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 .
Response to Argument
Applicant's arguments filed on 8/28/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Regarding the arguments on pages 1-3, Lee (US20250089471A1) teaches a plurality of first conductive layers (wiring 50) formed of the same material and in the same layer as the plurality of first electrodes (first electrode 65).
As disclosed in Lee, the wiring 50 and the source/drain electrodes of the transistors 35 are electrically connected, indicating that they are formed from the same conductive material layer (see Fig. 1 and para. [0045]). Further Lee disclosed that the first electrodes 65 are electrically connected to the source/drain electrodes of the first transistors 35 through contacts 75 (para. [0049]). Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the term “same layer” encompasses conductive features formed from the same conductive material layer and electrically coupled as part of a continuous conductive structure, even when contact openings are provided.
Accordingly, the Lee reasonably teaches the claimed “the display area is provided with a plurality of first conductive layers formed of the same material and in the same layer as the plurality of first electrodes.”
In addition, Lee further teaches the metal layers 58, 120, and 195 (second conductive layers) are formed in the same layer as the first electrode 65, as discussed above.
Therefore, rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 is maintained and made final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee (US20250089471A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a display device (Para [0036] and Fig. 1, display device 10), comprising:
a base substrate (substrate 20) on which a display area (display region 1) for displaying an image and a frame area around the display area are defined peripheral region 2 surrounding the display region 1);
a thin-film transistor (TFT} layer (transistors 35 and 40) provided on the base substrate and including a planarization film (insulation layer 60, 105, and 125) configuring a top surface of the TFT layer (Para [0046]);
a light-emitting element provided on the planarization film in the display area (Para [0053]), the light-emitting element including a plurality of first electrodes (first electrode 65), a light-emitting layer (light emitting layer 85), and a second electrode (second electrode 90) stacked in this order (Fig. 1);
a plurality of first photo spacers (plurality of spacers 83 and pixel defining layer 80) provided above the planarization film in the display area (Para [0063]);
and
a plurality of second photo spacers (blocking structures 100, 115, and 118) provided on the planarization film in the frame area (Fig. 8),
wherein:
the display area being is provided with a plurality of first conductive layers (Fig. 8, wiring 50) formed of the same material and in the same layer as the plurality of first electrodes, each of the plurality of first conductive layers being shaped into an island and positioned under a corresponding one of the plurality of first photo spacers (Para [0045-0046]),
the frame area being is provided with a second conductive layer (Para [0110], metal layer 58, 120, and 195) formed of the same material and in the same layer as the plurality of first electrodes (Para [0046]),
the second conductive layer includes a plurality of openings (Fig. 8, openings), each of the plurality of openings being formed under a corresponding one of the plurality of second photo spacers (Fig. 8),
a trench penetrating the planarization film is provided around the display area, on the planarization film, in the frame area (Fig. 8),
a first set of the plurality of second photo spacers is provided at a display area side with respect to the trench in a plan view (Fig. 8, blocking structures 110 and 115), and
a second set of the plurality of second photo spacers is provided at an opposite side from the display area side with respect to the trench in the plan view (Fig. 8, blocking structures 185).
PNG
media_image1.png
466
839
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 12, Lee teaches the display device according to claim 1, wherein
the light-emitting element further includes an edge cover provided to cover an edge of the plurality of first electrodes (Para [0049], insulation layer 60), and
each of the plurality of first photo spacers is a protruding portion of a top surface of the edge cover (Para [0049], contacts 75).
Regarding claim 13, Lee teaches the display device according to claim 1, wherein
the light-emitting element is an organic electroluminescence (EL) element (Para [0053], light emitting layers 85 have a multi-layer structure that includes an organic light emitting layer (EML)). Regarding claim 14, Lee teaches the display device according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the plurality of first conductive layers shaped into an island is longer than a diameter of the plurality of first photo spacers (Fig. 8, wiring 50 has longer diameter than a diameter of the most top surface of the spacer 83).
Regarding claim 15, Lee teaches the display device according to claim 1, wherein
a diameter of the plurality of openings of the second conductive layer is longer than a diameter of the plurality of second photo spacers (Fig. 1, opening of the wiring 55 and the metal 120 has longer diameter than a diameter of the blocking structure of 110 and 115).
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.
Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US20250089471A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Nagasawa (JP2017122790A).
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches the display device according to claim 1 respectively, but does not specify the plurality of first photo spacers has a height, from a top surface of the planarization film, smaller than a height of the plurality of second photo spacers, from the top surface of the planarization film.
