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
This Office action is in response to the communication filed 3/31/2026.
The Amendments to Claims 1 and 12-14, filed 3/31/2026, are acknowledged and accepted.
Claims 4-5 and 16-17 are still withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/31/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s arguments that Sugita did not disclose the amended limitations, such as "a width of the groove being less than that of the corresponding electrode, the groove being configured to gather the electrophoretic particles in the corresponding microcup. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Figure 13 (below) shows the grooves are smaller than the electrode (Examiner explains the figure and the rejection below). Figure 3d (below) shows the particles (108a and 108b) are congregated within the openings (106a and 106b). Thus the claimed limitation has been met.
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On Pages 11-13 of the Remarks, Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claim(s) 1, 12, and 13 have been considered but are moot because the Applicant is arguing newly amended claims, filed 3/31/2026, not the Non-Final Rejection filed 1/02/2026. Newly amended claims are argued below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6-15, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugita et al (2007/0268245), hereinafter Sugita in view of Kizaki, Seiichi (JP 2004294955), hereinafter Kizaki.
Regarding claim 1, Sugita discloses, in figures 1, 2, and 13, an array substrate (figure 2), applied to a display apparatus (111, unit cell/pixel unit) (paragraph 0075), the display apparatus further comprising a plurality of microcup units (paragraph 0075 discloses a plurality of pixel regions 112a and 112b enclosed with a plurality of bulkheads 9 and see annotated figure 13 below), each of the microcup units comprising at least one microcup, and electrophoretic particles(108a, red particles and 108b, blue particles, 108c, green particles, 108d, magenta particles) being encapsulated in each of the at least one microcup (paragraph 0156); wherein the array substrate comprises a first base (102, substrate) and a plurality of pixel units arranged in an array on the first base (paragraph 0075 discloses a plurality of pixel regions and see figure 13), the plurality of pixel units being in one-to-one correspondence to the plurality of microcup units (figure 1); each of the pixel units comprising a first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) and a first common electrode (105, upper electrode) that are disposed on the first base (102, substrate) (paragraph 0076); and the array substrate further comprises an insulating layer (110a, first insulating layer and 110b, second insulating layer) covering the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) and the first common electrode (105, upper electrode) of each of the pixel units (pixel regions) (paragraph 0076), a surface of the insulating layer (110a, first insulating layer and 110b, second insulating layer) facing away from the first base (102, substrate) being provided with grooves/a groove (106a, first opening and 106b, second opening) corresponding to the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) and/or the first common electrode (105, upper electrode) of each of the pixel units (paragraph 0076), a width of the groove being less than that of the corresponding electrode (see annotated figure 13 below; Examiner shows the width of the groove is smaller than the width of the electrode), the groove being configured to gather the electrophoretic particles in the corresponding microcup (paragraph 0078 discloses a plurality of charged particles move and change to the state of the first and second openings).
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Sugita does not disclose wherein when the pixel units are in a transmissive display mode, the electrophoretic particles are trapped in the groove for longitudinal arrangement.
Kizaki discloses wherein when the pixel units are in a transmissive display mode, the electrophoretic particles are trapped in the groove for longitudinal arrangement (paragraphs 0026 and 0026; figure 4 uses arrows to show the particles in a longitudinal direction).
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Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the device of Sugita with the particles and grooves of Kizaki for the purpose of accommodating the charged particles and uniformly distributing the charged particles.
Regarding claim 2, Sugita discloses wherein the surface of the insulating layer (110a, first insulating layer and 110b, second insulating layer) facing away from the first base (102, substrate) is provided with the groove corresponding to the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) (paragraph 0076), and the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) is configured to attract the electrophoretic particles (108a-108d) in the corresponding microcup when the corresponding pixel unit is in the transmissive display mode, so that the electrophoretic particles are gathered into the groove corresponding to the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) (paragraph 0101 discloses that the red particles are assembled in the first opening 106a provided in the lower electrode 104); and/or the surface of the insulating layer facing away from the first base is provided with the groove corresponding to the first common electrode, and the first common electrode is configured to attract the electrophoretic particles in the corresponding microcup when the corresponding pixel unit is in the transmissive display mode, so that the electrophoretic particles are gathered into the groove corresponding to the first common electrode (105, upper electrode) (paragraph 0102 discloses that the blue particles are assembled in the second opening 106b provided in the upper electrode 105).
Regarding claim 3, Sugita discloses wherein the groove comprises a bottom and a side wall connected to the bottom (see annotated figure 1); the side wall being perpendicular to the bottom, or an angle between the side wall and the bottom being an acute angle, or the angle between the side wall and the bottom being an obtuse angle.
