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 .
Election/Restriction
Election of Group II drawn to claims 1-16, without traverse and filed on 9/11/25 is acknowledged. Claims 17-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Group I, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Objection
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 9, the limitation of “the micro light-emitting element are electrically to each other by eutectic bonding” is unclear. It is considered as a typo and is considered to be “the micro light-emitting element are electrically bonded to each other by eutectic bonding “. Appropriate correction is needed.
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 before the effective filing date.
Claims 1, 3-7 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (KR 20120032906 A) in view of Choi (US 20180083218 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches a display panel comprising: a substrate 10; a first electrode (pixel electrode 114) disposed on the substrate; a pixel-defining layer 15 (second insulating layer) on the first electrode and including an opening exposing at least a portion of the first electrode; a light emitting layer 118
electrically connected to the first electrode; and a reflector 116 disposed on the first electrode and covering at least a portion of a side surface of the light emitting layer, the lower electrode 114 and the top electrode 119.
Kim teaches a light emitting layer with the top and bottom electrodes but does not teach a micro light-emitting element.
Choi teaches a micro-LED (300, [0048]) in a display device and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the micro-LED in order to achieve smaller design and lighter weight.
Regarding claim 3, Kim in view of Choi teaches a display panel, wherein the reflector 116 is disposed directly on a top surface of the first electrode 114 (Fig.2 in Kim).
Regarding claim 4, Kim in view of Choi teaches a display panel, the reflector comprises a first metal (see in Kim: The light reflection part 116 formed of the metal may surround the light emitting layer).
Regarding claim 5, Kim in view of Choi teaches a display panel, wherein the first metal is silver (Ag), aluminum (AI), a compound of silver, or a compound of aluminum (see in Kim: the light reflection portion 116 include aluminum (Al), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), silver (Ag)).
Regarding claim 6, Kim in view of Choi teaches the invention set forth in claim 1, but is silent regarding the reflector comprises a conductive oxide. However, Kim in view Choi teaches:
The transparent conductive layer forming the first pixel electrode 114, the first gate electrode 214, and the capacitor upper electrode 314 may be indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO). At least one selected from the group consisting of zinc oxide (ZnO), indium oxide (In2O3), indium gallium oxide (IGO), and aluminum zink oxide (AZO). It may include.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use a conductive oxide, in order to achieve a transmissive conductive portion of the reflective element.
Regarding claim 7, Kim in view of Choi teaches the reflector comprises at least two layers (116a and 116b in Fig.5 of Kim) including a first layer including the first metal (see in Kim: For example, the lower layer portion 116a 'of the light reflection portion 116' may be made of molybdenum) but does not teach the second layer including a conductive oxide (however, Kim already teaches: the pixel electrode made of a transparent conductive material such as a conductive oxide; and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use a conductive oxide, in order to achieve a transmissive conductive portion for the reflective element).
Regarding claim 10, Kim in view of Choi teaches the display device, wherein the first electrode comprises a second metal different from the first metal (see in Kim: the first pixel electrode 114 made of a transparent conductive material and the light reflection portion 116 include aluminum (Al), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), silver (Ag)).
Claims 2, 12-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (KR 20120032906 A) in view of Choi (US 20180083218 A1) and further in view of Abe (US 20170245342 A1)
Regarding claim 2, Kim in view of Choi teaches the reflector has a first reflectivity, but does not teach the first electrode has a second reflectivity lower than the first reflectivity.
However, it is well known to use reflectance for the first/lower pixel electrode as well, wherein Abe teaches a first electrode 31R that is reflective ([0052] and last 3 lines of [0113]), and also a second reflective layer 43 (Fig.10, [0068]) that covers a part of the light emitting element as shown below:
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and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use varied reflectivity, such that the first electrode has a second reflectivity lower than the first reflectivity, by routine experimentation, based on the desired design and orientation of light, wherein the lower/higher reflectively of the first electrode varies the amount of light in the upward direction/sideward direction (see last 2 lines of [0064]; also see [0068]: This allows for the highly efficient light reflection by the reflector 43, making it possible to maintain or enhance the display intensity).
Regarding claim 12, Kim in view of Choi teaches the display panel, further comprising: an insulating layer 16 (in Kim) disposed on the reflector (116) and a portion of the pixel-defining layer (15 in Kim) but does not teach: a black matrix disposed on the pixel-defining layer.
Abe teaches a display device wherein a black matrix BM (Fig.5 or 10) disposed on the pixel-defining layer (41, [0059]) and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use a black matrix, from the teachings of Abe, in the device of Kim in view of Choi, in order to improve contrast ([0059] in Abe).
