DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Arguments
The amendment to the title overcomes the objection.
The amendment to the specification overcomes the objection. See the additional objection below.
Amended FIG. 16 overcomes the previous objection.
Claims 9-12 have been amended to depend from claim 3, which is withdrawn as belonging to unelected invention II. These claims are thus also now withdrawn for the same reason.
With regard to the 112 rejections, claim 9 is now withdrawn, and thus is not now examined, including under section 112. The problematic language of claim 21 has been removed and the rejection is withdrawn. The amendment to claim 16, along with the applicant’s statement that the examiner’s understanding is correct, on page 11 of the response, overcomes the 112 rejection.
The applicant argues on page 12 that “Li does not disclose, teach or suggest that the light shielding trace Z does not overlap with the openings (i.e., openings K in the present application) on the pixel definition layer 301. The drawing effect in FIG. 5 of Li just schematically shows the components of an element in a pixel, and the dimensions and position relationship cannot exactly represent the actual situation of the display panel.” The applicant does not provide any basis for this assertion. It appears perhaps the applicant is referring to the policy found in MPEP 2125, which sets forth that “[w]hen the reference does not disclose that the drawings are to scale and is silent as to dimensions, arguments based on measurement of the drawing features are of little value.” That is the only prohibition on using the drawings as prior art. The examiner has not used any arguments based on measurements of the figures. The argument is instead based on the arrangement of the elements in the figures. Li clearly shows that the light shielding trace Z is far to the side of pixel opening. This is reasonably conveyed by the figures of Li. The applicant’s arguments are not persuasive.
Specification
Paragraph 26 states that “Singular forms of ‘a’, ‘said’, and ‘the’ used in the embodiments of the present disclosure and the appended claims are also intended to include a plural form, unless the context clearly indicates other meaning otherwise.” The bolded portion is awkward and agrammatical.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 14, 16-18, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li, CN 114171574, in view of Shin, US 2020/0348573, and Cho, US 2016/0181349 A1.
Claim 1: Li discloses a display panel, wherein the display panel has a display area (AA) and a non-display area (NA); and wherein the display panel comprises:
data lines (Da) arranged in the display area and each extending in a first direction (vertical, FIG. 1);
connecting lines (S1) arranged in the display area;
a substrate (10), wherein the data lines and the connecting lines are located at a same side of the substrate;
and a light-shielding structure (Z) located in the display area, and located at a side of the connecting lines away from the substrate, wherein, in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the substrate, the light-shielding structure overlaps with at least one of line segments of at least one of the connecting lines (FIG. 5);
a pixel definition layer (301) comprising openings located in the display area;
and light-emitting elements located in the display area,
and wherein at least one of the light-emitting elements comprises a first electrode (302), a light-emitting layer (303), and a second electrode (304), at least one of the openings expose the first electrode, and the at least one of the openings are located in a light-emitting area of the at least one of the light-emitting elements, and in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, the light-shielding structure does not overlap with the openings (FIG. 5).
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Claim 1 also recites pads arranged in the non-display area, wherein each of the connecting lines comprises an end coupled with one of the data lines, and another end coupled with one of the pads. This is not illustrated, as the driving chip IC is schematically illustrated only as a box. However, this was known in the art. See e.g. Shin, which illustrates connecting lines PL1 connected to pads PA1. It would have been obvious to have had such pads in the common use case in which the driver is a separate unit bonded to the display, such as printed circuit board 500 disclosed by Shin.
Claim 1 also recites that the first electrode is a reflective electrode, the second electrode is a transmissive electrode. Li does not disclose the optical properties of the electrodes, but the claimed properties were well known in the art. See e.g. Cho, [0132], “When the OLED display is a top emission type, the pixel electrode 211 is formed of a reflecting layer and the common electrode 214 is formed of a transparent layer or a translucent layer.” This was very common and would have been obvious as one of two common configurations that would commonly be implemented.
Claim 2: Li discloses that in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, the at least one of the line segments of the at least one of the connecting lines does not overlap with the openings (FIG. 5).