However, Nagasawa teaches the plurality of first photo spacers has a height (Fig. 15, total height of the columnar spacer 24 and the diameter of the filler 30 is made equal to the height of the columnar spacer 21 in the display region), from a top surface of the planarization film (Fig. 15, from the top surface of the overcoat film 203), smaller than a height of the plurality of second photo spacers (lower than a height of sub-spacer 22 formed in the display region), from the top surface of the planarization film (Fig. 15, from the top surface of the overcoat film 203).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify a method of manufacturing a display device of Lee (US20250089471A1) and further include an alternative structure of a liquid crystal display device of Nagasawa (JP2017122790A). The display device that involves the combination of familiar elements can provide an improvement by achieving a configuration that accurately controls the gap in both the frame region and the display region, ensuring even color distribution around he display (in the description of translated copy from Nagasawa).
Regarding claim 3, Lee in view of Nagasawa teaches the display device according to claim 2, Lee teaches the plurality of first photo spacers and the plurality of second photo spacers are formed of positive photosensitive resin (Para [0059]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US20250089471A1).
Regarding claim 4, Lee teaches the display device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of first electrodes reflects light (Para [0049], first electrode 65 include a metal, an alloy, a metal nitride, a conductive metal oxide, a transparent conductive material, etc. These may be used alone or in a combination thereof.).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, in view of the teachings related to the use of metal and metal alloys as electrode materials for reflecting or transmitting visible light in display devices, as the use of such materials was well-known, or considered common knowledge in the art. In re Ahlert, 424 F.2d 1088, 1091, 165 USPQ 418, 420 (CCPA 1970).
Claim(s) 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US20250089471A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Park (US20180151838A1).
Regarding claim 5, Lee teaches the display device according to claim 1 respectively, but does not specify the frame area is further provided with a first dam wall and a second dam wall in this order, the first dam wall and the second dam wall being shaped into a frame and provided around the plurality of second photo spacers, and the first dam wall and the second dam wall include the planarization film, the second conductive layer, and a resin layer stacked in this order, the resin layer being formed of the same material and in the same layer as the plurality of second photo spacers.
However, Park teaches the frame area is further provided with a first dam wall (Fig. 3, first wall 152) and a second dam wall (third wall 154) in this order, the first dam wall and the second dam wall being shaped into a frame (Fig. 1) and provided around the plurality of second photo spacers (Para [0084], bank 106), and
the first dam wall and the second dam wall include the planarization film (Para [0082], first support layer 151 formed of the same material as the planarization layer 105), the second conductive layer (connection line 114-2), and a resin layer (first wall 152 and third wall 154) stacked in this order (Fig. 3), the resin layer being formed of the same material and in the same layer as the plurality of second photo spacers (Para [0083]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify a method of manufacturing a display device of Lee (US20250089471A1) and further include an alternative structure of an organic light-emitting display device by Park (US20180151838A1). The display device that involves the combination of familiar elements can reduce the size and thickness of displays, and to narrow or eliminate the bezel of displays (narrow bezel or zero bezel (Para [0091] in Park).
Regarding claim 6, Lee in view of Park teaches the display device according to claim 5, wherein the display area is shaped into a rectangle (Para [0037] and Fig. 1, rectangular active area A/A),
the frame area has an end provided with a terminal (Para [0039]),
the second conductive layer is provided on a side, of the frame area, not facing the terminal (Fig. 1), the second conductive layer covering a top surface and a side surface of the planarization film included in the first dam wall and the second dam wall (Fig. 3, connection line 114-2 is covering a first support layer 151), and
the resin layer has a height, from a top surface of the planarization film, smaller than a height of the plurality of second photo spacers, from the top surface of the planarization film (Fig.3, the height of the first wall 152 is smaller than the height of the bank 106 from the planarization layer 105-1).
Regarding claim 7, Lee in view of Park teaches the display device according to claim 6, wherein the second conductive layer is electrically connected to the second electrode (Para [0045] of Lee, outermost wiring 55 may be electrically coupled to the second electrode 90 of the display structure).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kim (US20160276422A1) teaches an organic light-emitting display apparatus including a shield layer and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. An organic light-emitting display apparatus includes a substrate having a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area, comprising structure of hole 140a between the shield layer 140.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAHAE KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-1844. 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, Fernando Toledo can be reached at (571) 271-1867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/FERNANDO L TOLEDO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2897
/JAHAE KIM/ Examiner, Art Unit 2897