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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 14, 16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Paek et al. (US 2019/0319212 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 20, Paek discloses a display device, comprising a display panel, wherein the display panel comprises a light-transmissive region (MH), a display region (DA) at least partially surrounding the light-transmissive region (MH), and a non-light-emitting region (BA) located between the light-transmissive region and the display region, wherein in a radial direction of the light-transmissive region, a difference in a size of the non-light-emitting region located around the light-transmissive region is [Symbol font/0x44]D, wherein 0 µm ≤ |[Symbol font/0x44]D| ≤ 10 µm (Paek discloses the non-light-emitting region is concentrically aligned around light transmissive region, the [Symbol font/0x44]D is zero, Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 14, Paek discloses a display panel wherein the non-light-emitting region comprises black pixels, and brightness of the black pixels is 0 nit (compensation pixels PX-S display black color, ¶[0198], Fig. 8).
Regarding claim 16, Paek discloses a display panel wherein in the radial direction of the light-transmissive region, an arrangement number of the black pixels (PX-S) is less than or equal to 5 (Fig. 8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2-13, 15 and 17-19 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:
Regarding claim(s) 2, the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in claim(s) 2, and specifically comprising the limitation of a difference between shortest distances from light-emitting centers of the first pixels located around the light-transmissive region and of a same color to the light-transmissive region is M, wherein, 0 µm ≤ |M| ≤ 10 µm.
Regarding claim(s) 3-13, claims(s) 3-13 is/are allowable for the reasons given in claim(s) 2 because of its/their dependency status from claim(s) 2.
Regarding claim(s) 15, the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in claim(s) 15, and specifically comprising the limitation of a distance between a light-emitting center of the first light-emitting pixel and the light-transmissive region is a first distance, and a distance between a light-emitting center of the second light-emitting pixel and the light-transmissive region is a second distance, wherein the first distance is greater than the second distance, and a number of black pixels located between the first light-emitting pixel and the light-transmissive region is greater than a number of black pixels located between the second light-emitting pixel and the light-transmissive region.
Regarding claim(s) 17-19, claims(s) 17-19 is/are allowable for the reasons given in claim(s) 15 because of its/their dependency status from claim(s) 15.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang et al. (US 2022/0344420 A1) discloses a display substrate including a substrate; and a pixel defining layer on the substrate, a display area, a non-display area and a light-transmitting area, the display area and the non-display area at least partially surround the light-transmitting area, the pixel defining layer extends from the display area to the non-display area, the pixel defining layer is provided with a first opening, the first opening comprises a plurality of first sub-openings and a plurality of second sub-openings, the plurality of first sub-openings are in the display area, the plurality of second sub-openings are in the non-display area, and the plurality of second sub-openings are closer to the light-transmitting area than the plurality of first sub-openings.
Lim et al. (EP 3846217 A1) discloses a display device including a substrate having a hole (AH), a non-display area (NDA) surrounding the hole, and a display area surrounding the non-display area (DA); a display unit disposed on the substrate and having pixels disposed in the display area; and sensing electrodes (TE) disposed in the display area and a first alignment mark (M1) disposed in the non-display area on the display unit.
The rejections above rely on the references for all the teachings expressed in the text of the references and/or one of ordinary skill in the art would have reasonably understood or implied from the texts of the references. To emphasize certain aspects of the prior art, only specific portions of the texts have been pointed out. Each reference as a whole should be reviewed in responding to the rejection, since other sections of the same reference and/or various combinations of the cited references may be relied on in future rejections in view of amendments.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mariceli Santiago whose telephone number is (571) 272-2464. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James R. Greece, can be reached on (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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/Mariceli Santiago/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2879
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