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`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
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`www.uspto.gov
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`APPLICATION NO.
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` F ING DATE
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`FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
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`ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.
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`CONF {MATION NO.
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`13/264,044
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`10/ 1 2/201 1
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`Yutaka Yoshihama
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`MAT—10514US
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`6669
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`EXAMINER
`RATNERPRESTIA —
`WW —
`”90
`52473
`PO BOX 980
`JOHNSON, ALLISON WALTHALL
`VALLEY FORGE, PA 19482-0980
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`PAPER NUMBER
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`ART UNIT
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`2691
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`NOT *ICATION DATE
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`DELIVERY MODE
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`02/ 14/2014
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`ELECTRONIC
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`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
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`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
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`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above—indicated "Notification Date" to the
`following e—mail address(es):
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`ptocorrespondence @ratnerprestia.c0m
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`PTOL—90A (Rev. 04/07)
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`

`

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`Application No.
`Applicant(s)
`13/264,044
`YOSHIHAMA, YUTAKA
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`Office Action Summary
`Examiner
`Art Unit
`AIA (First Inventorto File)
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`
`2691ALLISON w. JOHNSON first“
`-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --
`Period for Reply
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`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE g MONTHS FROM THE MAILING DATE OF
`THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a).
`after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
`Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any
`earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
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`In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed
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`-
`-
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`Status
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`1)IXI Responsive to communication(s) filed on 10/12/2011.
`[I A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
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`2b)lX| This action is non-final.
`2a)I:| This action is FINAL.
`3)I:I An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on
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`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
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`4)|:I Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is
`closed in accordance with the practice under EX parte Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
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`3) D Interview Summary (PT0_413)
`1) E Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`Paper No(s)/Mai| Date.
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`.
`—
`4) I:I Other'
`2) E Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
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`Paper No(s)/Mai| Date .
`US. Patent and Trademark Office
`PTOL-326 (Rev. 11-13)
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`Office Action Summary
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`Part of Paper No./Mai| Date 20140206
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`Disposition of Claims*
`5)|XI Claim(s) L5is/are pending in the application.
`5a) Of the above claim(s)
`is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`6 III Claim s) _ is/are allowed.
`s L5 is/are rejected.
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`is/are objected to.
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`I )
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`_
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`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.
`9)|:l Claim(s
`I
`* If any claims have been determined allowable, you may be eligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
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`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`htt
`://www.usoto. ov/ atentS/init events"
`h/index.‘s
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`, or send an inquiry to PF"I-Ifeedback{<‘buspto.qov.
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`Application Papers
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`10)I:I The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`11)|Z| The drawing(s) filed on 10/12/2011 is/are: a)IXI accepted or b)I:I objected to by the Examiner.
`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).
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`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
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`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
`12)IZI Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) or (f).
`Certified copies:
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`b)I:I Some” c)I:I None of the:
`a)le All
`1.|:| Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`2.|:| Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
`33.le Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage
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`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
`** See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
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`Attachment(s)
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`

