The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
There is no support in the embodiment of figure 5A for the claimed limitation of “wherein the light-blocking insulating pattern is disposed on the first electrode and the second electrode and between the first pattern and the second pattern”, as recited in claim 4.
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 1, 3-10 and 21-24 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.
The claimed limitation of “wherein the first electrode and the second electrode contact the narrower lower portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern and extend under the wider upper portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern”, as recited in claims 1, 21 and 22, is unclear as to which first electrode and second electrode contact the narrower lower portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern and extend under the wider upper portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern, because the disclosure identifies element ALE as the “alignment electrode” and element ELT as the pixel electrode.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-10 and 21-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Min et al. (WO2020/013403, also published as US 12,355,010).
Regarding claims 1, 21 and 22, Min et al. teach in figure 3B and related text a display device comprising:
a first pattern PW1 and a second pattern PW2 that are spaced apart from each other in an emission area;
a first light emitting element LD1 disposed between the first pattern and the second pattern;
a first electrode CNE1 disposed on the first pattern; a second electrode CNE2 disposed on the second pattern; and
a light-blocking insulating pattern INSP1 disposed under the first light emitting element LD1 and disposed between the first pattern and the second pattern without overlapping the first pattern and the second pattern, the light-blocking insulating pattern entirely covering a lower surface of the first light emitting element LD1,
wherein the light-blocking insulating pattern has a narrower lower portion (arbitrarily chosen because “portion” is part of a whole) a wider upper portion (arbitrarily chosen because “portion” is part of a whole) disposed on the narrower lower portion between the first electrode and the second electrode, and
wherein the first electrode CNE1 and the second electrode CNE2 contact and overlap the wider upper portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern INSP1.
wherein the first electrode CNE1 and the second electrode CNE2 contact the narrower lower portion (chosen as such) of the light-blocking insulating pattern INSP1 and extend under the wider upper portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern,
wherein the first electrode includes a first inclined surface on a side of the first pattern and the second electrode includes a second inclined surface on a side of the second pattern, and
wherein the light-blocking insulating pattern includes a light-blocking insulating material which blocks light emitted from the first light emitting element.
Min et al. do not explicitly state that insulating pattern INSP1 is light blocking layer.
Applicants state that the physical phenomenon of silicon nitride is to block light.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to form insulating pattern INSP1 in Min et al.’s device of silicon nitride, in order to improve the light emitting characteristics of the device.
Regarding claim 21, Min et al. teach substantially the entire claimed structure, as recited above, including the first electrode having a first inclined surface, the second electrode having a second inclined surface facing the first inclined surface (since Min et al. do not teach that said surfaces are vertical) and the light emitting element disposed between the first inclined surface of the first electrode and the second inclined surface of the second electrode.
Regarding claims 22 and 3, Min et al. teach substantially the entire claimed structure, as recited above, including a width of the upper portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern in the first direction is greater than a width of the first light emitting element in the first direction and a width of the lower portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern in the first direction is smaller than the width of the first light emitting element in the first direction (since they are chosen as such).
Regarding claim 4, Min et al. teach in figure 3A and related text that the light-blocking insulating pattern INSP1 is disposed on (i.e. on sides walls of) the first electrode and the second electrode and between the first pattern and the second pattern, and the light-blocking insulating pattern covers an area between the first electrode and the second electrode.
Regarding claim 5, Min et al. teach in figure 3A and related text substantially the entire claimed structure, as recited in claim 1 above, including the light-blocking insulating pattern does not overlap the first pattern and the second pattern, and a first inclined surface of the first electrode and a second inclined surface of the second electrode face each other and are exposed by the light-blocking insulating pattern.
Min et al. do not explicitly state that the first and second surfaces are inclined.
and between the first pattern and the second pattern.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to form the first and second surfaces inclined in Min et al.’s device, in order to simplify the processing steps of making the device by not requiring vertical construction of the sidewalls of the first and second electrodes.
