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 Arguments
The arguments filed on 03/19/2026 with respect to claim 15, as stated in the interview on 03/13/2026 were found persuasive. However, a new rejection with a new reference was found and is articulated below. With respect to claim 20, the argument submitted was found persuasive, upon further search and consideration a new argument is formulated below based on a new reference. Because of this, this action is a non-final rejection. With respect to amended claim 1, upon further search and consideration a new rejection is formulated below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by You et al (US 20210193686).
You et al teaches
[claim 20] An electronic device comprising: a display panel with an array of display pixels (figures 2 and 3, paragraph 0040, where element 10 is the display panel and array of pixels in the display area [section DA])
a flexible printed circuit that is attached to the display panel (figure 2, paragraph 0045, element 20 is the flexible printed circuit attached to the display panel [element 10]),
and conductive traces that wrap around an edge of the display panel to electrically connect the display panel to the flexible printed circuit (figure 2, paragraph 0045, where element LP is the traces that wrap around an edge of the display panel [element 10] electrically connecting the flexible printed circuit [element 20] to the display panel [element 10]),
and a system-in-package mounted on the flexible printed circuit, wherein the system-in-package includes a display driver integrated circuit that is configured to provide signals to the array of display pixels using the conductive traces (figure 2, paragraph 0047, where element 30 is the system-in-package IC that includes a driver configured to provide driving signals to the display pixels through the conductive traces [element lP]).
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) 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang et al (US 20220320056 A1) in view of Yeh et al (TW 202213051) and Yokoyama et al (US 20210072605).
Liang et al teaches
[claim 1] An electronic device comprising: a display panel with an upper surface, a lower surface, and an edge surface that extends between the upper surface and the lower surface (abstract, paragraphs 0126 and 0129, figure 3H, where element 6’s upper surface is the lower surface, element 4’s bottom surface is upper surface and element 1’s side surface is the edge surface which extends between elements 6 and 4 [lower and upper surface respectively])
wherein the display panel includes an array of display pixels on the upper surface (figures 3H, 9 and 10, paragraph 0196, where element 140 are the array of display pixels on the upper surface [element 100 contains the upper surface, element 4, and the display pixels are disposed on said substrate]);
first conductive contacts on the upper surface (figure 3H, paragraph 0094, element 3 is a conductive contact on the upper surface [element 4]);
a flexible printed circuit that is attached to the lower surface (figure 3H, paragraph 0103, where element 200 [which contains element 6, the lower surface] can be an FPC flexible printed circuit, thus a flexible printed circuit can be attached to the lower surface);
second conductive contacts on the flexible printed circuit (figure 3H, paragraph 0104, element 7 is the second conductive contact attached to the flexible printed circuit [element 200]);
and conductive traces that conformally wrap around the edge surface of the display panel to electrically connect the first conductive contacts to the second conductive contacts (figure 3H, paragraph 0113, element 9 is the conductive trace which wraps around the edge surface [element 1] and connects element 7 to element 3 [second to first conductive contact]).
However, Lian et al does not specifically disclose
[claim 1] a first insulating layer that conforms to the edge surface of the display panel, wherein the conductive traces are formed on the first insulating layer; and a planarization layer having a first portion formed within and coplanar with the array of display pixels and a second portion that serves as a dam structure for the first insulating layer.
However, Yeh et al does teach
[claim 1] a first insulating layer that conforms to the edge surface of the display panel, wherein the conductive traces are formed on the first insulating layer (figure 1, paragraph 0059, where element 60 is the first insulating layer that conforms to the edge surface of the display panel [element 10] and the conductive traces [element 222] are formed on the first insulating layer);
and a layer having a first portion formed within and coplanar with the array of display pixels and a second portion that serves as a dam structure for the first insulating layer (figure 1, paragraph 0059, where element 40 is an optical adhesive layer in the location of element 4 of figure 3H of Liang et al, where the first part is the bottom and top surfaces which are coplanar with the array of display pixels [when red onto Yeh et al from Liang et al, display pixels are in place of element 212 of Yeh et al], and a second part that serves as a dam portion for the insulating layer [the right hand side vertical surface of element 40 in contact with the insulating layer [element 60] and forces the insulating layer from spilling over onto the display panel [element 10], thus acting like a dam structure).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the teachings of Liang et al to incorporate the teachings of Yeh et al to place an insulating layer with another layer on the display panel to insulate the conductive traces form the display panel to minimize any shorting possibility or parasitic capacitance thus maximizing the efficiency of the device.
