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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/5/24 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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, 10-11, 13, 16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang, CN 110212110 in view of Ma et al., WO 2021/147851.
Regarding claim 1, Zhang teaches (at least in Figures 1 and 7) a display panel (Figure 1 and Abstract), provided with a display area (110) and a non-display area (120) connected to the display area, wherein the display panel comprises: a substrate (200); a blocking dam (410), located in the non-display area and surrounding the display area (see Figure 1), wherein the blocking dam comprises an insulation layer group (410 and 421), a groove (422) is provided at one side of the insulation layer group away from the substrate (see Figures 4 and 5), and a depth of the groove is less than a thickness of the insulation layer group (see Figures 4 and 5, depth of groove 422 does not penetrate fully through layers 421 and 410); and an encapsulation layer (500, not labeled but shown in Figure 7 shaded gray region), located at one side of the blocking dam away from the substrate (see Figure 7), wherein the encapsulation layer comprises an organic encapsulation layer (see Specification description regarding layer 500 and Figure 7, “organic barrier material”), and an orthographic projection of an edge of the organic encapsulation layer, away from the display area, on the substrate is located within an orthographic projection of the blocking dam on the substrate (see Figure 7, the outer edge of the encapsulation material sits within a groove 422 of the blocking dam). Zhang fails to discuss the lead line extending from the display area to the non-display area.
However, in the same field of endeavor of display devices, Ma teaches a first lead line, located at one side of the substrate, and extending from the display area to the non-display area (see for example Figure 1A, lead line Y). Further, it would have been well known to those of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing that various circuitry elements, such as a lead line, would be necessary for the proper function of a display device. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the Zhang device with a lead line extending from the display area to the non-display area to provide power and information to the display panel for proper functioning.
Regarding claim 10, Zhang and Ma teach the invention as explained above regarding claim 1, and Zhang further teaches the groove (422) is located in a middle portion of the blocking dam (see Figures 4-7), and a width of the groove is gradually increased from one side of the groove close to the substrate to one side of the groove away from the substrate (see Figures 4-7, groove increases in width away from substrate 200).
Regarding claim 11, Zhang and Ma teach the invention as explained above regarding claim 1, and Zhang further teaches a width of the groove is 1/3-7/12 of a width of the blocking dam (see Specification related to Figures 2 and 3, “depth is greater than or equal to ¼ height of blocking wall”).
Regarding claim 13, Zhang and Ma teach the invention as explained above regarding claim 1, and further it is the position of the examiner that lacking criticality and unexpected results, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice and routine experimentation to optimize the thickness of the blocking dam to provide a useful barrier for the encapsulation material and sufficient height to protect the display area components.
Regarding claim 16, Zhang and Ma teach the invention as explained above regarding claim 1, and Zhang further teaches a first planarization layer (320), located at the one side of the substrate (200) and located in the display area (see Figures 1-3); a pixel definition layer (340), located at one side of the first planarization layer away from the substrate (see Figures 1-3); wherein the insulation layer group comprises a first insulation layer (410) and a third insulation layer (421) sequentially arranged in a direction away from the substrate, wherein the first insulation layer is provided in a same layer and formed in a same material as the first planarization layer (see Figure 3), and the third insulation layer is provided in a same layer and formed in a same material as the pixel definition layer (see Figure 3).
Regarding claim 18, Zhang and Ma teach the invention as explained above regarding claim 1 and Zhang further teaches the non-display area comprises: a binding region (bottom of panel in Figure 1), located at one side of the display area, wherein the binding region is provided with one blocking dam (410, see Figure 1); a frame region (top and sides of panel in Figure 1), located at another side of the display area, wherein a plurality of blocking dams (121 and 122) are sequentially provided, along a direction away from the display area, in the frame region (see Figure 1).
Regarding claim 19, Zhang and Ma teach the invention as explained above regarding claim 18, and Zhang further teaches the groove (422, Figures 4-7) is located at one side of the insulation layer group (410 and 421), of the blocking dam in the binding region, away from the substrate (see Figures 1 and 7).
Regarding claim 20, Zhang teaches (at least in Figures 1 and 7) a display device comprising a display panel (Figure 1 and Abstract), wherein the display panel is provided with a display area (110) and a non-display area (120) connected to the display area, wherein the display panel comprises: a substrate (200); a blocking dam (410), located in the non-display area and surrounding the display area (see Figure 1), wherein the blocking dam comprises an insulation layer group (410 and 421), a groove (422) is provided at one side of the insulation layer group away from the substrate (see Figures 4 and 5), and a depth of the groove is less than a thickness of the insulation layer group (see Figures 4 and 5, depth of groove 422 does not penetrate fully through layers 421 and 410); and an encapsulation layer (500, not labeled but shown in Figure 7 shaded gray region), located at one side of the blocking dam away from the substrate (see Figure 7), wherein the encapsulation layer comprises an organic encapsulation layer (see Specification description regarding layer 500 and Figure 7, “organic barrier material”), and an orthographic projection of an edge of the organic encapsulation layer, away from the display area, on the substrate is located within an orthographic projection of the blocking dam on the substrate (see Figure 7, the outer edge of the encapsulation material sits within a groove 422 of the blocking dam). Zhang fails to discuss the lead line extending from the display area to the non-display area.
However, in the same field of endeavor of display devices, Ma teaches a first lead line, located at one side of the substrate, and extending from the display area to the non-display area (see for example Figure 1A, lead line Y). Further, it would have been well known to those of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing that various circuitry elements, such as a lead line, would be necessary for the proper function of a display device. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the Zhang device with a lead line extending from the display area to the non-display area to provide power and information to the display panel for proper functioning.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-9, 12, 14, 15 and 17 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: The prior art fails to teach or suggest a display panel comprising a blocking dam in a non-display area having a groove on a side away from the substrate, and wherein the groove comprises a plurality of grooves located at one side of the blocking dam close to the display area and a convex body is formed at one side of the plurality of groove branches away from the display area. The prior art further fails to teach or suggest the groove is located in a middle portion of the blocking dam and comprises a groove body and a plurality of branches located at one side of the groove body away from the display area. Finally, the prior art fails to teach or suggest the blocking dam comprising three layers and the depth of the groove equal to the first or the first and second layer.
The closest prior art, Zhang, CN 110212110, teaches a display comprising a blocking dam in a non-display area and having a groove on a side away from the substrate, but fails to teach groove branches. Therefore, in view of the teaching of the prior art, it would not have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to arrive at the presently claimed device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Zhang, CN 109585690 teaches a display comprising a blocking dam in a non-display area and further teaches the blocking dam comprises grooves and groove branches. However, Zhang teaches the depth of the grooves is equal to the thickness of the insulation layer group that comprises the blocking dam.
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MARY ELLEN BOWMAN
Examiner
Art Unit 2875
/MARY ELLEN BOWMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875