Claim 14: each of at least two connecting lines of the connecting lines comprises a first line segment extending in the first direction (vertical portion of S1, FIG. 1), wherein the first line segment extends from a boundary between the display area and the non-display area to the display area (FIG. 1); and wherein the light-shielding structure comprises a first light-shielding portion extending in the first direction, wherein, in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, the first light-shielding portion overlaps with the first line segments of the at least two connecting lines (FIGS. 5, 10, and 11).
Claim 16: Li discloses
the display area has an axis of symmetry (vertical middle line) extending in the first direction (D1);
wherein each of the connecting lines comprises a first line segment extending in the first direction, the first line segment extending from a boundary between the display area and the non-display area to the display area;
and wherein at the same side of the axis of symmetry, the connecting lines comprise a fourth connecting line and a fifth connecting line, and the data lines comprise a first data line and a second data line, wherein a distance between the first line segment of the fourth connecting line and the axis of symmetry is greater than a distance between the first line segment of the fifth connecting line and the axis of symmetry;
a distance between the first data line and the axis of symmetry is greater than a distance between the second data line and the axis of symmetry;
and the fourth connecting line is coupled with the first data line, and the fifth connecting line is coupled with the second data line.
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Claim 17: Li discloses
the display area comprises a first display area and two second display areas, wherein, in a second (horizontal) direction, the two second display areas are respectively located at two sides of the first display area, and the second direction intersects with the first direction;
the display area has an axis of symmetry extending in the first direction, the axis of symmetry being located in the first display area;
wherein the data lines comprise intermediate data lines and edge data lines, wherein the intermediate data lines are located in the first display area, and the edge data lines are located in the two second display areas;
and fan-out lines are provided in the non-display area, and the intermediate data lines are coupled with the pads through the fan-out lines;
and wherein the connecting lines are located in the two second display areas, and the connecting lines are coupled with the edge data lines.
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The lines in the central part can be considered fan out lines because they allow connections that fan out, i.e., the spread of data lines connected to is wider than the spread of the connected pads connected to.
Claim 18: Li discloses
the connecting lines comprise a first line segment extending in the first direction (D1) and a second line segment extending in a second direction (D2), the first line segment extending from a boundary between the display area and the non-display area to the display area, and the second direction intersecting with the first direction (FIG. 10);
and wherein the second line segment has an end coupled with the first line segment and another end coupled with one of the data lines (FIG. 10);
and wherein, in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, at least a part of the first line segment overlaps with the light-shielding structure, and at least a part of the second line segment overlaps with the light-shielding structure (FIG. 10).
Claim 22: Li discloses a display apparatus, comprising a display panel, wherein the display panel has a display area (AA) and a non-display area (NA); and wherein the display panel comprises:
data lines (Da) arranged in the display area and each extending in a first direction (vertical, FIG. 1);
connecting lines (S1) arranged in the display area;
a substrate (10), wherein the data lines and the connecting lines are located at a same side of the substrate;
a light-shielding structure (Z) located in the display area, and located at a side of the connecting lines away from the substrate, wherein, in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the substrate, the light-shielding structure overlaps with at least one of line segments of at least one of the connecting lines (FIG. 5);
a pixel definition layer (301) comprising openings located in the display area;
and light-emitting elements located in the display area,
and wherein at least one of the light-emitting elements comprises a first electrode (302), a light-emitting layer (303), and a second electrode (304), at least one of the openings expose the first electrode, and the at least one of the openings are located in a light-emitting area of the at least one of the light-emitting elements, and in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, the light-shielding structure does not overlap with the openings (FIG. 5).
Note that Li does not explicitly use language like “display apparatus”; however, see Li, abstract, “display device”. The display apparatus encompasses any device the display panel could be used in, and thus is either inherent or exceedingly obvious.
Claim 22 also recites pads arranged in the non-display area, wherein each of the connecting lines comprises one end coupled with one of the data lines, and another end coupled with one of the pads. This is not illustrated, as the driving chip IC is schematically illustrated only as a box. However, this was known in the art. See e.g. Shin, US 2020/0348573, which illustrates connecting lines PL1 connected to pads PA1. It would have been obvious to have had such pads in the common use case in which the driver is a separate unit bonded to the display, such as printed circuit board 500 disclosed by Shin.
