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 .
Status of the Claims
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I and Species 1, as shown in FIGs. 6A-C, in the reply filed on June 09, 2026 is acknowledged. Applicant identifies claims 1-14 are readable on the Elected Invention I and Species 1.
Non-elected Invention and/or Species, claims 15-20 have been withdrawn from consideration. Claims 1-20 are pending
Action on merits of the Elected invention and/or Species, claims 1-14 follows.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on August 23, 2023 has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested
A DISPLAY APPARARTUS HAVING A FIRST REFRACTIVE LAYER COVER AND SURROUND A FIRST LIGHT EMITTER WITH RECTANGULAER SHAPE WHEREIN PROTRUDED PARTS OF THE FIRST REFRACTIVE LAYER IS SECOND DIRECTION ARE DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER
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.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KIM et al. (US. Pub. No. 2020/0227489) in view of BYUN et al. (US. Pub. No. 2022/0190067).
With respect to claim 1, KIM teaches a display apparatus substantially as claimed including:
a substrate (100);
a first light emitter (OLED) disposed over the substrate; and
a first refractive layer patterned (530) to cover and surround the first light emitter in a plan view, wherein the first light emitter has a rectangular shape comprising a first long side extending in a first direction, a second long side extending in the first direction, and short sides extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction,
the first long side comprises a first portion and a second portion,
the second long side comprises a third portion and a fourth portion, and
a length of a part of the first refractive layer (530) protruded from the first portion in the second direction in the plan view and a length of a part of the first refractive layer (530) protruded from the second portion in the second direction in the plan view. (See FIGs 2B-4).
Thus, KIM is shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly disclosing a length of a part of the first refractive layer (530) protruded from the first portion and second portion in the second direction in the plan view are different from each other.
However, BYUN teaches a display apparatus including:
a first refractive layer patterned (HRF) to cover and surround first light emitter (OLED) in a plan view, wherein the first light emitter (OLED) has a rectangular shape comprising a first long side extending in a first direction, a second long side extending in the first direction, and short sides extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction;
a length of a part (TH1) of the first refractive layer (HRF) protruded from the first portion in the second direction (DR5) in the plan view and a length of a part (TH2) of the first refractive layer (HRF) protruded from the second portion in the second direction (DR5) in the plan view are different (TH1< TH2) from each other. (See FIGs. 7A-B, 8).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention was made to form the length of a part of the first refractive layer of KIM protruded from the first portion in the second direction in the plan view and a length of a part of the first refractive layer protruded from the second portion in the second direction in the plan view being different from each other as taught by BYUN to improve light emission efficiency.
With respect to claim 2, in view of BYUN, a length of a part (TH1) of the first refractive layer protruded from the third portion in the second direction in the plan view and a length of a part (TH2) of the first refractive layer HRF) protruded from the fourth portion in the second direction in the plan view are different from each other.
With respect to claim 3, the first light emitter (OLED, P3) of KIM or BYUN emits red light.
With respect to claim 4, the display apparatus of KIM further comprising:
a second light emitter (OLED, P2) disposed over the substrate, wherein the first refractive layer (530) is further patterned to cover and surround the second light emitter (OLED, P2) in the plan view.
With respect to claim 5, the second light emitter (OLED, P2) of KIM emits green light.
With respect to claim 6, the display apparatus of KIM further comprises: two third light emitters (P2, P3) disposed over the substrate, wherein the first refractive layer (530) is further patterned to cover and surround the two third light emitters (P2, P3) in the plan view.
With respect to claim 7, one of the two third light emitters (P1, P2) of KIM has a rectangular shape comprising a third long side extending in the second direction, a fourth long side extending in the second direction, and short sides extending in the first direction, the third long side comprises a fifth portion and a sixth portion, the fourth long side comprises a seventh portion and an eighth portion, and a length of a part of the first refractive layer protruded from the fifth portion in the first direction in the plan view and a length of a part of the first refractive layer protruded from the sixth portion in the first direction in the plan view, in view of BYUN, are different from each other.
With respect to claim 8, a length of a part of the first refractive layer (530) of KIM protruded from the seventh portion in the first direction in the plan view and a length of a part of the first refractive layer protruded from the eighth portion in the first direction in the plan view, in view of BYUN are different from each other.
With respect to claim 9, the third light emitters (P1) of KIM or BYUN emit blue light.
With respect to claim 10, a thickness (t5) of the first refractive layer (530) of KIM is 1 µm to 2 µm, hence within the claimed thickness of about 1.5 µm to about 5 µm.
It is well settled that "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955) (Claimed process which was performed at a temperature between 40 ºC and 80 ºC and an acid concentration between 25% and 70% was held to be prima facie obvious over a reference process which differed from the claims only in that the reference process was performed at a temperature of 100 ºC and an acid concentration of 10%.); see also Peterson, 315 F.3d at 1330, 65 USPQ2d at 1382 ("The normal desire of scientists or artisans to improve upon what is already generally known provides the motivation to determine where in a disclosed set of percentage ranges is the optimum combination of percentages.").
With respect to claim 11, an angle (θ) between an inclined side surface of the first refractive layer (530) of KIM and a layer (510) disposed thereunder is about 30° to about 90°.
With respect to claim 12, the display apparatus of KIM further comprises a second refractive layer (610) directly disposed over the first refractive layer (530).
With respect to claim 13, the first refractive layer (530) and the second refractive layer (610) of KIM have a first refractive index (1.6 to 1.8) and a second refractive index (1.4 to 1.6), respectively, the first refractive index is greater than the second refractive index, and a difference between the first refractive index and the second refractive index is about 0.04 to about 1.
It is well settled that "[W]here the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation." In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955) (Claimed process which was performed at a temperature between 40 ºC and 80 ºC and an acid concentration between 25% and 70% was held to be prima facie obvious over a reference process which differed from the claims only in that the reference process was performed at a temperature of 100 ºC and an acid concentration of 10%.); see also Peterson, 315 F.3d at 1330, 65 USPQ2d at 1382 ("The normal desire of scientists or artisans to improve upon what is already generally known provides the motivation to determine where in a disclosed set of percentage ranges is the optimum combination of percentages.").
With respect to claim 14, the display apparatus of KIM further comprises three third light emitters (P1, P2, P3) disposed over the substrate.
Conclusion
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/ANH D MAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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