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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed by the Applicant on 12/5/25 is acknowledged.
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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable
Lee (US 20210005672 A1) in view of Hwang (US 20170153525 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a display apparatus (at least Fig.5) comprising: a lower substrate 100; a light-emitting device 170 over the lower substrate; an upper substrate 310 over the lower substrate with the light-emitting device therebetween and comprising a central area overlapping the light-emitting device and a peripheral area outside the central area (see NLA in Fig.3); a first bank 410 over the upper substrate facing the lower substrate and defining a first opening (left of 410) and a second opening (right of 410;[0189]) overlapping the central area; a refractive layer (391;[0152]) on the first bank; a transmission layer 351 on the refractive layer and in the first opening; a quantum dot layer (345;[0184]) on the refractive layer and in the second opening; and a second bank 420 ([0195]) over the first bank and the refractive layer; wherein the second bank 420 directly contacts the transmission laver or the quantum dot layer.
Lee is silent regarding the second bank comprising a same material as the transmission layer.
However, it is well known to use the partition walls or sections thereof, made of an opaque or transparent materials.
Hwang discloses this feature in [0081]: The partition wall 180 may be formed of an opaque material or may be formed of a transparent material, for example, the same transparent material as that of the filling layer 160, and a reflective film (not shown) may be formed on an inner wall of the partition wall 180 and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to form the transmission layer and the second bank as an integrally single body of the same material , in the device of Kim, in order to achieve easy manufacturing steps.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Lee (US 20210005672 A1) in view of Baek (US 20220157893 A1, cited previously)
Regarding claim 14, Lee teaches a display apparatus (Fig.5) comprising: a lower substrate 110; a light-emitting device 170 over the lower substrate; an upper substrate 310 over the lower substrate with the light-emitting device therebetween and comprising a central area overlapping the light-emitting device and a peripheral area (NLA in Fig.3) outside the central area;
a first bank 410 over the upper substrate facing the lower substrate and defining a first opening and a second opening (left and right side of 410) overlapping the central area; a refractive layer 391 on the first bank; a transmission layer 351 on the refractive layer and in the first opening; a quantum dot layer 345 on the refractive layer and in the second opening; and a first bank 410 and a second bank 420 on the refractive layer, wherein the second bank 420 directly contacts the transmission layer 351 or the quantum dot layer 345 (also see rejection in claim 1 above).
Lee does not teach wherein the first bank comprises a first-first portion in the peripheral area and a first-second portion in the peripheral area, the first-second portion being thicker than the first-first portion.
Baek teaches a display device wherein the first bank comprises a first-first portion 1821 (Fig.17-18) in the peripheral area and a first-second portion (1811b) in the peripheral area, the first-second portion being thicker than the first-first portion.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the banks in different thicknesses in the peripheral area of the display device, as disclosed by Baek, in the device of Lee, in order to may prevent or reduce a transmission of cracks into the display area DA.
Claims 1-2 and 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable
Kim (US 20200326586 A1, cited previously)
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches a display apparatus (at least Fig.4, also see Fig.5, 8C and 8D) comprising: a lower substrate BS2; a light-emitting device EL over the lower substrate; an upper substrate BS1 over the lower substrate with the light-emitting device therebetween and comprising a central area (arrow below):
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overlapping the light-emitting device and a peripheral area outside the central area;
a first bank BMb (see in [0096]: The second layer BMb may include the same material as that of the second partition layer BM2) over the upper substrate facing the lower substrate and defining a first opening and a second opening overlapping the central area (BMb and BM2 define the first and second openings);
a refractive layer on the first bank L2; a transmission layer TL/BR3 ([0095]) on the refractive layer and in the first opening; a quantum dot layer EP1 ([0075]) on the refractive layer and in the second opening;
and a second bank BMa over the first bank and the refractive layer and comprising a same material as the transmission layer ([0095]);
wherein the second bank directly contacts the transmission laver or the quantum dot layer (as shown by arrows below):
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Further Kim discloses:
[0093]: The first partition layer BM1 may include two layers, and the second partition layer BM2 may include a single layer. Thus, a thickness of each of the layers of the first partition layer BM1 may be less than a thickness of the second partition layer BM2.
[0148] Referring to FIG. 8C, an optical layer TL may be disposed on the third color filter layer CF3. In addition, a first layer BMa may be disposed between the first wavelength conversion layer WCL1 and the second wavelength conversion layer WCL2. The first layer BMa and the optical layer TL may be provided at the same time by the same process.
[0150] Referring to FIG. 8D, a second layer BMb may be disposed on the first layer BMa, and a second partition layer BM2 may be disposed between the second wavelength conversion layer WCL2 and the optical layer TL. The second layer BMb and the second partition layer BM2 may include the same material by the same process.