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Regarding claims 6 and 18, Sugita discloses wherein the microcup comprises two types of electrophoretic particles (108a and 108b, charged particles) with different colors and different electrical properties (paragraph 0075 discloses two kinds of charged particles are red and blue and have different charge performance); and the surface of the insulating layer facing away from the first base is provided with the grooves respectively corresponding to the first pixel electrode and the first common electrode, and when the pixel unit is in the transmissive display mode, the first pixel electrode is configured to attract one type of the electrophoretic particles in the microcup into the groove corresponding to the first pixel electrode, and the first common electrode is configured to attract the other type of the electrophoretic particles in the microcup into the groove corresponding to the first common electrode (paragraph 0078 discloses potential difference between respective electrodes enables a plurality of charged particles to move and to change to the state of assembling in the first opening 106a, the state of assembling in the second opening 106b; paragraph 0101 discloses that the red particles are assembled in the first opening 106a provided in the lower electrode 104; paragraph 0102 discloses that the blue particles are assembled in the second opening 106b provided in the upper electrode 105); or the microcup comprises electrophoretic particles in one color; and the surface of the insulating layer facing away from the first base is provided with the groove corresponding to the first pixel electrode or the first common electrode, and when the pixel unit is in the transmissive display mode, the first pixel electrode or the first common electrode corresponding to the groove is configured to attract the electrophoretic particles in the microcup into the groove; or the microcup comprises electrophoretic particles in one color; and the surface of the insulating layer facing away from the first base is provided with grooves respectively corresponding to the first pixel electrode and the first common electrode, and when the pixel unit is in the transmissive display mode, the first pixel electrode is configured to attract the electrophoretic particles in the microcup into the groove corresponding to the first pixel electrode, or the first common electrode is configured to attract the electrophoretic particles in the microcup into the groove corresponding to the first common electrode.
Regarding claims 7 and 19, Sugita discloses wherein each of the pixel units comprises a plurality of first pixel electrodes and a plurality of first common electrodes (105, upper electrodes), the plurality of first pixel electrodes (104, lower electrodes) extending along a first direction and being arranged apart along a second direction, and the plurality of first common electrodes (105, upper electrodes) extending along the first direction and being arranged apart along the second direction (see figure 2); each of the first pixel electrodes (104, lower electrodes) being disposed between two adjacent first common electrodes (see figure 1), or each of the first common electrodes being disposed between two adjacent first pixel electrodes, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.
Regarding claims 8 and 20, Sugita discloses wherein each of the microcup units comprises electrophoretic particles in one color, and each of the at least one microcup corresponds to at least one first pixel electrode (104, upper electrode) and at least one first common electrode (105, upper electrode) comprised in the corresponding pixel unit (paragraphs 0075-0076); and when the pixel unit is in a non-transmissive display mode, the first pixel electrode and the first common electrode are configured to generate a first driving electric field in the corresponding microcup to control the electrophoretic particles in the corresponding microcup to move along a direction parallel to the first base (paragraph 0105), so that the electrophoretic particles are evenly dispersed in an electrophoretic fluid; wherein an electric field direction of the first driving electric field is a direction parallel to the first base (figure 3d and paragraphs 0102 and 0103).
Regarding claim 9, Sugita discloses wherein the display apparatus further comprises a second base (101, transparent substrate) disposed opposite the array substrate (102, substrate) and a second common electrode (103, opposite electrode) disposed on the second base (101, transparent base) (paragraph 0076) (figure 1), and the plurality of microcup units are disposed between the array substrate and the second common electrode (103, opposite substrate) (figure 1); each of the at least one microcup corresponds to the second common electrode (103, opposite electrode) and at least one first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) and at least one first common electrode (105, upper electrode) comprised in the corresponding pixel unit (figure 1 and paragraph 0076); when the pixel unit is in a non-transmissive display mode, the first pixel electrode and the first common electrode are configured to generate a first driving electric field in the corresponding microcup to control the electrophoretic particles in the corresponding microcup to move along a direction parallel to the first base (paragraphs 0077-0078), so that the electrophoretic particles are evenly dispersed in an electrophoretic fluid (107, transmissive solvent) (paragraph 0090); and the first pixel electrode and the second common electrode are configured to generate a second driving electric field in the corresponding microcup to cause the electrophoretic particles in the corresponding microcup to move towards the first pixel electrode or the second common electrode according to electrical properties of the electrophoretic particles and an electric field direction of the second driving electric field (paragraph 0105); wherein an electric field direction of the first driving electric field is a direction parallel to the first base, and the electric field direction of the second driving electric field is a direction perpendicular to the first base (figure 7).