However, Liang et al as modified does not specifically disclose
[claim 1] a planarization layer
However, Yokoyama et al does teach
[claim 1] a planarization layer (figure 1B, paragraph 0059, where element 117 is the planarization layer integrated within the display panel circuit, which Liang et al discloses in paragraph 0096, element 4 of 3H).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the teachings of Liang et al as modified to incorporate the teachings of Yokoyama et al to incorporate a planarization layer to ensure smoothness over the display panel to reduce defects and thus maximizing efficiency of the device.
Regarding claims 2-5,
Liang et al further discloses
[claim 2] wherein there is no air gap between the conductive traces and the edge surface of the display panel (figure 3H, paragraph 0113, where element 9 is the conductive trace and there is no air gap between element 9 and element 1 [edge surface]).
[claim 3] the electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the first insulating layer has a curved surface with convex curvature (figure 3H, paragraph 0108, element 8 is an adhesive layer that is read onto by Yeh et al as the insulating layer, has a convex curvature).
[claim 4] The electronic device defined in claim 1, further comprising: a second insulating layer that covers the conductive traces, wherein the conductive traces are interposed between the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer (figure 3H, paragraph 0121, where element 11 is the second insulating layer that covers the conductive traces [element 9], where the conductive trace [element 9] is situated between the first insulating layer [element 8] and the second insulating layer [element 11]).
[claim 5] the electronic device defined in claim 3, wherein the conductive traces have additional convex curvature (figure 3H, paragraph 0108, element 9 is a conductive trace and has a convex curvature).
Regarding claim 6
Liang et al further teaches,
[claim 6] the electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the display panel has first and second opposing sides (figure 3H, paragraph 0094, where element 100 is the display panel and has a first [top side] and a second [bottom] side).
the electronic device further comprising: a structure that is formed from the material on a second side of the display panel, wherein the structure serves as an additional dam structure for the first insulating layer (figure 3H, paragraph 0125, element 6 is a structure on the second side [bottom side of element 100] which serves as a dam structure for the first insulating layer [element 8]. Note: the language of “is formed” can be interpreted as a product-by-process claim of which only the resulting structure is examined, in the present case the location [second side] and formed of any material [due to indefinite claim of “a material”]).
However, Liang et al does not specifically disclose,
[claim 6] wherein the layer is formed from a material on a first side of the display panel
However, Yeh et al does teach
[claim 6] wherein the planarization layer is formed from a material on a first side of the display panel (figure 1, paragraph 0059, where element 40 is an optical adhesive layer in the location of element 4 of figure 3H of Liang et al, where the first part is the bottom and top surfaces which are coplanar with the array of display pixels [when red onto Yeh et al from Liang et al, display pixels are in place of element 212 of Yeh et al], and a second part that serves as a dam portion for the insulating layer [the right hand side vertical surface of element 40 in contact with the insulating layer [element 60] and forces the insulating layer from spilling over onto the display panel [element 10], thus acting like a dam structure).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the teachings of Liang et al to incorporate the teachings of Yeh et al to place an insulating layer with another layer on the display panel to insulate the conductive traces form the display panel to minimize any shorting possibility or parasitic capacitance thus maximizing the efficiency of the device.
Claim(s) 7-8, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang et al (US 20220320056 A1), Yeh et al (TW 202213051) and Yokoyama et al (US 20210072605) and in further view of Oh et al (US 20200287110 A1).
Liang et al as modified teaches all of the limitations of the parent claim, claim 1, but does not specifically disclose
[claim 7] The electronic device defined in claim 1, further comprising: a system-in-package mounted on the flexible printed circuit, wherein the system-in-package includes a display driver integrated circuit that is configured to provide signals to the array of display pixels using the conductive traces.
wherein the system-in-package comprises: a plurality of redistribution layers; third conductive contacts that electrically connect the display driver integrated circuit to the plurality of redistribution layers; and fourth conductive contacts that electrically connect the redistribution layers to the flexible printed circuit.
