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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/15/2023 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The abstract is consistent with the requirements set forth in the MPEP 608.01(b).
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention I, claims 1-4 and 13-20, in the reply filed on 12/4/2025 is acknowledged. Claims 5-12 are hereby withdrawn from consideration.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Saito US PGPub. 2015/0295131. Regarding claim 1, Saito teaches a light emitting element (fig. 1A) [0029] comprising: a first end portion (1E, examiner’s fig. 1) and a second end portion (2E, examiner’s fig. 1) facing each other in a length direction (examiner’s fig. 1), the light emitting element comprising: a first semiconductor layer (24, fig. 1A) [0029] disposed at the second end portion (2E); an active layer (26, fig. 1A) [0029] disposed on the first semiconductor layer (24); a second semiconductor layer (28, fig. 1A) [0029] disposed on the active layer (26); a first electrode (31 of 30, fig. 1A and 1C) [0035] disposed on the second semiconductor layer (28); and a second electrode (32 of 30, fig. 1A and 1C) [0035] disposed on the first electrode (31), wherein the active layer (26) includes: a first (top) surface contacting the first semiconductor layer (24); a second (bottom) surface facing the first (top) surface and contacting the second semiconductor layer (28); and a side (2, fig. 1A) connected to the first (top) surface and the second (bottom) surface, the first semiconductor layer (24) includes a first area (24-2; examiner’s fig. 1), a second area (24-4; examiner’s fig. 1), and a third area (24-6; examiner’s fig. 1) partitioned in a direction toward the second end portion (2E) from the first (top) surface of the active layer (26), and a side (2, fig. 1A) of the first area (24-2) is inclined in a same direction as the side of the active layer (26), a side (4, fig. 1A)) of the second area (24-4) is inclined in a direction opposite to the direction in which the side (2) of the active layer (26) is inclined, and a side (6, fig. 1A) of the third area (24-6) includes a straight line part parallel to the length direction (examiner’s fig. 1) of the light emitting element (Saito, fig. 1A). In order to overcome the current grounds of rejection, the examiner suggests reciting that “a first area, a second area, and a third area are partitioned sequentially in a direction towards the second end portion from the first surface of the active layer” or that the “first area is in direct contact with the second area.”
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Examiner’s Fig. 1
Regarding claim 2, Saito teaches the light emitting element of claim 1, wherein the first semiconductor layer (24) includes an n-type semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant [0029], and the second semiconductor layer (28) includes a p-type semiconductor layer doped with a p-type dopant [0029] (Saito, fig. 1A, [0029]).
Regarding claim 3, Saito teaches the light emitting element of claim 2, wherein a slope (obtuse angle, fig. 1A) of the side (2) of the first area (24-2) is equal to a slope of the side (2) of the active layer (26), and a slope (acute angle θ, fig. 1A) [0055] of the side (4) of the second area (24-4) is different from the slope of the side (2) of the active layer (6) (Saito, fig. 1A).
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.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saito US PGPub. 2015/0295131 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sugawara et al. US PGPub. 2021/0320226. Regarding claim 4, Saito does not teach the light emitting element of claim 1, further comprising: an insulating film surrounding an outer circumferential surface of each of the first semiconductor layer (24), the active layer (26), the second semiconductor layer (28), and the first electrode (31). However, Sugawara teaches a light emitting element (100, fig. 1) [0042] comprising: an insulating film (105, fig. 1) [0044] surrounding an outer circumferential surface of each of the first semiconductor layer (101, fig. 1)[0044], the active layer (102, fig. 1)[0044], the second semiconductor layer (103, fig. 1)[0044], and the first electrode (104, fig. 1)[0044] (Sugawara et al, fig. 1). At the time before the effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to add the insulating layer as taught by Sugawara to surround the circumferential surface of the light emitting element layers of Saito because such layer and structure is well known in the art and such material/structure is art recognized and suitable for the intended purpose of covering and insulating the light emitting surfaces and providing protection (Sugawara et al., [0056]) (see MPEP 2144.07).
