DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-19 are pending in the application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS), Form PTO-1449, filed 22 December 2021 and 24 April 2022. The information therein was considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-2, 5-6, 13-15 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sun (US 2019/0207038).
Re: independent claim 1, Sun discloses in fig. 1 a display panel, comprising: a substrate; and a thin film transistor layer, wherein the thin film transistor layer is disposed on the substrate (1) , the thin film transistor layer comprises an active layer (4), a metal layer (21, [0038]), and an anti-reflection layer (22), the anti-reflection layer is at least disposed on a side of the metal layer (21) close to the active layer (4), and a reflectivity of the anti-reflection layer is less than a reflectivity of the metal layer [0012].
Re: claim 2, Sun discloses in fig. 1 the display panel according to claim 1, wherein the metal layer (21, [0036]) comprises a light-shielding layer, the light-shielding layer is disposed on a side of the active layer (4) close to the substrate (1), the anti-reflection layer (22) comprises a first anti-reflection layer (22), the first anti-reflection layer (22) is disposed on a side of the light-shielding layer (21) close to the active layer (4), and a reflectivity of the first anti-reflection layer is less than a reflectivity of the light shielding layer [0012].
Re: claim 5, Sun discloses in fig. 1 the display panel according to claim 2, wherein a material of the light shielding layer comprises metal [0038].
Re: claim 6, Sun discloses in fig. 1 the display panel according to claim 2, further comprising a buffer layer (3) disposed on a side of the first anti-reflection layer (22) away from the substrate (1), wherein the buffer layer (3) covers the first anti-reflection layer (22) and the substrate (1).
Re: claim 13, Sun discloses in fig. 1 the display panel according to claim 1, wherein the anti-reflection layer (22) is disposed opposite to the active layer (4), and two opposite ends of the anti-reflection layer (55) extend beyond two opposite ends of the active layer (4) [0062].
Re: independent claim 14, Sun discloses in figs. 1 and 5A-5H a method of manufacturing a display panel, comprising: providing a substrate (1); and forming a thin film transistor layer on the substrate, wherein the thin film transistor layer comprises an active layer (4), a metal layer (21, [0036]), and an anti-reflection layer (22), the anti-reflection layer (22) is disposed at least on a side of the metal layer (21) close to the active layer (4), and a reflectivity of the anti-reflection layer is less than a reflectivity of the metal layer [0012].
Re: claim 15, Sun discloses in fig. 1 the method of manufacturing the display panel according to claim 14, wherein the metal layer (21, [0036]) comprises a light-shielding layer, the anti-reflection layer (22) comprises a first anti-reflection layer, and the step of forming the thin film transistor layer on the substrate comprises: forming the light-shielding layer (21) on the substrate (1); forming the first anti-reflection layer (22) on the light-shielding layer (21), wherein a reflectivity of the first anti-reflection layer is less than a reflectivity of the light-shielding layer [0012]; and forming the active layer (4) on the first anti-reflection layer (22).
Re: claim 19, Sun discloses in fig. 1 a display device, comprising the display panel of claim 1 or the display panel manufactured by the method of manufacturing the display panel of claim 14 [0002].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 3 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (US 2019/0207038) in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0123270) (hereinafter, “Lee”).
Re: claim 3, Sun discloses the display panel according to claim 2.
Sun does not disclose wherein a material of the first anti-reflection layer comprises molybdenum oxide.
Lee discloses wherein a material of a first anti-reflection layer comprises molybdenum oxide [0077].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use molybdenum oxide as the material for the first anti-reflective layer for the purpose of preventing reflected light from being re-reflected and reducing the quality of reflected light as exemplified by Lee ([0059] and [0082]).
Re: claim 12, Sun discloses the display panel according to claim 1.
Sun is silent regarding the material of the active layer.
Lee discloses wherein a material of an active layer comprises metal oxide [0101].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the active layer of metal oxide since metal oxide is commonly used in the art as the material for active layers and channel layers as exemplified by Lee [0101].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 7-11, 16-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang et al. US 11,177,297 teach a thin film transistor including a light reflection adjusting layer formed on a side of a light shielding metal layer close to an active layer.
The examiner has cited particular columns and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. When responding to this office action, applicants are advised to provide the examiner with the line numbers and page numbers in the application and/or references cited to assist the examiner in locating appropriate paragraphs.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLISON BERNSTEIN whose telephone number is (571)272-9011. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8AM-5PM.
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/ALLISON BERNSTEIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824 6/2/2026
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