DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/10/2026 has been entered.
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 2020/0119296 A1; hereinafter “Cho”) in view of Kwon et al. (US 2017/0315399 A1; hereinafter “Kwon”).
Regarding claim 2, Cho teaches an electroluminescent device comprising: a first electrode (an anode 11); a second electrode (a cathode 15); and a light-emitting layer (a quantum dot emission film 13) provided between the first electrode and the second electrode, the light-emitting layer comprising a quantum dot (13 comprising 13a and 13b including quantum dots) (Fig. 1 and paragraphs 112-117), wherein: the quantum dot comprises: a core composed of ZnSe (a core of the quantum dot including ZnSe); and a shell composed of ZnS, provided on a surface of the core, and adjacent to the core (the shell including ZnS) (paragraphs 121-128), the quantum dot emits blue light and is Cd free (paragraphs 113 and 153), and 3 ≤ d ≤ 20 and d − (6.1/((1240/λp)−2.7))1/2 ≤ 3.2 (considering d=8 and λp is 430, (3 ≤ 8 ≤ 20 and 8 − 6.1/((1240/430)−2.7))1/2 = about 2.23 ≤ 3.2), where λp is a fluorescent peak wavelength (a peak wavelength of blue light is in the range of 430-480 nm) and d is a particle diameter of the quantum dot (for example, a particle size of the quantum dot is about 3-20 nm) (paragraphs 132 and 153).
Cho does not teach at least one heat source configured to heat the light-emitting layer; and an insulating layer covering an entirety of the at least one heat source. Kwon teaches an electroluminescent device (a flexible OLED display 100), comprising: at least one heat source configured to heat the light-emitting layer (a wire 140 formed of a conductive material such as aluminum (Al), which is the identical metallic material choice for the claimed “at least one heat source” described in paragraph 301 and therefore identically capable of heating the light-emitting layer for the electroluminescent device as the identical material property); and an insulating layer covering an entirety of the at least one heat source (a combination of a lower insulating layer 130 and an upper insulating layer 150 covering an entirety of 140 in a cross-sectional view as shown in Fig. 1D similar to how 43 is covering an entirety of 42 in a cross-sectional view as shown in Fig. 5 in the instant application) in order for the wire providing signals between the driving circuit and the display unit and the insulating layer covering the wire from external environments (Figs. 1D-1E and paragraphs 37-53). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Cho with that of Kown in order for the wire providing signals between the driving circuit and the display unit and the insulating layer covering the wire from external environments.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2021/0005834 A1; hereinafter “Lee”) in view of Kwon.
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches an electroluminescent device comprising: a first electrode (an anode 11); a second electrode (a cathode 15); and a light-emitting layer (an emission layer 13) provided between the first electrode and the second electrode, the light-emitting layer comprising a quantum dot (13 including a quantum dot) (Fig. 1 and paragraphs 104-113), wherein: the quantum dot comprises: a core composed of ZnSe (a core of the quantum dot including ZnSe); and a shell composed of ZnS, provided on a surface of the core, and adjacent to the core (a shell of the quantum dot including ZnS) (paragraphs 113-120), the quantum dot emits blue light (paragraph 139) and is Cd free (the core/shell ZnSe/ZnS structure of the quantum dot is Cd free), and 3 ≤ d ≤ 20 and d − (6.1/((1240/λp)−2.7))1/2 ≤ 3.2 (for example, considering d=8 and λp is 430, (3 ≤ 8 ≤ 20 and 8 − 6.1/((1240/430)−2.7))1/2 = about 2.23 ≤ 3.2), where λp is a fluorescent peak wavelength (the quantum dot emitting blue light having a peak wavelength from about 440 nm to about 480 nm), and d is a particle diameter of the quantum dot (a particle size of the quantum dot is about 3-20 nm) (paragraphs 139-142).
Lee does not teach at least one heat source configured to heat the light-emitting layer; and an insulating layer covering an entirety of the at least one heat source. Kwon teaches an electroluminescent device (a flexible OLED display 100), comprising: at least one heat source configured to heat the light-emitting layer (a wire 140 formed of a conductive material such as aluminum (Al), which is the identical metallic material choice for the claimed “at least one heat source” described in paragraph 301 and therefore identically capable of heating the light-emitting layer for the electroluminescent device as the identical material property); and an insulating layer covering an entirety of the at least one heat source (a combination of a lower insulating layer 130 and an upper insulating layer 150 covering an entirety of 140 in a cross-sectional view as shown in Fig. 1D similar to how 43 is covering an entirety of 42 in a cross-sectional view as shown in Fig. 5 in the instant application) in order for the wire providing signals between the driving circuit and the display unit and the insulating layer covering the wire from external environments (Figs. 1D-1E and paragraphs 37-53). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Lee with that of Kown in order for the wire providing signals between the driving circuit and the display unit and the insulating layer covering the wire from external environments.
Claims 1 and 11-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Kwon and Zhang et al. (US 2018/0216003 A1; hereinafter “Zhang”).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches an electroluminescent device comprising: a first electrode (an anode 11); a second electrode (a cathode 15); a light-emitting layer (an emission layer 13) provided between the first electrode and the second electrode, the light-emitting layer comprising a quantum dot (13 including a quantum dot) (Fig. 1 and paragraphs 104-113), wherein: the quantum dot comprises: a core including Zn and Se (a core of the quantum dot including ZnSe); and a shell composed of ZnS, provided on a surface of the core, and adjacent to the core (a shell of the quantum dot including ZnS) (paragraphs 113-120), and the quantum dot emits blue light (paragraph 139), is Cd free (the core/shell ZnSe/ZnS structure of the quantum dot is Cd free), and has a particle diameter within a range from 3 nm to 20 nm (a particle size of the quantum dot is about 3-20 nm) (paragraph 142).
