DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
Response to Amendment/Restriction
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, Species I, and Claims 1-5, 8-11, and 14-15 in the reply filed on January 02, 2026 is acknowledged. Claim 16 appears to be generic. Thus, Claims 6-7, 12-13, and 17-24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on January 02, 2026.
Specification
The title of the invention is broad and not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 8-11, and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0115513 A1 to Im et al. (“Im”) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0109617 A1 to Lin et al. (“Lin”). As to claim 1, although Im discloses a display device comprising: a first base substrate (100) on which a plurality of sub-pixels (PX1-PX3) are defined; a first insulating layer (81) disposed on the first base substrate (100) and including a first surface and a second surface, the first surface facing the first base substrate (100); a plurality of light emitting elements (40) disposed in each of the plurality of sub-pixels (PX1-PX3) on the first surface of the first insulating layer (81); a first electrode (61) and a second electrode (62) directly disposed on the first surface of the first insulating layer (81) and electrically contacting each end of each of the plurality of light emitting elements (40), respectively; a circuit layer (21, 22, 120, 140) disposed between the first (61) and second (62) electrodes and the first base substrate (100) and including a first transistor (120, 140) electrically connected to each of the plurality of light emitting elements (40); and a color filter layer (82) disposed on the second surface of the first insulating layer (81) (See Fig. 2, Fig. 10, ¶ 0055, ¶ 0057, ¶ 0061-¶ 0063, ¶ 0084, ¶ 0088, ¶ 0089, ¶ 0092-¶ 0095, ¶ 0110, ¶ 0147, ¶ 0156, ¶ 0163-¶ 0166, ¶ 0179, ¶ 0185-¶ 0187), Im does not further disclose a color control structure disposed on the second surface of the first insulating layer and including a light transmission layer and wavelength conversion layers; and the color filter layer disposed on the color control structure. However, Lin does disclose a color control structure (132a/b_1, PL1 top multi-layer) disposed on the second surface of the first insulating layer (PL1 bottom multi-layer) and including a light transmission layer (PL1 top multi-layer) and wavelength conversion layers (132a/b_1); and the color filter layer (132a/b_2) disposed on the color control structure (132a/b_1, PL1) (See Fig. 2, Fig. 5, Fig. 6, ¶ 0032, ¶ 0033, ¶ 0036, ¶ 0037, ¶ 0044, ¶ 0047, ¶ 0051). In view of the teaching of Lin, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Im to have a color control structure disposed on the second surface of the first insulating layer and including a light transmission layer and wavelength conversion layers; and the color filter layer disposed on the color control structure because the color control structure and the color filter layer provide desired color output and light extraction and protection over the light emitting elements (See ¶ 0036, ¶ 0044). As to claim 2, Im discloses further comprising: a first bank (30) disposed on the first surface of the first insulating layer (81) and having a shape protruding toward the first base substrate (100), wherein the first bank (30) is disposed at a boundary of the plurality of sub-pixels (PX1-PX3), and the plurality of light emitting elements (40), the first electrode (61), and the second electrode (62) are disposed in an area surrounded by the first bank (30) (See Fig. 2, Fig. 10). As to claim 3, Im further discloses wherein the circuit layer (21, 22, 120, 140) further includes a lower metal layer (21, 22) disposed between the first transistor (120, 140) and the plurality of light emitting elements (40), and the lower metal layer (21, 22) is disposed to overlap the plurality of light emitting elements (40) in a thickness direction of the first base substrate (100) (See Fig. 10, ¶ 0163-¶ 0166). As to claim 4, Im further discloses wherein the first insulating layer (81) includes a plurality of openings penetrating from the first surface to the second surface, and each of the first electrode (61) and the second electrode (62) has a portion disposed in one of the plurality of openings (See Fig. 10). As to claim 5, Im further discloses wherein the first electrode (61) and the second electrode (62) extend in a direction and are disposed to be spaced apart from each other, and the plurality of light emitting elements (40) are arranged to be spaced apart in the direction in which the first electrode (61) and the second electrode (62) extend (See Fig. 2, Fig. 10). As to claim 8, Im discloses further comprising: a bonding agent (101) disposed between the circuit layer (21, 22, 120, 140) and the first base substrate (100) (See Fig. 10, ¶ 0147) (Notes: the bonding agent adheres and bonds the first base substrate and the circuit layer). As to claim 9, Im in view of Lin further discloses wherein the plurality of sub-pixels (PX1-PX3) include a first sub-pixel (PX1, PX3) and a second sub-pixel (PX2), the color control structure (132a/b_1, PL1 top multi-layer) includes the light transmission layer (PL1 top multi-layer) disposed in the first sub-pixel (PX1, PX3) and a first wavelength conversion layer (132b_1) disposed in the second sub-pixel (PX2), and the color filter layer (82/132a/b_2, 132c) includes a first color filter layer (82/132a_2, 132c) disposed in the first sub-pixel (PX1, PX3) and a second color filter layer (82/132b_2) disposed in the second sub-pixel (PX2) (See Im Fig. 2, Fig. 10 and Lin Fig. 2, ¶ 0036). As to claim 10, Im in view of Lin discloses further comprising: a first capping layer (142) disposed on the light transmission layer (PL1 top multi-layer) and the first wavelength conversion layer (132b_1); and a light blocking member (144) disposed on the first capping layer (142) and surrounding the first color filter layer (82/132a_2, 132c) and the second color filter layer (82/132b_2) (See Im Fig. 10 and Lin Fig. 5, ¶ 0036, ¶ 0037, ¶ 0047, ¶ 0051) (Notes: the first capping layer is not specified with any material). As to claim 11, Im in view of Lin further discloses wherein the first capping layer (142) is disposed to surround the light transmission layer (PL1 top multi-layer) and the first wavelength conversion layer (132b_1), and the display device further includes a color mixing preventing member (154) disposed on the first capping layer (142) between the light transmission layer (PL1 top multi-layer) and the first wavelength conversion layer (132b_1) (See Lin Fig. 5) (Notes: the metal color mixing preventing member serves as a color mixing barrier). As to claim 14, Im in view of Lin further discloses wherein light emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements (40) disposed in the first sub-pixel (PX1, PX3) passes through the light transmission layer (PL1 top multi-layer) and is emitted through the first color filter layer (82/132a_2, 132c), and light emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements (40) disposed in the second sub-pixel (PX2) passes through the first wavelength conversion layer (132b_1) and is emitted through the second color filter layer (82/132b_2) (See Im Fig. 2, Fig. 10 and Lin Fig. 2, Fig. 5). As to claim 15, Im in view of Lin further discloses wherein the plurality of light emitting elements (40) disposed in the first sub-pixel (PX3) and the second sub-pixel (PX2) emit light of a first color (blue), the first sub-pixel (PX3) emits light of the first color (blue), and the second sub-pixel (PX2) emits light of a second color (red) different from the first color (blue) (See Lin Fig. 2, Fig. 5, ¶ 0036). As to claim 16, Im in view of Lin further discloses wherein the plurality of sub-pixels (PX1-PX3) further include a third sub-pixel (PX1), the color control structure (132a/b_1, PL1 top multi-layer) further includes a second wavelength conversion layer (132a_1) disposed in the third sub-pixel (PX1), the color filter layer (82/132a/b_2, 132c) further includes a third color filter layer (82/132a_2) disposed in the third sub-pixel (PX3), and light emitted from the plurality of light emitting elements (40) disposed in the third sub-pixel (PX3) passes through the second wavelength conversion layer (132a_1) and is emitted as light of a third color (green) different from the first color (blue) and the second color (red) through the third color filter layer (82/132a_2) (See Lin Fig. 2, Fig. 5, ¶ 0036).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7438. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12-6.
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/DAVID CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815