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 .
DETAILED ACTION
In response to an Office action mailed on 03/19/2026 ("03-19-26 OA"), the Applicant substantively amended independent claims 1, 11, 21 and 22 on 06/15/2026 ("06-15-26 Response").
Applicant also amended the title and submitted Replacement Drawings in the 06-15-26 Response.
Currently, claims 1-23 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments to the title have overcome the objection to the Specification set forth on page 2 under line item number 1 of the 03-19-26 OA.
Applicant's amendment to claim 21 has overcome the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection of claim 21 set forth starting on page 3 under line item number 2 of the 03-19-26 OA.
Despite the substantive amendments to the independent claims 1, 11, 21 and 22, the previously-cited Kong reads on the amended independent claim 1, infra. Fig. 6 of Kong was further annotated to show a first spacer CAP1 in the peripheral area NDA corresponding to a non-display area, the first spacer CAP1 enclosed by the at least one bank pattern CAP2, infra.
Substantive amendments to the independent claims 1, 11, 21 and 22 required further consideration and search. New grounds of rejections based of different features of Kong are provided below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-5, 11-15, 17 and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kong (previously-cited Pub. No. US 2021/0359081 A1 to Kong et al. ("Kong").
Fig. 6 of Kong has been annotated to support the rejection below:
[AltContent: textbox (CAP2)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (CAP1)][AltContent: textbox (S1)][AltContent: arrow][AltContent: textbox (S2)][AltContent: arrow]
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Regarding independent claim 1, Kong teaches a display device (see Fig. 6), comprising:
a first substrate SUB1 including a display area DA (para [0089] - “Referring to FIG. 6, the display area DA of the display substrate 100 may include the first through third light emitting areas LA1 through LA3.”) and a peripheral area NDA (para [0119] - “the non-display area NDA”) disposed on a side of the display area DA;
a second substrate SUB2 disposed to face the first substrate SUB1, the second substrate SUB2 including a first surface S1 facing the first substrate SUB1, and a second surface S2 opposite to the first surface;
a pixel circuit layer TFTL (para [0090] - “a thin-film transistor layer TFTL”) disposed on the first substrate SUB1;
a light emitting element EL (para [0090] - “The display substrate 100 may include the first base member SUB1, a buffer layer BF, a thin-film transistor layer TFTL, light emitting elements EL, and an encapsulation layer TFE.”) disposed on the pixel circuit layer TFTL and in the display area DA;
a color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 (para [0111] - “first and second wavelength converting units (or first and second wavelength converters) WLC1 and WLC2”) disposed on the first surface S1 of the second substrate SUB2, the color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 overlapping the display area DA in a plan view, the color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 converting a wavelength of light emitted from the light emitting element LE;
at least one bank pattern CAP2 (para [0111] - “a second capping layer CAP2”) disposed on the first surface S1 of the second substrate SUB2, the at least one bank pattern CAP2 overlapping the peripheral area NDA in a plan view;
a first spacer CAP1 (para [0111] - “a first capping layer CAP1”) disposed on the first surface S1 of the second substrate SUB2 in the peripheral area NDA corresponding to a non-display area, the first spacer CAP1 (partially) enclosed by the at least one bank pattern CAP2;
a first protective layer CAP3 (para [0111] - “a third capping layer CAP3”) overlapping the color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 in a plan view, the at least one bank pattern CAP2, and the first spacer CAP1, and
a sealant 600 (para [0062] - “a sealing member 600”) overlapping at least a portion of the first spacer CAP1 in a plan view.
Regarding claim 2, Kong teaches the color conversion layer WLC1, WL2 that includes a plurality of color conversion particles SCT1, SCT2 (para [0131] - “For example, the first scatterer SCT1 may include metal oxide such as titanium oxide (TiO2), zirconium oxide (ZrO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), indium oxide (In2O3), zinc oxide (ZnO) or tin oxide (SnO2)…”; para [0145] - “For example, the second scatterer SCT2 may be made of the same material as the first scatterer SCT1.”), and
the first spacer CAP1 (para [0120] - “For example, the first capping layer CAP1 may include at least one of…aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, tin oxide…”) and the plurality of color conversion layer particles SCT1, SCT2 are comprised of the same material.