Regarding claim 13, Kim in view of Choi and Abe teaches the display panel, wherein the insulating layer (18,42 in Abe) is disposed between the micro light-emitting element (from the teachings of light emitting layer 30 in Abe) and the black matrix (BM in Abe).
Regarding claim 14, Kim in view of Choi and Abe teaches the display panel, further comprising: a second electrode 530 (in Choi) disposed on the insulating layer (from the teachings of Choi, in the device/insulating layer of Kim in view of Choi as the second electrode 530 is right on top in Choi) and the micro light-emitting element (300 in Choi).
Regarding claim 16, Kim in view of Choi and Abe teaches the display panel, wherein the second electrode 33 ([0062] in Abe) is disposed between the pixel-defining layer (41 in Abe) and the black matrix BM (Fig.5 in Abe).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (KR 20120032906 A) in view of Choi (US 20180083218 A1) and further in view of Akagawa
(JP 2007165214 A)
Regarding claim 8, Kim in view of Choi teaches a partial length of the reflector and the side surface of the micro light-emitting element contact /cover each other in a cross- sectional view
as shown below:
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but does not teach is in a range of about 0.1 to about 5 micrometers.
However, the length of the reflector that surrounds the light emitting element is a matter of design. While Kim teaches partial length of reflector surrounding the side of the light emitting element, Akagawa teaches a full length of the reflector 25 that surrounds the side of the light emitting element as shown below:
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to choose a length of the reflector that is in a range of about 0.1 to about 5 micrometers, based on other factors, such as the height of the micro LED and the amount of desired reflection and the orientation of light, by routine experimentation, in order to achieve the desired light and light orientation from the reflectance of the reflector.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (KR 20120032906 A) in view of Choi (US 20180083218 A1) and further in view of Jeong (US 20220209088 A1)
Regarding claim 9, Kim in view of Choi teaches the invention set forth in claim 1, but is silent regarding the first electrode and the micro light-emitting element are electrically (- - connected - -) to each other by eutectic bonding.
However, it is well known to use eutectic bonding to bond various elements of a light emitting device. Jeong teaches: The adhesive layer may adhere the Zener diode ZD to the first electrode frame EF1, and mays include a conductive paste or a eutectic metal OR For example, the thermal conductive bonding layer 410 may include a eutectic alloy and it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use eutectic bonding method between the light emitting element and electrode, from the teachings of Jeong, in order to achieve good thermal and electrical conductivity.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (KR 20120032906 A) in view of Choi (US 20180083218 A1) and further in view of Park (US 20220093652 A1)
Regarding claim 11, Kim in view of Choi teaches the invention set forth in claim 1, but is silent regarding the second metal is copper (Cu), tin (Sn), gold (Au), a compound of copper, a compound of tin, or a compound of gold.
Use of more than one material for the pixel electrode is a well-known technique. Park teaches:
[0288] The pixel electrodes ELT may contain at least one conductive material. For example, the pixel electrodes ELT may include at least one metal of various metal materials including silver (Ag), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (A1), platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), gold (Au), nickel (Ni), neodymium (Nd), iridium (Ir), chromium (Cr), titanium (Ti), molybdenum (Mo), and copper (Cu), or an alloy including the same.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the materials for the electrode, as disclosed in Park, in the device of Kim in view of Choi, in order to optimize conductivity and transparency as desired by the design.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim in view of Choi and Abe and further in view of Yotsuya (JP H11344602 A)
Regarding claim 15, Kim in view of Choi and Abe teaches the invention set forth in claim 14, but is silent regarding the second electrode is disposed on the black matrix.
Configuration of the second electrode disposed on the black matrix is a well -known technique in the art. Yotsuya teaches this feature in Figure 7 as shown below, wherein 102B is the black matrix and 105B is the top electrode (see in Yotsuya: <7B> Next, a transparent conductive film (transparent electrode film) 105B to be used as a common electrode is 2B (black matrix 102 on substrate 100B)):
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the configuration, as disclosed in Yotsuya, in the device of Kim in view of Choi, in order to achieve easy manufacturing steps.
Other art
Akagawa (JP 2007165214 A) AND Abe (US 20170245342 A1) teach the limitations of the reflector in claim 1.
KR 20090076263 A
WO 2022049723 A1
WO 2021176538 A1
WO 2021107278 A1
WO 2019215530 A1
US 9564612 B2
WO 2016092881 A1
US 11871611 B2
US 20090174320 A1
20180032715
CN 112864188 A
WO 2021090105 A1
CN 108461651 A
JP 2016039029 A
KR 20130015704 A
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