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(s)
The Amendment, filed on 12/28/2025, has been entered and acknowledged by the Examiner.
Claim(s) 1-20 are pending in the instant application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55, which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 7/24/2023. These drawings are considered acceptable by Examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's argument(s) filed on 12/28/2025 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection per amended claims.
America Invents Act
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 of this title, 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.
1. Claim(s) 1-4, 9-14, 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Jeong et al., (U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0105169 A1) in view of Lee et al., (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0337691 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Jeong et al., teaches a display module comprising: a display member (DP, a display panel layer, ¶ [0056], see at least Figs. 1A-1C, 2B) including a flat portion (NBA1, NBA2, a first and second non-bending area, ¶ [0056], see at least Figs. 1A-1C, 2B) and a bending portion (BA, a bending area) bent while extending from the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2); and a guide film (PM, protection member, ¶ [0059]) disposed on a rear surface of the display member (DP), wherein the guide film (PM) includes an extended portion extending from an edge of the display member (DP) in a direction away from a center of the display member (portion of PM extending away from the center) in a plan view. Jeong et al., is silent regarding an opening provided in the guide film therethrough in the plan view.
In the same field of endeavor, Lee et al., teaches a display device wherein a guide film (SPL, support plate, ¶ [0120]; see at least Figs. 7A-7B) is provided with an opening (OP, plurality of openings, ¶ [0116]) defined therethrough to overlap the bending portion (BA1 or BA2) of the display module in the plan view (plan view of the bending portion when specifically viewing “bending portion” directly/head on) in order to aid in the shaping of the molding/bending process during fabrication of the device and also to advantageously provide airflow that would otherwise be absent without the presence of the “opening” and such “opening” preventing overheating by facilitating flow of air during operation of the display device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to add the openings for airflow, as disclosed by Lee et al., in the display device of Jeong et al., in order to aid in the shaping of the molding/bending process during fabrication of the device and also to advantageously provide airflow that would otherwise be absent without the presence of the “opening” and such “opening” preventing overheating by facilitating flow of air during operation of the display device.
Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been led to using airflow openings as a matter of choice. Applicant(s) has not disclosed that the materials is for a particular unobvious purpose, produce an unexpected or significant result, or are otherwise critical and it appears prima facie that the process would possess utility using another configuration (In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966)).
Regarding Claim 2, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 1, wherein the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) includes a first side extending in a first direction, and wherein the bending portion (BA) includes a first bending portion (BA) bent while extending from the first side of the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2).
Regarding Claim 3, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 2, wherein the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) includes a second side extending in the first direction and opposite to the first side in a second direction crossing the first direction (refer to Figs. 1A-1C, 2B) and wherein the bending portion (BA) further includes a second bending portion (opposite of BA) bent while extending from the second side of the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2).
Regarding Claim 4, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 3, wherein the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) includes a third side and a fourth side extending in the second direction and opposite to each other in the first direction (refer to Figs. 1A-1C, 2B), and wherein the bending portion (BA) further includes a third bending portion (adjacent third BA) and a fourth bending portion (adjacent fourth BA) bent while extending from the third side and the fourth side of the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2), respectively.
Regarding Claim 9, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 4, wherein the guide film (PM) includes first to fourth extended portions (first to fourth areas of PM) disposed on rear surfaces of the first to fourth bending portions (BA), respectively, wherein the first extended portion and the second extended portion are spaced apart from each other in the second direction with the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) therebetween, and wherein the third extended portion and the fourth extended portion are spaced apart from each other in the first direction with the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) therebetween (refer to Figs. 1A-1C, 2B).
Regarding Claim 10, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 1, wherein the flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) includes a first flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) and a second flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) which overlap each other in a plan view, and wherein the bending portion (BA) is disposed between the first flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) and the second flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) and the bending portion (BA), to the first flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) and the second flat portion (NBA1, NBA2) are integrally shaped.
Regarding Claim 11, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 10, wherein the bending portion (BA) extends in a first direction, and the opening (opening defined once display is bent) extends in the first direction (refer to Figs. 1A-1C, 2B).
Regarding Claim 12, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 11, wherein a length (top to bottom of BX, Fig. 2) of the opening is shorter than a length of the bending portion (BA) in the first direction (as clearly depicted in Fig. 2B).