Regarding claim 3, Kong teaches at least one dam structure OC disposed on the pixel circuit layer TFTL and in the peripheral area NDA, wherein
the at least one dam structure OC (para [0104] - “planarization layer OC”) is disposed closer to the display area DA than the sealant 600, and
the sealant 600 and the at least one dam structure OC do not overlap in a plan view.
Regarding claim 4, Kong teaches the first spacer CAP1 and the at least one dam structure OC do not overlap in a plan view in the peripheral area NDA.
Regarding claim 5, Kong teaches a bank BK2 disposed on the first surface S1 of the second substrate SUB2, wherein
the peripheral area NDA includes first to third areas (arbitrarily defined area) arranged in order of proximity to the display area DA,
the bank BK2 overlaps the first area of the peripheral area NDA in a plan view, and
the at least one dam structure OC is disposed in the second area of the peripheral area NDA.
Regarding independent claim 11, Kong teaches a display device (see Fig. 6), comprising:
a first substrate SUB1 including a display area DA (para [0089] - “Referring to FIG. 6, the display area DA of the display substrate 100 may include the first through third light emitting areas LA1 through LA3.”) and a peripheral area NDA (para [0119] - “the non-display area NDA”) disposed on a side of the display area DA;
a pixel circuit layer TFTL (para [0090] - “a thin-film transistor layer TFTL”) disposed on the first substrate SUB1;
a light emitting element EL (para [0090] - “The display substrate 100 may include the first base member SUB1, a buffer layer BF, a thin-film transistor layer TFTL, light emitting elements EL, and an encapsulation layer TFE.”) disposed on the pixel circuit layer TFTL and in the display area DA;
a color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 (para [0111] - “first and second wavelength converting units (or first and second wavelength converters) WLC1 and WLC2”) disposed on the first surface S1 of the second substrate SUB2, the color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 overlapping the display area DA in a plan view, the color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 converting a wavelength of light emitted from the light emitting element LE;
a spacer CAP1 (para [0111] - “a first capping layer CAP1”) disposed on the pixel circuit layer TFTL and in the peripheral area NDA corresponding to a non-display area;
a first protective layer CAP3 (para [0111] - “a third capping layer CAP3”) disposed on the first substrate SUB1, the first protective layer CAP3 covering the color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 and the spacer CAP1; and
a sealant 600 (para [0062] - “a sealing member 600”) overlapping at least a portion of the spacer CAP1 in a plan view.
Regarding claim 12, Kong teaches the color conversion layer WLC1, WL2 that includes a plurality of color conversion particles SCT1, SCT2 (para [0131] - “For example, the first scatterer SCT1 may include metal oxide such as titanium oxide (TiO2), zirconium oxide (ZrO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), indium oxide (In2O3), zinc oxide (ZnO) or tin oxide (SnO2)…”; para [0145] - “For example, the second scatterer SCT2 may be made of the same material as the first scatterer SCT1.”), and
the spacer CAP1 (para [0120] - “For example, the first capping layer CAP1 may include at least one of…aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, tin oxide…”) and the plurality of color conversion layer particles SCT1, SCT2 are comprised of the same material.
Regarding claim 13, Kong teaches at least one dam structure OC in the peripheral area NDA, the at least one dam structure OC (para [0104] - “planarization layer OC”) is disposed closer to the display area DA than the sealant 600.
Regarding claim 14, Kong teaches the spacer CAP1 that covers the at least one dam structure OC in a plan view.
Regarding claim 15, Kong teaches the spacer CAP1 that does not overlap the at least one dam structure OC in a plan view in the peripheral area NDA.