[claim 8] The electronic device defined in claim 7, wherein the third conductive contacts have a first center-to- center pitch and wherein the fourth conductive contacts have a second center-to-center pitch that is greater than the first center-to-center pitch.
[claim 12] the electronic device defined in claim 7, wherein a given third conductive contact has a first area and a given fourth conductive contact has a second area greater than the first area.
However, Oh et al does teach
[claim 7] The electronic device, further comprising: a system-in-package mounted on the flexible printed circuit, wherein the system-in-package includes a display driver integrated circuit that is configured to provide signals to the array of display pixels using the conductive traces (figure 2, paragraph 0028, where element 140 is the System In Package, deposited on the lower surface [as seen by it deposited underneath the pixels, thus equating that layer to the lower surface of Liang et al], connected to the light emitting elements [elements 110, 120, 130] through conductive traces [elements 141a, 142a, 143a, 143b], and the System In Package can contain a driver within the package [element 140] that drive the pixels).
wherein the system-in-package comprises: a plurality of redistribution layers; third conductive contacts that electrically connect the display driver integrated circuit to the plurality of redistribution layers; and fourth conductive contacts that electrically connect the redistribution layers to the flexible printed circuit (figure 2, paragraph 0030, where element 140 is the SIP on a flexible circuit on the lower surface of Liang et al, where elements 146, 145 and 144 are in the place of the flexible circuit on the Lower surface in Liang et al, where the third conductive contacts are elements 141a, 141b, 142a, 142b, 143a, and 143b and in one layer of the SIP. The fourth conductive contacts are elements 147 and 148 which are located in the second portion of the redistribution layer. The second redistribution layer connects the third conductive contacts to the flexible circuit, which would touch elements 146, 145 and 144).
[claim 8] wherein the third conductive contacts have a first center-to- center pitch and wherein the fourth conductive contacts have a second center-to-center pitch that is greater than the first center-to-center pitch (figure 2, paragraphs 0030-0031, where the third conductive contacts [elements 141a, 141b, 142a, 142b, 143a, 143b] have an average center-to-center pitch that is much less than the center-to-center pitch between the fourth conductive contacts, elements 147 and 148. One can see in figure 2, that between the center of element 147 and 148 there are multiple third conductive contacts, thus showing that the center-to-center pitch of the third conductive contacts must be less than the fourth conductive contacts).
[claim 12] the electronic device defined in claim 7, wherein a given third conductive contact has a first area and a given fourth conductive contact has a second area greater than the first area (figure 2, paragraphs 0030-0031, where the third conductive contact has a first area that is defined by half the width of the conductive trace [one of the given elements 141a, 141b, 142a, 142b, 143a, 143b], which is less than an area defined by the entire width of one of the fourth conductive elements [element 147 and 148]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Liang et al as modified to incorporate the teachings of Oh et al in order to maximize special efficiency by creating an SIP IC to drive the pixels instead of connecting an external driver.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang et al (US 20220320056 A1), Yeh et al (TW 202213051) and Yokoyama et al (US 20210072605) and in further view of Lee et al (US 10674610 B1).
Liang et al as modified teaches all of the limitations of the parent claim, claim 1, but does not specifically disclose
[claim 10] The electronic device, wherein the flexible printed circuit includes a first layer with a first edge and a second layer with a second edge, wherein the first edge is shifted relative to the second edge, and wherein the first conductive contacts comprise a first subset of conductive contacts on the first layer and a second subset of conductive contacts on the second layer.
