Ex Parte Hong et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

May 4, 2016

13016122 (P.T.A.B. May. 4, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
13/016,122 01/28/2011
22150 7590 05/06/2016
F CHAU & AS SOCIA TES, LLC
130 WOODBURY ROAD
WOODBURY, NY 11797
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Won-Ki Hong
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
8054L-653 3946
EXAMINER
YANG, NAN-YING
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2697
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
05/06/2016 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
mail@chauiplaw.com
garramone@chauiplaw.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte WON-Kl HONG, JEE-HONG MIN, SEONG-MO HWANG, and
IL-HO LEE 1
Appeal2014-006310
Application 13/016, 122
Technology Center 2600
Before JOHNNY A. KUMAR, TERRENCE W. McMILLIN, and
JOYCE CRAIG, Administrative Patent Judges.
McMILLIN, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
This is a decision2 on appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) of the final
rejection of claims 1, 3-9, 13-16, and 20-22. 3 Advisory Act. 1. We have
jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We reverse.
1 According to Appellants, the real party in interest is Samsung Display Co.,
Ltd. App. Br. 1.
2 Our decision refers to the Final Office Action mailed August 16, 2013
("Final Act."); the Advisory Action mailed October 15, 2013 ("Advisory
Act."); Appellant's Appeal Brief filed January 16, 2014 ("App. Br."); the
Examiner's Answer mailed March 7, 2014 ("Ans."); Appellant's Reply Brief
filed May 2, 2014 ("Reply Br."); and the Specification filed January 28,
2011 ("Spec.").
3 Claims 2, 10-12, 17-19, and 23-27 are cancelled. App. Br. 1.
Appeal2014-006310
Application 13/016,122
REJECTIONS ON APPEAL
Claims 1, 3-9, 13, and 20-22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as being unpatentable over Lin et al. (US 2010/0117983 Al, published May
13, 2010) ("Lin"); Felder et al. (US 8,106,892 B2, issued Jan. 31, 2012)
("Felder"); and Kraus et al. (US 7,295,191 B2, issued Nov. 13, 2007)
("Kraus"). Final Act. 4.
Claims 14--16 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Lin, Felder, Kraus, and Cai et al. (US 2010/0141604 Al,
published June 10, 2010) ("Cai"). Final Act. 25-26.
THE CLAIMED INVENTION
According to Appellants' Specification, "[ e ]xemplary embodiments of
the present invention relate to a method of determining a touch coordinate,
and a touch panel for performing the method. More particularly, exemplary
embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of determining a
touch coordinate capable of recognizing multi-touches and a touch panel for
performing the method." Spec. 1. Independent claim 1 is directed to a
method and independent claim 13 is directed to a touch panel assembly.
App. Br. 18-19, 21-23. Claim 1 recites:
A method of determining a touch coordinate in a touch
panel, comprising:
detecting a touch cell among a plurality of touch cells,
wherein the plurality of touch cells are defined by a plurality of
areas in the touch panel in which a first touch electrode and a
second touch electrode overlap with each other;
detecting a touch position in the detected touch cell based
on a first electrical signal measured at at least one of a plurality
of terminals of the first and second touch electrodes;
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Appeal2014-006310
Application 13/016,122
detennmmg a number of touches based on a distance
between a first touch and a second touch;
determining expected touch coordinates, wherein the
expected touch coordinates correspond to the touch position
when the number of touches is one, and the expected touch
coordinates are based on a central point between the first and
second touches and the distance between the first and second
touches when the number of touches is two; and
determining the touch coordinate from among the
expected touch coordinates based on a voltage measured at at
least one of the plurality of terminals of the first and second
touch electrodes,
wherein the touch panel comprises a first substrate and a
second substrate overlapping the first substrate, the first
substrate comprises at least one first touch electrode, and the
second substrate comprises at least one second touch electrode,
wherein the first touch electrode comprises a first
terminal extending along a first side of the first touch electrode
in a first direction, and a second terminal extending along a
second side of the first touch electrode in the first direction;
wherein the first and second sides of the first touch electrode
oppose each other, and
the second touch electrode comprises a third terminal
extending along a first side of the second touch electrode in a
second direction crossing the first direction, and a fourth
terminal extending along a second side of the second touch
electrode in the second direction, wherein the first and second
sides of the second touch electrode oppose each other,
wherein determining the touch coordinate from among
the expected touch coordinates comprises applying a source
voltage to the first terminal and a ground voltage to the second
terminal, and measuring a first voltage at the third terminal and
a second voltage at the fourth terminal while the source voltage
is applied to the first terminal and the ground voltage is applied
to the second terminal,
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Appeal2014-006310
Application 13/016,122
wherein determmmg the touch coordinate further
comprises calculating a single difference between the first and
second voltages while the source voltage is applied to the first
terminal and the ground voltage is applied to the second
terminal, in response to determining that the number of touches
is two, and
wherein a first expected touch coordinate is determined
as the touch coordinate when the first voltage is greater than the
second voltage and a second expected touch coordinate is
determined as the touch coordinate when the second voltage is
greater than the first voltage.
