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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6, 9, and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam (US 20190393444 A1) in view of Woo (US 20190245026 A1) and Wang (US 20210210720 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Nam discloses a display device comprising: a display panel (Fig. 5B) including a display area (DP-DA) in which pixels (PX) are provided, and a non-display area (DP-NDA) located on a side of the display area (Shown); a circuit board (GDC) bonded to the display panel (shown) in the non-display area, and electrically connected to the pixels (Para. 109 "The driving circuit GDC may include a scan driving circuit.... The scan driving circuit may further output other control signals to the pixel driving circuits of the pixels PX."); an optical layer (Fig. 6C, FM) provided on the display panel in the display area (Fig. 6C shows FM provided on the display panel, including in the display area over DP-OLED); and a protective layer (Fig. 5C, PIL) disposed on the display panel in the non-display area (PIL extends over the display area and non-display area; para. 157 "An edge of the protective layer PIL may overlap the second bezel pattern WM-BZ2"; the second bezel pattern is in the non-display area), wherein a top surface of the protective layer includes a protrusion having an island shape (Shown in Fig. 5C). However, Nam does not disclose a flexible printed circuit board.
On the other hand, Woo discloses a display device comprising flexible printed circuit board (Fig. 6, 110; para. 69 “the substrate 110 may be a flexible substrate”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effect time of filing to modify Nam according to the teachings of Woo such that the circuit board would comprise a flexible printed circuit board, in order to allow the display to be used in curved displays as is common in the art.
Nam in view of Woo still do not disclose the protective layer covering a side surface of each of the circuit board and the display panel. However, Wang discloses a protective layer (Fig. 3, 20) covering a side surface of the flexible circuit board (Fig. 3 shows protective layer formed on side surfaces of circuit board 10) and the display panel (comprising 100, 200 and 400). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Nam in view of Woo according to the teachings of Wang such that the protective layer would cover the side surfaces of the circuit board and display panel as is extremely common in the art in order to protect the device from outside debris and moisture.
Regarding claim 2, Nam in view of Woo and Wang discloses the display device of claim 1. Nam further discloses wherein the optical layer includes an antireflection film (Para. 80 “FM may include an anti-reflector”). Woo discloses wherein the protective layer includes a resin (Fig. 6, encapsulation 170; para. 82 “The encapsulation layer 170 may be formed as a multilayer film including at least one organic layer… The organic layer of the encapsulation layer 170 may include at least one of an acrylic resin, a methacrylic resin, polyisoprene, a vinyl resin, an epoxy resin, a urethane resin, a cellulose resin, a siloxane resin, a PI resin, a polyamide resin, and a perylene resin”).
Regarding claim 6, Nam further discloses wherein a side (Lower side of FM) of the optical layer and a side (Upper side of DP) of the display panel are aligned with each other (Fig. 6B shows the two sides aligning in at least the sense that they are coplanar).
Regarding claim 9, Nam discloses a film (Fig. 6C, EC) provided on the display panel and the circuit board in the non-display area (Fig. 6B shows EC on the display panel including over sealing member SM in the non-display area; para. 105 "The sealing member SM may overlap a non-display area"), wherein the film is located on a side of the optical layer (Fig. 6B shows EC on a bottom side of the optical layer) and differs from the optical layer (Fig. 6B shows EC being a different layer from FM).
Regarding claim 17, Nam discloses wherein the display panel comprises: a display element layer
including a light emitting element; and a light conversion pattern layer disposed on the display element layer and including a quantum dot changing a wavelength of light emitted from the light emitting element (Para. 87 “the display panel DP may be a light emitting type display panel such as… a quantum-dot light emitting display panel, for example”). Furthermore, the claim language “wherein the light conversion pattern layer is formed through a continuous process on the display element layer” recites an intermediate process step that does not affect the structure of the final device. Therefore, the process limitations recited in a product by process claim would not carry patentable weight in a claim drawn to a structure because distinct structure is not necessarily produced. See MPEP 2113. In re Thorpe, 227 USPQ 964 (Fed. Cir. 1985).
Regarding claim 18, Nam discloses wherein the light emitting element comprises an inorganic light emitting diode (Para. 117 "The emission layer EML may include… an inorganic material").
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 7-8 and 10-16 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, the prior art of record does not disclose wherein the optical layer is provided in the non-display area, and includes a hole corresponding to the protrusion of the protective layer, and the protective layer is located between the optical layer and the display panel.
For this reason, claims 4-8 are also objected to as dependents of claim 3.
Regarding claim 10, the prior art of record does not disclose a dam disposed along a portion of a side of the display panel between the display panel and the optical layer, wherein the protective layer is located closer to a center of the display panel than the dam. Specifically, the prior art of record does not disclose a dam being between the display panel and the optical layer, wherein the protective layer is located closer to a center of the display panel than the dam.
For this reason, claims 11-14 are also objected to as dependents of claim 10.
Regarding claim 15, the prior art of record does not disclose wherein the top surface of the protective and a top surface of the optical layer are coplanar with each other.
For this reason, claim 16 is also objected to as a dependent of claim 15.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pgs. 6-8, filed 6/17/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 2, 6, 9 and 17-18 under 35 U.S.C. 102 and 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art. Examiner agrees with Applicant’s arguments that Nam does not disclose the new claim limitations of amended claim 1. However, Woo (US 20190245026 A1) teaches the use of a flexible circuit board as is common in the current state of the art (see claim 1 rejection) and Wang (US 20210210720 A1) teaches a protective layer covering a side surface of the circuit board and display panel, which is also very common in the art (see claim 1 rejection).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL J SMITH whose telephone number is (703)756-5706. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marlon Fletcher can be reached at (571) 272-2063. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/S.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/MARLON T FLETCHER/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
Prosecution Insights