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 II (Fig. 6B), Sub-species A (Fig. 5A), Sub-Sub-Species 1 (Fig. 5E), (claims 1, 6, 21-23, 26-29) in the reply filed on 09/09/2025 is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show/marked “a first material layer”, “a second material layer”, “a third material layer”, “a fourth material layer”, as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets (with labels/markings) 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 Objections
Claim numbering is objected to because of the following informalities: claim numbering 20 is missing. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1, 6, 21-23, 26-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 23, 27 describes “a first material layer”, “a second material layer”, “a third material layer”, “a fourth material layer”, “a first layer”, “a second layer”, “a third layer” but are not marked/shown/labeled in the drawings or numbered in specification and therefore it is not clear. For examination purpose as best understood the following has been interpreted as shown in Fig. 1A-1E: a first material layer 772, “a second material layer 782”, “a third material layer 773”, “a fourth material layer 783” but not clear in Fig. 1A-1E about “a first layer” of claim 27 and “a third material layer”, “a fourth material layer” of claim 23. Appropriate markings/corrections are required.
Claims 6, 6, 21-22, 27-29 are also rejected being dependent on claims 1, 27.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 of this title, 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 1, 6, 21-23, 26-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Kasahara et al (JP 2009135053 A) in view of Tung et al (Applicant Provided IDS “Island and Hole Fabrication on OLED stack for High-Resolution Sensor in Display Application”).
Regarding claim 1: Kasahara teaches in Fig. 3-11 about a manufacturing method of a display panel, comprising:
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forming an insulator 300 comprising a first opening portion (where 208 is present) and a second opening portion (where 210 is present) over a substrate 202;
forming a first material layer 208 in the first opening portion and on a first part of an upper surface of the insulator and a second material layer 210 in the second opening portion and on a second part of an upper surface of the insulator by a wet process (page 5 teaches an organic solvent containing a light emitting material is dropped and applied by spin coating);
forming a first resist mask over the first material layer (page 6 teaches a positive resist is formed on the light emitting layer by spin coating, pre-baking, mask exposure, development, and post-baking to form a resist mask) and a second resist mask over the second material layer (page 6 teaches the red light emitting layer 210 is formed by the same method as in FIG. In order to form a multicolor light emitting layer, the same light emitting layer coating and patterning may be repeated);
forming a third material layer in the first opening portion by partly removing the first material layer with the first resist mask (page 6 teaches thereafter, the region of the light emitting layer not covered with the resist mask is removed by etching, for example, by dry etching. Further, the blue light emitting layer 208 can be formed by removing the resist); and
forming a fourth material layer 210 in the second opening portion by partly removing the second material layer with the second resist mask (page 6 teaches the red light emitting layer 210 is formed by the same method as in FIG. In order to form a multicolor light emitting layer, the same light emitting layer coating and patterning may be repeated),
wherein the third material layer is included in a first light-emitting element (blue light emitting), and wherein the fourth material layer is included in a second light-emitting element (red light emitting.
Kasahara does not explicitly show forming a first material layer on a first part of an upper surface of the insulator and a second material layer on a second part of an upper surface of the insulator.
However Kasahara teaches in page 6 the region of the light emitting layer not covered with the resist mask is removed by etching and therefore would be obvious that the light emitting layer was formed on a first part of an upper surface of the insulator as Tung teaches in a similar method about forming a first material layer on a first part of an upper surface of the insulator and a second material layer on a second part of an upper surface of the insulator.
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Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of applicant’s invention to combine Tung’s teachings to Kasahara’s method to reduce OLED characteristics degradation further while using photolithography process while forming a display panel/OLED (Tung, Summary).
Regarding claims 6, 28: Kasahara teaches wherein the wet process is an inkjet method (page 8).
Regarding claim 21: Kasahara teaches in Fig. 7 removing the first resist mask and the second resist mask to expose the third material layer and the fourth material layer (page 6 teaches the blue light emitting layer 208 can be formed by removing the resist).
Regarding claim 22: Kasahara teaches from Fig. 5-7wherein the third material layer comprises a light-emitting layer of the first light- emitting element (blue light emitting layer 208), and wherein the fourth material layer comprises a light-emitting layer of the second light- emitting element (red light emitting layer 210).
Regarding claim 23: Kasahara teaches in Fig. 7 wherein the third material layer comprises a hole-transport layer 206 (the left one) of the first light- emitting element, and wherein the fourth material layer comprises a hole-transport layer 206 (the right one) of the second light- emitting element.
Regarding claims 26, 29: Tung teaches in Fig. 2 as marked above wherein a width of the first resist mask is less than or equal to a width of the first opening portion, and wherein a width of the second resist mask is less than or equal to a width of the second opening portion.
Regarding claim 27: As explained in claim 1 and 23, Kasahara in view of Tung teaches all the limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED SHAMSUZZAMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1839. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7 am -4 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Fernando Toledo can be reached at 571-272-1867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Mohammed Shamsuzzaman/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897