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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on June 25, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Claims 1-18 stand allowed. Claims 19 and 22 stand rejected under Section 102, while claims 20, 21, and 23 stand rejected under Section 103.
Applicants amended claims 19 and 23 and canceled claim 22. Applicants argue that the application is in condition for allowance.
Turning first to the Section 102 rejections: Applicants have amended claim 19 to require “wherein a variation among the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode and the first color light emitting area is smaller than a variation among the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode and the third color light emitting area.” Applicants direct the Office’s attention to their Figures 9A and 9C as an example of this requirement. However, this requirement is also met if, for example, the square light-emitting area in P3 is closer to the square opening of sensor electrode (30) than the square light-emitting area in P1 is to its respective square opening in sensor electrode (30). A reference to geometry helps explain the Office’s position.
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312
510
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More specifically:
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267
300
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If a is the length of the base of the equilateral right triangle, which represents the sensor opening, then the hypotenuse of the triangle is a√2. If the length of the base of the equilateral right triangle of the light-emitting area (the smaller area instead of the sensor opening) is a fraction, b, of the length of the base of the equilateral right triangle, then the hypotenuse of the equilateral right triangle of light-emitting area is also the fraction, b, of the length of the hypotenuse of the equilateral right triangle of the sensor area. Therefore, the distance between the light emitting area and the opening of the sensor electrode at, say, 90° azimuth is a-ba, or a(1-b), while distance between the light emitting area and the opening of the sensor electrode at, say, 45° azimuth is a√2-ba√2, or a√2(1-b).
Thus, a difference between distances will be:
a√2(1-b) – a(1-b), or
a(√2 -1)(1-b).
The smaller the light emitting area, the smaller the fraction b is. As b approaches zero, the difference approaches a(√2 -1)(1-0) = a(√2 -1)(1) = a(√2 -1).
The greater the light emitting area, the larger the fraction b is. As b approaches 1, the difference approaches a(√2 -1)(1-1) = a(√2 -1)(0) = 0.
Therefore, when comparing square light emitting areas in the same size sensor opening, the larger the square light emitting area compared to the other square light emitting area, the smaller the differences/variations in distances among azimuths for the larger square light emitting area, because the differences/variations are closer to zero for the larger square light emitting area, than the differences/variations in distances in the smaller square light emitting area.
Therefore, Yao meets the newly added claim limitations, and anticipates claim 19.
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415
657
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In further detail (annotated):
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625
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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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yao, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2019/0369784, Figures 1-3.
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409
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Regarding claim 19: Yao Figures 1-3 disclose a display device (Yao Title), comprising: a display panel (00, 10, TFE); and an input sensor (Yao, Figure 1) disposed on the display panel (00, 10, TFE), wherein the display panel (00, 10, TFE) comprises: a base layer (00); a pixel definition layer (unnumbered layer in light-emitting device layer (10)) disposed on the base layer (00) and comprising a first light emitting opening (at P01, at P3 (blue), Yao specification ¶ 61), a second light emitting opening (at P01, at P2 (green), id.), and a third light emitting opening (at P01, at P1 (red), id.), which are defined therethrough; a first light emitting element (OL, at P3) comprising a first electrode (OL1, at P3) providing a first color light emitting area (P01, at P3) exposed through the first light emitting opening (at P01, at P3); a second light emitting element (OL, at P2) comprising a second electrode (OL1, at P2) providing a second color light emitting area (P01, at P2) exposed through the second light emitting opening (at P01, at P2); a third light emitting element (OL, at P1) comprising a third electrode (OL1, at P1) providing a third color light emitting area (P01, at P1) exposed through the third light emitting opening (at P01, at P1), wherein the input sensor comprises a sensing electrode (30) comprising a first opening (unnumbered, at P3, see Yao Figure 2) corresponding to the first light emitting opening (at P01, at P3), a second opening (unnumbered, at P2, id.) corresponding to the second light emitting opening (at P01, at P2), and a third opening (unnumbered, at P1, id.) corresponding to the third light emitting opening (at P01, at P1), which are defined therethrough, and overlapping the pixel definition layer, wherein distances, in a plan view, between the sensing electrode (30) and each of the first color light emitting area (P01, at P3), the second color light emitting area (P01, at P2), and the third color light emitting area (P01, at P1), which are respectively measured at azimuth angles of about 0°, about 45°, about 90°, about 135°, about 180°, about 225°, about 270°, and about 315°, are defined as a first distance, a second distance, a third distance, a fourth distance, a fifth distance, a sixth distance, a seventh distance, and an eighth distance, respectively, and wherein, in the plan view, each of the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode (30) and the first color light emitting area (P0, at P3) is smaller than a corresponding distance among the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode (30) and the third color light emitting area (P01, at P1), and wherein a variation among the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode (30) and the first color light emitting area (P01, at P3) is smaller than a variation among the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode (30) and the third color light emitting area (P01, at P1). Yao specification ¶¶ 32-61. See also details of Yao Figure 2 in the Response to Arguments section, above.
