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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 0 is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s Amendment filed 04/29/2026 has been entered and is being considered. Claims 1, 3, and 10 are amended. No new matter has been added with these amendments.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s Amendments and the arguments based thereon have changed the scope of the claims so as to render the prior rejection unsuitable over the claim scope. As such, all rejections set forth in the prior office action have been withdrawn.
After further search and consideration however, a new grounds of rejection are made as set forth in the office action below. Applicant’s amendment to the claims necessitates this new grounds of rejection.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wakita et al (US 9493614 B2) and Cho et al (US 20190103448 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, 4 and 7-9, Wakita discloses a polyimide precursor having a particular backbone structure represented by Formula (1) and Formula (2), as well as products such as films made therefrom (Abstract).
The polyimide of the reference and the resin comprising it is disclosed from Column 5 to Column 20 Line 67. The polyimide is prepared from a precursor which is thermally imidized.
The resin composition comprising the polyimide precursor may comprise a solvent, as well as additives such as a surfactant (Column 16), and/or a crosslinking agent such as an epoxy compound or other thermally crosslinking agent (Column 17). A pigment or coloring agent may be used, but is not required. Pigments are disclosed from Column 18 Line 1-Line 25. An inorganic filler may be used, such as alumina (aluminum oxide), silica (silicon oxide), and titania or zirconia fine particles (Claim 9). Other components added to the polyimide precursor resin may include photoacid generators (Columns 19-20).
The polyimide precursor resin is used to produce a film (claim 8), wherein the additives of the resin are contained in the resultant film. The resin is coated onto a support substrate such as a glass or silicon wafer, then dried to form a film. After this thermal imidization is performed to convert the precursor into a polyimide. The polyimide film may be used as, for example, a circuit or TFT (thin film transistor) substrate, where the polyimide film and any assembled components thereatop are peeled off the support/carrier substrate after fabrication (Column 21 to Column 23 Line 41).
A gas barrier layer may be formed atop the polyimide film as discussed from Column 23 Line 53 to Column 26 Line 41 and Column 31 Line 42 to Column 32 Line 9. As per Column 32 Lines 3-9, the presence of a gas barrier layer is not required and the layer is thus optional.
A flexible color film may be made using the polyimide film substrate described above – wherein the color filter uses a black matrix layer and at least one colored pixel layer, which may contain the polyimide resin. For example - Fig 1 discloses a polyimide resin film 2 on a support 1, with a black matrix 4 formed thereon and Blue, Green, and Red pixels 5B/5G/5R (The color filter layer comprising Black matrix and/or colored pixels defines an overcoat layer over the main portion of the plastic article formed of polyimide) and an optional overcoat 6. As described from Column 29 Line 44 to Column 30 Line 60, the black matrix is formed on the polyimide main film by means of a photoresist patterning process. The colored pixel(s) of the color filter are also performed using a photoresist patterning process as described from Column 30 Line 61 to Column 31 Line 40. In describing the black matrix, a black composition is coated at 1-micron in thickness in the production method description from Column 29 Line 44 to Column 31, and the colored pixels may be 0.8 to 3 microns in thickness. The black matrix composition and the colored compositions are each formed from polyimide (polyamic acid that is thermally imidized after coating and processing).
Wakita does disclose an overcoat that may be present, but such overcoat is atop the total of assembled layers and not directly atop the resin film substrate on the support and the TFT array disclosed by the reference is not directly thereon.
This limitation is met by Cho.
Cho discloses a flexible display device and a method for manufacturing such, wherein the device includes a support substrate, a buffer substrate thereatop (Layer 120 in Figure 1 and 10, a thin-film transistor array on the buffer substrate such that the buffer substrate is between the TFT array and the support substrate, and a sealing substrate fixed above the TFT array (Abstract).
The buffer substrate material may be polyimide, polymethylmethacrylate (an acrylic), or another polymer embodiment. The thickness of the buffer substrate layer may be between 3-20 microns (claim 4) (See [0075]-[0077] and [0044]-[0046]. When the thickness is in this range, crack suppression is improved.
An application of the polyimide or poly (methyl methacrylate) buffer substrate of Cho atop the polyimide film of Wakita meets the limitation of the claim for an overcoat directly in contact with the plastic film. The PMMA or PI film buffer substrate is purported by Cho to improve the physical stability of the assembly and protect any TFTs and pixels coupled thereto present ([0049]).
