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 .
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 factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1,7,11-13, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over IN US 2020/0303468 in view of Hiroyuki JP2008275967.
Regarding claim 1, IN shows in FIG. 1, 2, 3B, and discloses in [0054]-[0081], a display device (display device DD) comprising: a flexible substrate layer (base layer SUB; see paragraph [0060]); a thin film transistor layer (circuit element layer DP-CL; see paragraphs [0061], [0069]-[0074]) which is provided on the flexible substrate layer; and a light emitting element layer (display element layer DP OLED) which is provided on the thin film transistor layer and in which a plurality of light emitting elements (organic light emitting diode) are arranged with respect to a plurality of sub pixels constituting a display region (display area DD-DA); wherein a frame region (non-display area DD-NDA) is provided in the periphery of the display region, a terminal part (NDA-PD) is provided to the end part of the frame region so as to extend in one direction (see fig. 3B), a chip mounting part (chip mounting area NDA-TC) is provided between the display region and the terminal part, and the chip mounting part is provided with a plurality of chip terminals (first chip pad TC-PDl, second chip pad TC-PD2) arranged in a row, and a plurality of terminal wires (data line DL) that extend parallel with each other in correspondence with the plurality of chip terminals and are electrically connected to the plurality of chip terminals, respectively.
In differs from the claimed invention because he does not explicitly disclose a device whether in the chip mounting part, with respect to at least one of the plurality of chip terminals, a chip support body is provided for each terminal wire so as to overlap the terminal wire corresponding to the chip terminal or the extension line of the terminal wire.
Hiroyuki discloses (in particular, paragraph [0029]-[0033], fig. 3) a semiconductor element mounting part 98 of an element substrate jutting out portion 60T, wherein terminals 14a, 14b to which the semiconductor element output-side bumps are electrically connected are disposed in two rows in a staggered manner, and a cover member 15 (corresponding to the "chip support body" of the invention as in claim 1) made of an insulating material is formed between the terminal 14a and terminal 14b so as to cover the wirings 11 and 13 disposed between the terminals, thereby preventing the occurrence of short circuit between the terminal 14a and wiring 11 and between the terminal 14b and the wiring 13.
Hiroyuki is evidence that ordinary workers skilled in the art would find reasons, suggestions or motivations to modify the device of In. Therefore, at the time the invention was made; It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Hiroyuki in the device of In because it will prevent the occurrence of a short circuit between terminals in a mounting portion [0008].
Additionally, the "chip mounting part" of the invention disclosed in In and the mounting part 98 of the invention disclosed in Hiroyuki both share the common function of being a mounting portion of a drive IC of a display device, and preventing the occurrence of a short circuit between terminals in a mounting portion is a common problem. Thus, in the invention disclosed in In, in order to solve said problem, employing the configuration of the invention disclosed in Hiroyuki so that "chip terminals" are disposed in a staggered manner and a cover member is formed for each wiring between the terminals arranged in a row, thereby arriving at the configurations of differences 1 and 2 is a matter that could easily have been achieved by a person skilled in the art.
Regarding claim 7, IN in view of Hiroyuki discloses in paragraph [0029]-[0033], FIG. 3, a display device wherein the chip support body (a cover member 15 corresponding to the "chip support body") is provided for each chip terminal.
Regarding claim 11, IN in view of Hiroyuki discloses a display device wherein in the chip mounting portion (98), an integrated circuit chip is mounted via an anisotropic conductive film [0003].
Hiroyuki is evidence that ordinary workers skilled in the art would find reasons, suggestions or motivations to modify the device of In. Therefore, at the time the invention was made; It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Hiroyuki in the device of In because it will prevent the occurrence of a short circuit between terminals in a mounting portion [0008].
Regarding claim 12, IN in view of Hiroyuki discloses a display device wherein on a back surface of the integrated circuit chip, a plurality of bumps [0030] are provided corresponding to the plurality of chip terminals, respectively, the anisotropic conductive film [0003] includes conductive particles, and the plurality of bumps and the plurality of chip terminals are electrically connected via the conductive particles, respectively [0030].
Hiroyuki is evidence that ordinary workers skilled in the art would find reasons, suggestions or motivations to modify the device of In. Therefore, at the time the invention was made; It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Hiroyuki in the device of In because it will prevent the occurrence of a short circuit between terminals in a mounting portion [0008].
Regarding claim 13, IN in view of Hiroyuki discloses a display device wherein in the terminal portion(101,102,103,104)[0122], a flexible printed circuit is mounted [0053].
Regarding claim 15, IN in view of Hiroyuki discloses a display device wherein the plurality of LED elements are organic electroluminescence elements [0058].
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over IN in view of Hiroyuki as applied to claims 1,7,11-13, and 15, and further in view of Moh et al., (Moh) US 2015/0187803.
Regarding claim 8, IN in view of Hiroyuki discloses [0054]-[0081 a display device wherein the chip mounting portion (98) is provided with, as the plurality of output terminals (14a,14b).
IN in view of Hiroyuki differs from the claimed invention because he does not explicitly disclose a device a plurality of first output terminals arranged in a row on a side of the display region, a plurality of second output terminals arranged in a rowon a side of the terminal portion, and a plurality of third output terminals arranged in a row between the plurality of first output terminals and the plurality of second output terminals, and the plurality of first output terminals, the plurality of third output terminals, and the plurality of second output terminals are repeatedly arranged along long sides of the chip mounting portion in order of the first output terminal, the third output terminal, and the second output terminal.
Moh discloses [0055-059] and shows in FIG. 2, plurality of first output terminals (301) arranged in a row on a side of the display region, a plurality of second output terminals (302) arranged in a rowon a side of the terminal portion, and a plurality of third output terminals (303) arranged in a row between the plurality of first output terminals and the plurality of second output terminals, and the plurality of first output terminals, the plurality of third output terminals, and the plurality of second output terminals are repeatedly arranged along long sides of the chip mounting portion in order of the first output terminal, the third output terminal, and the second output terminal [0055-059] and shows in FIG. 2.
Moh is evidence that ordinary workers skilled in the art would find reasons, suggestions or motivations to modify the device of IN in view of Hiroyuki. Therefore, at the time the invention was made; It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Moh in the device of IN in view of Hiroyuki because it will provide a display panel capable of improving an electrical contacting characteristic of the device [0009].
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over IN in view of Hiroyuki as applied to claims 1,7,11-13, and 15, and further in view of Ohara US 2016/0043340.
Regarding claim 14, IN in view of Hiroyuki differs from the claimed invention because he does not explicitly disclose a sealing film provided covering the light-emitting element layer, the sealing film including a first inorganic sealing film, an organic sealing film, and a second inorganic sealing film layered in order.
Ohara discloses [0047] a sealing film provided covering the light-emitting element layer, the sealing film (33) including a first inorganic sealing film, an organic sealing film, and a second inorganic sealing film layered in order (L1-L3).
Ohara is evidence that ordinary workers skilled in the art would find reasons, suggestions or motivations to modify the device of IN in view of Hiroyuki. Therefore, at the time the invention was made; It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Ohara in the device of IN in view of Hiroyuki because it will improve the characteristics of the sealing film [0007].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6,9,10 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARC-ANTHONY ARMAND whose telephone number is (571)272-5178. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
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MARC - ANTHONY ARMAND
Examiner
Art Unit 2813
/MARC-ANTHONY ARMAND/Examiner, Art Unit 2813
/SUE A PURVIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2893