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 .
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-4, 8, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Akiyama (US PG-Pub No.: 2013/0075761 A1, hereinafter, “Akiyama”).
Regarding claim 1, Akiyama discloses a display apparatus (see Akiyama, FIG. 6) comprising:
a first light-emitting element (200, FIG. 6);
a light-receiving element (300, FIG. 6) adjacent to the first light-emitting element (200); and
a first sidewall (202 on the right of 200, FIG. 6) and a second sidewall (202 on the left of 300, FIG. 6) that each comprise a region between the first light-emitting element (200) and the light-receiving element (300),
wherein the first light-emitting element (200) comprises a first pixel electrode (201, FIG .6), a first light-emitting layer (205, FIG. 6) over the first pixel electrode (201), and a common electrode (207+307, FIG. 6) over the first light-emitting layer (200),
wherein the light-receiving element (300) comprises a second pixel electrode (301, FIG. 6), a light-receiving layer (305, FIG. 6) over the second pixel electrode (301), and the common electrode (207+307) over the light-receiving layer (305),
wherein the first sidewall (202 on the right of 200) is in contact with a side surface of the first pixel electrode (201) and a side surface of the first light-emitting layer (205),
wherein the second sidewall (202 on the left of 300) is in contact with a side surface of the second pixel electrode (301) and a side surface of the light-receiving layer (305), and
wherein the common electrode (207+307) is over the first sidewall (202 on the right of 200) and the second sidewall (202 on the left of 300, FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 2, Akiyama discloses a display apparatus (see Akiyama, FIG. 6) comprising:
a first light-emitting element (200, FIG. 6);
a light-receiving element (300, FIG. 6) adjacent to the first light-emitting element (200, FIG. 6); and a first sidewall (202 on the right of 200), a second sidewall (202 on the left of 300), a third sidewall (206, FIG. 6) and a fourth sidewall (306, FIG. 6) that each comprise a region between the first light-emitting element (200) and the light-receiving element (300),
wherein the first light-emitting element (200) comprises a first pixel electrode (201, FIG. 6), a first light-emitting layer (205, FIG. 6) over the first pixel electrode (201), and a common electrode (207+307, FIG. 6) over the first light-emitting layer (205),
wherein the light-receiving element (300) comprises a second pixel electrode (301, FIG. 6), a light-receiving layer (305, FIG. 6) over the second pixel electrode (301), and the common electrode (207+307) over the light-receiving layer (305),
wherein the first sidewall (202 on the right of 200) is in contact with a side surface of the first pixel electrode (201) and a side surface of the first light-emitting layer (205, FIG. 6),
wherein the second sidewall (202 on the left of 300) is in contact with a side surface of the second pixel electrode (301) and a side surface of the light-receiving layer (305, FIG. 6),
wherein the third sidewall (206, FIG. 6) covers a side surface and a top surface of the first sidewall (202 on the right of 200),
wherein the fourth sidewall (306, FIG. 6) covers a side surface and a top surface of the second sidewall (202 on the left of 300), and
wherein the common electrode (207+307) is over the first sidewall (202 on the right of 200), the second sidewall (202 on the left of 300), the third sidewall (206) and the fourth sidewall (306, FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 3, Akiyama discloses the display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a common layer (206+306) between the first light-emitting layer (205) and the common electrode (207+307) and between the light-receiving layer (305) and the common electrode (207+307), wherein the common layer (206+306) is an electron-injection layer (¶ [0052]) or a hole-injection layer of the first light-emitting element (200), and wherein the common layer (206+306) is an electron-transport layer (306 is both electron-injection and transport layer for 300) or a hole-transport layer of the light-receiving element (300, FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 4, Akiyama discloses the display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first pixel electrode (201) and the second pixel electrode (301) are over an insulating layer (106, FIG. 6), wherein the insulating layer (106) comprises a first projection in a region overlapping with the first pixel electrode (201), and wherein the insulating layer (106) comprises a second projection in a region overlapping with the second pixel electrode (301, FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 8, Akiyama discloses a display module comprising: the display apparatus according to claim 1; and at least one of a connector and an integrated circuit (FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 17, Akiyama discloses the display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a side surface of the first sidewall (202 on the right of 200) is in contact with the side surface of the first pixel electrode (201) and the side surface of the first light-emitting layer (205, FIG. 6).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akiyama (US PG-Pub No.: 2013/0075761 A1, hereinafter, “Akiyama”), as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Kamada et al. (US PG-Pub No.: 2021/0005669 A1, hereinafter, “Kamada”).