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to arrive at the claimed invention prior to the effective filing date, incorporating the buffer substrate (overcoat layer) and TFT array thereatop of Cho into the assembly of Wakita so as to improve the physical stability of the assembly.
Regarding Claims 2 and 3, Wakita and Cho teach the limitations of the claims as discussed above regarding claim 1.
However, the polyimide layer of Cho is not colored and is not a color resist.
This limitation is met by Wakita, who discloses a color resist is used for making the black matrix and any pixel layers present using a polyimide. A flexible color film may be made using the polyimide film substrate described above – wherein the color filter uses a black matrix layer and at least one colored pixel layer, which may contain the polyimide resin. For example - Fig 1 discloses a polyimide resin film 2 on a support 1, with a black matrix 4 formed thereon and Blue, Green, and Red pixels 5B/5G/5R (The color filter layer comprising Black matrix and/or colored pixels defines an overcoat layer over the main portion of the plastic article formed of polyimide) and an optional overcoat 6. As described from Column 29 Line 44 to Column 30 Line 60, the black matrix is formed on the polyimide main film by means of a photoresist patterning process. The colored pixel(s) of the color filter are also performed using a photoresist patterning process as described from Column 30 Line 61 to Column 31 Line 40. The black matrix composition and the colored compositions are each formed from polyimide (polyamic acid that is thermally imidized after coating and processing) as per the composition for forming a polyimide film presented in the description.
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to arrive at the claimed invention prior to the effective filing date from, in addition to forming any matrix/pixel layers as per Wakita, forming the overcoat/buffer substrate as taught by Cho using the colored black/blue/red/green polyimide composition(s) of Wakita, using known materials (a polyimide and precursor thereof) in known processes (precursor deposition and thermal imidization) with recognition that the resultant layer would be likely to behave similarly.
Regarding Claims 5-6, Wakita and Cho disclose the limitations of the claims as discussed above regarding claim 1.
Wakita and Cho however, do not disclose an experimental embodiment wherein the CTE of the overcoat layer (the matrix and/or pixels of the assembly), thermal decomposition temperature, dielectric constant, and Young’s Modulus and elongation are explicitly defined.
The overcoat layer as described above regarding claim 1 is the buffer substrate of Cho, which may be a polyimide. A generic polyimide is recited. Wakita describes at multiple instances specific polyimide resin that may be used for multiple layer embodiments such as the substrate film layer and the pixels – a person having ordinary skill in the art would consider it obvious to use a known polyimide composition from one reference (Wakita) to generate a layer of polyimide as per Cho as such embodiment would have known properties and known processability, reducing the amount of required experimentation.
The polyimide resin film of Wakita is described from Column 22 Line 30 to Line 45, where the CTE of the layer is preferably 50ppm per degree Celsius or less, more preferably 20 ppm per degree Celsius or less, which falls within the claim limitations. Regarding the other parameters - these parameters are properties. Properties are emergent from structure – the structure that bears these property limitations is the overcoat layer, which is a generic layer that may be a generic polyimide. As this generic polyimide has been rendered obvious (see claim 1), the properties thereof must be considered obvious even if not explicitly stated by a reference – See MPEP 2112.01.
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to arrive at the claimed invention prior to the filing date by generating the buffer substrate layer (overcoat layer) of Cho using the polyimide composition of Wakita to arrive at an overcoat layer having improved thermal and dimensional stability.
Regarding Claim 10, Wakita discloses a polyimide precursor having a particular backbone structure represented by Formula (1) and Formula (2), as well as products such as films made therefrom and methods for producing such (Abstract).
Wakita however fails to disclose an experimental embodiment that meets the limitations of the claims.
These limitations are met by the general disclosure of Wakita.
The polyimide of the reference and the resin comprising it is disclosed from Column 5 to Column 20 Line 67. The polyimide is prepared from a precursor which is thermally imidized.
The resin composition may comprise a solvent, as well as additives such as a surfactant (Column 16), and/or a crosslinking agent such as an epoxy compound or other thermally crosslinking agent (Column 17). A pigment or coloring agent may be used, but is not required. Pigments are disclosed from Column 18 Line 1-Line 25. An inorganic filler may be used, such as alumina (aluminum oxide), silica (silicon oxide), and titania or zirconia fine particles. Other components added to the polyimide precursor resin may include photoacid generators (Columns 19-20).