Lee does not explicitly teach 1) at least one heat source configured to heat the light-emitting layer; and an insulating layer covering an entirety of the at least one heat source and 2) the quantum dot has a fluorescence lifetime in a thin film state of 50 ns or less.
Regarding 1) at least one heat source configured to heat the light-emitting layer; and an insulating layer covering an entirety of the at least one heat source, Kwon teaches an electroluminescent device (a flexible OLED display 100), comprising: at least one heat source configured to heat the light-emitting layer (a wire 140 formed of a conductive material such as aluminum (Al), which is the identical metallic material choice for the claimed “at least one heat source” described in paragraph 301 and therefore identically capable of heating the light-emitting layer for the electroluminescent device as the identical material property); and an insulating layer covering an entirety of the at least one heat source (a combination of a lower insulating layer 130 and an upper insulating layer 150 covering an entirety of 140 in a cross-sectional view as shown in Fig. 1D similar to how 43 is covering an entirety of 42 in a cross-sectional view as shown in Fig. 5 in the instant application) in order for the wire providing signals between the driving circuit and the display unit and the insulating layer covering the wire from external environments (Figs. 1D-1E and paragraphs 37-53). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Lee with that of Kown in order for the wire providing signals between the driving circuit and the display unit and the insulating layer covering the wire from external environments.
Regarding 2) the quantum dot has a fluorescence lifetime in a thin film state of 50 ns or less, Zhang teaches an electroluminescent device (paragraphs 5 and 72) comprising: a quantum dot having a fluorescence lifetime in a thin film state of 50 ns or less (a core/shell ZnSe/ZnS quantum dot having a lifetime of 30 nm) (paragraph 103 and Table 1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Lee with that of Zhang in order to provide the core/shell ZnSe/ZnS quantum dot having the lifetime as a property/characteristic of ZnSe.
Regarding claim 11, Kwon teaches wherein the heat source has a thin line shape (141 has a line shape) (Fig. 1E).
Regarding claims 12-14, while Kwon does not teach that the heat source has a line width of 100 nm or less (claim 12) and a thickness within a range from 5 nm to 100 nm (claim 13) and a cross-sectional area is 0.01 μm2 or less (claim 14), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to adjust the width and the thickness and the cross-sectional area of the wire 140 from Kwon as a routine skill in the art to obtain the optimal or workable width ranges, including the claimed with of 100 nm or less and the claimed thickness range from 5 nm to 100 nm. Where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the workable ranges by routine experimentation. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Furthermore, if the only difference between the prior art and the claims is a recitation of relative dimensions of the claimed device and a device having the claimed relative dimensions would not performed different than the prior art device, the claimed device is not patentably distinct from the prior art device: In re Gardner v. TEC Systems, Inc., 220 USPQ 777.
Regarding claim 15, Kwon teaches wherein the heat source is an Al wiring line (paragraph 53). Furthermore, regarding the limitation “a line width and a thickness, each ranging from 10 nm to 100 nm”, see the rejection of claims 12-14 as discussed above, which is similarly applied for rejecting claim 15 reciting the line width and the thickness.
Regarding claim 16, Kwon teaches wherein the heat source is provided in a layer (for example, 141 is provided in 151/184) (Fig. 1E). Furthermore, while Kwon does not explicitly teach a direction of the light-emitting layer, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art that the light-emitting layer (an emissive layer 174) would be either a top-emission type with a bottom reflective layer and a bottom-emission type with a top reflective layer as a design choice for obtaining the desired light output direction and with the bottom-emission type, the layer would be on the light-output face side of the light-emitting layer.
Regarding claim 17, Kwon teaches wherein the heat source has a flat plate shape (141 has a flat plate shape) (Fig. 1E).
Regarding claim 18, while Kwon does not explicitly teach a direction of the light-emitting layer, it would have been obvious to one skilled in the art that the light-emitting layer (an emissive layer 174) would be either a top-emission type with a bottom reflective layer and a bottom-emission type with a top reflective layer as a design choice for obtaining the desired light output direction and with the top-emission type, the heat source (140) would be on provided opposite to the light-output face side of the light-emitting layer.
Claims 25-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Kwon and Zhang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Oh et al. (US 2019/0355793 A1; hereinafter “Oh”).
Regarding claim 25, Lee in view of Kwon and Zhang has been discussed above including the quantum dot of the electroluminescent device emitting blue light (See the rejection of claim 1 above). However, Lee in view of Kwon and Zhang does not further teach a display device comprising a plurality of pixels including at least one blue pixel. Oh teaches a display device (a display device 1) comprising a plurality of pixels (RD, BD, and GD) including at least one blue pixel (BD) for emitting desired light output (Figs. 1-3 and 49-53). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Lee in view of Kwon and Zhang with that of Oh in order for providing the desired light output with the plurality of pixels.
Regarding claim 26, Lee in view of Kwon and Oh teaches comprising: a plurality of blue pixels, including the blue pixel (Oh, Fig. 1-3 and paragraphs 49-63), wherein the heat source extends across at least two of the plurality of the blue pixels among the plurality of pixels (Oh, Figs. 1-2 for the plurality of blue pixels B and Kwon, Fig. 1E for 140 providing signals between the drive circuit and the display unit in the display area DA, which include the plurality of pixels).
Regarding claim 27, While Lee in view of Kwon, Zhang, and Oh does not explicitly teach a luminance sensor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to include such luminance sensor as a part of the display device in order to either detect and the external light input or to sense the light emitting output from the light emitting device of the display device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-10 and 19-23 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended claims have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejections with Kwon et al. (US 2017/0315399 A1) as set forth above in this Office Action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL B WHALEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3418. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 8AM-5PM.
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/DANIEL WHALEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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