DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-15, and 21 in the reply filed on 07/08/2025 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/03/2022 has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
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 embodiment of “…wherein two adjacent of the second columns are separated from each other by a second column pitch that is equal to the first column pitch, and two adjacent of the second rows are separated from each other by a second row pitch that is greater than the first row pitch; and transferring a second portion of the electronic devices from the second carrier substrate to a third carrier substrate and arranging the electronic devices as a third matrix…wherein two adjacent of the third columns are separated from each other by a third column pitch that is greater than the second column pitch, and two adjacent of third rows are separated from each other by a third row pitch that is equal to the second row pitch…” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. Alternatively, the claims could be amended to reflect the embodiment for which drawings are already supplied.
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 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 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.
Re claim 12, claim 12 refers to “An apparatus for performing the step of transferring in the method…” (emphasis added); however, claim 1 (from which claim 12 depends) has two different transferring steps, so it is not clear which transferring step claim 12 is referring to. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ahn et al. (KR20210020421A).
Regarding independent claim 1, Ahn teaches a method for manufacturing an optoelectronic product (Fig. 3; para. 0091+), comprising:
providing a first carrier substrate (element substrate (MLP) (para. 0092));
providing a plurality of electronic devices (micro LEDs (ML) (para. 0093)) disposed on the first carrier substrate and arranged as a first matrix (para. 0099-104), wherein the first matrix comprises:
a plurality of first columns extending along a first direction (y) and a plurality of first rows extending along a second direction (x), wherein two adjacent of the first columns are separated from each other by a first column pitch (P(1)_x), and two adjacent of the first rows are separated from each other by a first row pitch (P(1)_y) (Fig. 3(a));
transferring a first portion of the electronic devices from the first carrier substrate to a second carrier substrate (SP1) and arranging the electronic devices as a second matrix (Fig. 3(b); para. 105-111), wherein the second matrix comprises comprising:
a plurality of second columns extending along the first direction and a plurality of second rows extending along the second direction, wherein two adjacent of the second columns are separated from each other by a second column pitch that is greater than the first column pitch, and two adjacent of the second rows are separated from each other by a second row pitch that is equal to the first row pitch (Fig. 3(b); para. 105-111); and
transferring a second portion of the electronic devices from the second carrier substrate to a third carrier substrate (SP2) and arranging the electronic devices as a third matrix (Fig. 3(c); para. 112-113), wherein the third matrix comprises comprising:
a plurality of third columns extending along the first direction and a plurality of third rows along the second direction, wherein two adjacent of the third columns are separated from each other by a third column pitch that is equal to the second column pitch, and two adjacent of third rows are separated from each other by a third row pitch that is greater than the second row pitch (Fig. 3c; para. 112-113).
The specific example shown in Fig. 3 shows expanding the column pitch first and the row pitch second while the claims require expanding the row pitch first and the column pitch second; however, Ahn teaches that either the column pitch or the row pitch can be adjusted first (para. 0092-0094) and; therefore, teaches the claimed invention.
Re claim 2, Ahn teaches wherein the step of transferring the first portion of the electronic devices from the first carrier substrate to the second carrier substrate is to transfer the electronic devices to the second carrier substrate in a one first row-by-one first row manner to form the second rows (para. 0116-0117; para. 0092-0094).
Re claim 3, Ahn teaches wherein there is a first row sequence among the first rows, and there is a second row sequence among the second rows equal to the first row sequence (para. 0116-0117; para. 0092-0094).
Re claim 4, Ahn teaches wherein the step of transferring the second portion of the electronic devices from the second carrier substrate to the third carrier substrate is to transfer the electronic devices to the third carrier substrate in a one second column-by-one second column manner to form the third columns, wherein the second portion can be equal to or not equal to the first portion (para. 0116-0117; para. 0092-0094).
Re claim 5, wherein there is a second column sequence among the second columns, and there is a third column sequence among the third columns equal to the second column sequence (para. 0116-0117; para. 0092-0094).
Re claim 6, Ahn teaches further comprising: transferring a third portion of the electronic devices from the third carrier substrate to a pixel carrier substrate (100; para. 0114) and arranging the electronic devices as a pixel matrix (para. 0114; para. 0079 where “display substrate” is considered to read on “pixel carrier substrate”), and the pixel matrix comprising:
a plurality of pixel columns along the first direction and a plurality of pixel rows along the second direction, wherein two adjacent of the pixel columns are separated by a pixel column pitch that is a first positive integer multiple of the third column pitch, and two adjacent of the pixel rows are separated by a pixel row pitch that is a second positive integer multiple of the third row pitch (para. 0079 – the positive integer being 1).