However, Lee et al does teach
[claim 10] The electronic device, wherein the flexible printed circuit includes a first layer with a first edge and a second layer with a second edge (figure 1 below, figure 10 from Lee et al, where the first layer has a first edge [left-hand side of the boxed section], and the second layer has a second edge [left hand side of the boxed section]),
wherein the first edge is shifted relative to the second edge, and wherein the first conductive contacts comprise a first subset of conductive contacts on the first layer and a second subset of conductive contacts on the second layer (figure 1 below, col 6 lines 41-52 and col 9 lines 36-45, where the left-hand-side of the first layer is shifted to the right relative to the left-hand-side of the second layer, and the conductive contacts in the first layer is element 12 located in the first layer box, and the second conductive layers in the second layer is element 23).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Liang et al as modified to incorporate the teachings of Lee et al to include a flexible printed circuit with multiple layers to maximize spatial efficiency by combining multiple layers to create a high-density circuit to control the display device (col 1 lines 47-52).
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Figure 1: Figure 10 from Lee et al (US 10674610 B1) with a designation of the first and second layer of the flexible printed circuit (FPC).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang et al (US 20220320056 A1), Yeh et al (TW 202213051) and Yokoyama et al (US 20210072605) and in further view of Jur et al (US 20160358849 A1).
Liang et al as modified teaches all of the limitations of the parent claim, claim 1, but does not specifically disclose
[claim 14] The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the conductive traces comprise silver nanoparticles and silver nanowires.
However, Jur et al does teach
[claim 14] The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the conductive traces comprise silver nanoparticles and silver nanowires (paragraph 0059, where the conductive elements are made of silver nanoparticles and silver nanowires).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Liang et al as modified to incorporate the teachings of Jur et al in order to increase the mechanical stability while also maintaining high conductivity to accommodate a durable yet flexible device while maintaining the necessary conductivity for conductive traces.
Claim(s) 15, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Franklin et al (US 9894781 B2) in view of Lee et al (US 10674610 B1) and in further view of Sung et al (US 9351400).
Franklin et al teaches
[claim 15] An electronic device comprising: a display panel with an array of display pixels; a flexible printed circuit that is attached to the display panel (figures 1 and 4, col 3 lines 27-41, and col 7 lines 1-13 where element 66 is a flexible printed circuit and is connected to the display region which comprises the sections of IA and AA),
[claim 19] the electronic device defined in claim 15, wherein the display panel has opposing first and second surfaces (figure 4, col 5 lines 1-19 where element 34 is the display panel and has a first surface [top surface] and second surface [bottom surface]),
Wherein the array of display pixels is on the first surface, wherein the flexible printed circuit is attached to the second surface of the display panel (figure 4, col 7 lines 1-13, where element IA contains the display pixels and is on the first [top] surface of the display panel [element 34], and the flexible printed circuit [element 66] is attached to the second surface through element 42M),
However, Franklin et al does not specifically disclose
[claim 15] and conductive traces that wrap around an edge of the display panel to electrically connect the display panel to the flexible printed circuit, wherein a first subset of the conductive traces is electrically connected to the first layer of the flexible printed circuit and wherein a second subset of the conductive traces is electrically connected to the second layer of the flexible printed circuit, wherein the flexible printed circuit has a multi-step edge, wherein the multi-step edge comprises a first layer and a second layer formed over the first layer, wherein the first layer has a first edge, and wherein the second layer has a second edge that is shifted relative to the first edge
[claim 18] The electronic device defined in claim 15, wherein the first subset of the conductive traces passes through an exposed portion of the second layer to reach the first layer, wherein the second subset of the conductive traces is electrically connected to the exposed portion of the second layer.
[claim 19] and wherein the first layer is interposed between the second layer and the display panel.
However, Lee et al does teach
[claim 15] wherein the flexible printed circuit has a multi-step edge, wherein the multi-step edge comprises a first layer and a second layer formed over the first layer, wherein the first layer has a first edge, and wherein the second layer has a second edge that is shifted relative to the first edge (figure 1 above, col 6 lines 41-52 and col 9 lines 36-45, where the left-hand-side of the first layer is shifted to the right relative to the left-hand-side of the second layer, and the conductive contacts in the first layer is element 12 located in the first layer box, and the second conductive layers in the second layer is element 23).
