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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's amendments and arguments filed 6/23/2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive; the rejection has been updated to address the newly amended limitations.
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, 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 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son et al (U.S. Pub #2018/0197933), in view of He (U.S. Pub #2024/0023411), in view of Lee et al (U.S. Pub #2020/0004077), in view of Jeong (U.S. Pub #2021/0124399).
With respect to claim 1, Son teaches a display device comprising:
a display panel (Fig. 3, 200 and Paragraph 55) comprising a display area (Fig. 1, 30) and a bonding area in which a driving circuit is disposed (Fig. 1, area corresponding to 470; Paragraph 56);
a cover window (Fig. 3, 410 and Paragraph 108) disposed on an upper surface of the display panel; and
a protection member (Fig. 3, 300 and Paragraph 60) disposed on a lower surface of the display area of the display panel,
wherein a material of the protection member has: an elastic modulus of 4 GPa or less (Paragraph 71-72).
Son does not teach a contraction rate of 20% or more.
He teaches a supporting material having a contraction rate of 20% or more (Paragraph 38).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the protection member of Son to have a contraction rate of 20% or more as taught by He in order to form the display body to have curved surfaces which can improve the user's visual experience and is beneficial to the display panel to achieve a full screen display design with narrow bezel (Paragraph 36).
Son and He do not a glass transition temperature of the material, but do disclose that the material can be PET (Paragraph 100 of Son).
Kim teaches that a PET protective material (Fig. 6, 310 and Paragraph 49) can have a glass transition temperature of about 78 degree C (Paragraph 55).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to use a PET material having a glass transition temperature of about 78 degree C as taught by Kim order to achieve the predictable result of providing a protective material.
Son does not teach that the protection member extends continuously from the display area to the bonding area and overlaps the driving circuit.
Jeong teaches a protection member (Figs. 4-5, PFL and Paragraph 73-74) that extends continuously from a display area (Figs. 4-5, MDA) to a bonding area (Figs. 4-5, BA) and overlaps the driving circuit (Paragraph 63).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the protection member of Son to extend continuously to the bonding area as taught by Jeong in order to achieve the predictable result of protecting a surface of the panel.
With respect to claim 2, Son does not teach that the display area comprises: a flat front surface; a pair of first side surfaces extended outward from first opposite edges of the flat front surface, respectively, and curved with a first curvature; a pair of second side surfaces extended outward from second opposite edges of the flat front surface, respectively, and curved with a second curvature, the first opposite edges being spaced apart from each other in a first direction and the second opposite edge being spaced apart from each other in a second direction intersecting the first direction; and a plurality of corner sections, each corner section being located in a space between a corresponding one of the pair of first side surfaces and a corresponding one of the pair of second side surfaces and including the first and second curvatures, the corresponding one of the pair of first side surfaces being adjacent to the corresponding one of the pair of second side surfaces.
He teaches
a flat front surface (Fig. 1A, 100a);
a pair of first side surfaces (Fig. 1A, 1001a) extended outward from first opposite edges of the flat front surface, respectively, and curved with a first curvature;
a pair of second side surfaces (Fig. 1A, 1001b) extended outward from second opposite edges of the flat front surface, respectively, and curved with a second curvature, the first opposite edges being spaced apart from each other in a first direction and the second opposite edge being spaced apart from each other in a second direction intersecting the first direction; and
a plurality of corner sections (Fig. 1A, 100b), each corner section being located in a space between a corresponding one of the pair of first side surfaces and a corresponding one of the pair of second side surfaces and including the first and second curvatures (Fig. 1A, i.e. transition regions; Paragraph 12 and 54), the corresponding one of the pair of first side surfaces being adjacent to the corresponding one of the pair of second side surfaces.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the display area of Son to have curvatures as taught by He in order to improve the user's visual experience and is beneficial to the display panel to achieve a full screen display design with narrow bezel (Paragraph 36).
With respect to claim 3, Son and He teach that the protection member (Fig. 3, 300 of Son; Fig. 1B, 101 of Heis attached to the flat front surface, the pair of first side surfaces, the pair of second side surfaces, and the plurality of corner sections.
With respect to claim 4, Son teaches a first coupling layer (Fig. 3, 302) disposed in a space between the display panel (Fig. 3, 200) and the protection member (Fig. 3, 300); and
a second coupling layer (Fig. 3, 415) disposed in a space between the display panel and the cover window (Fig. 3, 410).
With respect to claim 5, Son does not teach that the glass transition temperature of the protection member is selected from a range of 50 to 150 degrees Celsius.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to use a PET material having a glass transition temperature of about 78 degree C as taught by Kim order to achieve the predictable result of providing a protective material.
With respect to claim 6, Son teaches that the elastic modulus of the protection member corresponds to an elastic modulus selected from a range of 0.6 to 0.9 GPa (Paragraph 72) but does not teach that the glass transition temperature selected from a range of 74 to 78 degrees.
Kim teaches that a PET protective material (Fig. 6, 310 and Paragraph 49) can have a glass transition temperature of about 78 degree C (Paragraph 55).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to use a PET material having a glass transition temperature of about 78 degree C as taught by Kim order to achieve the predictable result of providing a protective material.
With respect to claim 7, Son teaches that the material of the protection member comprises at least one of polyolefin-based resin, a polyvinyl-based resin, a polyethylene-based resin, and a polyester-based resin (Paragraph 100).
With respect to claim 8, Son does not teach that the protection member has a thickness selected from a range of 25 μm to 100 μm.
He teaches a supporting layer member that has a thickness selected from a range of 25 μm to 100 μm (Paragraph 46).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to form the protection member of Son to have a thickness selected from a range of 25 μm to 100 μm as taught by He in order to improve the user's visual experience and is beneficial to the display panel to achieve a full screen display design with narrow bezel (Paragraph 36).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the best prior art of record does not teach or fairly suggest, along with the other claimed features
in claim 9:
a second protection member disposed under the bonding area of the display panel and spaced apart from the first protection member, wherein a contraction rate of the second protection member is smaller than a contraction rate of the first protection member.
in claim 16:
pressing the cover window and the guide member against the upper and lower surfaces of the display panel, respectively; heating, after the pressing, the first protection member of the display panel through the guide member; and removing the guide member, wherein an elastic modulus of the second protection member is greater than an elastic modulus of the first protection member.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN P SANDVIK whose telephone number is (571)272-8446. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davienne Monbleau can be reached at (571)-272-1945. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BENJAMIN P SANDVIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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