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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species VI in the reply filed on 11/21/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 3-8, 11-12, 14-21 and 26 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Applicant expressly elected claim 11, which is not drawn to Species VI. Accordingly, claim 11 is withdrawn.
Applicant expressly withdrew claim 13, which is drawn to Species VI. Accordingly, claim 13 is not withdrawn and is examined.
Applicant expressly elected claims 20 and 21, which are not drawn to Species VI. Accordingly, claims 20 and 21 are withdrawn.
Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/21/2025.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 9-10, 13, 24 and 27-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Takiguchi (US-20250031496-A1).
Regarding claim 1, Takiguchi teaches a display panel (Fig.5 2; ¶0013) comprising:
a substrate (Fig.5 41; ¶0068) including a plurality of emission areas (Fig.5 Lr/Lg/Lb; ¶0068);
a plurality of light emitting members (Fig.5 1R/G/B; ¶0068) disposed on the substrate (41), each of the plurality of light emitting member (1R/G/B) disposed in the plurality of emission areas (Lr/Lg/Lb); and
a bank (Fig.5 24; ¶0130) disposed on the substrate (41) in a boundary between adjacent ones of the plurality of emission areas (Lr/Lg/Lb), wherein each of the plurality of light emitting members (1R/G/B) corresponds to one of two or more different colors (red and green), and one of the plurality of light emitting members (1R/G/B) includes:
a light emitting device (Fig.12 10; ¶0059) disposed on the substrate (41) and emitting light; a first color conversion layer (Fig.12 21A; ¶0120) disposed on the light emitting device (10) and including phosphors (¶0120) converting a portion of light of the light emitting device (10) into a wavelength region higher than a wavelength region of the light of the light emitting device (¶0057, red light has a greater wavelength then blue or UV light);
a light scattering layer (Fig.12 22; ¶0057) disposed on the first color conversion layer (21A) and scattering another portion of the light of the light emitting device (10) or light of the first color conversion layer (21A); and
a second color conversion layer (Fig.12 21B; ¶0120) disposed on the light scattering layer (22) and including quantum dots (¶0120) converting still another portion of the light of the light emitting device (10) or the another portion of the light scattered by the light scattering layer (22) into a wavelength region of the one of two or more different colors which the one of the plurality of the light emitting members corresponds (¶0057, green light has a wavelength between red and blue or UV light).
Regarding claim 2, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 1, wherein the plurality of light emitting members (1R/G/B) include:
a first light emitting member (Fig.5 1R; ¶0068) emitting light of a first color (red; ¶0069), a second light emitting member (Fig.5 1G; ¶0068) emitting light of a second color (green; ¶0069) of which a wavelength region is lower than a wavelength region of the first color, and a third light emitting member (Fig.5 1B; ¶0068) emitting light of a third color (blue; ¶0069) of which a wavelength region is lower than the wavelength region of the second color.
Regarding claim 9, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 2, wherein the first light emitting member (1R) and the second light emitting member (1G) each includes the first color conversion layer (21A), the light scattering layer (22), and the second color conversion layer (21B), the second color conversion layer (21B) of the first light emitting member (1R) includes first quantum dots (¶0071) corresponding to the wavelength region of the first color (red), the second color conversion layer (21B) of the second light emitting member (1G) includes second quantum dots (¶0071) corresponding to the wavelength region of the second color (green), the light emitting device (10) of the third light emitting member (1B) emits light of the wavelength region of the third color (blue; ¶0061), and the third light emitting member (1B) includes a filling layer (Fig.4 22 and 23; ¶0079) disposed on the light emitting device (10).
Regarding claim 10, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 9, wherein the filling layer (Fig.4 23) of the third light emitting member (1B) includes scatterers (22) scattering the light of the light emitting device (10).
Regarding claim 13, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 9, wherein the first color conversion layer (21A) of the first light emitting member (1R) includes first phosphors (¶0071) corresponding to the wavelength region of the first color (red) , and the first color conversion layer (21A) of the second light emitting member (1G) includes second phosphors (¶0071) corresponding to the wavelength region of the second color (green).
