DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/20/2026 has been entered.
3. Claims 1-17, 19-20 are pending. Claims 3-17 are under examination on the merits. Claims 1, 3, 9, 19 are amended. Claim 18 is previously cancelled. Claims 1-2, 19-20 are withdrawn to a non-elected invention from further consideration.
4. The objections and rejections not addressed below are deemed withdrawn.
5. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 3-17 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. Claims 3-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Pu et al. (CN111123606 A, machine translation, hereinafter “’606”) in view of Higuchi et al. ( US Pub. No. 2021/0141279 A1, hereinafter “’279”), and Jang et al. (US Pub. No. 2010/0182673 A1, hereinafter “’673”).
Regarding claim 3: ‘606 teaches an electrochromic display device (Page 4/11, [0002]), comprising a first transparent substrate and an electrochromic pixel arrays disposed on the first transparent substrate, wherein the electrochromic pixel arrays comprises a plurality of structural units superimposed longitudinally, and a second transparent substrate disposed on each of the structural units, and the electrochromic layers are disposed on surfaces of the pixel electrodes, the electrochromic layers are in a transparent state or a colored state based on an applied voltage, the structural units are independently selected from one of a cyan structural unit (i.e., a cyan electrochromic pixel layer 3214), a magenta structural unit (i.e., a magenta electrochromic pixel layer 3224), and a yellow structural unit (i.e., a yellow electrochromic pixel layer 3234), , and the electrochromic pixel arrays comprises the cyan structural unit, the magenta structural unit, and the yellow structural unit (Page 7/11, [0027]; Page 8/11, [0036]). ‘606 does not expressly teach the electrodes of the structural units are pixel electrodes, and common electrodes, and the structural units further comprise electrolytes, wherein i) the electrochromic layers are disposed in the electrolytes and formed on the pixel electrodes, the electrolytes comprise a lithium ions-containing electrolyte solution and/or an ionic liquid to provide ions, and ii) the cyan structural unit, the magenta structural unit, and the yellow structural unit each comprise the electrolyte, the electrochromic layer and the pixel electrode, wherein the electrochromic layer and the pixel electrode are arranged in a step manner, the electrolyte is in contact with a surface of the electrochromic layer opposite to the second transparent substrate, and two side surfaces of the electrochromic layer; and the electrolyte is further in contact with a step portion of the pixel electrode with respect to the electrochromic layer, and two side surfaces of the pixel electrode.
PNG
media_image1.png
488
602
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Referring to i), however, ‘279 teaches an electrochromic device which is provided with a first electrode, an electrochromic layer which is disposed on the first electrode, an electrolyte layer which is disposed on the electrochromic layer, a counter electrode material layer which is disposed on the electrolyte layer and contains a conductive polymer; and a second electrode which is disposed on the counter electrode material layer (Page 1, [0020]). ‘279 teaches the electrochromic layers are disposed in the electrolytes, and formed on the pixel electrodes through an electrochemical polymerization process (Page 7, [0083]; Page 9, [0107]), the electrolytes (Page 8, [0088]-0092]) comprise a lithium ions-containing electrolyte solution and/or an ionic liquid to provide ions for the electrochromic polymerization process (Page 10, [0126]) with benefit of providing the electrochromic device provided with the counter electrode material layer containing a conductive polymer is excellent in all of electrochromic properties, heat resistance, and durability. Therefore, the electrochromic device can be used in any device utilizing coloring and decoloring, and in particular, it can be applied to a display element, a light control element, and an electronic paper (Page 15, [0178]).
Referring to ii), ‘673 teaches a display device, comprising: a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes, a polymer dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) layer between the first electrodes and the second electrodes, a plurality of third electrodes and a plurality of fourth electrodes on and spaced apart from the second electrodes, a plurality of electrochromic layers between the third electrodes and the fourth electrodes; and an electrolyte layer between the third electrodes and the fourth electrodes (Page 3, Fig. 1). ‘673 teaches the cyan structural unit, the magenta structural unit, and the yellow structural unit each comprise the electrolyte, the electrochromic layer and the pixel electrode, wherein the electrochromic layer and the pixel electrode are arranged in a step manner, the electrolyte is in contact with a surface of the electrochromic layer opposite to the second transparent substrate, and two side surfaces of the electrochromic layer; and the electrolyte is further in contact with a step portion of the pixel electrode with respect to the electrochromic layer, and two side surfaces of the pixel electrode (Page 3, [0040], Fig. 1).