Regarding claim 5, Akiyama discloses the display apparatus according to claim 1.
Akiyama is silent regarding that the first light-emitting element further comprises a first charge generation layer over the first light-emitting layer, a second light-emitting layer over the first charge generation layer, and the common electrode over the second light-emitting layer, and wherein the first sidewall is in contact with at least a part of a side surface of the first charge generation layer and a part of a side surface of the second light-emitting layer.
Kamada, however, discloses a display apparatus (see Kamada, FIG. 18B, comprising a first charge generation layer (104, FIG. 18B) over a first light-emitting layer (103a, FIG. 18B), a second light-emitting layer (103b, FIG. 18B) over the first charge generation layer (104), and a cathode (102, FIG. 18B) over the second light-emitting layer (103b).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to form Akiyama’s first light-emitting element further comprising a first charge generation layer over the first light-emitting layer, a second light-emitting layer over the first charge generation layer, and the common electrode, which is a cathode, over the second light-emitting layer, as taught by Kamada, in order to improve the stability and efficiency. Accordingly, the first sidewall is in contact with at least a part of a side surface of the first charge generation layer and a part of a side surface of the second light-emitting layer.
Regarding claim 9, Akiyama discloses an electronic device comprising: the display module according to claim 8.
Akiyama is silent regarding one of a housing, a battery, a camera, a speaker and a microphone.
However, Kamada discloses an electronic device comprising a display module (see Kamada, ¶ [0023]), further comprising one of a housing, a battery, a camera, a speaker and a microphone (¶ [0023]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to form Akiyama’s electronic device further comprising one of a housing, a battery, a camera, a speaker and a microphone, as taught by Kamada, in order to form an applicable device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-16 and 18-20 are allowed.
Claims 6-7 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected claim 5, 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:
The prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious all the claimed subject of claim 6, in particular, the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element are adjacent to each other, wherein the first light-emitting layer and the third light-emitting layer are configured to emit light of the same color as each other, and wherein the second light-emitting layer and the fourth light-emitting layer are configured to emit light of the same color as each other. Claim 7 depends upon claim 6.
The prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious all the claimed subject of base claim 10, in particular, depositing a first insulating film covering a side surface of the first pixel electrode, a side surface of the second pixel electrode, a side surface of the first light-emitting layer, a side surface of the light-receiving layer, side and top surfaces of the first sacrificial layer, and side and top surfaces of the second sacrificial layer; etching the first insulating film to form a first sidewall in contact with the side surface of the first pixel electrode and the side surface of the first light- emitting layer and a second sidewall in contact with the side surface of the second pixel electrode and the side surface of the light-receiving layer; removing the first sacrificial layer and the second sacrificial layer; and forming a common electrode over the first light-emitting layer and over the light-receiving layer. Therefore, claim 10 is allowable. Accordingly, claims 12-16 are allowable as they depend upon claim 10.
The prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious all the claimed subject of base claim 11, in particular, depositing a first insulating film covering a side surface of the first pixel electrode, a side surface of the second pixel electrode, a side surface of the first light-emitting layer, a side surface of the light-receiving layer, side and top surfaces of the first sacrificial layer, and side and top surfaces of the second sacrificial layer; depositing a second insulating film over the first insulating film; etching the first insulating film and the second insulating film to form a first sidewall in contact with the side surface of the first pixel electrode and the side surface of the first light-emitting layer, a second sidewall in contact with at least part of the side surface of the second pixel electrode and the side surface of the light-receiving layer, a third sidewall in contact with a side surface and a top surface of the first sidewall, and a fourth sidewall in contact with at least part of a side surface and a top surface of the second sidewall; removing the first sacrificial layer and the second sacrificial layer; and forming a common electrode over the first light-emitting layer and over the light- receiving layer. Therefore, claim 11 is allowable. Accordingly, claims 18-20 are allowable as they depend upon claim 11.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIA L. CROSS whose telephone number is (571)270-3273. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am-5:30 pm.
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/XIA L CROSS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2892