Regarding claim 24, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 1, further comprising a transistor array (Fig.22; ¶0030) disposed on the substrate (41), wherein the transistor array includes:
at least one thin film transistor (Fig.22 Tr2; ¶0140) disposed on the substrate (41) and corresponding to each of the plurality of emission areas (1R/G/B);
a common line (Fig.22 311 and 322) disposed on the substrate (41) and extending in a direction corresponding to arrangement directions of the plurality of emission areas (1R/G/B);
a planarization layer (substrate 41 is depicted as a planarized component in Fig.5) disposed on the at least one thin film transistor (Tr2) and the common line (311 and 322) of each of the plurality of emission areas (1R/G/B);
a pixel electrode (Fig.5 42; ¶0068) disposed on the planarization layer (top of 41) in each of the plurality of emission areas (1R/G/B); and
a common electrode (Fig.5 43; ¶0068) disposed on the planarization layer (top of 41) in each of the plurality of emission areas (1R/G/B), spaced apart from the pixel electrode (42), and electrically connected to the common line (311 and 322), the bank (24) is disposed on the planarization layer (top of 41), the pixel electrode (42) is electrically connected to at least one of the at least one thin film transistor (Tr2), and a first electrode (Fig.12 14; ¶0059) of the light emitting device (10) is disposed on the pixel electrode (42), faces the pixel electrode (42), and is electrically connected to the pixel electrode (42) in each of the plurality of emission areas (1R/G/B).
Regarding claim 27, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 1, wherein the light scattering layer (22) includes scatterers, a diameter of each of the scatterers is in a range of about 10 nm to about 500 nm (¶0077), and the scatterer includes at least one selected from the group of titanium oxide (TiO2), silicon oxide (SiO2), aluminum oxide (AhO3), and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) (¶0077).
Regarding claim 28, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 1, further comprising a reflective layer (Fig.5 25; ¶0086) disposed on an edge of each of the plurality of emission areas (1R/G/B) and covering a sidewall of the bank (24).
Regarding claim 29, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 28, wherein the reflective layer (25) includes scatterers including at least one selected from the group of titanium oxide (TiO2), silicon oxide (SiO2), aluminum oxide (AhO3), zirconium oxide (ZrO2), and boron nitride (BN) (¶0086).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 22 and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takiguchi in view of Onuma et al. (US-20220123179-A1 – hereinafter Onuma), and further in view of Sugi (US-20240196644-A1 – hereinafter Sugi).
Regarding claim 22, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 2, further comprising:
a color filter layer (Fig.17 33; ¶0129), wherein the color filter layer (33) includes:
a first color filter (Fig.17 33R; ¶0129) corresponding to the first light emitting member (1R);
a second color filter (Fig.17 33G; ¶0129) corresponding to the second light emitting member (1G);
a third color filter (Fig.17 33B; ¶0129) corresponding to the third light emitting member (1B).
Takiguchi does not teach a protective layer disposed on the plurality of light emitting members and the bank, wherein the color filter layer is disposed on the protective layer; and
a light blocking member corresponding to the bank.
Onuma teaches a protective layer (Fig.8 15; ¶0030 of Onuma) disposed on LEDs (Fig.8 13; ¶0029 of Onuma) and color conversion layers (Fig.8 31/32; ¶0081 of Onuma) with color filters (Fig.8 33/34; ¶0088 of Onuma) disposed on top.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include the protective layer of Onuma (15 of Onuma) between the color filter layer (33 of Takiguchi) and the color conversion resin (23 of Takiguchi) to arrive at the claimed invention. A practitioner of ordinary skill would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of protecting the color conversion layers (¶0007 of Onuma).
Takiguchi in view of Onuma does not teach a light blocking member corresponding to the bank.
Sugi teaches a black matrix (Fig.27 BM; ¶0302 of Sugi) corresponding to a bank layer (Fig.27 28; ¶0229 of Sugi).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to include the black matrix of Sugi (BM of Sugi) corresponding to the banks (24 of Takiguchi) to arrive at the claimed invention. A practitioner of ordinary skill would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing color mixture between separate LEDs (¶0174 of Sugi) and to prevent incident light reflection off non light emitting components.
Regarding claim 23, the aforementioned combination of Takiguchi in view of Onuma, and further in view of Sugi from claim 22 teaches the display panel of claim 22, wherein the protective layer includes an inorganic insulating material of SiO2-x or Si 02, and x is 0, 1, or 2 (¶0032 of Onuma).
Claim(s) 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takiguchi in view of Bong et al. (US-20160381750-A1 – hereinafter Bong).
Regarding claim 25, Takiguchi teaches the display panel of claim 24. Takiguchi does teach the light emitting device design claimed in withdrawn claim 26.
Takiguchi does not teach wherein the light emitting device includes a second electrode facing the first electrode, and the second electrode of the light emitting device is electrically connected to the common electrode through a wire.
Bong teaches an LED (Fig.9 30; ¶0079 of Bong) with a first electrode (Fig.9 36; ¶0079 of Bong) and a second electrode (Fig.9 35; ¶0079 of Bong) facing each other and connecting to a substrate via a wire (¶0079 of Bong).
The alternative LED configuration does not patentably distinguish claim 25 over claim 24 because it is a well-known and obvious variant and is simply a matter of design choice.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (US-20210399068-A1 and US-20210327973-A1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THADDEUS J KOLB whose telephone number is (571)272-0276. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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/T.J.K./ Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/ELISEO RAMOS FELICIANO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2817