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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, claims 5-20, in the reply filed on 22 October 2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-4 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 22 October 2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 5-12 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ostholt (US 2022/0223806).
Regarding independent claim 5, Ostholt teaches a method of manufacturing a display device, the method comprising forming a carrier substrate including a glass (Fig. 7, Element; ¶ [0056]); forming a modified portion (Fig. 7, Element 5) on the carrier substrate by radiating a laser on the carrier substrate (¶ [0056]); forming a display panel (¶s [0007], [0051], [0055]) directly contacting the carrier substrate and comprising a first non-folding area (Fig. 1, Element 3; ¶ [0044]), a second non-folding area (3), and a folding area (Fig. 1, Element 2; ¶ [0044]) disposed between the first non-folding area and the second non-folding area on the carrier substrate (Fig. 1); and forming a support member by etching the carrier substrate to form an opening pattern overlapping the folding area in a plan view (Fig. 8; ¶ [0056]).
Regarding claim 6, Ostholt teaches the forming of the display panel is performed after the forming of the modified portion (¶ [0056]).
Regarding claim 7, Ostholt teaches the forming of the support member including forming the opening pattern by etching the modified portion (¶ [0060]).
Regarding claim 8, Ostholt teaches an etching rate of the modified portion being greater than an etching rate of a portion of the carrier substrate other than the modified portion (¶ [0058]).
Regarding claim 9, Ostholt teaches the modified portion (5) formed overlapping the folding area (2) in a plan view (Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 10, Ostholt teaches the opening pattern includes openings, and each of the openings extends in a first direction and has a width in a second direction intersecting the first direction in a range of about 10 micrometers to about 200 micrometers (Fig. 5; ¶ [0057]).
Regarding claim 11, Ostholt teaches the carrier substrate including a first surface contacting the display panel; and a second surface opposite to the first surface (Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 12, Ostholt teaches the modified portion (5) spaced apart from the first surface of the carrier substrate and the second surface of the carrier substrate (Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 15, Ostholt teaches the etching of the carrier substrate performed by a wet etching method (¶ [0039]).
Regarding claim 16, Ostholt teaches an etching solution applied on an entire area of the second surface (¶ [0052]).
Regarding claim 17, Ostholt teaches the etching solution including at least one of fluorine hydrogen, sodium hydroxide, and potassium hydroxide (¶ [0052]).
Regarding independent claim 18, Ostholt teach a method of manufacturing a display device, the method comprising forming a carrier substrate including a glass (Fig. 7, Element; ¶ [0056]); forming a modified portion (Fig. 7, Element 5) on a first surface of the carrier substrate by radiating a laser on the first surface of the carrier substrate (¶ [0056]); forming a display panel (¶s [0007], [0051], [0055]) directly contacting the first surface of the carrier substrate and comprising a first non-folding area (Fig. 1, Element 3; ¶ [0044]), a second non-folding area (3), and a folding area (Fig. 1, Element 2; ¶ [0044]) disposed between the first non-folding area and the second non-folding area on the carrier substrate; and forming a support member by etching the carrier substrate to form an opening pattern overlapping the folding area in a plan view (Fig. 8; ¶ [0056]).
Regarding claim 19, Ostholt teaches the modified portion extending from the first surface of the carrier substrate to inside of the carrier substrate, and spaced apart from a second surface opposite to the first surface of the carrier substrate (Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 20, Ostholt teaches performing a planarization of the first surface of the carrier substrate before the forming of the display panel (Fig. 8; ¶ [0061]).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ostholt (US 2022/0223806).
Regarding claim 13, Ostholt teaches the limitations of claim 11 discussed earlier but fails to exemplify the modified portion spaced apart from the first surface of the carrier substrate by a length in a range of about 20% to about 80% of a thickness of the carrier substrate in a thickness direction of the carrier substrate.
Ostholt discloses a surface of the carrier substrate being reduced to a thickness at which the carrier substrate becomes flexible (Fig. 6; ¶ [0058]).
Therefore, it would have been an obvious choice of design to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the display device of Ostholt with the modified portion spaced apart from the first surface of the carrier substrate by a length in a range of about 20% to about 80% of a thickness of the carrier substrate in a thickness direction of the carrier substrate, since where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP § 2144.05(II)(A)).
Regarding claim 14, Ostholt teaches the limitations of claim 11 discussed earlier but fails to exemplify the modified portion is spaced apart from the second surface of the carrier substrate by a length in a range of about 20% to about 80% of a thickness of the carrier substrate in a thickness direction of the carrier substrate.
Ostholt discloses a surface of the carrier substrate being reduced to a thickness at which the carrier substrate becomes flexible (Fig. 6; ¶ [0058]).
Therefore, it would have been an obvious choice of design to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the display device of Ostholt with the modified portion spaced apart from the first surface of the carrier substrate by a length in a range of about 20% to about 80% of a thickness of the carrier substrate in a thickness direction of the carrier substrate, since where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation (MPEP § 2144.05(II)(A)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Jia (US 2024/0188411) teaches a preparation method for a display substrate. Kim (US 2022/0374046) teaches a display device including a foldable window. Ahn (US 2022/0319357) teaches a method for fabricating a display device with a plurality of stopper patterns.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kevin Quarterman whose telephone number is (571)272-2461. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm.
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, James Greece can be reached at (571) 272-3711. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Kevin Quarterman/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875 18 January 2026