Regarding Claim 13, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 11, wherein a width (left to right distance of BX, Fig. 2) of the opening is greater than a width of the bending portion (BA) in a second direction crossing the first direction.
Regarding Claim 14, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 11, wherein the opening extends to opposite ends of the guide film (PM) in the first direction, and the guide film (PM) includes a plurality of portions spaced apart from each other with the opening therebetween (once bent, the PM has a separate and spaced apart region, top BM and bottom BM, Fig. 2B).
Regarding Claim 17, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 1, wherein the display member (DP) includes: a base layer; a circuit layer (for the driving of display during operation) disposed on the base layer; a display element layer (of DP) disposed on the circuit layer; and an encapsulation layer (AM1) sealing the display element layer.
Regarding Claim 18, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 17, wherein the display member (DP) further includes at least one selected from an input sensing layer (TS, sensing layer, ¶ [0105]) and an anti-reflection layer disposed on the encapsulation layer.
Regarding Claim 19, Jeong et al., teaches the display module of claim 1, further comprising: an adhesive layer (AM1, adhesive) disposed on the display member (DP); and window member (region of BX) disposed on the adhesive layer (AM1).
Regarding Claim 20, Jeong et al., teaches a method for attaching a display module and a window member to each other (WM, window member, ¶ [0128], Figs. 7-10), the method comprising: providing a pressure pad (PEN, Fig. 7) including a pressure surface including a curved surface; providing the display module including an adhesive layer (AM1, adhesive), a display member (DP), and a guide film (PM) on the pressure pad (PEN); providing a jig (of PEN) with the window member (WM) disposed thereon on the display module; and attaching the display module and the window member to each other through the adhesive layer (AM1), wherein the display member (DP) includes a bending portion (BA) overlapping the curved surface of the pressure pad, wherein the guide film (PM) includes an extended portion extending from an edge of the display member in a direction away from a center of the display member in a plan view (edge portion of PM extending away from the center). Jeong et al., is silent regarding an opening provided in the guide film therethrough in the plan view.
In the same field of endeavor, Lee et al., teaches a display device wherein a guide film (SPL, support plate, ¶ [0120]; see at least Figs. 7A-7B) is provided with an opening (OP, plurality of openings, ¶ [0116]) defined therethrough to overlap the bending portion (BA1 or BA2) of the display module in the plan view (plan view of the bending portion when specifically viewing “bending portion” directly/head on) in order to aid in the shaping of the molding/bending process during fabrication of the device and also to advantageously provide airflow that would otherwise be absent without the presence of the “opening” and such “opening” preventing overheating by facilitating flow of air during operation of the display device.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to add the openings for airflow, as disclosed by Lee et al., in the display device of Jeong et al., in order to aid in the shaping of the molding/bending process during fabrication of the device and also to advantageously provide airflow that would otherwise be absent without the presence of the “opening” and such “opening” preventing overheating by facilitating flow of air during operation of the display device.
Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been led to using airflow openings as a matter of choice. Applicant(s) has not disclosed that the materials is for a particular unobvious purpose, produce an unexpected or significant result, or are otherwise critical and it appears prima facie that the process would possess utility using another configuration (In re Dailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47 (CCPA 1966)).
Allowable Subject Matter
A. Claim(s) 5-8, 15-16 are objected 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 an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance:
Claim(s) 5-8 recites inter alia; wherein the opening includes first to fourth openings which overlap the first to fourth bending portions, respectively.
The references of record do not teach or suggest the aforementioned limitation, nor would it be obvious to modify those references to include such limitation.
Claim(s) 6-8 are allowable because of their dependency status from Claim 5.
Claim 15 recites inter alia; wherein the opening is provided in plural, and a plurality of openings is arranged in a second direction crossing the first direction.
Claim 16 recites inter alia; wherein the bending portion (BA) extends in a first direction, and wherein the opening is provided in plural, and each of a plurality of openings extends in a second direction crossing the first direction, and wherein the openings are arranged in the first direction.
Other Prior Art Cited
The prior art below is made of record and is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Espacenet Patent Search Complete (Global Dossier)
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment(s) necessitates the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action, therefore:
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hana Sanei Featherly whose telephone number is (571)-272-8654. The examiner can normally be reached on M-R 9-1 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James R. Greece can be reached on 571-272-3711. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-272-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/Hana Featherly/
Hana Sanei Featherly
Art Unit 2875 Patent Examiner
/JAMES R GREECE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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