PNG
media_image2.png
332
502
media_image2.png
Greyscale
In an analogous art of the electrochromic display device, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the electrochromic device by ‘606, so as to include the electrochromic layers are disposed in the electrolytes and formed on the pixel electrodes through an electrochemical polymerization process, the electrolytes comprise a lithium ions-containing electrolyte solution and/or an ionic liquid to provide ions for the electrochromic polymerization process as taught by ‘279 and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing the electrochromic device provided with the counter electrode material layer containing a conductive polymer is excellent in all of electrochromic properties, heat resistance, and durability. Therefore, the electrochromic device can be used in any device utilizing coloring and decoloring, and in particular, it can be applied to a display element, a light control element, and an electronic paper as suggested by ‘279 (Page 15, [0178]).
In an analogous art of the electrochromic display device, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the electrochromic device by ‘606, so as to include the cyan structural unit, the magenta structural unit, and the yellow structural unit each comprise the electrolyte, the electrochromic layer and the pixel electrode, wherein the electrochromic layer and the pixel electrode are arranged in a step manner, the electrolyte is in contact with a surface of the electrochromic layer opposite to the second transparent substrate, and two side surfaces of the electrochromic layer; and the electrolyte is further in contact with a step portion of the pixel electrode with respect to the electrochromic layer, and two side surfaces of the pixel electrode as taught by ‘673 and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing an electrochromic device includes an electrochromic material that changes color in response to received charges as suggested by ‘673.
Thus, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary
skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since
rearrangement of parts of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use is within
the level ordinary skill in the art. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Regarding claim 4: The disclosure of ‘606 in view of ‘279, and ‘673 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘606 teaches an electrochromic display device (Page 4/11, [0002]), wherein a material of the electrochromic layer comprises an organic polymer electrochromic material, the organic polymer electrochromic material comprises at least one of polypyrrole, polythiophene, and polyaniline (Page 9/11, [0040]). ‘279 teach a thickness of the electrochromic layer ranges from 10 nm to 10 µm (Page 9, [0104]).
However, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since choosing an appropriate layer thickness of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use is within the level ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claims 5-8: The disclosure of ‘606 in view of ‘279 and ‘673 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘606 teaches the electrochromic display device (Page 4/11, [0002]), wherein the electrode of the electrochromic pixel layer is a transparent electrode, and the pixel electrode is connected with a thin film transistor, and the electrochromic layer is applied with a positive voltage to be transparent and a negative voltage is applied to be colored too. Each structural unit applies whether the voltage is the same is a conventional choice in this field. In addition, ‘606 teaches “the cyan structural unit 321 includes a third electrode 3211, a second ion storage layer 3212, a second conductive layer 3213, cyan electrochromic pixel layer 3214 and fourth electrode 3215 ; magenta structural unit 322 includes fifth electrode 3221, third ion storage layer 3222, third conductive layer 3223, magenta electrochromic pixel arranged in sequence from bottom to top layer 3224 and the sixth electrode 3225 : the yellow structural unit 323 includes the seventh electrode 3231, the fourth ion storage layer 3232, the fourth conductive layer 3233, the yellow electrochromic pixel layer 3234 and the eighth electrode 3235 arranged in sequence from bottom to top” (same as above), setting the electrodes of each electrochromic pixel layer as a pixel electrode and a common electrode and setting an electrolyte in contact with the electrochromic layer is also a conventional technical means in this field. See KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 418 (2007) (in making an obviousness determination one “can take account of the inferences and creative steps that a person of ordinary skill in the art would employ”).
