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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
The indicated allowability of claim 8 is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Jeong (KR 20150065411 A). Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
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(s) 1-2, 4-7 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a(2) as being anticipated by Jeong (KR 20150065411 A, please see the machine translation attached in this office action).
Regarding claim 1, Jeong teach a light emitting element (Figs. 1-6) comprising: a first semiconductor layer (115; Figs. 1-6, [0020]); an active layer (116; Figs. 1-6, [0020]) on the first semiconductor layer (115); a second semiconductor layer (117; Figs. 1-6, [0020]) on the active layer (116), the first semiconductor layer (115), the active layer (116), and the second semiconductor layer (117) being sequentially provided in a first direction (vertical direction); and an insulative film (111 which can be insulating substrate; Fig. 1, [0074]) around at least a portion (the bottom portion) of the first semiconductor layer (115), the active layer (116), and the second semiconductor layer (117), wherein the active layer (116) comprises a first barrier layer (B1 of 63 in Figs. 1-6; Fig. 1, [0035]), a first well layer (W2 of 61 in Figs. 1-6; Fig. 1, [0036]), and a second barrier layer (B2 of 63 in Figs. 1-6; Fig. 1, [0035]), which are sequentially provided in the first direction (vertical direction in Figs. 1 and 3), and wherein the first well layer (W2 of 61 in Figs. 1-6) comprises first holes (holes of W2) penetrating the first well layer (W2), and wherein the second barrier layer (B2) fills spaces formed by the first holes (holes of W2) and the first barrier layer (B1; Figs. 2-5).
Regarding claim 2, Jeong teach the light emitting element of claim 1, wherein the first well layer (W2 of 61) comprises at least one of GaN, GaInP, AlGaInP, InGaN, or InGaAsP (InGaN; [0032]).
Regarding claim 4, Jeong teach the light emitting element of claim 1, wherein the first holes (holes of W2) penetrate the first well layer (W2 of 61) in the first direction (vertical direction; see Figs. 1-6), and are provided in a second direction (horizontal direction) intersecting the first direction (vertical direction; see Figs. 1-6).
Regarding claim 5, Jeong teach the light emitting element of claim 4, wherein each of the first holes (holes of W2) has a width (horizontal width) that varies in the first direction (vertical direction; see Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 6, Jeong teach the light emitting element of claim 4, wherein, when viewed in a plan view (top-down view in Figs. 1-6), each of the first holes (holes of W2) has a shape (rectangular shape; Fig. 2) that is symmetrical in the second direction (horizontal direction; see Fig. 2)
Regarding claim 7, Jeong teach the light emitting element of claim 4, wherein, when viewed in a plan view (top-down view in Figs. 1-6), the first well layer (W2 of 61) comprises a first area (center area; see Fig. 1 below) adjacent to a center of the first well layer (W2 of 61) and a second area (edge area; see Fig. 1 below) adjacent to an edge of the first well layer (W2 of 61), and wherein the first holes (holes of W2) are in the second area (edge area; see Fig. 1 below).
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[AltContent: rect][AltContent: rect][AltContent: textbox (Center area)][AltContent: textbox (Edge area)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow]
Fig. 1 of Jeong showing the center area and the edge area of W2 of 61, W2 is the second bottommost well layer of 61 in the active layer 116 as shown in Fig. 1.
Regarding claim 9, Jeong teach the light emitting element of claim 1, further comprising a second well layer (the third bottommost 61 in a stacked structure of 5 periods of 61/63; see Fig. 5 for explicit showing of at least 2.5 periods of 61/63, [0032]) and a third barrier layer (the third bottommost 63 in a stacked structure of 5 periods of 61/63; Fig. 2, [0032]), sequentially provided in the first direction (vertical direction in Figs. 1 and 2) on the second barrier layer (B2; [0032]), wherein the second well layer (the third bottommost 61 in a stacked structure of 5 periods of 61/63; see Fig. 5) comprises second holes (holes of the third bottommost 61 in a stacked structure of 5 periods of 61/63) penetrating the second well layer (the third bottommost 61 in a stacked structure of 5 periods of 61/63) in the first direction (vertical direction in Figs. 1-6).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Ryu (US 20080093593 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Jeong teach the light emitting element of claim 1, wherein the first well layer (W2 of 61) comprises InxGa1-xN ([0032]).
Jeong do not teach an indium composition X of the first well layer (W2 of 61) is 0.05 to 0.4
In the same field of endeavor of light emitting devices, Ryu teaches an indium composition X of the first well layer (W2 of 61) is 0.05 to 0.5 ([0017]) which overlaps the claimed range of 0.05 to 0.4, that establishes a prima facie of obviousness.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the inventions of Jeong and Ryu, and to use the indium composition of the well layers as taught by Ryu, because Jeong teach the well layers to be InGaN, but is silent about the indium composition ratio of the InGaN well layers ([0167]), while Ryu teaches a range of indium composition ratio which can be used in the well layers formed of InGaN ([0017] of Ryu).
Claim(s) 10 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jeong as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Yoo et al. (US 20230282766 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Jeong teach the light emitting element of claim 9, wherein the first well layer (W2 of 61, W2 is the second bottommost 61) and the second well layer (the third bottommost 61) comprise at least one of GaN, GaInP, AlGaInP, InGaN, or InGaAsP (InGaN; [0032]).
Jeong do not teach wherein the first well layer and the second well layer have the same composition and have different composition ratios.
In the same field of endeavor of light emitting devices, Yoo et al. teach wherein the first well layer (W2 of 61) (the well layers in the first color portion 60b; Figs. 1-6, [0028, 0083]) and the second well layer (the well layers in the second color portion 60g; Figs. 1-6, [0028, 0083]) have the same composition (can both be InGaN; [0083]) and have different composition ratios (i.e. the amount of indium is adjusted to have different wavelength; [0087]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the inventions of Jeong and Yoo et al., and to have the well layer having different composition ratios as taught by Yoo et al., because the wells having different composition ratios can create a monolithic di-chromic device that is capable of providing a module to be stably driven and configured to implement various colors as taught by Yoo et al. ([0006, 0083, 0087]).
Regarding claim 11, Jeong teach the light emitting element of claim 9, wherein a number of the first holes (the number of holes of W2 in the left half of W2, W2 is the second bottommost 61) and a number of the second holes (the number of holes in the whole third bottommost 61) are different from each other (the first number is half the second number; see Fig. 5).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Shioda et al. (US 20150263232 A1) teach an optical semiconductor elements having an active layer of multiple barrier layers and well layer with pits inside the barrier and well layers.
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/HSIN YI HSIEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899 10/2/2026