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 20 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao.
Regarding claim 20, which depends from claim 19: Yao does not disclose each of the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode (30) and the second color light emitting area (P01, at P2) is smaller than a corresponding distance among the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode (30) and the third color light emitting area (P01, at P1). However, depending on which color was prominent in the color shift, one having ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date would be motivated to adjust the combination to correct for the color shift. If the second color was more prominent than the third color, then one having ordinary skill in the art would adjust the combination so that a difference between the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode and the second color light emitting area is smaller than a difference between the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode and the third color light emitting area to correct for the color shift. Thus, claim 20 is obvious.
Regarding claim 23, which depends from claim 19: Yao discloses the variation among the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode (30) and the first color light emitting area (P01, at P3) is equal to or smaller than about 1.5 micrometers. See Yao specification ¶ 6 (1 µm≤d1≤20µ, d1 is the boundary distance, as shown in Yao Figures 2, 3). The Office notes that the boundary distance for first color light emitting area (P01, at P3), as shown in Yao Figure 2, is less than the boundary distance d1 for third color light emitting area (P01, at P1), as shown in Yao Figure 2, then claim 23’s requirement overlaps Yao’s disclosure. To the extent that Yao does not disclose this limitation, then Yao is an obvious variant because the boundary distance d1 between the third color light emitting area (P01, at P1) is 1 µm≤d1≤20µ, Yao specification ¶ 6, and the boundary distance for the first color light emitting area (P01, at P3) is less, according to Yao Figure 2. Thus, Yao discloses a difference/variation between the first to eighth distances between the sensing electrode (30) and the first color light emitting area (P01, at P3) is equal to or smaller than about 1.5 micrometers. In the case where the claimed ranges "overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art" a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976). MPEP § 2144.05(I).
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao, and further in view of Clark, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2019/0302919, Figure 12.
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Regarding claim 21, which depends from claim 19: Yao does not disclose that the second color light emitting area comprises a first type light emitting area and a second type light emitting area symmetrical with the first type light emitting area with respect to an imaginary line defined between the azimuth angle of about 90° and the azimuth angle of about 270°.
Clark Figure 12, directed to similar subject matter, discloses the use of a color shift technique in a pentile subpixel arrangement. Clark specification ¶¶ 80, 81. One having ordinary skill in the art at a time before the effective filing date would be motivated to modify Yao to use the Clark subpixel arrangement and color shift adjustment arrangement because the modification would have involved the substitution of an equivalent known for the same purpose. Once combined, the combination discloses that the second color light emitting area comprises a first type light emitting area and a second type light emitting area symmetrical with the first type light emitting area with respect to an imaginary line defined between the azimuth angle of about 90° and the azimuth angle of about 270°.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-18 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With regard to claim 1: The claim has been found allowable because the prior art of record does not disclose “without a pixel definition layer blocking a line of sight from the first point to the first color light emitting area, the second color light emitting area, and the third color light emitting area”, in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
With regard to claims 2-18: The claims have been found allowable due to their dependency from claim 1 above.
Conclusion
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/Victoria K. Hall/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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