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`Application/Control Number: 13/264,044
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`Page 2
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`Art Unit: 2691
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`DETAILED ACTION
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`Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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`The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent
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`provisions.
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`In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35
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`U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any
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`correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of
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`rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be
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`the same under either status.
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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`The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis
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`for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
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`(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described
`as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to
`be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been
`obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which
`said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the
`invention was made.
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`Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being
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`unpatentable over (Hitachi WO 2008/155808) in view of Makino (WO 2008/035648 of
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`which US Publication 2009/0201319 is an English language equivalent and used for
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`citation below).
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`As to claim 1, Hitachi discloses a method for driving a plasma display panel
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`having a plurality of discharge cells, each of the discharge cells including a scan
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`Application/Control Number: 13/264,044
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`Page 3
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`Art Unit: 2691
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`electrode, a sustain electrode, a data electrode, and a phosphor emitting light of red,
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`green, or blue color (see drawing 3), wherein, one filed is formed by a plurality of
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`subfields, each of the subfields (see drawing 6, drawing 10) having:
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`an address period (ADR) where a scan pulse (Vsc) is applied to the scan
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`electrode (YE), and an address pulse (Vaa) is applied to the data electrode (AE), for
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`generating an address discharge;
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`a sustain period (SUS) where a voltage (Vsa) is applied to the data electrode
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`(AE), a sustain pulse corresponding to luminance weight is applied alternately to the
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`scan electrode (YE) and the sustain electrode (XE), for generating a sustain discharge;
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`and an erase period (ERS) where a predetermined voltage (-Vs/2) is applied to
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`the scan electrode (YE) and the sustain electrode (XE), for generating an erase
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`discharge, the method comprising:
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`controlling a voltage to be applied to the data electrode of the discharge cell
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`having the phosphor emitting light of green (Vsa(G)) so as to be lower than a voltage to
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`be applied to the data electrode of the discharge cell having the phosphor emitting light
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`of red (Vsa(R))in the sustain period (SUS) of at least one of the subfields (see drawing
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`10).
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`Hitachi does not teach generating selectively the erase discharge in the erase
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`period, only in the discharge cell having undergone the address discharge in the
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`immediately preceding address period.
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`Makino teaches generating selectively the erase discharge in the erase period,
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`only in the discharge cell having undergone the address discharge in the immediately
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`Application/Control Number: 13/264,044
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`Page 4
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`Art Unit: 2691
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`preceding address period (see [0007]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary
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`skill in the art at the time the invention was made to selectively generate the erase
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`discharge as taught by Makino, in the erase period of Hitachi, so that the wall charge
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`having been accumulated at the end of the reset period in the preceding subfield is
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`retained without any change (see [0178]).
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`Claim 4 is analyzed similar to claim 1.
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`Claims 2 and 5 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being
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`unpatentable over Choi (US Publication 2004/0246205) in view of Makino.
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`As to claim 2, Choi teaches a method for driving a plasma display panel having a
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`plurality of discharge cells (see Fig 1), each of the discharge cells including a scan
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`electrode, a sustain electrode, and a data electrode, wherein, one filed is formed by a
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`plurality of subfields (see Fig 2), each of the subfields having:
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`an address period (address, Fig 5) where a scan pulse is applied to the scan
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`electrode (Y), and an address pulse is applied to the data electrode (X) for generating
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`an address discharge;
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`a sustain period (sustain) where a voltage is applied to the data electrode (X), a
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`sustain pulse corresponding to luminance weight is applied alternately to the scan
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`electrode and the sustain electrode, for generating a sustain discharge (see [0017]);
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`and an erase period (erasing, Fig 5) where a predetermined voltage is applied to
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`the scan electrode and the sustain electrode, for generating an erase discharge (see
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`[0017]), the method comprising:
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`Application/Control Number: 13/264,044
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`Page 5
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`Art Unit: 2691
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`controlling a voltage (e.g. 0V) to be applied to the data electrode (X) in the
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`sustain period of the subfield having the minimum luminance weight (SF1) so as to be
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`lower than a voltage (Va) to be applied to the data electrode in the sustain period of
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`each subfield except for the subfield having the minimum luminance weight (see Fig 4
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`and Fig 6; 0V is applied in a least a portion of the sustain period of SF1 and Va is
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`applied in at least a portion of the sustain period of each subfield, including those other
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`than SF1).
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`Choi does not teach generating selectively the erase discharge in the erase
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`period, only in the discharge cell having undergone the address discharge in the
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`immediately preceding address period.
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`Makino teaches generating selectively the erase discharge in the erase period,
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`only in the discharge cell having undergone the address discharge in the immediately
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`preceding address period (see [0007]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary
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`skill in the art at the time the invention was made to selectively generate the erase
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`discharge as taught by Makino, in the erase period of Choi, so that the wall charge
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`having been accumulated at the end of the reset period in the preceding subfield is
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`retained without any change (see [0178]).
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`Claim 5 is analyzed similar to claim 2.
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`Claim 3 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over
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`Hitachi in view of Makino, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Choi.
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`Application/Control Number: 13/264,044
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`Page 6
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`Art Unit: 2691
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`As to claim 3, Hitachi and Makino teach the method for driving a plasma display
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`panel of claim 1, where the voltage to be applied to the data electrode of the discharge
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`cell having the phosphor emitting light of green in the sustain period of the subfield
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`having the minimum luminance weight is lower than a voltage to be applied to the data
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`electrode of the discharge cell having the phosphor emitting light of red in the sustain
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`period of the subfield having minimum luminance weight (see drawing 9) but do not
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`teach the voltage to be applied to the data electrode of the discharge cell having the
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`phosphor emitting light of green in the sustain period of the subfield having the minimum
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`luminance weight is lower than a voltage to be applied to the data electrode in the
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`sustain period of each subfield except for the subfield having the minimum luminance
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`weight.
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`Choi teaches controlling a voltage (e.g. 0V) to be applied to the data electrode
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`(X) in the sustain period of the subfield having the minimum luminance weight (SF1) so
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`as to be lower than a voltage (Va) to be applied to the data electrode in the sustain
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`period of each subfield except for the subfield having the minimum luminance weight
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`(see Fig 4 and Fig 6; 0V is applied in a least a portion of the sustain period of SF1 and
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`Va is applied in at least a portion of the sustain period of each subfield, including those
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`other than SF1).
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`It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the
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`invention was made to apply a voltage to the data electrode of the discharge cell having
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`the phosphor emitting light of green in the sustain period of the subfield having the
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`minimum luminance weight lower than a voltage applied to the data electrode in the
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`Application/Control Number: 13/264,044
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`Page 7
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`Art Unit: 2691
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`sustain period of each subfield except for the subfield having the minimum luminance
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`weight, as taught by Choi, in the method of Hitachi as modified by Makino, in order to
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`improve a driving efficiency.
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`Inquiry
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`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
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`examiner should be directed to ALLISON W. JOHNSON whose telephone number is
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`(571)270-3571. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9:30-6:00pm.
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`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s
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`supervisor, Chanh Nguyen can be reached on (571)272-7772. The fax phone number
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`for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571 -273-8300.
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`Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the
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`Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for
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`published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR.
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`Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only.
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`For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should
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`Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a
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`USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information
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`system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272—1000.
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`/ALLISON W JOHNSON/
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`Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2691
`February 10, 2014
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`Application/Control Number: 13/264,044
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`Page 8
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`Art Unit: 2691
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