Regarding claim 9: The disclosure of ‘606 in view of ‘279 and ‘673 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘606 teaches the electrochromic display device (Page 4/11, [0002]), wherein the electrochromic layer includes a cyan electrochromic pixel layer 3214, a magenta electrochromic pixel layer 3224, and a yellow electrochromic pixel layer 3234 (Page 7/11, [0027]; Page 8/11, [0036]).
‘279 teaches any ionic liquid in which the organic/metallic hybrid polymer forms an ionic bond can be employed. Specific examples thereof include a combination of at least one anion selected from the group consisting of tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide, and bis(pentafluoroethylsulfonyl) imide, with at least one cation selected from the group consisting of imidazolium, pyrrolidinium, and tetraalkyl ammonium, but the ionic liquid is not limited to these examples (Page 7, [0084]).
Regarding claim 10: The disclosure of ‘606 in view of ‘279 and ‘673 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘606 teaches the electrochromic display device (Page 4/11, [0002]), wherein the electrochromic layer is in the transparent state when a positive voltage is applied; and the electrochromic layer is in the colored state when a negative voltage is applied (Page 9/11, [0040]; Figs 1 & 2a; Fig. 6).
‘279 teaches the electrochromic display device, wherein the electrochromic layer is in the transparent state when a positive voltage is applied; and the electrochromic layer is in the colored state when a negative voltage is applied (Page 12, [0142]).
Regarding claims 11-12: The disclosure of ‘606 in view of ‘279 and ‘673 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘606 teaches the electrochromic layer is prepared by applying an external voltage to the pixel electrode immersed in the electrolyte so that the electrochromic polymer monomer is polymerized on the surface of the pixel electrode to form an electrochromic film. This electrochemical polymerization process is a conventional choice in this field. One, those skilled in the art can easily make an appropriate choice based on actual situations and reasonable analysis. Thus, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since choosing an appropriate voltages of the electrochromic layers of each of the structural units are same or voltages of the electrochromic layers of each of the structural units are different See KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 418 (2007) (in making an obviousness determination one “can take account of the inferences and creative steps that a person of ordinary skill in the art would employ”).
Regarding claim 13: The disclosure of ‘606 in view of ‘279 and ‘673 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘606 teaches the electrochromic display device (Page 4/11, [0002]), wherein the common electrodes and the pixel electrodes are transparent electrodes and the pixel electrodes are connected to a thin film transistor (Page 6/11, [0017]).
Regarding claims 14-17: The disclosure of ‘606 in view of ‘279 and ‘673 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘606 teaches an electrochromic display device (Page 4/11, [0002]), comprising a first transparent substrate and an electrochromic pixel arrays disposed on the first transparent substrate, wherein the electrochromic pixel arrays comprises a plurality of structural units superimposed longitudinally, and a second transparent substrate disposed on each of the structural units, and the electrochromic layers are disposed on surfaces of the pixel electrodes, the electrochromic layers are in a transparent state or a colored state based on an applied voltage, the structural units are independently selected from one of a cyan structural unit (i.e., a cyan electrochromic pixel layer 3214), a magenta structural unit (i.e., a magenta electrochromic pixel layer 3224), and a yellow structural unit (i.e., a yellow electrochromic pixel layer 3234), , and the electrochromic pixel arrays comprises the cyan structural unit, the magenta structural unit, and the yellow structural unit (Page 7/11, [0027]; Page 8/11, [0036]). ‘606 does not expressly teach the electrodes of the structural units are pixel electrodes, and common electrodes, and the structural units further comprise electrolytes, the electrolytes are in contact with the electrochromic layers.
However, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary
skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since
rearrangement of parts of a known material based on its suitability for its intended use is within
the level ordinary skill in the art. In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950).
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 07/20/2026 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Examiner Information
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bijan Ahvazi, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571) 270-3449. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9.00 A.M. -7 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached on 571-272-1130. 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.
/Bijan Ahvazi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
07/22/2026
bijan.ahvazi@uspto.gov
Prosecution Insights