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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed on April 03, 2026 has been entered and considered; however, the application is not in condition for allowance because of the following.
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 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent 12,355,011 to Kim et al in view of U.S. Patent 7,662,008 to Hillis et al.
Regarding claims 1 and 8-9, 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; a curved surface or an inclined surface or a step portion
or an inclined surface adjacent to the alignment hole. Hillis et al disclose the mold (20)
comprising recesses having curved or inclined surface (see Figs. 13-14) for receiving
display elements in a self-assembly manner (260/262, see Col. 14, lines 23-35). 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 Hillis 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 Hillis et al and further in view of U.S. Patent Application 2018/0029038 to Sasaki et al.
Kim/Hillis 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/Hillis 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 claims 1-14 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection.
Applicant's arguments filed on April 03, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argued that “neither Kim, nor Hillis, nor Sasaki, whether taken alone or in combination, discloses, teaches, or even suggests at least the abovementioned limitations of amended independent claim 1” (see “Remarks” page 9). The Examiner disagrees because Hillis et al disclose the recesses (120) having wider upper portion and narrower lower portion with an inclined surface therein (see Figs. 13-14) for promoting the self-assembly of electronic components to the circuit board.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/DN/ /DONGHAI D NGUYEN/June 13, 2026 Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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