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 . All the claims have been examined on the basis of the merits of the claims.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. CONTINUING DATA: This application is a CON of 18/678,390 05/30/2024 PAT 12524092. 18/678,390 is a CON of 18/135,856 04/18/2023 PAT 12039118. 18/135,856 is a CON of 17/690,122 03/09/2022 PAT 11662849. 17/690,122 is a CON of 17/186,103 02/26/2021 PAT 11301075. 17/186,103 is a CON of 16/740,073 01/10/2020 PAT 10936104. 16/740,073 is a CON of 15/799,306 10/31/2017 PAT 10606390.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-6 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims of U.S. Patent No. 12524092 as outlined in the table below. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the present application are obvious variants of the patented claims. For example, in claim 1, the limitation of a substrate including a display area, and a peripheral area is made obvious by the patented claim limitation of “A display device comprising: a first substrate comprising a first area including a plurality of pixels and a plurality of detection electrodes, a second area between the first area and side edges of the first substrate.” The pixel area is the display area, and the edge is essentially the peripheral area as claimed. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing of the invention, to use patented claims to construct a display device having broader scope.
Present application
U.S. Patent No. 12524092
Claim 1
Claim 1
Claim 2
Claim 2
Claim 3
Claim 3
Claim 4
Claim 4
Claim 5
Claim 5
Claim 6
Claim 6
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
BERGET and ZHU of record taken alone or in the combination fails to disclose the subject matter of a plurality of first lines including at least a first part extending in parallel to the alignment direction and a second part extending perpendicular to the alignment direction.
Accordingly, the independent claim 1 would be allowable. The dependent claims 2-6 would also be allowable based on their respective dependencies from the independent claim 1.
Conclusion
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/DEEPROSE SUBEDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627
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