The polyimide precursor resin is used to produce a film, wherein the additives of the resin are contained in the resultant film. The resin is coated onto a support substrate such as a glass or silicon wafer, then dried to form a film. After this, thermal imidization is performed to convert the precursor into a polyimide. The polyimide film may be used as, for example, a circuit or TFT (thin film transistor) substrate, where the polyimide film and any assembled components thereatop are peeled off the support substrate (Column 21 to Column 23 Line 41).
A gas barrier layer may be formed atop the polyimide film as discussed from Column 23 Line 53 to Column 26 Line 41.
A flexible color film may be made using the polyimide film substrate described above – wherein the color filter uses a black matrix layer and at least one colored pixel layer, which may contain the polyimide resin. For example - Fig 1 discloses a polyimide resin film 2 on a support 1, with a black matrix 4 formed thereon and Blue, Green, and Red pixels 5B/5G/5R (The color filter layer comprising Black matrix and/or colored pixels defines an overcoat layer over the main portion of the plastic article formed of polyimide) and an optional overcoat 6. As described from Column 29 Line 44 to Column 30 Line 60, the black matrix is formed on the polyimide main film by means of a photoresist patterning process. The colored pixel(s) of the color filter are also performed using a photoresist patterning process as described from Column 30 Line 61 to Column 31 Line 40. The colors of these resists are Black (for the matrix), Blue, Green, and/or Red. In describing the black matrix, a black composition is spin coated at 1-micron in thickness in the production method description from Column 29 Line 44 to Column 31, and the colored pixels may be 0.8 to 3 microns in thickness. The black matrix composition and the colored compositions are each formed from polyimide (polyamic acid that is thermally imidized after coating and processing) that is spin-coated onto the polyimide film. After forming the black matrix and colored pixel,, the polyimide-resin containing film (main portion) is peeled off the support substrate (carrier).
Wakita does disclose an overcoat that may be present, but such overcoat is atop the total of assembled layers and not directly atop the resin film substrate on the support and the TFT array disclosed by the reference is not directly thereon.
This limitation is met by Cho.
Cho discloses a flexible display device and a method for manufacturing such, wherein the device includes a support substrate, a buffer substrate thereatop (Layer 120 in Figure 1 and 10, a thin-film transistor array on the buffer substrate such that the buffer substrate is between the TFT array and the support substrate, and a sealing substrate fixed above the TFT array (Abstract).
The buffer substrate material may be polyimide, polymethylmethacrylate (an acrylic), or another polymer embodiment. The thickness of the buffer substrate layer may be between 3-20 microns (See [0075]-[0077] and [0044]-[0046]. When the thickness is in this range, crack suppression is improved.
An application of the polyimide or poly (methyl methacrylate) buffer substrate of Cho atop the polyimide film of Wakita meets the limitation of the claim for an overcoat directly in contact with the plastic film. The PMMA or PI film buffer substrate is purported by Cho to improve the physical stability of the assembly and protect any TFTs and pixels coupled thereto present ([0049]).
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to arrive at the claimed invention prior to the effective filing date, incorporating the buffer substrate (overcoat layer) and TFT array thereatop of Cho into the assembly of Wakita and the manufacturing thereof so as to improve the physical stability of the assembly.
Regarding Claim 11, Wakita and Cho teach the limitations of the claim as discussed above regarding claim 10.
However, Cho does not teach the buffer substrate layer (the overcoat layer claimed) is formed by spin coating. Cho teaches that this layer may be polyimide.
This limitation is met by Wakita, which teaches that a black matrix and pixel composition formed from polyimide (poly amic acid) precursor may be spin-coated (Col 31 Lines 1-40) or die-coated.
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to apply the polyimide coating of Cho via a polyamic acid precursor spin or die coating – applying a known method (the coating methods and subsequent heating) to a known composition (a polyimide precursor composition) with the expectation of similar results as to already-taught art features ( the formation of a polyimide layer upon heating).
Claim(s) 12, 13, and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wakita et al (US 9493614 B2) and Cho (US 20190103448 A1) as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Kamemoto et al. (US 10199548 B2)
Regarding Claims 12, 13, and 15-17, Wakita discloses a polyimide precursor having a particular backbone structure represented by Formula (1) and Formula (2), as well as products such as films made therefrom (Abstract).
