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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/6/2026 has been entered.
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 (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 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.
Claims 1-3 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang (US Publication No. 2019/0115403) in view of Zhang et al. (US Publication No. 2020/0127225), and further in view of Tang et al. (US Publication No. 2019/0115561).
Regarding claim 1, Kang discloses an OLED display panel, comprising:
a substrate (SUB)
a second metal layer (ANO) disposed on the substrate (SUB)
an anode layer (ANO) disposed on a side of the second metal layer (ACT) away from the substrate (SUB), wherein the anode layer (ANO) includes an anode and an auxiliary electrode (CT) disposed in a same layer (PAS), and the auxiliary electrode (CT) is disposed in an overlapping area (A)
a cathode layer (CAT) disposed on a side of the electron transport layer away from the substrate (SUB)
wherein the auxiliary electrode (ACT) is provided with a groove (OH), an opening of the groove is disposed toward the cathode layer (CAT)
Kang does not disclose an electron transport layer disposed on a side of the anode layer away from the substrate and the auxiliary electrode extends through the electron transport layer and is electrically connected to the cathode layer. However, Zhang discloses an electron transport layer (640) on a side of an anode layer (310) away from the substrate (110) and the auxiliary electrode (320) extends through the electron transport layer (640) and is electrically connected to the cathode layer (700) (Figure 7). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the display of Kang to include the auxiliary electrode extending through the electron transport layer to the cathode layer, as taught by Zhang, since it the mura effect due to IR drop of the cathode electrode can be improved (paragraphs 133-134).
Kang does not disclose the auxiliary electrode is disposed in a three-layer stacked structure which is decreased gradually away from the substrate and the grooves are provided in each layer to form a scratching chamfer structure at an upper edge of each groove. However, Tang discloses a three layer stacked structure (320/540/550) which decreases away from the substrate, and each layer forms a scratching chamfer structure at an upper edge of each groove (Figure 6). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the auxiliary electrode to be formed in this shape, as taught by Tang, since it can improve uneven display problems due to IR drop of the cathode (paragraph 131).
Regarding claim 2, Kang discloses the auxiliary electrode (CT) further comprises a first auxiliary electrode (CT) disposed in a non-display area (A) and a second auxiliary electrode (CAT above PN) disposed in a display area (EA), wherein the cathode layer (CAT) is electrically connected to the second metal layer (ACT) through the first auxiliary electrode (CT) in the non-display area (A), and the second auxiliary electrode is electrically connected to the cathode (CAT) in parallel in the display area (EA).
Regarding claim 3, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified Kang in view of Zhang as stated above in the rejection of claim 2 above. Additionally, Zhang discloses wherein the first auxiliary electrode (220) has at least one first scratching chamfer structure (400 left), and the second auxiliary electrode (320) has at least one second scratching chamfer structure (400 right), wherein the first scratching chamfer structure contacts with the cathode layer (700), and the second scratching chamfer structure contacts with the cathode layer (Figure 8).
Regarding claim 6, Zhang discloses the groove comprises a first groove (400 left) and a second groove (400 right), the first auxiliary electrode (220) is provided with the first groove, the second auxiliary electrode (320) is provided with the second groove, wherein a depth of the first groove is less than or equal to a thickness of the first auxiliary electrode, and a depth of the second groove is less than or equal to a thickness of the second auxiliary electrode (Figures 6 and 8).
Regarding claim 7, Kang/Zhang discloses the limitations as discussed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Kang/Zhang is silent regarding the electron transport layer has a thickness of 10 nm to 20 nm. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the thickness of the electron transport layer to be within this range to optimize the voltage by which the metal electrodes burn a portion of the transport layer to the injection layer at the corners, thereby improving the mura effect of the OLED (paragraph 134), since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Regarding claim 8, Kang discloses the anode layer (ANO) is disposed in a three-layer stacked structure (PAS/OC/BN).
Conclusion
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/N.R.P/ 1/18/2026Examiner, Art Unit 2897
/JACOB Y CHOI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2897