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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on 10/16/2023 has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 10/16/2023 are acceptable.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure and the specification filed on 10/16/2023 are acceptable.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In line 1, “A light-emitting element” should be changed to “An organic light-emitting element”. Appropriate correction is required.
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(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (US 2008/0049003) in view of Toereker (US 2009/0212303)
Regarding claim 1, Hasegawa (2008/0049003) discloses:
A light-emitting element (1, ¶0037) for lighting that is manufactured while being supplied in a roll form, comprising: a substrate (2, ¶0037) that is wound/unwound on a roll (6, ¶0038), on which a deposition material (28, ¶0040) is to be deposited with a pattern;
an insulating layer (21, ¶0041) that is disposed on the one surface of the substrate and is formed by stacking an insulating material; and
at least one deposition layer (28) that is formed by depositing at least one deposition material on the one surface of the insulating layer,
Hasegawa does not disclose “gap maintaining protrusions that protrude at a plurality of positions on one surface of the substrate, and are configured to protect the deposition material while contacting the other surface of the substrate when the substrate is wound and unwound on the roll” and “wherein the gap maintaining protrusions have a protrusion height greater than a height of the deposition layer”. In a similar device, however, Toereker (US 2009/0212303) discloses a light emitting element (100, ¶0028), comprising a substrate (102), deposition layers (108, 110, ¶0028) and gap maintaining protrusions (112, 112a, 112b, ¶0028, ¶0029) that protrude at a plurality of positions on one surface of the substrate (102), wherein the gap maintaining protrusions have a protrusion height greater than a height of the deposition layer (108, 110). Toereker discloses that a structure as taught provides an improved display (¶0019, ¶0020). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Hasegawa, including providing gap maintaining protrusions that protrude at a plurality of positions on one surface of the substrate, and are configured to protect the deposition material while contacting the other surface of the substrate when the substrate is wound and unwound on the roll wherein the gap maintaining protrusions have a protrusion height greater than a height of the deposition layer in order to provide an improved display as taught by Toereker.
Regarding claims 2-4, the method of forming a device is not germane to the issue of patentability of the device itself. Rather any method recitations are analyzed to the extent that they impart specific structural features. Therefore, as Hasegawa in view of Toereker teaches the claimed structure, the limitations are considered met.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 5, the prior art does not disclose “forming a deposition layer on the substrate on which the insulating layer is formed by laminating a plurality of masks on the substrate according to deposition characteristics, removing the masks in a state where a deposition surface of the substrate to be irradiated by a deposition source is positioned in a downward direction, and moving the substrate unwound and wound on the roll so that the gap maintaining protrusions contact tension maintaining rollers; and forming an electrode layer on the substrate on which the deposition layer is formed, performing an aging process for the substrate on which the electrode layer is formed, performing an encapsulating process for the substrate subjected to the aging process, and performing a dividing process to complete the process” in combination with the remaining claimed features.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM A HARRISTON whose telephone number is (571)270-3897. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9AM-5PM.
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/WILLIAM A HARRISTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899