Wakita however fails to disclose an experimental embodiment that meets the limitations of the claim.
These limitations are met by the disclosure of Kamemoto.
Kamemoto is directed to providing a photosensitive resin composition for thin film transistors that generates an extremely small amount of outgas and is capable of forming an insulating layer (Abstract).
The resin composition of the invention of Kamemoto is an alkali soluble resin having an amide or imide group, a photosensitive compound, and an organic solvent. More specifically, the resin may include a polyimide or precursor thereto, a polyamide or polyaminoamide, or a polybenzoxazole or precursor thereto, as described in detail from Columns 2 – 17, where the resin composition comprises additional components such as an adhesion improver and inorganic particles to attenuate hardness and optical properties.
A method of forming a cured film is disclosed from Column 18 Line 30 to Column 21 Line 22, where the film is applied to a substrate (carrier) by slit or spin coating. Prior to coating the film on the substrate , an adhesion improver (adhesive) may be applied to a base material of the substrate thereon to improve adhesion between the resin film (herein functioning as an overcoat layer for the substrate/base material – Column 19 Lines 18-29) (claim 12 and 13). The assembly is then heated to remove solvent -this heating may take place between 50 and 180 degrees Celsius and over a time ranging from 1 minute to several hours (Claim 15-17).
Wakita likewise discloses a base substrate (the polyimide film of Wakita) and an overcoat layer made from polyimide ( a polyimide film used for black matrix and/or color pixels). A person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to arrive at the claimed invention by applying the adhesion-improving component of Kamemoto to the polyimide film of Wakita before coating the pixel/matrix layer so as to improve the adhesion of the matrix/pixels to the polyimide film and reduce the likelihood of inter-film peeling.
Claim(s) 14, 18, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wakita et al (US 9493614 B2), Cho et al (US 20190103448 A1) and Kamemoto et al. (US 10199548 B2) as applied to claims 10, 13, and 16 above, and further in view of Kim et al (US 20190205593 A1).
Regarding Claims 14, and 18, Wakita, Cho, and Kamemoto disclose the limitations of the claims as discussed above.
However, Wakita, Cho, and Kamemoto fail to disclose a process or means for detecting a defect of a plastic film or overcoated film thereatop.
This limitation is met by Kim.
Kim discloses a display device comprising a display area having a plurality of pixels, a fingerprint sensor area and a pressure sensor, among other components (Abstract). The device includes a support substrate and an adhesive member disposed thereupon, wherein a visual inspection is performed to detect defects such as bubbles that may appear during the substrate is bonded/attached to other components. Wakita is directed to transparent layers (the plastic polyimide film main body and the pixels that are made to be transparent) bonded into an assembly with other components. Kamemoto is similarly directed.
A person of ordinary skill in the art would consider it obvious in view of Kim to inspect the components of the process of Wakita, Cho, and Kamemoto to ascertain if defects are present/introduced during/between processing steps such as baking and component (layer) addition steps, as such defect detection leads to the production of an improved product substantially free of defect-originated issues.
Regarding Claims 19 and 20, Wakita, Cho, Kim, and Kamemoto disclose the limitations of the claims as discussed above. The three references do not disclose an explicit experimental example
Wakita discloses that a TFT array may be provided from the disclosure at Column 3 Lines 10-20. At Column 23 Lines 1-40, a TFT substrate may be formed from the polyimide resin composition. At Column 31 Line 40 Column 32 Line 41, the TFT substrate is formed from the polyimide resin, which is made into a base film by depositing, baking, and thermally imidizing the precursor, then forming a gas-barrier layer thereon or forming a TFT. Additional layers may be present between the base resin film and the TFT, such as an overcoat layer. Wakita discloses that the various assemblies (color filters, circuit substrates, for example) may be removed from their carrier substrates/supports after processing is complete (Column 29 Line 45 to Column 34 Line 35), or as part of a process wherein further processing of the assembly is performed after removal. Wakita ascribes satisfactory drive performance to the TFT substrate of the disclosure.
A person of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to arrive at the claimed invention in view of the disclosures of the three references Wakita, Cho, Kim, and Kamemoto to arrive at a TFT array-processed assembly having satisfactory drive performance
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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/A.P.T./Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/SALLY A MERKLING/SPE, Art Unit 1738
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