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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I, Species I, claims 1-9, in the reply filed on September 5, 2023 is acknowledged.
Claims 10-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention/species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 2, 4, 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 states “wherein a modulus of the second encapsulating organic layer is lower than a modulus of the first encapsulating inorganic layer.”, the recitation raises the issue of ambiguity. It is unclear which modulus the claim language refers to, since there are difference types of moduli to describe how materials deform under stress.
Claim 4 states “the modulus of the second encapsulating organic layer and the modulus of the first encapsulating inorganic layer.”, the recitation raises the issue of ambiguity. It is unclear which modulus the claim language refers to, since there are difference types of moduli to describe how materials deform under stress.
Claim 6 states “a modulus of the third encapsulating organic layer is lower than the modulus of the second encapsulating inorganic layer.”, the recitation raises the issue of ambiguity. It is unclear which modulus the claim language refers to, since there are difference types of moduli to describe how materials deform under stress.
Claim 9 states “the modulus of the third encapsulating organic layer and the modulus of the second encapsulating inorganic layer.”, the recitation raises the issue of ambiguity. It is unclear which modulus the claim language refers to, since there are difference types of moduli to describe how materials deform under stress.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US 2022/0320189 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses a display device comprising: a substrate (100) comprising a front portion (MDA), a first side portion (SDA1) extending from a first side of the front portion, a second side portion (SDA3) extending from a second side of the front portion, and a corner portion (CDA) disposed between the first side portion and the second side portion; a plurality of light emitting elements (Px) disposed on the front portion (PXm) and the corner portion (PXc) of the substrate and each of the plurality of light emitting elements comprising a first electrode (121), a light emitting layer (122b) and a second electrode (123); a first encapsulating inorganic layer (131) disposed on the second electrode (123) of each of the plurality of light emitting elements located on the front portion of the substrate and on the corner portion of the substrate (¶s[0093,0133]); a first encapsulating organic layer (132) disposed on the first encapsulating inorganic layer (131) located on the front portion of the substrate and on the corner portion of the substrate (¶s[0093,0133]); a second encapsulating inorganic layer (133) disposed on the first encapsulating organic layer (132) located on the front portion of the substrate and on the corner portion of the substrate (¶s[0093,0133]); and a second encapsulating organic layer (150, ¶[0128]) disposed between the second electrode (123) of each of the plurality of light emitting elements and the first encapsulating inorganic layer (131) located on the corner portion of the substrate (¶s[0093,0133]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5 and 7-8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim(s) 3, the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in claim(s) 3, and specifically comprising the limitation of the first encapsulating organic layer comprises a monomer, and the second encapsulating organic layer comprises hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO).
Regarding claim(s) 5, the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in claim(s) 5, and specifically comprising the limitation of a third encapsulating organic layer disposed between the first encapsulating organic layer and the second encapsulating inorganic layer on the corner portion of the substrate.
Regarding claim(s) 7, claims(s) 7 is/are allowable for the reasons given in claim(s) 5 because of its/their dependency status from claim(s) 5.
Regarding claim(s) 8, the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in claim(s) 8, and specifically comprising the limitation of the third encapsulating organic layer comprises hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shin et al. (US 2022/0118731 A1) discloses an organic light emitting display device including: a first substrate including red, green, and blue pixel regions; a first electrode disposed on the first substrate; red, green, and blue organic light emitting layers respectively disposed in the red, green, and blue pixel areas on the first electrode; a second electrode disposed on the red, green and blue organic light emitting layers; a capping layer disposed on the second electrode and having a greater thickness in the red and green pixel regions than in the blue pixel region; a thin film encapsulation layer disposed on the capping layer; and a red color filter disposed in the red pixel area on the thin film encapsulation layer.
Hyun et al. (US 2022/0123256 A1) discloses a display device comprising: a substrate including a display area, the display area including a front area and a corner area disposed at the corner of the display area; a plurality of light emitting diodes disposed in the display area; and an encapsulation layer covering the plurality of light emitting diodes and including an organic layer and an inorganic layer, a thickness of the organic layer disposed in the corner area may be thinner than that in the front area.
Lin (CN 109616492 A) discloses a flexible display panel comprising a thin film encapsulation layer comprising a first inorganic encapsulating layer, first organic encapsulating layer, a second organic encapsulating layer and a second inorganic encapsulating layer; the flexible display panel comprises at least one bending area and plane area; an organic light emitting layer includes a light emitting unit, a first organic encapsulating layer is set in the bending area and corresponding to the position of the light emitting unit; the second organic encapsulating layer set in the bending area and plane area and covered on the first organic encapsulating layer, located on the first organic encapsulating layer in the bent region section is regular and symmetrical pattern.
The rejections above rely on the references for all the teachings expressed in the text of the references and/or one of ordinary skill in the art would have reasonably understood or implied from the texts of the references. To emphasize certain aspects of the prior art, only specific portions of the texts have been pointed out. Each reference as a whole should be reviewed in responding to the rejection, since other sections of the same reference and/or various combinations of the cited references may be relied on in future rejections in view of amendments.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mariceli Santiago whose telephone number is (571) 272-2464. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jessica Han, can be reached on (571) 272-2078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Mariceli Santiago/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2879
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