Regarding claim 10, Sugita discloses wherein each of the pixel units further comprises a thin film transistor (121a and 121b, transistors) and at least one second pixel electrode, the second pixel electrode being electrically connected to the plurality of first pixel electrodes comprised in the corresponding pixel unit and a drain of the thin film transistor respectively, the second pixel electrode being configured to electrically connect the plurality of first pixel electrodes comprised in the corresponding pixel unit to the drain of the corresponding thin film transistor respectively (paragraph 0130 discloses the transistors are connected to the upper, lower, and opposite electrodes).
Regarding claim 11, Sugita discloses wherein the insulating layer (110a and 110b, insulating layer) further covers the second pixel electrode, the surface of the insulating layer facing away from the first base is provided with the groove corresponding to the second pixel electrode, and the second pixel electrode is configured to attract the electrophoretic particles in the corresponding microcup when the corresponding pixel unit is in a transmissive display mode, so that the electrophoretic particles are gathered into the groove corresponding to the second pixel electrode (figures 3b and 3c shows the particles within the grooves 106a and 106b).
Regarding claim 12, Sugita discloses, in figures 1, 2, and 13, a display apparatus (electrophoresis display device (paragraph 0075), comprising: a plurality of microcup units (paragraph 0075 discloses a plurality of pixel regions 112a and 112b enclosed with a plurality of bulkheads 9 and see annotated figure 13 below), each of the microcup units comprising at least one microcup, and electrophoretic particles(108a, red particles and 108b, blue particles, 108c, green particles, 108d, magenta particles) being encapsulated in each of the at least one microcup (paragraph 0156); an array substrate, comprises a first base (102, substrate) and a plurality of pixel units arranged in an array on the first base (paragraph 0075 discloses a plurality of pixel regions and see figure 13), the plurality of pixel units being in one-to-one correspondence to the plurality of microcup units (figure 1); each of the pixel units comprising a first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) and a first common electrode (105, upper electrode) that are disposed on the first base (102, substrate) (paragraph 0076); and an insulating layer (110a, first insulating layer and 110b, second insulating layer) covering the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) and the first common electrode (105, upper electrode) of each of the pixel units (pixel regions) (paragraph 0076), a surface of the insulating layer (110a, first insulating layer and 110b, second insulating layer) facing away from the first base (102, substrate) being provided with grooves/a groove (106a, first opening and 106b, second opening) corresponding to the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) and/or the first common electrode (105, upper electrode) of each of the pixel units (paragraph 0076), a width of the groove being less than that of the corresponding electrode (see annotated figure 13 below), the groove being configured to gather the electrophoretic particles in the corresponding microcup (paragraph 0078 discloses a plurality of charged particles move and change to the state of the first and second openings) a second base (103, opposite substrate) disposed opposite the array substate (paragraph 0076); and a plurality of microcup units disposed between the array substrate (102, substrate) and the second base (103, opposite substrate), the plurality of microcup units being in one-to-one correspondence to the plurality of pixel units comprised in the array substrate (figure 1). Further regarding claim 13, Sugita discloses an electronic device, comprising: a host (paragraph 0173 discloses electronic books, electronic posters, interior electronic hanging advertisements and, in particular, to a color image display appliances).
Sugita does not disclose wherein when the pixel units are in a transmissive display mode, the electrophoretic particles are trapped in the groove for longitudinal arrangement.
Kizaki discloses wherein when the pixel units are in a transmissive display mode, the electrophoretic particles are trapped in the groove for longitudinal arrangement (paragraphs 0026 and 0026; figure 4 uses arrows to show the particles in a longitudinal direction).
Regarding claim 14, Sugita discloses wherein the surface of the insulating layer (110a, first insulating layer and 110b, second insulating layer) facing away from the first base (102, substrate) is provided with the groove corresponding to the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) (paragraph 0076), and the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) is configured to attract the electrophoretic particles (108a-108d) in the corresponding microcup when the corresponding pixel unit is in a transmissive display mode, so that the electrophoretic particles are gathered into the groove corresponding to the first pixel electrode (104, lower electrode) (paragraph 0101 discloses that the red particles are assembled in the first opening 106a provided in the lower electrode 104); and/or the surface of the insulating layer facing away from the first base is provided with the groove corresponding to the first common electrode, and the first common electrode is configured to attract the electrophoretic particles in the corresponding microcup when the corresponding pixel unit is in the transmissive display mode, so that the electrophoretic particles are gathered into the groove corresponding to the first common electrode (105, upper electrode) (paragraph 0102 discloses that the blue particles are assembled in the second opening 106b provided in the upper electrode 105).
Regarding claim 15, Sugita discloses wherein the groove comprises a bottom and a side wall connected to the bottom (see annotated figure 1); the side wall being perpendicular to the bottom, or an angle between the side wall and the bottom being an acute angle, or the angle between the side wall and the bottom being an obtuse angle.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, 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 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 BRANDI N THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-2341. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 - 3:30.
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/BRANDI N THOMAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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