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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/31/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5-7, 10, 12-14, 16, 17, 20, and 24-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 5 recites the limitations "the main transmissive portion" and “the auxiliary transmissive portion”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 5-7, 10, 12-14, 16, 17, 20, and 24-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li (US 2019/0250450 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Li discloses a display device (Fig. 6) comprising:
a substrate (corresponding to 30 in Fig. 14) including an active area (area in which the subpixels are disposed, corresponding to the area extending from the left of S11 to the right of S15 in Fig. 6) and a non-active area (area outside of the active area in Fig. 6); and
a plurality of sub-pixels disposed in the active area (see Fig. 6) disposed in the active area, and including a plurality of light emitting portions (200) and a plurality of transmissive portions (201 and 202) allowing light entering from a surface farther away from the plurality of sub-pixels disposed on the substrate among surfaces of the substrate to be transmitted,
wherein the plurality of sub-pixels comprise first and second sub-pixels (see figure, below) adjacent to each other in a first direction (Y direction in Fig. 6) and aligned to each other (see figure, below), each of the first sub-pixel and the second sub-pixel includes a first edge and a second edge (see figure, below) opposing to one another in a second direction that traverses the first direction (X direction in Fig. 6) and a light emitting portion of the first sub-pixel (the light emitting portions being the region corresponding to 200 in each subpixel) at least partially misaligns with a light emitting portion of the second sub-pixel (see figure below), the light emitting portion of the first sub-pixel adjacent is adjacent to the first edge and is spaced apart from the second edge of the first sub-pixel by a transmissive portion of the first sub-pixel (see figure, below) and the light emitting portion of the second sub-pixel is adjacent to the second edge and is spaced apart from the first edge of the second sub-pixel by a transmissive portion of the second sub-pixel and
wherein the first edge of the first sub-pixel and the first edge of the second sub-pixel are connected in the first direction, and the second edge of the first sub-pixel and the second edge of the second sub-pixel are connected in the first direction (the Examiner notes that, per Applicant’s Specification, two elements can be “connected” via another element and the bottom edge of the first subpixel connects to each of the first and second edges of the first and second sub-pixels in first direction and, as such, the first edge of the first sub-pixel and the first edge of the second sub-pixel are connected in the first direction, and the second edge of the first sub-pixel and the second edge of the second sub-pixel are connected in the first direction), and
wherein the plurality of transmissive portions comprise first transmissive portions (corresponding to 202 in each sub-pixel), and the light emitting portion of one of the first or second sub-pixels is asymmetrically disposed to a first transmissive portion of the other one of the first and second sub-pixels (see figure, below), an orientation between a main transmissive portion and the auxiliary transmissive portion of the first sub-pixel (202 and 201, respectively) is different from an orientation between a main transmissive portion and the auxiliary transmissive portion of the second sub-pixel (201 and 202, respectively).
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Regarding claim 6, Li further discloses wherein the plurality of transmissive portions further comprise second transmissive portions (corresponding to 201 in each sub-pixel), and
a corresponding one of the second transmissive portions is disposed between the light emitting portion of the first sub-pixel and a light emitting portion of a third sub-pixel, the first and third sub-pixels being disposed adjacent to each other in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction (see figure above).
Regarding claim 7, Li further discloses wherein the first transmissive portion of the first sub-pixel at least partially overlaps with respective second transmissive portions of the first and second sub-pixels in the first direction in plan view (see figure above), and
wherein the first transmissive portion of the first sub-pixel overlaps with respective first transmissive portions of the third sub-pixel and a fourth sub-pixel in the second direction in the plan view (see figure above), the third and fourth sub-pixels being adjacent to the first sub-pixel in the second direction in plan view (see figure above).
Regarding claim 10, Li further discloses wherein each of the plurality of light emitting portions is an area in which a light emitting element and at least one circuit component of each of the plurality of sub-pixels are disposed (circuit components shown directly beneath light emitting components in Fig. 14), and each of the plurality of transmissive portions is an area other than the light emitting portion of each of the plurality of sub-pixels (see Fig. 14 and Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 12, Li further discloses wherein in transmissive portions disposed in the first direction, widths of two transmissive portions located on at least two sides of any one transmissive portion are the same as each other (the widths of transmissive portions 201 being L which is constant, the widths of the transmissive portions 202 being along the Y direction and are also constant (compare Fig. 9 of Li in which they differ).
