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 .
IDS
The IDS document(s) filed on 12/26/2023 have been considered. Copies of the PTO-1449 documents are herewith enclosed with this office action.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: For clarity, Line 21 should recite “film, a single layer film of silver, and a stacked” (emphasis added). Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yamazaki et al. (US 2025/0212602 A1), hereafter “Yamazaki”.
As to claim 1, Yamazaki teaches a display device comprising:
a plurality of pixels (150, Fig. 1A, ⁋ [0078]); and
a bank provided between each adjacent pair of the plurality of pixels (126, Fig. 1B, ⁋ [0105]),
each of the plurality of pixels comprising, on a base (101+103+104, Fig. 1B, ⁋ [0083]):
a cathode (111G, ⁋ [0086]) Examiner notes that if 113 (see below) acts as the anode one skilled in the art would know the other electrode would be the cathode,
an organic EL layer (112G, ⁋⁋ [0086]-[0087]) provided on the cathode,
a protective layer (125, ⁋⁋ [0104], [0106]) provided to cover a side surface of the organic EL layer, and
an anode (113, Fig. 1B, ⁋⁋ [0086], [0123], “connection electrode 111C is supplied with a potential (e.g., an anode potential or a cathode potential) that is to be supplied to the common electrode 113”) provided on the protective layer and in an aperture of the bank, so as to be in contact with the organic EL layer (in contact via layer 114).
As to claim 2, Yamazaki teaches the display device according to claim 1, wherein
the protective layer is formed of aluminum oxide (⁋ [0108]).
As to claim 3, Yamazaki teaches the display device according to claim 1, wherein
the cathode is one of a magnesium-silver alloy film, a single layer film of silver (⁋ [0155]) and a stacked layered film of silver (Ag) and a transparent conductive material, and
the transparent conductive material is indium tin oxide or indium zinc oxide.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamazaki and further in view of Cheng (US 2020/0043996 A1), hereafter “Cheng”.
As to claim 4, Yamazaki teaches the display device according to claim 1, and further teaches the anode (113) as having a “stacked-layer structure” (⁋ [0243) but fails to teach wherein
the anode is of a three-layer multilayer structure of indium zinc oxide, silver and indium zinc oxide, a two-layer stacked structure of molybdenum-tungsten alloy and indium tin oxide, or a three-layer stacked multilayer structure of aluminum alloy, titanium and indium tin oxide.
Cheng teaches a similar device where an anode 51 is made of a multilayer stacked structure (IZO) and silver (⁋ [0077]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the stacked structure of Cheng into the device of Yamazaki since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as a matter of obvious design choice. In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARNELL HUNTER whose telephone number is (571)270-1796. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30 am - 4:30pm.
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/CARNELL HUNTER III/Examiner, Art Unit 2893
/SUE A PURVIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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