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 .
Detailed Action
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/20/2025 has been entered.
Drawings Objection
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the limitations “disposing a dielectric layer on the sacrificial layer” after “patterning a sacrificial layer on the source substrate”; “disposing a protective layer on and in direct contact with the OLED and in direct contact with the dielectric layer around a periphery of the OLED to encapsulate the OLED and to form an OLED structure” and “disposing one or more fracturable tethers over the patterned sacrificial layer” in Claim 41 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections – 35 U.S.C. 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 41-55, 68-71, 73 and 74 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. A number of the limitations in Claim 41 is not supported by the specification as originally filed. For example, the sacrificial layer 18 is actually a portion of the source substrate 20, and is defined only in FIG. 7O; therefore, the limitation “disposing a dielectric layer on the sacrificial layer” after “patterning a sacrificial layer on the source substrate” is not supported by the specification as originally filed. The limitation “disposing a protective layer on and in direct contact with the OLED and in direct contact with the dielectric layer around a periphery of the OLED to encapsulate the OLED and to form an OLED structure” is not supported by the specification as originally filed, because the protective layer 70 is not in direct contact with the dielectric layer 32 around a periphery of the OLED. Also, the one or more fracturable tethers 12 are actually portions of the dielectric layer 32, and are formed only in FIG. 7L, after the removal of the sacrificial portion 18 of the source substrate 20; therefore, the limitation “disposing one or more fracturable tethers over the patterned sacrificial layer” is not supported by the specification as originally filed. Claims 42-55, 68-71, 73 and 74 depend from Claim 41.
Pertinent Art
US 20140340900 discloses micro 105 is releasably disposed over the sacrificial layer 106 [0059]. Pertinent art also includes US 20130300812, US 20170243773 and US 20190252350.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claim 41 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHENG-BAI ZHU whose telephone number is (571)270-3904. The examiner can normally be reached on 11am – 7pm EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chad Dicke can be reached on (571)270-7996. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHENG-BAI ZHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897