Regarding claim 13, Li further discloses wherein in an area except for at least one sub-pixel of the plurality of sub-pixels directly contacting any boundary of the active area, a width of at least one transmissive portion of the transmissive portions located between at least two light emitting portions of the plurality of light emitting portions is greater than 0 (see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 14, Li further discloses wherein at least one transmissive portion of transmissive portions included in at least one sub-pixel of the plurality of sub-pixels contacting any boundary of the active area is located in an area except for an area between the boundary of the active area and at least one of the plurality of light emitting portions (transmissive portions 201 in the leftmost subpixels in Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 16, Li further discloses wherein at least one of the plurality of sub-pixels further includes a second transmissive portion located on another side different from a side of a corresponding light emitting portion on which a corresponding light transmissive portion is located (see first and second transmissive portions are located on different sides, see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 17, Li further discloses wherein second transmissive portions in adjacent sub-pixels of the plurality of sub-pixels are disposed asymmetrically (see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 20, Li further discloses wherein corresponding transmissive portions included in respective sub-pixels of first and second sets of sub-pixels (the first set being the leftmost sub-pixels and the second set being the rightmost sub-pixels) are located in respective areas (left columns and right columns, respectively) spaced from boundaries different from each other (right and left boundaries, respectively) among boundaries of the active area and non-active area (see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 24, Li further discloses wherein a width of a respective light emitting portion of the plurality of sub-pixels is constant (see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 25, Li further discloses wherein a ratio between areas of transmissive portions located on at least two sides of light emitting portions disposed in adjacent sub-pixels in the first or second direction is constant (as Applicant has stated that transmissive portions can be considered to have a width of zero, see claim 13, for any shown transmissive portion in Fig. 6, a corresponding transmissive portion of width zero is on the other side of the light emitting portion, leading to a constant ratio of 0).
Regarding claim 26, Li further discloses wherein a width of at least one of the second transmissive portions is different from a width of at least one of the first transmissive portions (see Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 27, Li further discloses wherein the plurality of sub-pixels each further includes a second transmissive portion (corresponding to 201) located in a side of the corresponding light emitting portion, and
wherein a corresponding first transmissive portion is located in another side of the light emitting portion (see Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 28, Li further discloses wherein the second transmissive portions of adjacent sub-pixels of the plurality of sub-pixels are disposed asymmetrically (second transmissive portions sub-pixels adjacent along the Y direction are asymmetric, see Fig. 6).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Ma (US 2019/0370524 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Li does not explicitly disclose signal lines as claimed.
Ma, in the same field of endeavor, discloses a plurality of first signal lines (¶ 0037) extending in the first direction; and
a plurality of second signal lines (¶ 0037) extending in a second direction,
wherein at least one of the plurality of second signal lines is disposed to overlap with at least one of the light emitting portions (see Fig. 2, ¶ 0037).
There was a benefit to using signals lines as such in that they allow individual control of the light emitting portions. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the Application's effective filing date to use signal lines as taught by Ma in the device of Li for this benefit.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Ma as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Smith et al. (US 2005/0132306 A1).
Regarding claim 21, Ma further discloses wherein at least a part of at least one of the first signal lines is disposed to overlap with an area other than the light emitting portion (see Fig. 2, ¶ 0037).
Ma does not disclose that the signal lines are arranged asymmetrically.
However, it is well known in the art to form signal lines to be asymmetric (¶ 0009 of Smith).
There is a benefit to forming signal lines as such in that it reduces cross-talk (ibid).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to form signal lines in adjacent sub-pixels, including in the region overlapping the area other than the light emitting portion, to be asymmetric for this benefit.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/31/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the main and auxiliary transmissive portions of Li are not differently oriented. This argument is not persuasive as Applicant’s mapping of what constitutes the main and auxiliary transmissive portions of Li is not the mapping used in the rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT whose telephone number is (571)272-4893. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Joshua Benitez can be reached at (571) 270-1435. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER A CULBERT/ Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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