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
Claims 16-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 16 March 2026.
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 –
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (USPN 2021/0091147).
With regard to claim 1,
Liu et al. disclose a display apparatus comprising: a substrate (101); a first pixel electrode (a2, fig. 4) disposed on the substrate and comprising a transparent electrode layer (d1, ITO, paragraph 42) having a first extinction coefficient at a pre-determined wavelength; a counter electrode (c) disposed on the first pixel electrode; a first emission layer (b) disposed between the first pixel electrode and the counter electrode; and a first oxide semiconductor layer (d2, IGZO, paragraph 42) disposed between the first pixel electrode and the first emission layer, and having a second extinction coefficient less than the first extinction coefficient at the pre-determined wavelength (when the prior art discloses claimed compositions, properties thereof are presumed to be inherent).
With regard to claim 2,
Liu et al. disclose the display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second extinction coefficient (of IGZO, paragraph 42) is a positive number of about 0.0001 or less at a wavelength of about 550 nanometers (when the prior art discloses a claimed composition, properties thereof are presumed to be inherent).
With regard to claim 3,
Liu et al. disclose the display apparatus of claim 2, wherein the transparent electrode layer (d1) comprises indium tin oxide (ITO, paragraph 42), and the first oxide semiconductor layer (d2) comprises indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO, paragraph 42).
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (as above).
With regard to claim 4,
Liu et al. disclose the display apparatus of claim 1. While Liu et al. do not explicitly disclose the thickness of the first oxide semiconductor layer to be greater than a thickness of the transparent electrode layer, such a configuration was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention and would have been obvious to the same to try in the course of trying to optimize the electrode balancing optical and electrical properties.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-15 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the prior art does not disclose nor render obvious, in combination with the other limitations of the claims, an apparatus having the claimed metal oxide layer or the inclusion of the claimed oxide semiconductor layer when the first transparent electrode is a first transparent electrode layer, reflective layer and second transparent electrode layer. Claims 5, 9 would therefore be allowable if rewritten in independent form, claims 6-8,10-15 would be allowable due to their dependence upon claim 5.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. USPN 2024/0099091, 2017/0033317, 2024/0215380, 2026/0090235, 2024/0172523, 2024/0138198, 2023/0059622, 11527732, 2022/0052261, CN 117098426.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christopher Raabe whose telephone number is (571)272-8434. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 0530-1430.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James R 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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/CHRISTOPHER M RAABE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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