Regarding claim 6, Min et al. teach in figure 3A and related text that light- blocking insulating pattern extends to the first electrode, the second electrode, and the first light emitting element.
Regarding claim 7, by considering reflective layers REL_1 and REL_2 as being part of the first electrode and the second electrode, respectively, then Min et al. teach in figure 3A and related text that each of the first electrode and the second electrode includes a reflective material which reflects light emitted from the first light emitting element.
Furthermore, Min et al. teach in figure 3B and related text that each of the first electrode and the second electrode includes a reflective material which reflects light emitted from the first light emitting element.
Regarding claim 8, Min et al. teach in figure 9A and related text that a transistor and a power line Vdd (see figure 7A) that are disposed at a lower level than the first pattern and the second pattern;
a first pixel electrode electrically connecting a first end portion of the first light emitting element and the transistor to each other (see figure 7A); and
a second pixel electrode electrically connecting a second end portion of the first light emitting element and the power line to each other.
Regarding claim 9, Min et al. do not teach that each of the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode includes a transparent conductive material which allows light emitted from the first light emitting element to be transmitted through the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to form each of the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode to include a transparent conductive material which allows light emitted from the first light emitting element to be transmitted through the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode, in Min et al.’s device, in order to be able to operate the device in its intended use.
Regarding claim 10, Min et al. teach in figure 3A and related text that a bank PW1_1 defining the emission area, but does not explicitly state having a color conversion layer disposed on the first light emitting element in the emission area, wherein the color conversion layer converting a color of light emitted from the first light emitting element.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to form a color conversion layer disposed on the first light emitting element in the emission area, wherein the color conversion layer converting a color of light emitted from the first light emitting element, in Min et al.’s device, in order to be able to operate the device in its intended use.
Regarding claim 23, Min et al. teach in figure 7A and related text a first pixel electrode (of pixel SP) connected to a first end portion of the first light emitting element LD but do not explicitly state that the first pixel electrode comprises a first portion disposed on the first inclined surface of the first electrode, and a second portion disposed between the first pattern and the light-blocking insulating pattern in the horizontal direction, and the second pixel electrode comprises a third portion disposed on the first inclined surface of the first electrode, and a fourth portion of the second pixel disposed between the second pattern and the light-blocking insulating pattern in the horizontal direction.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to form the first pixel electrode comprises a first portion disposed on the first inclined surface of the first electrode, and a second portion disposed between the first pattern and the light-blocking insulating pattern in the horizontal direction, and the second pixel electrode comprises a third portion disposed on the first inclined surface of the first electrode, and a fourth portion of the second pixel disposed between the second pattern and the light-blocking insulating pattern in the horizontal direction, in prior art’s device, in order to improve the light blocking capabilities of the device.
Regarding claim 24, Min et al. do not explicitly state that a first end portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern contacts the second portion of the first pixel electrode, and does not overlap the first pattern, and a second end portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern contacts the portion of the second pixel electrode, and does not overlap the second pattern.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to form a first end portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern contacts the second portion of the first pixel electrode, and does not overlap the first pattern, and a second end portion of the light-blocking insulating pattern contacts the portion of the second pixel electrode, and does not overlap the second pattern, in prior art’s device, in order to improve the light blocking capabilities of the device.
Response to Arguments
1. Applicants argue that claims 4-6 should not be rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(a) as allegedly failing to comply with the written description requirement because “As illustrated in FIG. 5A of the present application, an annotated version of which is reproduced below, the light- blocking insulating pattern INS1 (annotated in orange) is disposed on the first electrode ALE1 and the second electrode ALE2 (annotated in blue) and between the first pattern BNP1 and the second pattern BNP2 (annotated in yellow)”.
1. Applicants decided that elements ALE1 and ALE2 are the respective first and second electrodes. However, the disclosure identifies elements ALE1 and ALE2 as the first and second alignment electrodes.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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O.N. /ORI NADAV/
6/29/2026 PRIMARY EXAMINER
TECHNOLOGY CENTER 2800
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