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
See the new rejections of the amended claims below.
Claim Objection
Claim 1 recites that “the second barrier layer directly contacts the the first barrier layer in a region overlapping the light-emitting element”, which has an apparently superfluous repetition of “the”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 11, 12, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kato, US 2014/0225089 A1.
Claim 1: Kato discloses
a base layer (10);
a circuit layer (AR) on the base layer;
a light-emitting element layer on the circuit layer and comprising a pixel defining layer (LIB) and a light-emitting element including a functional layer (13) in an opening defined in the pixel defining layer;
and an encapsulation layer including a first barrier layer (L1) on the light-emitting element layer and having at least one of silicon oxycarbide or silicon oxide ([0042]), and a second barrier layer (L3) directly on top of the first barrier layer and having at least one of silicon oxynitride or silicon nitride ([0042]),
wherein a content of a Carbon (C) element is in a range of 0 at% to 10 at% with respect to a total content of the first barrier layer (silicon oxide, 0 at% C, [0042]),
wherein in a plan view, the second barrier layer directly contacts the the first barrier layer in a region overlapping the light-emitting element (FIG. 2).
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Claim 11: the first barrier layer covers a top surface of the light-emitting element layer (FIG. 2).
Claim 12: a top surface of the first barrier layer (the surface over the light emitting region) is a flat surface, and the first barrier layer fills a space between the light-emitting element layer and the second barrier layer (FIG. 2). That is, the barrier layer partially fills the space between light emitting element layer and the second barrier layer. Alternatively, the first barrier layer fills a lower space that is between the light-emitting element layer and the second barrier layer and layer L2.
Claim 16: Kato discloses an electronic device including an active region (ACT) and a peripheral region outside the active region (FIG. 4), the electronic device comprising:
a base layer (10);
a circuit layer on the base layer (AR);
a light-emitting element layer (LIB, 12-14) on the circuit layer;
and an encapsulation layer on the light-emitting element layer, wherein the encapsulation layer includes a first barrier layer (L1) configured to cover an uneven top surface of the light-emitting element layer, and a second barrier layer (L3) directly on the first barrier layer, and the first barrier layer includes at least one of silicon oxycarbide or silicon oxide ([0042]), and a content of a Carbon (C) element is 0 at% to 10 at% with respect to a total content of the first barrier layer (silicon oxide, 0 at% C, [0042]), wherein the second barrier layer directly contacts the first barrier layer in the active region (FIG. 2).
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.
Claims 2-4, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato.
Claim 2: Kato discloses that the first and second barrier layers are the same thickness ([0041]). However, through ordinary variations in manufacturing, it would be expected that the barrier thicknesses will have some random differences, including in some cases that a first thickness of the first barrier layer is greater than a second thickness of the second barrier layer by a small amount. Furthermore, changes in dimensions are not typically a source of patentable distinction absent unexpected results. See MPEP 2144.04(IV). Furthermore, where patentability is said to be based upon thicknesses or upon another variable recited in a claim, the applicant must show that the thicknesses are critical. In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 1578, 16 USPQ2d 1934, 1936 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Claim 3: Kato does not disclose that the first thickness is in a range of 3 µm to 10 µm. However, changes in dimensions are not typically a source of patentable distinction absent unexpected results. See MPEP 2144.04(IV). Furthermore, where patentability is said to be based upon thicknesses or upon another variable recited in a claim, the applicant must show that the thicknesses are critical. In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 1578, 16 USPQ2d 1934, 1936 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Claims 4 recites that with respect to the total content of the first barrier layer, a Silicon (Si) element is included in an amount in a range of 30 at% to 50 at%, and an Oxygen (O) element is included in an amount in a range of 50 at% to 60 at%. Claim 17 has an analogous recitation. Kato does not disclose the quantities of silicon and oxygen in the silicon oxide. However, the most stable silicon oxide compound is silicon dioxide, by far the most commonly used in semiconductor devices, which has a mass percentage of 46.75 at% silicon and 53.25 at% oxygen. ((Mass of Si / Molar mass of SiO₂) * 100 = (28.0855 g/mol Si / 60.0835 g/mol of SiO₂) * 100 = 46.749 at%.) Thus the by far most common form of silicon oxide falls within the scope of claim 4, and it would have been obvious and expected to have used this ubiquitous material.
Claim 18: Kato does not disclose that the first barrier layer has a thickness in a range of 3 µm to 10 µm, and the second barrier layer has a thickness in a range of 1 µm or less. However, changes in dimensions are not typically a source of patentable distinction absent unexpected results. See MPEP 2144.04(IV). Furthermore, where patentability is said to be based upon thicknesses or upon another variable recited in a claim, the applicant must show that the thicknesses are critical. In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 1578, 16 USPQ2d 1934, 1936 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Claims 5, 6, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato in view of Imamura, US 2003/0164674 A1.
Claim 5: Kato does not disclose that when seen in a plan view parallel to the base layer, an edge of the second barrier layer is outside an edge of the first barrier layer. However, this was known in the art. See Imamura FIG. 16, which shows second barrier layer 314d2 outside an edge of the first barrier layer 314d1. It would have been obvious to have formed the layers in Kato in this was as a configuration that is known in the art and easily applicable to Kato.
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Claim 6: as explained above with respect to claim 5, in Kato in view of Imamura, in a plan view, an area of the second barrier layer would be larger than an area of the first barrier layer.
Claim 20: in Kato, the light-emitting element layer corresponds to the active region, the encapsulation layer covers the light-emitting element layer and extends to the peripheral region (FIG. 4):
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In Kato in view of Imamura, an edge of the second barrier layer is spaced further apart from the active region than an edge of the first barrier layer (Imamura FIG. 16).
Claims 7 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato in view of Jeong, US 2020/0106050.
Claim 7: Kato discloses that the first and second barrier layers L1 and L3 can be silicon oxide or silicon nitride ([0042]). In a case in which L1 is silicon oxide and L3 is silicon nitride, a refractive index of the second barrier layer would be greater than a refractive index of the first barrier layer. Furthermore, see Jeong, which discloses that a refractive index of the second barrier layer (“second inorganic layer IOL2 may have a refractive index of about 1.7 to 2.0 with respect to the wavelength of about 633 nm” [0137]) is greater than a refractive index of the first barrier layer (“the first inorganic layer IOL1 may have a refractive index of about 1.60 to about 1.65” [0108]). It would have been obvious to have had such an arrangement as known in the art and in order to reduce color shifting (Jeong [0109]).
Claim 13: Jeong discloses a sensor layer (TS) on the encapsulation layer, wherein the sensor layer is directly on the second barrier layer (FIG. 8A). Sensors were very common in the art of displays, especially for handheld devices, and it would have been obvious to have been obvious to position them as taught by Jeong as known in the art as an effective placement of the sensor.
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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/PETER BRADFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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