig. 15-16) extending in a second direction crossing the first direction in the active area (see fig. 14-16);
a second touch pad (TP_2 in fig. 15) and a second transistor (SW2 in fig. 15) in the non-active area (see fig. 1, 15); and
a second touch line (SL_2 in fig. 15) directly connecting the second touch pad to the second touch electrode (see fig. 15).
Regarding claim 3, Yeh discloses wherein the common voltage line (see common voltage line connected to common voltage pad TTP_2 and transistor Sw2 in fig. 15) directly connects the second touch pad to a first electrode of the second transistor (see fig. 15).
Regarding claim 4, Yeh discloses wherein a second electrode of the second transistor is directly connected to the second touch electrode (see fig. 15).
Regarding claim 5, Yeh discloses wherein the first touch electrode is a sensing touch electrode and the second touch electrode is a driving touch electrode (see para. 82; wherein touch signal pads and sensing lines are used to transmit and receive touch signals).
Regarding claim 6, Yeh discloses wherein the second touch electrode has a first end and a second end opposing the first end in the second direction(see fig. 15),
wherein the first end of the second touch electrode is connected to the common voltage line with the second switching element therebetween (fig. 15), and
wherein the second end of the second touch electrode is connected to the second touch line with no switching element therebetween (fig. 15).
Regarding claim 7, Yeh discloses wherein the first transistor is disposed on a first side of the active area (see leftmost SW1 on the left side/half of the device) and the second transistor is disposed on a second side of the active area, adjacent to the first side of the active area (see the rightmost SW2 on the right side/half of the device).
Regarding claim 8, Yeh discloses a gate line (SCP1, fig. 15) disposed in non-active area,
wherein a gate of the first transiter and a gate of the second transistor are connected the gate line (See connection of line SCP1 and gates of SW1-SW2 in fig. 15).
Regarding claim 9, Yeh discloses a touch driver configured to sense an input of a user's body by driving the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode during a first period (para. 82), and to sense an input of an input device by driving the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode during a second period different from the first period (para. 82, 91 and fig. 16C).
Regarding claim 11, Yeh discloses a substrate (110, fig. 1);
a thin film transistor layer disposed on the substrate and comprising a plurality of thin film transistors (see multiple T1 in fig. 1), the first transistor and the second transistor (see fig. 1); and
a light emitting element layer disposed on the thin film transistor layer and comprising a plurality of light emitting elements (see P11-P44 in fig. 1 and para. 56).
Claim 12 is rejected for the same reasons stated as claim 11. See above rejection.
Claims 13-19 are rejected for the same reasons stated for claims 1-7, respectively. See above rejections.
Regarding claim 20, Yeh discloses 20 wherein electronic device is at least one of a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a mobile communication terminal, an electronic organizer, an electronic book, a portable multimedia player (PMP), a navigation system, an ultra-mobile PC (UMPC), a television, a laptop/notebook computer, a computer monitor, a digital billboard, an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, a smart watch, a watch phone, a glasses type display, a head mounted display (HMD), a dashboard of a vehicle, a center fascia of a vehicle, a center information display (CID) disposed on a dashboard of a vehicle, a room mirror display in place of side mirrors of a vehicle, a display disposed on a rear surface of a front seat for rear seat entertainment of a vehicle (see Abstract and fig. 7, further wherein the above display devices are conventional; further see Applicant admitted prior art para. 3 of current published application 19/386,414).
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, 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) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh in view of Chung (US 2019/0196644).
Regarding claim 10, Yeh discloses further comprising a display driver configured to display an image by driving a plurality of pixels during a display period (see display period in fig. 16C and para. 91).
Yeh fails to disclose wherein the display period overlaps the first and second periods.
Chung discloses wherein the display period overlaps the first and second periods (see para. 75).
When the invention was made (pre-AIA ) or before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include the teachings of Chung in the device of Yeh. The motivation for doing so would have been to touch device that is capable of being used in detecting mutual capacitance touch or self-capacitance touch (Chung; para. 58 and fig. 1). Ultimately, creating greater usability.
Conclusion
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/ROBIN J MISHLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628