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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application KR 10-2022-0189743 filed in Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on December 29, 2022 and receipt of a certified copy thereof.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on December 26, 2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS is considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, lines 33-34, “an effective length of an inner edge of the third side portion” should read --an effective length of an inner edge of the third side portion of the second metal pattern--.
In claim 13, line 4, “an effective length of an inner edge of the third side portion” should read --an effective length of an inner edge of the third side portion of the second metal pattern--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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 10-12 and 20 are rejected are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang et al. US 2021/0083036 in view of Han et al. US 2021/0208710.
Regarding claim 10, Kang teaches a display device (e.g., Figs. 1-15 and the description thereof) comprising:
an array of sub-pixels comprising sub-pixels 1, sub-pixels 2, and sub-pixels 3 (e.g., array of subpixels including R, G1 and B, Fig. 1, Fig. 5); and
an input sensing layer (e.g., TSL, Figs. 3-6) comprising a metal pattern (e.g., TE and RE, Fig. 5) at least partially surrounding each of the sub-pixels in a plan view (e.g., Fig. 5),
wherein the array has a structure in which an ith column (where i is a natural number), in which the sub-pixels 1 and the sub-pixels 2 are alternately arranged (e.g., the sub-pixels 1 (R) and the sub-pixels 2 (G1) are alternately arranged in an ith column in the direction DR5, Fig. 5), and an (i+1)th column, in which the blue sub-pixels are arranged (e.g., the sub-pixels 3 (B) are arranged in an (i+1)th column in the direction DR5, Fig. 5), are alternately arranged (e.g., Fig. 5),
the metal pattern comprises a first metal pattern (e.g., first metal pattern; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang below) partially surrounding a first sub-pixel (e.g., first sub-pixel; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang below), which is one of the sub-pixels, and a second metal pattern (e.g., second metal pattern; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang below) completely surrounding a second sub-pixel (e.g., second sub-pixel; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang below) emitting light of a same color as the first sub-pixel, and
the first metal pattern comprises a first open portion (e.g., first open portion; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang below) extending from the first sub-pixel in a first direction (e.g., DR4; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang below) and a second open portion (e.g., second open portion; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang below) extending from the first sub-pixel in a second direction (e.g., DR5; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang below) crossing the first direction.
Kang does not explicitly teach the sub-pixels 1 (R), sub-pixels 2 (G1) and sub-pixels 3 (B) include red sub-pixels, green sub-pixels, and blue sub-pixels, respectively.
Kang, however, recognizes that the sub-pixels 1 (R), sub-pixels 2 (G1) and sub-pixels 3 (B) emit a first color, a second color and a third color, respectively of a light emitting diode display (e.g., [81], [100]).
Han teaches that subpixels of a light emitting diode display include red sub-pixels (R), green sub-pixels (G), and blue sub-pixels (B), which emit red, green and blue, respectively (e.g., [51], [122]; Fig. 1, Fig. 2).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that in the device of Kang the sub-pixels 1 (R), sub-pixels 2 (G1), and sub-pixels 3 (B) may include red sub-pixels emitting red color, green sub-pixels emitting green color, and blue sub-pixels emitting blue color, respectively as suggested by Han for the purpose of obtaining a complete full-color light emitting diode display for example.
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Annotated Fig. 5 of Kang
Regarding claim 11, Kang in view of Han teaches the display device of claim 10, wherein a length of the first open portion is equal to a length of the second open portion (e.g., Kang, Fig. 5).
Regarding claim 12, Kang in view of Han teaches the display device of claim 10, wherein the first metal pattern comprises: a first side portion (e.g., first side portion 1; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang above) adjacent to a first side of the first sub-pixel, the first side portion comprising the first open portion (e.g., see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang above); a second side portion (e.g., second side portion 1; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang above) adjacent to a second side of the first sub-pixel, the second side portion comprising the second open portion (e.g., see the annotated Fig. 5 above); and corner portions (e.g., corner portions 1; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang above) on both sides of the first side portion with the first open portion therebetween, the second metal pattern comprises: a first side portion (e.g., first side portion 2; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang above) adjacent to a first side of the second sub-pixel; a second side portion (e.g., second side portion 2; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang above) adjacent to a second side of the second sub-pixel; a third side portion (e.g., third side portion 2; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang above) on an opposite side of the first side of the second metal pattern with the second sub-pixel therebetween; and corner portions (e.g., corner portions 2; see the annotated Fig. 5 of Kang above) on both sides of the first side portion of the second metal pattern or on both sides of the second side portion of the second metal pattern.
Regarding claim 20, Kang teaches the display device of claim 11, wherein the metal pattern comprises at least of molybdenum (Mo), mendelevium (Mb), silver (Ag), titanium (Ti), copper (Cu), or aluminum (Al) (e.g., [191], [193]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 would be allowable if amended to overcome the claim objection above.
Claims 13-19 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 and if amended to overcome the claim objection above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bo Bin Jang whose telephone number is (571) 270-0271. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST.
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/BO B JANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818 February 14, 2026