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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/26/2025 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by US 20200083402 A1 Henry.
For claim 1, Henry teaches “A display device (fig. 6H) comprising: light emitting elements (fig. 6H numerals 635, 630, and 625) each including a first area and a second area having different diameters (fig. 6H shows the elements having tapered shape having two diameters of different sizes); and a base layer having at least a partially tapered shape (fig. 6H numeral 660) matching a shape of and surrounding the first area of the light emitting elements and contacting an entire side surface of the first area of each of the light emitting elements (fig. 6H shows the base layer 660 surrounding the light emitting elements 635, 630, and 625, figure 6H shows the base layer 660 in contact directly or indirectly with the first area without any interruptions in the layer resulting in the entire side surface of the first area being in contact with the base layer; the shape of the base layer appears to be the inverse shape of the light emitting elements, resulting in the shapes of the elements and the base layer matching), wherein the first area extends from a bottom surface of each of the light emitting elements to a top surface of the base layer, wherein the second are of each of the light emitting elements protrudes from a first surface of the base layer (fig. 6H shows the second area matching the layer 625 of the light emitting elements protruding from the base layer 660).”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 - 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
For claim 2, Henry does not appear to teach the first area having a greater diameter than the second area of the light emitting elements. Henry appears to explicitly teach the area of the light emitting elements protruding from the base layer (corresponding to the second area) having a larger diameter than the first area of the light emitting elements. There is no obvious reason why one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the immediate invention would invert the shape of the light emitting elements so that the protruding area has a smaller diameter than the non-protruding area contacting the base layer.
Claims 3 – 14 are primarily allowable as depending on an allowable claim, but are objected to as depending on a rejected independent base claim.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20220109023 A1 teaches a tapered light emitting element surrounded by an insulating layer. It does not appear to teach an area of the light emitting element protruding from the insulating layer.
US 7198411 B2 teaches an embedded light emitting element with a tapered shape having two different diameters at two areas of the light emitting element. It does not appear to teach the light emitting element protruding form the base layer the light emitting element is embedded in.
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/J.T.N./Examiner, Art Unit 2815
/MONICA D HARRISON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815