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 with traverse of Species 2, claims 1-10 and 12-13 in the reply filed on 06/30/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Figs. 6-8 are not mutually exclusive, rather, they are different view/perspective of the same embodiment. Upon further analysis, the examiner agrees that the figures are not mutually exclusive –thus the present application is deemed to have 3 species instead of 5 species as indicate in the restriction requirement of 04/30/2026, wherein henceforth, the application has:
Species 1 - Figs. 6-8
Species 2 – Fig. 10
Species 3 – Fig. 11
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.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. [US PGPUB 20210280662] (hereinafter Kim).
Regarding claim 13, Kim discloses a display device comprising:
alignment areas (region of PX1a-d, Fig. 17) including a first alignment area (region of PX1b, Fig. 19) and a second alignment area (region of PX1d, Fig. 19) that extend in a first direction (horizontal direction, Fig. 19) and are spaced apart from each other in a second direction (vertical direction, Fig. 19) different from the first direction (Fig. 19);
electrodes (RFE/CTE/CNL, Para 153/173) including body electrodes (CTE) and branch electrodes (CNL) electrically connected to the body electrodes (Para 153/173), at least part of the electrodes being disposed within the alignment areas (Fig. 19); and
light emitting elements (LD, Para 156) disposed in the alignment areas (Fig. 19), wherein
the body electrodes extend in the first direction (3D structure, Fig. 19),
the body electrodes in the first alignment area and the body electrodes in the second alignment area are separated from each other (Fig. 19), and
the branch electrodes include connecting branch electrodes (RFE) extending in the second direction (Fig. 19).
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 1-3, 9-10 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim.
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses a display device comprising:
electrodes (CNL/CTE/RFE, Para 153/168) disposed on a base layer (not shown, Fig. 19) and including:
a body electrode (RFE, Para 153) and a branch electrode (CTE, Para 145), the branch electrode including adjacent electrodes including a first adjacent electrode (left CTE1b/d, Para 145) and a second adjacent electrode (right left CTE1b/d, Para 145); and
light emitting elements (LD, Para 145) disposed in an alignment area (region in which the all LDs and electrode are disposed in the display panel of the device, e.g., panel 101, Fig. 17/19) including sub-alignment areas (regions of PX1a/c, PX1b/d of the device, Fig. 17/19) disposed on the base layer and disposed between the first adjacent electrode and the second adjacent electrode (Fig. 19), wherein
each of the sub-alignment areas includes a pathway area (AA1/AA2, see annotated Fig. 19) defined by the first adjacent electrode and the second adjacent electrode spaced apart from each other in a first direction (horizontal direction, see annotated Fig. 19),
the pathway area includes a first pathway area (AA1, see annotated Fig. 19) and a second pathway area (see annotated Fig. 19) spaced apart from each other in a second direction different (vertical direction) from the first direction (see annotated Fig. 19),
the first adjacent electrode of the first pathway area and the first adjacent electrode of the second pathway area are spaced apart from each other with an open area (OA, see annotated Fig. 19) between the first adjacent electrode of the first pathway area and the first adjacent electrode of the second pathway area (see annotated Fig. 19), and
the second adjacent electrode of the first pathway area and the second adjacent electrode of the second pathway area are spaced apart from each other with the open area between the second adjacent electrode of the first pathway area and the second adjacent electrode of the second pathway area (see annotated Fig. 19).
In the embodiment of Fig. 19, Kim does not specifically disclose that the branch electrode electrically connected to the body electrode.
Referring to the embodiment of Fig. 6/7, Kim teaches a body electrode (RFE, Para 153) and a branch electrode (CTE, Para 145) electrically connected to the body electrode (Para 173/174).
In view of such teaching according to the embodiment of Fig. 6/7 it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have Kim’s embodiment of Fig. 19 comprise the connectivity teaching of Kim’s embodiment Fig. 6/7 in order to using known technique to drive the light emitting elements of the device (MPEP 2143.I.C)
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Annotated Fig. 19
Regarding claim 2, Kim discloses a display device wherein
the alignment area extends in the first direction (3D structure, Fig. 17), and
the alignment area includes a first alignment area (row of PX1a/b, Fig. 17) and a second alignment area (row of PX1c/d, Fig. 17) adjacent to each other in the second direction.
Regarding claim 3, Kim discloses a display device wherein
the body electrode in the first alignment area and the body electrode in the second alignment area are separated from each other (Fig. 19).
Regarding claim 9, Kim discloses a display device wherein the open area does not overlap the light emitting element in a plan view (Fig. 19).
Regarding claim 10, Kim discloses a display device further comprising:
sub-pixels (each PXL of the panel, Fig. 17-19) each including the light emitting element (Fig. 17-19), wherein
the sub-alignment areas include a first sub-alignment area (regions of PX1a/b) and a second sub-alignment area adjacent (regions of PX1c/d,) to each other in the first direction (Fig. 17-19), and
the first sub-alignment area and the second sub-alignment area correspond to one of the sub-pixels (Fig. 17, wherein the individual pixel is a sub-pixel considering all the pixels in the device).
Regarding claim 12, specifically in view of Fig. 7 of Kim, Kim teaches a display device wherein
the body electrode extends in the first direction from a first end portion of the light emitting element toward a second end portion of the light emitting element (Fig. 7, i.e., in plan view, where RFE overlaps with an end of the light emitting element and extends past it towards the other end of the light emitting element), and
the adjacent electrode extends in the second direction (Fig. 7, wherein the layers of the device are 3D structures).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8 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.
Conclusion
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/ISMAIL A MUSE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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