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 § 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.
Claims 1-3, 6 and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (CN 111293158).
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses a display panel, comprising a first display region (2, figs. 1-10) with a plurality of light-transmitting sub-pixels (Z1, figs. 1-10) and a plurality of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels (Z2, figs. 1-10), wherein the plurality of light-transmitting sub-pixels and the plurality of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels are arranged in a preset pixel arrangement structure in the first display region (figs. 1-10), the plurality of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels are randomly arranged in at least one set region of the first display region (figs. 1, 8-10 by shape size or position), and the at least one set region comprises at least a portion of the first display region (figs. 1-10 and paragraphs 0055-0088).
Regarding claim 2, Liu further discloses further comprising a plurality of pixel units arranged in the preset pixel arrangement structure in the first display region, wherein each pixel unit of the plurality of pixel units comprises a plurality of sub-pixels, and each sub-pixel of the plurality of sub-pixels is selected from the plurality of light-transmitting sub-pixels or the plurality of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels (figs. 1-10 and paragraphs 0055-0088).
Regarding claim 3, Liu further discloses an array substrate, a first electrode layer (11, 21, 31, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7), a light-emitting layer (12, 22, 32, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7), and a second electrode layer (13, 23, 33, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7) stacked in sequence, wherein the first electrode layer comprises a plurality of first electrodes (11, 21, 31), and the light-emitting layer comprises a plurality of light-emitting material units (12, 22, 32) in one-to-one correspondence to the plurality of first electrodes, wherein a light-transmitting sub-pixel of the plurality of light-transmitting sub-pixels comprises a first electrode (11, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7), a light-transmitting material unit (12, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7) corresponding to the first electrode, and a first portion electrode layer (13, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7) of the second electrode layer, wherein a projection of the first portion electrode layer of the second electrode layer in a thickness direction of the display panel overlaps a projection of the first electrode in the light-transmitting sub-pixel in the thickness direction of the display panel (figs. 2, 4, 5, 7); and
a non-light-transmitting sub-pixel of the plurality of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels comprises a first electrode (Z2, 21, 31, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7), a light-transmitting material unit (12, 22, 32, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7) corresponding to the first electrode, and a second portion electrode layer (13, 23, 33, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7) of the second electrode layer, wherein a projection of the second portion electrode layer of the second electrode layer in the thickness direction of the display panel overlaps a projection of the first electrode in the non-light-transmitting sub-pixel in the thickness direction of the display panel (figs. 2, 4, 5, 7), wherein the first electrode of the non-light-transmitting sub-pixel is a non-light-transmitting electrode (Z2, 21, 31, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7), the first electrode of the light-transmitting sub-pixel is a light-transmitting electrode, and the first electrode of the non-light-transmitting sub-pixel is randomly arranged in the at least one set region of the first display region (Z2, figs. 1-10).
Regarding claim 6, Lui further discloses wherein the light-transmitting electrode comprises a transparent conductive layer (Z1, 13, 23, 33, figs. 2, 4, 5, 7).
Regarding claim 11, Lui further discloses wherein the at least one set region comprises a plurality of set regions, and each of the plurality of set regions comprises a minimum repeating unit of pixel arrangement, wherein minimum repeating units in the first display region are the same in terms of an arrangement mode of the plurality of light-transmitting sub-pixels and in terms of an arrangement mode of the plurality of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels, and non-light-transmitting sub-pixels in each of the minimum repeating units are randomly arranged (figs. 8-10).
Regarding claim 12, Lui further discloses wherein the minimum repeating unit comprises at least two columns of sub-pixels, and non-light-transmitting sub-pixels in each column of at least one column of the at least two columns of sub-pixels are arranged differently from non-light-transmitting sub-pixels in another column of the at least two columns of sub-pixels (figs. 8-10); or the minimum repeating unit comprises at least two rows of sub-pixels, and non-light-transmitting sub-pixels in each row of at least one row of the at least two rows of sub-pixels are arranged differently from non-light-transmitting sub-pixels in another row of the at least two rows of sub-pixels.
Regarding claim 13, Lui further discloses wherein the minimum repeating unit comprises at least two columns of sub-pixels, and a number of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels in each column of at least one column of the at least two columns of sub-pixels is different from a number of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels in another column of the at least two columns of sub-pixels (fig. 6); or the minimum repeating unit comprises at least two rows of sub-pixels, and a number of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels in each row of at least one row of the at least two rows of sub-pixels is different from a number of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels in another row of the at least two rows of sub-pixels.
Regarding claim 14, Lui further discloses wherein the minimum repeating unit comprises at least two columns of sub-pixels, and in each column of the at least two columns of sub-pixels, a distance between two adjacent non-light-transmitting sub-pixels constituting a pair among at least one pair of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels is different from a distance between two adjacent non-light-transmitting sub-pixels constituting a pair other than the at least one pair of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels (fig. 10); or the minimum repeating unit comprises at least two rows of sub-pixels, and in each row of the at least two rows of sub-pixels, a distance between two adjacent non-light-transmitting sub-pixels constituting a pair among at least one pair of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels is different from a distance between two adjacent non-light-transmitting sub-pixels constituting a pair other than the at least one pair of non-light-transmitting sub-pixels.
Regarding claim 15, Lui further discloses wherein sub-pixels in the minimum repeating unit are arranged in an array, wherein at least one column of sub-pixels comprises at least one light-transmitting sub-pixel of the plurality of the light-transmitting sub-pixels (figs. 8-10).
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.
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (CN 111293158).
Regarding claims 4-5, Liu discloses the display panel according to claim 3, as mentioned above. Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the non-light-transmitting electrode comprises a first transparent conductive layer, a metal conductive layer, and a second transparent conductive layer that are stacked with each other and wherein the light-transmitting electrode comprises a first transparent conductive layer, a metal conductive layer, and a second transparent conductive layer that are stacked with each other, wherein a thickness of the metal conductive layer of the light-transmitting electrode is smaller than a thickness of the metal conductive layer of the non-light-transmitting electrode. However, such tri-layer electrode configurations were well known in the art at the time of filing and would therefore be deemed obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-10 and 16-18 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:
Regarding claim 7, there is no teaching or suggestion in the art of record disclosing the display panel of claim 3 in combination with the plurality of layers configured in accordance with claim 7, wherein each of the light-transmitting layers comprises a light-transmitting wiring layer located in the first display region, the light-transmitting wiring layer comprises a plurality of light-transmitting wires and a groove between adjacent ones of the plurality of light-transmitting wires, and the groove serves as a hollowed-out region of the light-transmitting wiring layer.
Claims 8-10 and 16-18 depend on claim 7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent Application Publication 2021/0065625 discloses a similar display substrate.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOUGLAS M MENZ whose telephone number is (571)272-1877. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm.
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/DOUGLAS M MENZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897 1/24/26