App. Br. 18-19.
ANALYSIS
Claims 1and13 are the pending independent claims. App. Br. 18-19,
21-23. Appellants argue the cited art fails to teach or suggest:
wherein determining the touch coordinate from among
the expected touch coordinates comprises applying a source
voltage to the first terminal and a ground voltage to the second
terminal, and measuring a first voltage at the third terminal and
a second voltage at the fourth terminal while the source voltage
is applied to the first terminal and the ground voltage is applied
to the second terminal,
wherein determining the touch coordinate further
comprises calculating a single difference between the first and
second voltages while the source voltage is applied to the first
terminal and the ground voltage is applied to the second
terminal, in response to determining that the number of touches
is two,
as recited in claim 1. App. Br. 11-12. Claim 13 contains analogous
limitations. App. Br. 23. Specifically, the Appellants argue:
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Appeal2014-006310
Application 13/016,122
the disciosure oi Kraus cited by the Examiner does not teach
or suggest determining a touch coordinate in any manner.
Rather, the voltage application and measurement process
described with reference to FIG. 5 of Kraus is related to
determining a number of touches (e.g., single-touch or
multi-touch), as made clear in the flowchart of FIG. 6B (e.g.,
steps 614, 618 and 620) and in col. 8, lines 48-58, which
explain that the circuit shown in FIG. 5 "allows the
measurement circuit 320 to distinguish a single touch from a set
of two or more touches" (emphasis added). In contrast, Claims
1 and 13 essentially claim determining the touch coordinate
from among the expected touch coordinates using first and
second voltages measured at third and fourth terminals.
Determining a total number of touches is not analogous to
determining (e.g., identifying) a touch coordinate from among
expected touch coordinates.
App. Br. 11-12. The Examiner relies on Figure 5 of Kraus as teaching or
suggesting these limitations. Final Act. 8-9. See, also, Ans. 7 ("Kraus
teaches to determine the touch coordinates using a single voltage applying
process in which source and ground voltages are respectively applied to the
first and second terminals of a first touch electrode.").
The disputed limitations in independent claims 1 and 13 each relate to
determining a touch coordinate. Figure 5 of Kraus relates to determining a
number of touches. See Kraus 8:48-56 ("FIG. 5 presents an equivalent
circuit according to the present invention that addresses the multiple-touch
problem ... This new arrangement allows the measurement circuit 320 to
distinguish a single touch from a set of two or more touches.").
Upon this record, we do not sustain the rejection of independent
claims 1 and 13. We also do not sustain the rejections of dependent claims
3-9, 14--16, and 20-22.
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Appeal2014-006310
Application 13/016,122
As the argument discussed above in relation to claims l and 13 is
dispositive of this appeal, we find it unnecessary to address Appellants'
other arguments.
DECISION
The rejections of claims 1, 3-9, 13-16, and 20-22 are reversed.
REVERSED
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