However, Kim does not explicitly teach each and every bank being similarly made of the same first and second banks (BMa and BMb); however, in another embodiment of Fig.5, the banks all look the same with a single bank layer. Therefore, it is a matter of design to form similar first and second banks throughout the entire device, or form some of the banks as single and the others to have a second bank over the first bank and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to make similar first and second banks throughout the device in Kim, since the provision of adjustability, where needed, involves only routine skill in the art in order to uniformity and achieve easy manufacturing steps.
Regarding claim 2, wherein the transmission layer and the second bank are integrally provided as a single body; it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to form the transmission layer and the second bank as an integrally single body, in the device of Kim, in order to achieve easy manufacturing steps (also see rejection in claim 1).
Regarding claim 6, Kim teaches the display apparatus, wherein the peripheral area comprises a plurality of peripheral areas (areas in between pixels PXA1 and others in Fig.3) and wherein a third opening between adjacent ones of the peripheral areas is defined in the first bank (BM2 in Fig.4 or the bank to the right side of TL in Fig.4).
Regarding claims 7 and 8, Kim teaches a display apparatus, wherein: a fourth opening and a fifth opening overlapping the central area are defined in the second bank, the fourth opening corresponds to the first opening of the first bank, and the fifth opening corresponds to the second opening of the first bank” in claim 7, and “wherein: a sixth opening overlapping the peripheral area is defined in the second bank, and the sixth opening corresponds to the third opening of the first bank” for claim 8 (since Kim teachings multiple peripheral areas in between the pixels in Fig.3; therefore the peripheral areas would corresponds to the non-pixel bank areas shown in Fig.3-6).
Regarding claim 9, Kim teaches the invention set forth in claim 6 above, but is silent regarding, a material layer over the refractive layer in the third opening of the first bank, wherein the material layer comprises a same material as the second bank.
However, Kim already teaches the opening wherein a non-quantum dot/ transmission material TL is formed, and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to form another transmissive material layer over the refractive layer in the third opening of the first bank, wherein the material layer comprises a same material as the second bank in order to achieve easy manufacturing, in the step of making the entire bank layer, and simultaneous forming of the quantum layer and the transmissive or material layers respectively in the openings that have been fabricated in one single step.
Claims 3- 4 and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Kim (US 20200326586 A1, cited previously) in view of Baek (US 20220157893 A1, cited previously)
Regarding claim 3, Kim teaches the invention set forth in claim 1 above, but does not teach the first bank comprises a first-first portion in the peripheral area and a first-second portion in the peripheral area, the first-second portion being thicker than the first-first portion.
Baek teaches a display device wherein the first bank comprises a first-first portion 1821 (Fig.17-18) in the peripheral area and a first-second portion (1811b) in the peripheral area, the first-second portion being thicker than the first-first portion.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the banks in different thicknesses in the peripheral area of the display device, as disclosed by Baek, in the device of Kim, in order to may prevent or reduce a transmission of cracks into the display area DA.
Regarding claims 4 and 15, Kim in view of Baek teaches display apparatus, wherein: the second bank is in the peripheral area and comprises a second-first portion 1822 (in Baek) overlapping the first-first portion 1821 of the first bank and a second-second portion 1812b overlapping the first-second portion 1811b of the first bank, and a vertical distance from the lower surface of the upper substrate to a lower surface of the second-second portion is greater than a vertical distance from the lower surface of the upper substrate to a lower surface of the second-first portion (the same reason to combine art as in claim 4 applies).
Regarding claim 13, Kim in view of Baek teaches display apparatus, further comprising: an encapsulation layer (TFE in Kim in [0098] and Fig.5) covering the light-emitting device; and a filling layer (FP in [0129] and Fig.6 of Kim) between the encapsulation layer and the second bank, wherein the second-second portion of the second bank separates the encapsulation layer and the second-first portion and penetrates through the filling layer.
Regarding claim 14, Kim teaches a display apparatus (at least Fig.4, also see Fig.5, 8C and 8D) comprising: a lower substrate BS2; a light-emitting device EL over the lower substrate; an upper substrate BS1 over the lower substrate with the light-emitting device therebetween and comprising a central area (arrow below):
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overlapping the light-emitting device and a peripheral area outside the central area;
a first bank BMb (see in [0096]: The second layer BMb may include the same material as that of the second partition layer BM2) over the upper substrate facing the lower substrate and defining a first opening and a second opening overlapping the central area (BMb and BM2 define the first and second openings);
a refractive layer on the first bank L2; a transmission layer TL/BR3 ([0095]) on the refractive layer and in the first opening; a quantum dot layer EP1 ([0075]) on the refractive layer and in the second opening.
and a first bank and a second bank (BMa and BMb) on the refractive layer;
wherein the second bank directly contacts the transmission laver or the quantum dot layer (as shown by arrows below):
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Kim does not teach wherein the first bank comprises a first-first portion in the peripheral area and a first-second portion in the peripheral area, the first-second portion being thicker than the first-first portion.
