DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group II in the reply filed on 04/01/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the product of claims 12-20 is prepared by the method of claims 1-11 and therefore the inventions should be considered a single concept. This is not found persuasive because the distinct inventions occupy different classifications, such as H10W90/00 for apparatus claims and H10H20/0362,854 for method claims, which constitutes a search burden.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claims 1-11 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected group, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 04/01/2026.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/04/2024 and 01/05/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by ANDREWS (US 20140346533 A1), hereinafter “Andrews.”
Re: Independent 12, Andrews discloses an electronic device (Fig. 1: device 60), comprising:
a substrate (Fig. 1: substrate 64);
a plurality of electronic units disposed on the substrate (Fig. 3: LED chip 62; Fig. 7C: surface mounted LED element 65, having bonding pads 25A, 25B on substrate 64; ¶0081: LED chips 62, i.e., electronic units, can be mounted to a respective one of the attach pads 70);
a plurality of driving units disposed on the substrate (Fig. 7C: surface mounted LED element 65, having bonding pads 25A, 25B on substrate 64; ¶0081: patterned conductive features 68 that can include die attach pads 70 and interconnecting conductive traces 72; In other words, conductive traces are part of driving units and are disposed on the substrate.);
a protective layer disposed on the plurality of electronic units (Fig. 6: LED covering layer 609, i.e., protective layer; Fig. 7C: surface mounted LED element 65 with covering layer 609; ¶0058: … LED element is masked to provide for a protective, LED covering film/coating to be dispensed on the LEDs.); and
a color layer disposed on the substrate and the plurality of driving units (Fig. 7A: Organic solvent precursor solution 613, i.e., color layer; Fig. 7C: bonding pads 25A, 25B and substrate 64 covered with color layer 613; ¶0100: conformal reflective coating 36, … reflective inorganic particles adhering to the substrates 34 and/or any other vertical or horizontal surfaces of the LED package; ¶0108: white light).
Re: Claim 13, Andrews discloses the electronic device of claim 12 and wherein part of the color layer is in contact with the protective layer (Fig. 7C: color layer 613 in contact with protective layer 609).
Re: Claim 14, Andrews discloses the electronic device of claim 12, and wherein the protective layer is not disposed on the plurality of driving units, and the color layer is not disposed on the plurality of electronic units (Fig. 7C: protective layer 609 is only disposed on LED element 65 and color layer 613 is not disposed on LED elements 65).
Re: Claim 15, Andrews discloses the electronic device of claim 12, and wherein the plurality of electronic units and the plurality of driving units are disposed on the same side of the substrate (See Figs. 1 and 7C).
Re: Claim 16, Andrews discloses the electronic device of claim 12, and wherein the protective layer comprises a release layer, a peelable adhesive layer or a combination thereof (Fig. 11, step 311: remove LED covering layer; ¶0101: During the release/develop of covering layer 609, inorganic particles of conformal layer 36 will fall away/wash away with covering layer 609 and substantially not be present on the chip.).
Re: Claim 17, Andrews discloses the electronic device of claim 12, and wherein the protective layer comprises silicon mold release agent, fluorine mold release agent, polyethylene mold release agent, polypropylene mold release agent, paraffin mold release agent, montan wax mold release agent, carnauba mold release agent or a combination thereof (¶0058: polyethylene, i.e., protective layer).
Re: Claim 18, Andrews discloses the electronic device of claim 12, and wherein a material of the protective layer comprises silicone oil, mineral oil, wax, a fatty acid derivative, ethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, polytetrafluoroethylene, fluorinated ethylene propylene, stearic acid or a combination thereof (¶0058: polyvinyl alcohol).
Re: Claim 19, Andrews discloses the electronic device of claim 12, and wherein the color layer is a white color layer, a grey color layer or a black color layer (¶0100: conformal reflective coating 36, … reflective inorganic particles adhering to the substrates 34 and/or any other vertical or horizontal surfaces of the LED package; ¶0108: white light).
Re: Claim 20, Andrews discloses the electronic device of claim 12, and wherein the plurality of electronic units are light emitting diodes (Fig. 3: LED chip 62; Fig. 7C: surface mounted LED element 65).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
BOON et al. (US 20210359174 A1) – Fig. 6: LED with sacrificial/protective layer 4; Fig. 12: sacrificial layer removal
BASIN et al. (US 20230155073 A1) – Fig. 3B and 3C show color layer being deposited and then removed along with sacrificial/protective layer
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM ADROVEL whose telephone number is (571)272-3048. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/WILLIAM ADROVEL/ Examiner, Art Unit 2898
/Leonard Chang/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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