[claim 18] The electronic device defined in claim 15, wherein the first subset of the conductive traces passes through an exposed portion of the second layer to reach the first layer (Figure 4, col 7 lines 1-24, where element 70 is the first conductive traces and it connects to a first layer in Lee et al, where the first layer is situated below the second layer in Lee et al, thus the conductive traces would have to go through an exposed surface of the second layer to reach the first layer, as see in Figure 10 above).
wherein the second subset of the conductive traces is electrically connected to the exposed portion of the second layer (Figure 4, col 7 lines 1-24, where element 42M is the second conductive traces and it connects to a seconde layer in Lee et al, where the second layer is situated above the first layer in Lee et al, thus the conductive traces would have to connect to an exposed surface of the second layer, as see in Figure 10 above).
[claim 19] and wherein the first layer is interposed between the second layer and the display panel (figure 1 above, where if the flexible printed circuit of Lee et al is flipped 180 degrees from what is shown in figure 1 above, the first layer is interposed between the second layer and the display panel, where the second layer would be oriented towards the bottom surface of Franklin et al).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Franklin et al to incorporate the teachings of Lee et al in order to include a flexible printed circuit with multiple layers to maximize spatial efficiency by combining multiple layers to create a high-density circuit to control the display device (col 1 lines 47-52).
However, Franklin et al as modified does not specifically disclose
[claim 15] and conductive traces that wrap around an edge of the display panel to electrically connect the display panel to the flexible printed circuit, wherein a first subset of the conductive traces is electrically connected to the first layer of the flexible printed circuit and wherein a second subset of the conductive traces is electrically connected to the second layer of the flexible printed circuit
However, Sung et al does teach
[claim 15] and conductive traces that wrap around an edge of the display panel to electrically connect the display panel to the flexible printed circuit, wherein a first subset of the conductive traces is electrically connected to the first layer of the flexible printed circuit and wherein a second subset of the conductive traces is electrically connected to the second layer of the flexible printed circuit (figure 11, col 7 line 62 – col 8 line 3, where conductive traces [elements 1100, 1108, 1114, 1120] connect the top side [when read into from Franklin contains the display panel] to the bottom side [when read into from Franklin et al contains the flexible printed circuit], where a subset [elements 1100 and 1108] connect to a first layer of the flexible circuit [contacts 1102 and 1110 when read into from Franklin et al contain a first layer of element 66 of Franklin, and elements 116 and 1122 contain a second layer of element 66 of Franklin et al).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the teachings of Franklin et al as modified to incorporate the teachings of Sung et al in order to connect the display panel to the flexible printed circuit through multiple conductive traces to maximize spatial efficiency.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Franklin et al (US 9894781 B2), Lee et al (US 10674610 B1) and Sung et al (US 9351400) and in further view of Rahmani et al (US 11119616) and in further view of Jeon et al (US 20210202686 A1).
Franklin et al as modified teaches all of the limitations of the parent claim, claim 15, but does not specifically disclose
[claim 16] The electronic device defined, further comprising: a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive that attaches the flexible printed circuit to a lower surface of the display panel
However, Rahmani et al does teach
[claim 16] The electronic device defined, further comprising: a layer of adhesive that attaches the flexible printed circuit to a lower surface of the display panel (figures 6A-6C, col 10 lines 35-59, where element 604 is the adhesive surface connecting the flexible printed circuit [element 606] to the lower surface of the display panel [element 602], where element 602 replaces the lower surface of the lower surface in Franklin et al as modified)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Franklin et al as modified to incorporate the teachings of Rahmani et al in order to connect the flexible circuit to display circuit so as to allow the flexible circuit to control the display circuit.
Additionally, However, Franklin et al as modified above does not specifically disclose
[claim 16] [a layer of] pressure sensitive adhesive.
However, Jeon et al does teach
[claim 16] [a layer of] pressure sensitive adhesive (paragraph 0591, where the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Franklin et al as modified to incorporate the teachings of Jeon et al in order to use a pressure sensitive adhesive in order to maximize efficiency of the creation process by not needing extra equipment, such as a heat gun or curing over, to allow the flexible printed circuit to connect to the display device.
Claim(s) 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al (US 20210193686 A1) in view of Oh et al (US 20200287110 A1).
