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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 July 13, 2026 has been entered.
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) 1 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2017/0318632 A1 (hereinafter “Simin”) in view of US 2014/0264266 A1 (hereinafter “Li”).
Regarding claim 1, Simin discloses in Fig. 15 and related text an array baseplate, comprising:
a substrate (112; [0082] and [0089]);
a drive unit (138; [0093]) disposed on one side (140; [0093]) of the substrate; and
a light-emitting unit (150; [0089]; note: “SSLS” stands for solid-state light source) comprising at least one light-emitting subunit and disposed on a side (110; [0089]) of the substrate away from the drive unit, wherein the light-emitting unit is electrically connected to the drive unit through a wiring (132, 134; [0093]) penetrating the substrate, and at least part area of each light-emitting subunit is in direct contact with the substrate;
wherein the array baseplate comprises a first wiring (132; [0093]) and a second wiring (134; [0093]), the light-emitting subunit comprises a semiconductor layer (14, 16, 18; [0057]-[0058] and [0089]); the first wiring and the second wiring are electrically connected to the semiconductor layer ([0093]), and the first wiring and the second wiring are electrically connected to the drive unit ([0093]);
at least part area of the semiconductor layer is in direct contact with the substrate;
at least part area of at least one wiring of the first wiring and the second wiring passes through the substrate and extends to the side of the substrate disposing the drive unit, and is electrically connected to the drive unit ([0093]);
the light-emitting unit comprises one light-emitting subunit, the substrate is provided with a first through hole (136 (the via hole on the left); [0093]) and a second through hole (136 (the via hole on the right); [0093]), at least part area of the first wiring is located in the first through hole, and at least part area of the second wiring is located in the second through hole; and
the first wiring is located in the first through hole, a part area of the second wiring is located on a side of the semiconductor layer away from the substrate, and the other part area of the second wiring is located in the second through hole.
Simin does not explicitly disclose the semiconductor layer is an epitaxial layer.
Li teaches in Fig. 1 and related text the semiconductor layer (12, 13, 14; [0059]) is an epitaxial layer. Li employs a metal organic vapor phase epitaxy process to epitaxially grow three gallium nitride based semiconductor sublayers on a silicon carbide substrate, for example ([0059]). Simin discloses that the substrate (112) may be made of silicon carbide ([0082]) and the semiconductor sublayers (14, 16, 18) may be made of group III-nitride semiconductor materials ([0057]-[0058]).
Simin and Li are analogous art because they both are directed to light-emitting diodes including III-nitride semiconductor materials and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify Simin with the specified features of Li because they are from the same field of endeavor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to form the semiconductor layer to be an epitaxial layer, as taught by Li, in order to obtain a crystalline semiconductor layer, which provides organized atomic structures that prevent defects from trapping energy, ensure smooth flow of electricity, and allow efficient light production.
Regarding claim 10, Simin in view of Li disclose a material of the substrate comprises silicon (Simin: [0082]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER M ALBRECHT whose telephone number is (571)272-7813. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM (CT).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lynne Gurley can be reached at (571) 272-1670. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER M ALBRECHT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2811
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