DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
Election
Applicant’s election with traverse of claims #7-13 and 15-20 in the reply filed on September 4, 2025 is acknowledged. The Examiner respectfully disagrees with the Applicant because there is a burden to search; the product/process claims lack unity of invention and the species have mutually exclusive characteristics.
The restriction requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
IDS
The IDS document(s) filed on September 1, 2022 and March 19, 2024 and June 2, 2025 have been considered. Copies of the PTO-1449 documents are herewith enclosed with this office action.
Claim Rejections 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1)
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.
Claims 7, 9, 10, 13, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yeh et al. (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0214302 A1), hereafter “Yeh”.
As to claim 7, Yeh teaches:
A display device (FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B) related to a micro light emitting diode (micro-LED), the display device comprising: an assembly substrate 110 including a first type assembly groove 110b and a second type assembly groove 110a having a different size or structure from the first type assembly groove. Yeh teaches the first and second type assembly grooves having a different size and different structure (shape). See Yeh, FIG. 1B.
Wherein: semiconductor light emitting elements of a first group 130 among a plurality of specific semiconductor light emitting elements (120+130+140) are arranged in the first type assembly groove within the assembly substrate.
Semiconductor light emitting elements of a second group 120 among the plurality of specific semiconductor light emitting elements are arranged in the second type assembly groove within the assembly substrate.
As to claim 9, Yeh teaches the semiconductor light emitting elements of the first group 130 are not arranged in the second type assembly groove 110a, and the semiconductor light emitting elements of the second group 120 are arranged in the second type assembly groove 110a because the corresponding semiconductor light emitting elements are arranged in their respective grooves. Id.
As to claim 10, Yeh teaches an arrangement of an assembly electrode 480c for the first type assembly groove is different from an arrangement for an assembly electrode 480a for the second type assembly groove. See Yeh, FIG. 9.
As to claim 13, Yeh teaches a substrate 110. The terms “donor” and “final display” is process language that does not structurally limit the claim.
As to claim 18, Yeh teaches:
A display device (FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B) containing a micro light emitting diode (micro-LED), the display device comprising: an assembly substrate 110 including a first type assembly groove 110b and a second type assembly groove 110a.
A first group 130 of semiconductor light emitting elements located in the first type assembly groove within the assembly substrate.
A second group 120 of semiconductor light emitting elements located in the second type assembly groove.
Wherein a size of the first group of semiconductor light emitting elements is different from a size of the second group of semiconductor light emitting elements. Yeh teaches the first group and second group having different shapes and sizes. Id. at FIG. 1B.
As to claim 19, Yeh teaches the first type assembly groove and second type assembly groove have both different sizes and shapes. Id.
As to claim 20, Yeh teaches the size (width) of the first group 130 of semiconductor light emitting elements is greater than the size of the second group 120 of semiconductor light emitting elements. Id. at FIG. 1C.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 of this title, 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.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Yeh as applied to claim 7.
As to claim 8, Yeh teaches the grooves having different shapes and volumes, but does not teach a radius of the second type assembly groove is smaller than a radius of the first type assembly groove, thereby limiting both grooves to circular shapes. See Yeh, ¶¶ [0032]-[0033].
On the other hand, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use different sized circular grooves, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in shape of the pattern used to form said circular grooves. A change in shape is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966).
Claims Allowable If Rewritten in Independent Form
Claims 11, 12, 15-17 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.
As to claim 11, Yeh teaches the assembly electrode partially overlapping the first type assembly groove but it is unclear if this is sufficient to generate a DEP force. Yeh does not teach the assembly electrode not overlapping the second type assembly groove.
As to claim 15, Yeh is the closest prior art but does not teach the limitations of the at least one barrier.
Conclusion
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/SUBERR L CHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893