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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 9/14/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments 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.
Applicant argues “, referring to FIG. 5C of Kang, the sealing member is merely disposed between the flexible printed circuit boards and does not extend to cover the substrate. That is, Kang fails to disclose and teach the content "the first protective layer covering the exposed part of the top surface of the conductive adhesive and a part of the circuit substrate" described in claim 1 of the present application.”
The examiner respectfully disagrees. Referring to Fig. 5C, protective layer SM1 extends from the space between FPCB1 and FPCB2 to the substrate 100, and also covers an exposed part of the conductive adhesive, including a part E of the top surface.
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) 1, 2 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kang (US2020/0084899A1).
Kang discloses the claimed invention as follows (refer to Figs. 1A, 5A and 5C and the annotated close-up portion of Fig. 5C, below):
Claim 1. An electronic device, comprising:
a circuit substrate (100), comprising a connection pad (PD1-P);
a conductive adhesive (ACF), covering the connection pad;
a driving element (FPCB1 with DC), disposed on the connection pad, and electrically connected to the circuit substrate through the conductive adhesive, wherein the driving element covers a part of the conductive adhesive and exposes a part (E) of the top surface of the conductive adhesive, wherein the driving element comprises a circuit board (FPCB1) and a chip (DC) disposed on the circuit board; and
a first protective layer (SM1), covering the exposed part of the top surface of the conductive adhesive and a part of the circuit substrate.
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Claim 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein there is a distance between a lateral edge of the conductive adhesive close to the first protective layer and a lateral edge of the driving element close to the first protective layer. See Fig. 5C.
Claim 6. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first protective layer further covers a part of the driving element. See Fig. 5C.
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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang.
Whereas Kang does not specifically disclose a numerical value for the claimed distance, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to position the pads P-O (see Fig. 5C) close to the left edge of FPCB1, such as less than 5 mm away from the edge, to minimize the amount of sealing member (SM1) material needed to fill the gap GP1. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found obvious to implement the invention of Kang such that the claimed distance is greater than 0 mm, as shown in Fig. 5C, but also less than 5 mm.
Claim(s) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang in view of Yoshinaga (US2020/0041845A1).
Kang discloses the material for the first protective layer SM1 is a “silicon[e] resin” (see [0121]), but does not disclose a reflectivity of the first protective layer is greater than or equal to 90%, a material of the first protective layer comprising a silicon-based colloid.
Yoshinaga is in the same art as Kang, disclosing utilizing a protective layer 15B, which is a silicone resin including a titanium oxide white powder (i.e., silicon-based colloid), and has a reflectance of preferably no less than 90%. See [0123] for a discussion of sealing resin portion 15, which includes portions 15A and 15B. 15B fills a space around an electronic component (in this case an LED). Whereas the material 15B of Yoshinaga is used for the light emitting module 100 used as a backlight in display 1000, Kang is also related to display manufacturing (see display panel DP in Fig. 1A). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to utilize a silicone resin as taught by Yoshinaga, as the sealing material for protective layer SM1 of Kang, since it has the same properties requires by Kang for this purpose (i.e., it is a silicone resin, which has moisture resistance and is suitable for sealing an electronic component). Given that this material is available for use in the display manufacturing art, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have found it obvious to utilize it for multiple sealing applications, rather than specifying a separate sealing material for each application.
Conclusion
All claims are identical to or patentably indistinct from, or have unity of invention with claims in the application prior to the entry of the submission under 37 CFR 1.114 (that is, restriction (including a lack of unity of invention) would not be proper) and all claims could have been finally rejected on the grounds and art of record in the next Office action if they had been entered in the application prior to entry under 37 CFR 1.114. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL even though it is a first action after the filing of a request for continued examination and the submission under 37 CFR 1.114. See MPEP § 706.07(b). 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 LIVIUS R CAZAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8032. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday noon-8:30 pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LIVIUS R. CAZAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
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