Baek teaches a display device wherein the first bank comprises a first-first portion 1821 (Fig.17-18) in the peripheral area and a first-second portion (1811b) in the peripheral area, the first-second portion being thicker than the first-first portion.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the banks in different thicknesses in the peripheral area of the display device, as disclosed by Baek, in the device of Kim, in order to may prevent or reduce a transmission of cracks into the display area DA.
Regarding claim 16, Kim in view of Baek teaches the second bank BMa comprises a same material as the transmission layer ([0095] in Kim, also see rejection in claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 17, wherein the transmission layer and the second bank are integrally provided as a single body; it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to form the transmission layer and the second bank as an integrally single body, in the device of Kim in view of Baek in order to achieve easy manufacturing steps (also see rejection in claims 1 and 14 above).
Regarding claim 18, Kim teaches the display apparatus, wherein the peripheral area comprises a plurality of peripheral areas (areas in between pixels PXA1 and others in Fig.3) and wherein a third opening between adjacent ones of the peripheral areas is defined in the first bank (BM2 in Fig.4 or the bank to the right side of TL in Fig.4).
Regarding claim 19, Kim in view of Baek teaches the invention set forth in claim 6 above, but is silent regarding, a material layer over the refractive layer and in the third opening of the first bank, wherein the material layer comprises a same material as the second bank.
However, Kim in view of Baek (as disclosed in Kim) already teaches the opening wherein a transmission material TL is formed, and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to form the same transmissive material as the second bank, which is a transmissive material (BMa) in order to achieve easy manufacturing, in the step of making the entire bank layer, for the quantum layer and to fill a transmissive material in the other openings that have been fabricated in one single step.
Regarding claim 20, wherein the material layer and the second bank are integrally provided as a single body; it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to form the material layer and the second bank integrally provided as a single body in order to achieve easy manufacturing, in the step of making the material layer and the second bank as a single step.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable
Kim (US 20200326586 A1, cited previously) in view of Kim3 (WO 2022131568 A1, herein after Kim3, cited previously)
Regarding claim 5, Kim teaches the invention set forth in claim 1 above, but is silent regarding the refractive layer is in contact with each of a lower surface and a side of the first bank.
Kim3 teaches banks or spacers used in display devices that are covered by a refractive layer (LRL2 that is a second low refractive index layer LRL2) that in contact with each of a lower surface and a side of the bank (BK1) , and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the layer as disclosed in Kim3, in the device of Kim, in order to improve color efficiency (see in Kim3: The second low refractive index layer LRL2 has a refractive index smaller than the refractive index of the wavelength conversion patterns 330 and 340 , and thus the second low refractive index layer LRL2 and the wavelength of light that is not color converted by the wavelength conversion patterns 330 and 340 . By inducing total reflection at the interface of the conversion patterns 330 and 340, wavelength conversion efficiency may be increased).
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable
Kim (US 20200326586 A1, cited previously) in view of Kim2 (US 20220123183 A1, herein after Kim2, cited previously)
Regarding claim 10, Kim teaches the invention set forth in claim 1 above, but is silent regarding the second bank comprises a liquid repellent material.
Kim2 teaches banks or spacers used in display devices that are made of liquid repellant materials, and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the material as disclosed in Kim2, in the device of Kim, in order to repel liquids ([0182]-[0183] in Kim2).
Regarding claims 11 and 12, wherein a first capping layer between the refractive layer and the transmission and quantum dot layers (for claim 11) and a second capping layer on the transmission layer, the quantum dot layer, and the second bank (for claim 12); from the teachings of capping layers CP1 and CP2 in Kim2 (Fig.13 and [0206] and [0206]), it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the additional protective capping layers, in the device of Kim, in order to prevent colorant included in the color filter layer CFL from spreading to other constituent elements ([0186] in Kim2).
Other art
Cited previously: US 20200295090 A1
Response to Arguments
The arguments filed by the Applicant on 12/5/25 is acknowledged. However, they are moot in view of new grounds of rejection for the amended claims, with new prior art US 20210005672.
Further, the old prior art in Kim still applies because the amendment is drawn to: “wherein the second bank directly contacts the transmission layer OR the quantum dot layer”, wherein the second bank directly contacts the transmission layer is disclosed in Kim as shown by the arrows below:
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Although the proposed amendment was discussed in the interview, the feature of OR in “wherein the second bank directly contacts the transmission layer OR the quantum dot layer”, was not noted by the Examiner and the Applicant.
However, additional prior art US 20210005672 was found that teach the limitations of the proposed amendment, and have been presented in the office action above.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fatima Farokhrooz whose telephone number is (571)-272-6043. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday- Friday, 9 am - 5 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s Supervisor, James Greece can be reached on (571) 272-3711.
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/Fatima N Farokhrooz/
Examiner, Art Unit 2875