Re claim 7, Ahn teaches wherein the electronic devices comprise light-emitting diode (LED) elements (para. 0093).
Re claim 9, Ahn teaches wherein the electronic devices comprise light-emitting diode (LED) elements (para. 0093) and one of the LED elements comprises an LED chip with a plurality of light-emitting regions connected in series (para. 0072 – considered to be met by “multiple quantum well structure”).
Re claim 11, Ahn teaches wherein the first carrier substrate is a growth substrate selected from Ge, GaAs, InP, Si, sapphire, SiC, or GaN (para. 0066).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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, 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.
Claim(s) 8, 10, 1-15, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahn et al. (KR20210020421A) in view of Kwag et al (US Pub. 2020/0395348 (on IDS)).
Re claim 8, Ahn teaches wherein the electronic devices comprise light-emitting diode (LED) elements and one of the LED elements comprises and LED chip (para. 0093).
Ahn is silent with respect to a light conversion layer.
Kwag teaches a light conversion layer covering an LED chip (Fig. 2; para. 0097-0099) for the purpose of changing the light output color.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the disclosure of Ahn such that it included a light conversion layer as taught by Kwag to arrive at the claimed invention for the purpose of providing multiple color light emission.
Re claim 10, Ahn teaches wherein the electronic devices comprise light-emitting diode (LED) elements and one of the LED elements comprises an LED chip (para. 0093).
Ahn teaches wherein the LED chip comprises two electrodes (106, 107) located on opposite sides of the chip (Fig. 1; para. 0073) and is silent with respect to the two electrodes being located on the same side of the chip.
Kwag teaches that LED chips with two electrodes (A, C) located on a same side of the LED chip are known in the art (Fig. 4; para. 0105).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to form the LED chips of Ahn such that the two electrodes were located on a same side of the LED chip as taught by Kwag for the purpose of; for example, elimination the need for a wire connection for the top electrode of Ahn and thereby simplifying the connection process.
Re claims 12, 13, and 15, Ahn teaches an apparatus for performing the step of transferring in the method of claim 1, comprising:
a donor stage configured to support the first carrier substrate (MLP1) and the plurality of electronic devices (ML) on the first carrier substrate (Fig. 2, Fig. 3(a)), wherein the donor stage is configured to allow relative movement, and
a receiving stage configured to support the second carrier substrate (SP1), wherein the donor stage and the receiving stage are configured to allow relative movement (Fig. 2, Fig. 3(b)), thereby enabling the first portion of the electronic devices to be transferred to predetermined positions on the second carrier substrate (Figs. 2, 3(a); 3(b); para. 0076+).
Ahn is silent with respect to a laser module configured to generate a laser beam with a predetermined emission pattern; that is, Ahn teaches the transferring to be done using vacuum force, etc. (para. 0080); however, Ahn teaches that the first substrate can be a growth substrate and the that the LEDs on the growth substrate can be removed using a laser (para. 0074).
Kwag teaches an apparatus for performing a step of transferring LED chips using a laser module configured to generate a laser beam with a predetermined emission pattern (para. 0079-0080) further comprising a light-shielding plate (60) blocking the laser beam to form the predetermined emission pattern (Fig. 4; para. 0105-0106); wherein the laser beam comprises a linear predetermined emission pattern (Figs. 3-4).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing that the apparatus of Kwag could be substituted for the apparatus of Ahn for performing the transferring step such that the laser method of Kwag was substituted for the vacuum Ahn to arrive at the claimed invention with a reasonable expectation of success (MPEP 2143, I, B).
Re claim 14, Ahn in view of Kwag teaches wherein the laser module further comprises a laser generator (Kwag para. 0107) and a beam shaping optical system (Kwag Fig. 4; para. 0106 – where “mask” is considered to read on “beam shaping optical system”).
Re claim 21, Ahn teaches wherein the electronic devices comprise light- emitting diode (LED) elements and one of the LED elements comprises an LED chip (para. 0093).
Ahn is silent with respect to a light filter layer.
Kwag teaches a light filter layer covering an LED chip (Fig. 2; para. 0097-0099 – the “color conversion materials” considered to read on “a light filter layer” as; broadly speaking, color conversion materials can be considered a specific type of light filter) for the purpose of changing the light output color.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the disclosure of Ahn such that it included a light filter layer as taught by Kwag to arrive at the claimed invention for the purpose of providing multiple color light emission.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOLLY KAY REIDA whose telephone number is (571)272-4237. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:00PM.
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/MOLLY K REIDA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2899