Regarding claim 17, Kong teaches an encapsulation layer 500 (para [0151] - “filler 500”) disposed in the display area DA, the encapsulation layer 500 overlapping the light emitting element LE in a plan view, the encapsulation layer extending to and being disposed in the peripheral area; and
at least one bank pattern OC disposed on the encapsulation layer 500 and in the peripheral area NDA.
Regarding claim 21, Kong teaches a filling layer 500 disposed in the display area DA and extending from an inside of the sealant 600, and
a light conversion layer 300 (para [0062] - “a color conversion substrate 300”) disposed on the sealant 600 and the filling layer 500,
wherein the light conversion layer 300 comprises a second protective layer CAP2, a low refractive layer CAP1 (para [0120] - “The first capping layer CAP1 may include an inorganic material. For example, the first capping layer CAP1 may include at least one of…silicon oxide…or silicon oxynitride.”), a color filter layer CF3, and a second substrate SUB2 that are successively disposed in a direction Z.
Regarding independent claim 22, Kong teaches a method of fabricating a display device (see Fig. 6), the method comprising:
providing a base substrate SUB1 including a display area DA (para [0089] - “Referring to FIG. 6, the display area DA of the display substrate 100 may include the first through third light emitting areas LA1 through LA3.”) and a peripheral area NDA (para [0119] - “the non-display area NDA”) disposed on a side of the display area DA;
forming a color filter layer CF3 (para [0147] - “third color filter CF3”) on the base substrate SUB1;
forming at least one partition wall CF1 (para [0142] - “first color filter CF1”) on the color filter layer CF3 and in the display area DA;
forming at least one bank pattern CAP2 (para [0150] - “first or second capping layer CAP1 or CAP2”) on the color filter layer CF3 and in the peripheral area NDA;
forming a color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 (para [0111] - “first and second wavelength converting units (or first and second wavelength converters) WLC1 and WLC2”) in the display area DA, the color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 including a plurality of color conversion particles SCT1, SCT2 (para [0131] - “For example, the first scatterer SCT1 may include metal oxide such as titanium oxide (TiO2), zirconium oxide (ZrO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3), indium oxide (In2O3), zinc oxide (ZnO) or tin oxide (SnO2)…”; para [0145] - “For example, the second scatterer SCT2 may be made of the same material as the first scatterer SCT1.”);
forming a spacer CAP1 in the peripheral area NDA corresponding to a non-display area and in an area enclosed by the at least one bank pattern CAP2;
forming a protective layer CAP3 (para [0111] - “a third capping layer CAP3”) that covers the color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 and the spacer CAP1; and
forming a sealant 600 (para [0062] - “a sealing member 600”) on the protective layer CAP3, the protective layer CAP3 overlaps the spacer CAP1 in a plan view.
Regarding claim 23, Kong teaches the spacer CAP1 and the color conversion layer WLC1, WLC2 that are formed in a same process of forming the color conversion substrate 300.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 6 is objected to for depending on a rejected base claim 1 and the intervening claims 3 and 5, but would be allowable if it is rewritten in independent form to include all of the limitations of the base claim 1 and the intervening claims 3 and 5 or the base claim 1 is amended to include all of the limitations of claim 6 and the intervening claims 3 and 5.
Claims 7-10 are allowable for depending on the allowable claim 6.
Claim 16 is objected to for depending on a rejected base claim 11 and the intervening claims 13 and 15, but would be allowable if it is rewritten in independent form to include all of the limitations of the base claim 11 and the intervening claims 13 and 15 or the base claim 11 is amended to include all of the limitations of claim 16 and the intervening claims 13 and 15.
Claim 18 is objected to for depending on a rejected base claim 11 and the intervening claim 13, but would be allowable if it is rewritten in independent form to include all of the limitations of the base claim 11 and the intervening claim 13 or the base claim 11 is amended to include all of the limitations of claim 18 and the intervening claim 13.
Claims 19 and 20 are allowable for depending on the allowable claim 18.
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 MICHAEL JUNG whose telephone number is (408) 918-7554. The examiner can normally be reached on 8 A.M. to 7 P.M.
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/MICHAEL JUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817 30 June 2026
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