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 .
This action is responsive to claims filed on 06/29/2022.
Currently, claims 1-15 are examined as below.
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 Statements (IDS) filed on 03/27/2023 and 08/31/2025. The IDS have been considered.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested:
(Marked-Up Version) Electronic Device with Saved Space for Wiring and Improved Resolution
(Clean Version) Electronic Device with Saved Space for Wiring and Improved Resolution
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 7 and 12-15 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 7 is indefinite, because the limitation “two adjacent first data line and third data line in two adjacent data line groups” in lines 3-4 renders the claim indefinite. It is unclear whether it is two first data lines and two third data lines in two adjacent data line groups, or it is a first data line in one data line group that is adjacent to a third data line in an adjacent data line group. The limitation will be interpreted as a first data line in one data line group that is adjacent to a third data line in an adjacent data line group for the purpose of examination.
Claim 12 is indefinite, because the limitation “the second drain electrode” in lines 3-4 is not mentioned before. Only “a second drain” is mentioned earlier in the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis.
Note the dependent claims 13-15 necessarily inherit the indefiniteness of the claims on which they depend.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinese Patent Publication No. 108010945 A to Ma et al. (“Ma”) in view of US 2020/0321427 A1 to Park et al. (“Park”), and further in view of US 2019/0386028 A1 to Hong.
PNG
media_image1.png
464
687
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
475
600
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding independent claim 1, Ma in Fig. 2 and Annotated Fig. 2 teaches an electronic device (Fig. 2 & p.8, display panel), comprising:
a first substrate 1 (Fig. 2 & p.8, substrate base plate 1);
an active layer 54 (Fig. 2 & p.9, active layer 54) disposed on a side (Fig. 2, upper side) of the first substrate 1, wherein the active layer 54 comprises active parts 54 (Fig. 2 & p.9, a display has more than one pixel and each pixel has a thin film transistor 5, in which each transistor 5 has an active part 54 formed from a collective active layer 54. In other words, the active layer 54 comprises more than one active part 54 in a display), and each active part 54S, 54C, 54D comprises a source contact sub-portion 54S (Annotated Fig. 2 & p.10, a portion 54S (i.e., source region) of the active layer 54 connects to the source electrode 52), a drain contact sub-portion 54D (Annotated Fig. 2 & p.10, a portion 54D (i.e. drain region) of the active layer 54 connects to the drain electrode 53), and a channel sub-portion 54C (Annotated Fig. 2, a portion 54C (i.e., channel region) serves as the conductive path between the source region 54S and the drain region 54D) positioned between the source contact sub-portion 54S and the drain contact sub-portion 54D;
a first metal layer 23 (Fig. 2 & p.10, third metal layer 23) disposed on a side of the active layer 54 away from the first substrate 1 and comprising source electrodes 52 (Fig. 2 & p.10, source electrode 52; pp.9 & 11, there are more than one pixels and thin film transistors 5 in the display panel, which means there would be more than one source electrodes 52 formed from the metal layer 23) and data lines (pp.10 & 16, data lines are electrically connected to the source electrode 52 formed of the metal layer 23, which makes the data lines a part of the first metal layer connection system), wherein one end of one of the source electrodes 52 is electrically connected to a respective one of the data lines (Fig. 2 & p.16), and another end of the source electrode 52 is electrically connected to the source contact sub-portion 54S of the active part 54 (Annotated Fig. 2); and
a second metal layer 24 (Fig. 2 & p.10, fourth metal layer 24) disposed on the side of the active layer 54 away from the first substrate 1 and is positioned in a different layer from the first metal layer 23 (Fig. 2), wherein the second metal layer 24 comprises drain electrodes 53 (Fig. 2 & p.10, drain electrode 53; pp.9 & 11, there are more than one pixels and thin film transistors 5 in the display panel, which means there would be more than one drain electrodes 53 formed from the metal layer 24), one of the drain electrodes 53 is electrically connected to the drain contact sub-portion 54D of one of the active parts 54 (Annotated Fig. 2).
wherein the first metal layer 23 comprises data line groups (pp.10 & 16, data lines).
