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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 August 18, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al (US12,355,011) in view U.S. Patent 6,623,579 to Smith et al.
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Kim et al disclose an apparatus for manufacturing a
display device, the apparatus comprising: a stage (not shown) on which a substrate
(200) of the display device is disposed; a mold (110) including a surface including
recessed portions (F); an injector (see Col. 7, lines 9-14) that applies an ink including
light emitting elements on the surface of the mold (110, see Figs. 9-11); a doctor blade
(140) that removes the ink disposed on the surface of the mold and remains the ink
disposed in the recessed portions of the mold (see Fig. 10); and a compressor (not
shown) that compresses the surface of the mold to the substrate (see Col. 13, lines 61-
64), except for wherein each of the recessed portions (F) includes a wider upper portion
and a narrower lower portion; and each of the recessed portions includes an alignment hole having constant width and a step or an inclined surface connected to an upper end of the alignment hole. Smith et al disclose the mold (101/131/151/201/etc.) comprising each of the recesses portions includes an alignment hole having a constant width and a step or an inclined surface connected to an upper end of the alignment hole (see Figs. 3-8) for receiving electronic elements in a self-assembly manner (see Abstract). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kim et al by utilizing the alignment hole having configurations as taught by Smith et al for easily aligning the display elements into the recesses.
Regarding claims 2-5, Kim et al disclose a depth of each of the recessed portions
(F) is greater than a diameter of each of the light emitting elements (10), and the depth
of each of the recessed portions is smaller than about 1.5 times of the diameter of each
of the light emitting elements and each of the recessed portions includes an alignment
hole (F) filled with at least one of the light emitting elements (10, see Fig. 12).
Regarding claims 6-7, Kim et al disclose the doctor blade scrapes the ink in a
direction on the surface of the mold (110), and the light emitting elements are disposed
in an alignment form of the recessed portions having a lower surface of the
alignment hole is substantially flat (see Figs. 10-12).
Claims 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim
et al in view of Smith et al and further in view of U.S. Patent Application 2018/0029038 to Sasaki et al.
Kim/Smith et al as applied and relied above do not disclose a dryer that
evaporates and removes a solvent of the ink remaining on the surface of the mold or on
a surface of the substrate (claim 10); a vibrator that vibrates the mold to which the ink is
applied wherein the vibrator is configured to vibrate the mold by generating a sound
wave or an ultrasonic wave, and at least one of the light emitting elements is filled in
each of the recessed portions by the vibrator and wherein in case that the mold and the
substrate are separated, the vibrator is configured to vibrate the substrate (claims 11-
13) and an electric field generator that fixes a position of each of the light emitting
elements by applying an electric field to the substrate in case that the mold and the
substrate are separated. Sasaki et al teaching an apparatus for assembly micro-
component onto a substrate, the apparatus having a dryer (heater, see Fig 13) a
vibrator (1000, see Fig. 10A) and electric field generator (see Fig. 15) for aligning the
light emitting elements (214) into the recess portion (208, see Fig. 2). Therefore, it
would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Kim/Smith et al by utilizing the
dryer, vibrator and electric field generator as taught by Sasaki et for improving the
alignment of the light emitting elements into the recess portions.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-8 and 10-14 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
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/DN/ /DONGHAI D NGUYEN/September 30, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
