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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are made.
The following title suggests: DISPLAY APPRATUS HAVING A DISPLAY AREA WITH WIDE VIEWING ANGLE AND SECOND AREA WITH WIDE AND NARROW VIEWING ANGLE.
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.
The applicant is respectfully advised that in examining a pending application, the claims are interpreted as broadly as their terms reasonably convey. In re American Academy of Science Tech Center, 70 USPQ2d. 1827, 1834 (Fed. Cir. May 13, 2004). MPEP § 2111.01.
Claims 1, 6, 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lai (U.S. Patent No. 12,504,577) in view of Lee (U.S. PG Publication No. 2020/0116917).
Regarding Claim 1, Lai discloses in Figures 2 and 5, a display apparatus comprising: a first light source package 31 including a plurality of first light sources and a first substrate a diffusion sheet 35 disposed on the first light source package 31; a prism sheet 6 disposed on the diffusion sheet 35; a light control film 5 disposed on the prism sheet 6; a light guide plate 22 disposed on the light control film 5 and having a long side extending in a first direction and a short side extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction; and a second light source package 21 including a plurality of second light sources disposed to face the long side of the light guide plate 22 and a second substrate (the second light source 21 is shown to have a plurality of light sources in Figure 2 with a substrate shown, not labelled), wherein the plurality of second light sources are protruded from the second substrate in the second direction and repeatedly disposed in the first direction.
Lai does not disclose each light source of the second light source package 21 are independently driven.
Lee discloses in Figures 1-2, a display with two light source packages with a second light source package 801 disposed alonofedge of a light guide 300 where each light source 821 is individually controlled (Para 00139) for providing customized brightness or providing dimmed areas in different regions of the light guide from the light sources 821 (Para 0138-0139).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to individually control each of the light sources 21 to reduce or increase the brightness along different regions of the display which would in turn create differentiating areas of narrow and wide viewing angles.
Regarding Claim 6, Lai discloses in Figures 1 and 5, the display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the light guide plate further includes a plurality of light guide patterns (dot structures 23) disposed on a bottom surface of the light guide plate 22.
Lai does not disclose a density per unit area of the plurality of light guide patterns 23 as the light guide patterns are farther away from the plurality of second light sources.
Lee discloses in Figures 2-5, patterns 350 formed on a bottom surface of a light guide plate 300 where the intensity or pitch or distance decreases in a direction away from the light source 821 (Para 0159).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to increase the distance between the patterns 23 in direction away from the light source 21 to compensate for reduction in the intensity of light imping on the surface as the distance from the light source increases.
Regarding Claim 11, Lai discloses in Figure 5, the display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the prism sheet 6 includes a first prism sheet and a second prism sheet that are sequentially stacked in a thickness direction, and a prism pattern of the first prism sheet and a prism pattern of the second prism sheet have axes that are orthogonal to each other.
Regarding Claim 13, Lai discloses In Figure 5, the display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of first light sources 31 are disposed below the diffusion sheet 35.
Claims 7-8 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lai (U.S. Patent No. 12,504,577) and Lee (U.S. PG Publication No. 2020/0116917) as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Aylward (U.S. Patent No. 7,507,012).
Lai does not disclose the plurality of second light sources 21 are disposed on both one side and the other side of the light guide plate in the second direction, and a density per unit area of the plurality of light guide patterns increases from the long side of the light guide plate toward a central portion of the light guide plate in the second direction wherein each of the plurality of light guide patterns has a pyramidal shape protruding toward the light control film, and slopes of the four side surfaces forming the pyramidal shape are all the same.
Aylward discloses in Figures 1C and 2, a display having a light guide with two light sources on opposite edges where the light directing features 23 can be pyramid shaped pointed in the emission direction (Col 8, Lines 65-68) where the density is greater at the center equidistant from both light sources (Col 11, lines 40-50) or providing for uniform light emission at all areas (Col 11, lines 28-35).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have a second light source disposed on both one side and the other side of the light guide plate in the second direction, and a density per unit area of the plurality of light guide patterns increases from the long side of the light guide plate toward a central portion of the light guide plate in the second direction wherein each of the plurality of light guide patterns has a pyramidal shape protruding toward the light control film, and slopes of the four side surfaces forming the pyramidal shape are all the same for providing unform light emission and having additional light source for increasing the luminescence for larger display screens.
Claims 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lai (U.S. Patent No. 12,504,577) and Lee (U.S. PG Publication No. 2020/0116917) as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Yoon (U.S. PG Publication No. 2006/0244879).
Regarding Claim 12, Lai discloses in Figures 2 and 5-6, the display apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a display panel 7 disposed on the light guide plate 22,
Lai does not explicitly disclose the display panel 4 includes a lower substrate 21, an upper substrate 22, and a liquid crystal layer 24 disposed between the lower substrate and the upper substrate 22 (Para 0069).
Yoon discloses a display with backlight having a lower substrate, an upper substrate, and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the lower substrate and the upper substrate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 are allowed.
Claims 2-5 and 9-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claclaim butuld be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all 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 2-5. the closest prior art Lai (U.S. Patent No. 12,504,577) does not teach or suggest alone or in combination, a display area configured to be operated in a share mode with a wide viewing angle; and a second display area configured to be variably switched from the share mode with the wide viewing angle to a private mode with a narrow viewing angle.
Regarding Claims 9-10, the closest prior art Lai (U.S. Patent No. 12,504,577) does not teach or suggest alone or in combination the light control film includes a plurality of light-shielding patterns and patterned insulating films between the light-shielding patterns, and the plurality of light-shielding patterns extend in the second direction and are repeatedly disposed in the first direction.
Regarding Claims 16-20, the closest prior art Lai (U.S. Patent No. 12,504,577) discloses a display apparatus that can switch between a shared and private mode, but does not teach or suggest alone or in combination a first display area that operates in a share mode with; a second display area which is disposed at one side of the first display area in a first direction and in which the share mode with the wide viewing angle and a private mode with a narrow viewing angle are variably switched and a boundary disposed between the first display area and the second display area, which extends in a second direction intersecting the first direction.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT J MAY whose telephone number is (571)272-5919. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-3:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jong-Suk (James) Lee can be reached at 571-272-7044. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT J MAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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