However, Ma does not explicitly disclose the active layer is a semiconductive layer; and each data line group comprises a plurality of the data lines, and wherein a distance between any two adjacent data line groups is less than a distance between any two adjacent data lines in any of the data line groups.
Park recognizes a need for providing a material in which the source and drain regions can be formed and connected to the respective source and drain electrodes in a transistor(¶ 329-¶ 330). Park satisfies the need by providing an active layer that is a semiconductor layer (¶ 98 & ¶ 175).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the semiconductor material taught by Park for the active layer taught by Ma, so as to provide a material in which the source and drain regions can be formed and connected to the respective source and drain electrodes in a transistor (Park: ¶ 329-¶ 330).
Hong recognizes a need for augmenting the pixel units per inch of a display panel without reducing the aperture ratio and product yield ratio of the pixel units (¶ 3 & ¶ 8). Hong satisfies the need by providing each data line group 13 (Figs. 1-3 & ¶ 14, data lines 13) that comprises a plurality of the data lines 13 (Figs. 1-3 & ¶ 14), and wherein a distance between any two adjacent data line groups 13 is less than a distance between any two adjacent data lines 13 in any of the data line groups 13 (Fig. 3 & ¶ 22, a distance between data line groups 13 of pixel units Sub1 and Sub2 is less than a distance between adjacent data lines 13 in any data line groups 13 defined by pixels units Sub1, Sub2, Sub3).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the data lines taught by Ma and Park with the data line arrangement taught by Hong, so as to augment the pixel units per inch of a display panel without reducing the aperture ratio and product yield ratio of the pixel units (Hong: ¶ 3 & ¶ 8).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Ma, Park and Hong further teaches the second metal layer 24 is disposed on a side of the first metal layer 23 away from the semiconductor layer 54 (Ma; Park), and the electronic device further comprises a spacer layer SP (Ma: Annotated Fig. 2) disposed between the first metal layer 23 and the second metal layer 24.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Ma, Park and Hong further teaches the data lines 13 are arranged along a first direction (Hong: Fig. 3, horizontal direction) and extend along a second direction (Hong: Fig. 3, vertical direction), the first direction is different from the second direction (Hong: Fig. 3), and wherein an orthographic projection of the drain electrode D (Hong: Figs. 1-3, drain electrode D) on the first substrate 11 (Hong: Figs. 1-3 & ¶14, glass substrate 11) is positioned between orthographic projections of two adjacent data lines 13 in one of the data line groups 13 on the first substrate 11.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Ma, Park and Hong does not explicitly disclose a width of the drain electrode along the first direction is greater than or equal to 2 μm.
However, it would have been obvious to form the width within the claimed range, since it has been held by the Federal circuit that, where the only difference between the prior art and the claims was a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not perform differently than the prior art device, the claimed device was not patentably distinct from the prior art device. (In Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984)).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Ma, Park and Hong further teaches a width of the drain electrode D along the first direction is less than or equal to a spacing between the two adjacent data lines 13 in the data line group 13 (Hong: Fig. 3).
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 6 and 8-11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if (i) rewritten in independent form to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims or (ii) the objected claim and any intervening claims are fully incorporated into the base claim.
Claim 6 would be allowable, because the prior art of record, singularly or in combination, fails to disclose or suggest, in combination with the other claimed elements in claim 6, each pixel area comprises one of first sub-pixel areas, one of second sub-pixel areas adjacent to the first sub-pixel area along the first direction, and one of third sub-pixel areas adjacent to the first sub-pixel area along the second direction.
Claims 8-11 would be allowable, because they depend from the allowable claim 6.
Claims 7 and 12-15 are rejected.
Claims 7 and 12-15 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 7 and 12-15 would be allowable, because they depend from the allowable claim 6.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2014/0139490 A1 to Hwang et al.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIKKA LIU whose telephone number is (571)272-2568. The examiner can normally be reached on 9AM-5AM EST M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Eliseo Ramos-Feliciano can be reached on 571-272-7925. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/M.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/ELISEO RAMOS FELICIANO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2817