DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I (Claims 1-17) in the reply filed on 05/07/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 18-20 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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 05/07/2026.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/09/2024, 07/26/2024 and 01/26/26. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is 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 1-3, 7-10, 13, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishisone et al. (US 2022/0267668).
As for claim 1, Ishisone et al. disclose in Figs. 1A and the related text a display panel comprising:
a base layer 200 including a display (regions 222R/G/B) and a non-display region (regions between 222R/G/B), wherein the display region has a first light-emitting region 222R, a second light-emitting region 222G and a non-light-emitting region (region between 222G and 222R);
a first lower electrode 104 disposed on the base layer and overlapping the first light-emitting region;
a second lower electrode 103 disposed on the base layer and overlapping the second light-emitting region (Fig. 1A); and
a filling layer 145 disposed on the base layer and between the first lower electrode and the second lower electrode (Fig. 1A), wherein the filling layer 145 includes includes an inorganic material containing silicon and an organic material [0412], and covers at least a portion of a side surface of each of the first lower electrode and the second lower electrode (Fig. 1A).
As for claims 2 and 17, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, wherein the filling layer 145 is not disposed above (middle portion of) each of the first lower electrode and the second lower electrode.
As for claim 3, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, wherein the organic material comprises at least one of siloxane, polyimide, or an acrylate-based polymer, andthe inorganic material comprises at least one of silicon dioxide (SiO2), silicon nitride (Si3N4), or silicon oxynitride (SiON) [0412].
As for claim 7, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, wherein the first lower electrode 104 has a first thickness, and the second lower electrode 103 has a second thickness different from the first thickness (FIG. 1A).
As for claim 8, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 7, wherein the second thickness is larger than the first thickness (fig. 1A), the filling layer 145 comprises a first portion (corner portion above 104) adjacent to the first lower electrode; and a second portion (corner portion above 103) adjacent to the second lower electrode, and a thickness of the second portion is greater than a thickness of the first portion (Fig. 1A).
As for claim 9, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, wherein the display region further comprises a third light-emitting region 222B, the display panel further comprises a third lower electrode 101 disposed on the base layer and overlapping the third light-emitting region, and the filling layer 145 is disposed between the second lower electrode and the third lower electrode (Fig. 1A).
As for claim 10, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 9, wherein a thickness of the third lower electrode 101 is different from each of a thickness of the first lower electrode 104 and a thickness of the second lower electrode 103.
As for claim 13, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, further comprising: at least one organic layer 106 ([0005] and [0181]) disposed on the first lower electrode and the second lower electrode and including a light-emitting layer 130; and an upper electrode 102 disposed on the at least one organic layer (FIG. 1A).
As for claim 15, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, wherein the first lower electrode 104 and the second lower electrode 103 are disposed in a same layer (Fig. 1A).
As for claim 16, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, wherein the filling layer 145 is in contact with the side surface of each of the first lower electrode and the second lower electrode (Fig. 1A) and comprises a lower surface aligned with a lower surface of each of the first lower electrode and the second lower electrode (FIG. 1A).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 Ishisone et al. (US 2022/0267668).
As for claim 4, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, except wherein the filling layer contains the organic material in an amount of about 10 percentages by weight (wt%) to about 50 wt% with respect to a total content of the filling layer.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to include the filling layer contains the organic material in an amount of about 10 percentages by weight (wt%) to about 50 wt% with respect to a total content of the filling layer, in order to optimize the performance of the device. Furthermore, it has been held that where then general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Claims 5-6, 11-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishisone et al. (US 2022/0267668) in view of Huang et al. (US 2023/0165061).
As for claims 5-6, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, wherein the first lower electrode comprises a first electrode upper surface, the second lower electrode comprises a second electrode upper surface, and the filling layer comprises an upper surface; and the upper surface of the filling layer is disposed lower than at least one of the first electrode upper surface or the second electrode upper surface.
a first lower electrode (outer 31) comprises a first electrode upper surface, a second lower electrode (middle 31) comprises a second electrode upper surface, and the filling layer 4 comprises an upper (sharp curve) surface; and the upper surface of the filling layer 4 is disposed lower than at least one of the first electrode upper surface or the second electrode upper surface (fig. 11), wherein the upper (sharp curve) surface of the filling layer has a recessed curved shape such that the upper surface of the filling layer becomes more adjacent to the base layer in a direction away from each of the first electrode upper surface and the second electrode upper surface (Fig. 11).
Ishisone and Huang et al. are analogous art because they both are directed display devices and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify Ishisone et al. because they are from the same field of endeavor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Ishisone et al. to include the limitation as taught by Huang et al., in order to improve device properties.
As for claims 11 and 14, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 1, wherein the first lower electrode 104 and the second lower electrode 103 each comprise: a first layer 104a/103a including a reflective metal material [0076]; a second layer disposed on the first layer and including a conductive material [0076]; and a plurality of color filters 224R/G/R provided in the first light-emitting region and second light-emitting region, respectively (Fig. 1A).
Ishisone et al. do not disclose a second layer including a transparent conductive oxide; and an encapsulation layer disposed on the upper electrode; and a plurality of color filters disposed on the encapsulation layer and provided in the first light-emitting region and second light-emitting region, respectively.
Huang et al. teach in Fig. 11 and the related text a second layer 322 including a transparent conductive oxide [0122]; and an encapsulation layer 13 disposed on the upper electrode 6; and a plurality of color filters 14 disposed on the encapsulation layer 13 (Fig. 11).
Ishisone and Huang et al. are analogous art because they both are directed display devices and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify Ishisone et al. because they are from the same field of endeavor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Ishisone et al. to include the limitation as taught by Huang et al., in order to provide suitable material for an electrode in the display device and to achieve device performance.
As for claim 12, Ishisone et al. disclose the display panel of claim 11, wherein the filling layer 145 is in contact with a side surface of each of the first layer and the second layer (FIG. 1A).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRANG Q TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3259. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday (9am-4pm).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lynne Gurley can be reached on 5712721670. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRANG Q TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2811
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