You et al teaches all of the limitations of the parent claim, claim 20, but does not specifically disclose
[claim 21] The electronic device, wherein the system-in-package comprises: a plurality of redistribution layers; first conductive contacts that electrically connect the display driver integrated circuit to the plurality of redistribution layers; and second conductive contacts that electrically connect the redistribution layers to the flexible printed circuit.
[claim 22] The electronic device, wherein the first conductive contacts have a first center-to-center pitch and wherein the second conductive contacts have a second center-to-center pitch that is greater than the first center-to-center pitch.
However, Oh et al does teach
[claim 21] The electronic device defined in claim 20, wherein the system-in-package comprises: a plurality of redistribution layers; first conductive contacts that electrically connect the display driver integrated circuit to the plurality of redistribution layers; and second conductive contacts that electrically connect the redistribution layers to the flexible printed circuit (figure 2, paragraph 0030, where element 140 is the SIP on a flexible circuit on the lower surface of Liang et al, where elements 146, 145 and 144 are in the place of the flexible circuit on the Lower surface in Liang et al, where the first conductive contacts are elements 141a, 141b, 142a, 142b, 143a, and 143b and in one layer of the SIP. The second conductive contacts are elements 147 and 148 which are located in the second portion of the redistribution layer. The redistribution layer contains the circuitry for the display driver and could be in the first redistribution layer, thus connecting the first conductive contacts to the display through the first redistribution layer of the SIP. The second redistribution layer connects the second conductive contacts to the flexible circuit, which would touch elements 146, 145 and 144).
[claim 22] The electronic device wherein the first conductive contacts have a first center-to-center pitch and wherein the second conductive contacts have a second center-to-center pitch that is greater than the first center-to-center pitch (figure 2, paragraphs 0030-0031, where the first conductive contacts [elements 141a, 141b, 142a, 142b, 143a, 143b] have an average center-to-center pitch that is much less than the center-to-center pitch between the second conductive contacts, elements 147 and 148. One can see in figure 2, that between the center of element 147 and 148 there are multiple third conductive contacts, thus showing that the center-to-center pitch of the first conductive contacts must be less than the second conductive contacts).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Liang et al as modified to incorporate the teachings of Oh et al in order to maximize special efficiency by creating an SIP IC to drive the pixels instead of connecting an external driver.
Claim(s) 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al (US 20210193686 A1) in view of Liang et al (US 20220320056).
You et al teaches
[claim 23] the electronic device defined in claim 20, wherein the display panel has first and second opposing sides, wherein the array of display pixels is on the first side of the display panel (figures 2 and 3, paragraph 0045, where element 10 is the display panel and has a first side [top side] and second side [bottom side] and the display pixels are on the top side [as seen in figure 3, where the Display Area contains the display pixels on a top side of element 10),
wherein the flexible printed circuit has third and fourth opposing sides (figure 2, paragraph 0045, where element 20 is the flexible printed circuit and has a third side [top side] and fourth side [bottom side]),
wherein the third side of the flexible printed circuit is attached to the second side of the display panel (figure 2, paragraph 0045, where element 30 has a third side [top side] attached to the second side [bottom side] of element 10, the display panel),
wherein the system-in-package is mounted to the fourth side of the flexible printed circuit (figure 2, paragraph 0045, where element 30 is attached to the bottom [fourth side] side of the flexible printed circuit [element 20]).
However, You et al does not specifically disclose
[claim 23] and wherein the conductive traces are on the fourth side of the flexible printed circuit.
However, Liang et al does teach
[claim 23] and wherein the conductive traces are on the fourth side of the flexible printed circuit (figure 3H, paragraphs 0094, 0103-0104, where element 6 is in the position of the flexible printed circuit from You et al [element 20], and the conductive traces [element 9] wrap around from the first side [top side] of the display panel [top of element 4] to the fourth side [bottom side] of element 6 [which is the flexible printed circuit read into Liang et al from You et al]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the teachings of You et al to incorporate the teachings of Liang et al to incorporate the conductive traces around the bottom side of the flexible printed circuit to maximize stability by keeping the flexible printed circuit closer to the bulk substrate and display panel, ensuring greater reliability of the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11, 13 and 17 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.
Conclusion
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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/ANDREW JOHN ZABEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2818
/JEFF W NATALINI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2818
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