Claim 22 also recites that the first electrode is a reflective electrode, the second electrode is a transmissive electrode. Li does not disclose the optical properties of the electrodes, but the claimed properties were well known in the art. See e.g. Cho, [0132], “When the OLED display is a top emission type, the pixel electrode 211 is formed of a reflecting layer and the common electrode 214 is formed of a transparent layer or a translucent layer.” This was very common and would have been obvious as one of two common configurations that would commonly be implemented.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Shin and Mi, US 2023/0352391. Mi discloses that each of the at least one first connecting line (26) comprises a main line segment, and one end of each of the at least two branches is coupled with the main line segment:
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It would have been obvious to have used such a connection structure in Li as known in the art for the purpose of connecting pads to data lines.
Lin discloses that “in order to achieve better signal shielding effect, the shielding wiring B can be set along the positive projection of the driving wiring S1 on the shielding layer, and the covering range of the shielding wiring B on the shielding layer can be greater than the positive projection of the driving wiring S1 on the shielding layer, so as to completely shield the signal of the driving wiring S1”; thus the light-shielding structure overlaps with at least a part of the main line segment, as it overlaps with the entire connecting line. As seen in Lin FIG. 5,
the main line segment does not overlap with the openings, because the connection line does not overlap with the openings.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Shin and Zhao, CN 111584500. Li discloses various connecting lines of different lengths, but not of different widths. Zhao discloses having larger widths for longer connection lines. This allows for an equalization of impedance of the connection lines (Zhao, abstract). It would have been obvious to have used wider lines for longer connections in Li to equalize impedance and thus to allow for better signal distribution. (Note that while the connection lines in Zhao do no to connect to data lines, the driving signal in both Zhao and Li is an electrical signal which will benefit from reducing the different in the impedance between different lines.)
Claims 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Shin and Park, US 2022/0102463.
Claim 19: Li discloses a pixel definition layer (301) having openings located in the display area (FIG. 5), wherein the connecting lines comprise a sixth connecting line (any of the connecting lines). Li does not disclose that the connecting line overlaps with the openings. However, as the connecting lines of Li are covered by the light shielding layer, there would not be any optical interference with the device. Further, it was known to have conductive lines cross the optical opening in a pixel. See e.g. Park, FIGS. 3 and 4, showing the pixel openings corresponding to the blue light emitting area B (compare FIG. 11), which overlaps with signal line 171B. It would have been within ordinary skill in the art to determine the proper placement of the connecting lines, including overlapping the opening.
Claim 20: Lin discloses
one of the light-emitting elements corresponds to one of the openings (FIG. 5);
and the light-emitting elements comprise a red light-emitting element, a green light-emitting element and a blue light-emitting element (“red sub-pixel, green sub-pixel; blue sub-pixel” [0042]).
Claim 20 also recites that, in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, at least one of the line segments of the sixth connecting line overlaps with one of the openings that corresponds to the red light-emitting element, and/or at least one of the line segments of the sixth connecting line overlaps with one of the openings that corresponds to the blue light-emitting element. It would have been obvious to have crossed any of the openings, as it would not interfere with the emission of the pixels. See Park, FIGS. 3 and 4, to show that it was known to have conductive lines cross the opening of a blue pixel.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Shin and Zou US 2014/0353691, in evidence of Wan, US 2022/0045306. Zou discloses a filter layer, wherein the filter layer comprises filter units (30), wherein the light-shielding structure (40) is provided between adjacent filter units of the filter units ([0036], FIG. 4):
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It was thus known in the art to use a light shield between color filters (typically a black matrix) for a light shield of underlying conductive lines. It would have been obvious to have used it in this way in Li. Also, as the black matrix is located in between the emission areas, as are the connection lines in Li (see FIG. 10), so the black matrix of Li in view of would also cover the connection lines.
Note that while Zou discloses an LCD with color filters and a black matrix, this was also known for OLEDs, Li being an OLED. See Wan, FIG. 1. Thus it would have been obvious to have such structures in OLEDs as known in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER BRADFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-1596. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30-6:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jacob Choi can be reached at 469.295.9060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER BRADFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897