DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicants election without traverse of the invention of Group I, Claims 1 through 12, in the reply filed on November 3, 2025 is acknowledged. It is noted that upon further consideration by the examiner, the election of species requirement has been withdrawn. In conducting the search for Species A, there was no burden in conducting a search for Species B. Thus, Claims 9 through 12 will be examined along with Claims 2 through 8.
Claims 13 through 20 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on November 3, 2025.
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.
The following title is suggested: --Method of Manufacturing a Micro Light-Emitting Diode Display--.
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 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication 2021/0305078 to Liang et al (hereinafter “Liang”) in view of the teachings of U.S. Publication 2019/0006554 to Kususe et al (hereinafter “Kususe”) and U.S. Publication 2021/0167045 to Meng et al (hereinafter “Meng”).
Claim 1: Liang discloses a manufacturing method of a micro light-emitting diode (LED) display (e.g. Fig. 2, ¶ [0003]), at least comprising:
providing a display substrate (e.g. 100 or 300, in Fig. 2);
disposing a plurality of micro LEDs (e.g. 3) on the display substrate;
forming a first material layer (e.g. 4) on the micro LEDs, wherein a region between adjacent micro LEDs is filled with the first material layer (e.g. ¶ [0022]); and
forming a light-shielding layer between the adjacent micro-LEDs by curing the first material layer (e.g. ¶ [0022]).
It is noted that the steps of forming the first material layer and the light-shield layer are silent with respect to the display substrate. Thus, these steps do not necessarily need to occur after the disposing step.
Claim 8: Liang discloses the manufacturing method of the micro LED display of claim 1, further comprising:
forming a second material layer (e.g. 52) on the micro-LEDs and the light-shielding layer, wherein the second material layer is a transparent material layer (e.g. ¶ [0025]).
The first material layer of Liang is formed with a resin that can include a black matrix composition (e.g. ¶ [0022]). Liang does not state this first material layer that includes a resin, is an adhesive (i.e. first adhesive material layer) where curing of the first material layer is done by irradiating with light.
Meng teaches a manufacturing method for an art-recognized equivalent LED display (e.g. Fig. 2) where a first material layer (e.g. 14) is a resin formed with a black matrix composition. The first material layer is an adhesive that is filled between adjacent micro LEDs (e.g. 2) to assist in bonding the LEDs to the display substrate. This first material layer is also a light-shielding layer (e.g. anti-reflection, ¶ [0059]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the first material layer of Liang is considered to be a first adhesive material layer, based on having the same composition, properties, and function as the first material layer that is taught by Meng.
Kususe also teaches a first material layer (e.g. 60, Fig. 1C) that is formed of a resin composition (e.g. ¶ [0062]). This first material layer is cured by irradiating with light to harden the layer and form a light-shielding layer (e.g. ¶ [0085]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have cured the first material layer of Liang by irradiating with light, as taught by Kususe, to provide an alternative equivalent method of curing that produces the same light-shielding layer using the same resin composition.
Regarding Claim 8, the second material layer (e.g. 52) of Liang is made from a resin composition as well. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the second material layer of Liang can be considered to be a second adhesive material layer, for the same foregoing reasons taught by Meng.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter.
With respect to Claim 2, Liang does teach that the first type of material for the first adhesive material is formed by printing. However, Liang does not teach any spraying or hot-pressing, as explicitly recited in Claim 2.
With respect to Claims 7, Liang does not teach any etching of a region of the first adhesive material layer where no light-shield layer is formed by using the second photoresist layer as a mask.
Lastly, with respect to Claim 9, Liang does not teach spraying or hot-pressing a second type of adhesive material for the first adhesive material layer, as explicitly recited in Claim 9.
It would not be obvious to modify Liang to include any of the above features because to do so would destroy the manufacturing method of Liang.
Accordingly, Claims 2 through 7 and 9 through 12 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
a) Japanese Patent Publication, JP 2019-140361 discloses a method of making a micro light-emitting diode display that at least includes providing a display substrate (5, Fig. 2), LEDs (4), and a light-shielding layer (e.g. 3, see SOLUTION).
b) Non-Patent Literature IEEE Publication to Horng et al, entitled "Fabrication and Study on Red Light Micro-LED Displays", discloses LEDs on a display substrate (e.g. Fig. 1, see entire document).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to A. DEXTER TUGBANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4570. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JESSICA HAN can be reached at (571) 272-2078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/A. DEXTER TUGBANG/Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2896