Claims 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim US PGPub. 2017/0064884 in view of Saito US PGPub. 2015/0295131. Regarding claim 13, Kim teaches a display device (10, fig. 13-14) [0110] comprising: pixels (fig. 13, [0144]; fig. 14 is one pixel) disposed on a substrate (201, fig. 14) [0125] wherein each of the pixels includes: at least one transistor (TFT, fig. 14) [0125] disposed on the substrate (201); a pixel electrode (211, fig. 14) [0143] electrically connected to the at least one transistor (TFT); a bank (206, fig. 14) [0125] disposed on the pixel electrode (211), the bank (206) including an opening (hereinafter called 206O, fig. 14) [0144] exposing the pixel electrode (211); a light emitting element (230, fig. 14) [0144] disposed in the opening (206O) of the bank (206) to be bonded to the pixel electrode (211), the light emitting element (230) including a first end (top) portion and a second (bottom) end portion facing each other in a length direction; and a common electrode (212, fig. 14) [0152] disposed on the light emitting element (230) (Kim, fig. 1) But Kim fails to teach wherein the light emitting element (230) includes: a third electrode; a second electrode; a first electrode; a second semiconductor layer; an active layer; and a first semiconductor layer disposed in a direction toward the common electrode from the pixel electrode, the first semiconductor layer includes a first area, a second area, and a third area partitioned in the direction toward the common electrode from the pixel electrode, and a side of the first area is inclined in a same direction as the side of the active layer, a side of the second area is inclined in a direction opposite to the direction in which the side of the active layer is inclined, and a side of the third area includes a straight line part parallel to the length direction. However, Saito teaches a light emitting element (fig. 1A) [0029] that includes: a third electrode (33, fig. 1A and 1C) [0035]; a second electrode (32, fig. 1A and 1C) [0035]; a first electrode (31, fig. 1A and 1C) [0035]; a second semiconductor layer (28, fig. 1A) [0029]; an active layer (26, fig. 1A) [0029]; and a first semiconductor layer (24, fig. 1A) [0029] disposed in a direction toward the (top/second end), the first semiconductor layer (24) includes a first area (24-2; examiner’s fig. 1), a second area (24-4; examiner’s fig. 1), and a third area (24-6; examiner’s fig. 1) partitioned in a direction toward the top/second end portion (2E), and a side (2, fig. 1A) of the first area (24-2) is inclined in a same direction as the side of the active layer (26), a side (4, fig. 1A)) of the second area (24-4) is inclined in a direction opposite to the direction in which the side (2) of the active layer (26) is inclined, and a side (6, fig. 1A) of the third area (24-6) includes a straight line part parallel to the length direction (examiner’s fig. 1) of the light emitting element (Saito, fig. 1A). In order to overcome the current grounds of rejection, the examiner suggests reciting that “a first area, a second area, and a third area are partitioned sequentially in a direction towards the second end portion from the first surface of the active layer” or that the “first area is in direct contact with the second area.” Since the first semiconductor layer (24) disposed in a direction toward the (top/second end), Kim in view of Saito would obviously teach that the first semiconductor layer (24) disposed in a direction toward the common electrode (212) from the pixel electrode (211) and the first semiconductor layer (24) includes a first area (24-2), a second area (24-4), and a third area (24-6) partitioned in a direction toward the common electrode (212) from the pixel electrode (211). At the time before the effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to make a simple substitution of the light emitting element of Kim for the light emitting element of Saito because the structure light emitting element of Saito is well known in the art and such structure is art recognized and suitable for the intended purpose of creating a light emitting device with increased freedom in design of an optically active plane (Saito, [0056]) and increased efficiency of deriving light output (Saito, [0036]) (see MPEP 2144.07). Regarding claim 14, Kim in view of Saito teaches the display device of claim 13, wherein the active layer (26) has a substantially reverse tapered shape (fig. 1A) between the pixel electrode (bottom) and the common electrode (top) (Saito, fig. 1A). Regarding claim 15, Kim in view of Saito teaches the display device of claim 14, wherein the light emitting element (fig. 1A) includes: the third electrode (33, fig. 1A and 1C) disposed at the first end portion (1E), the third electrode (33) electrically connected to the pixel electrode (211 of Kim located at the bottom, first end) and electrically contacting the pixel electrode (211); the first semiconductor layer (24, fig. 1A) disposed at the second end portion (2E, top), the first semiconductor layer (24) electrically connected to the common electrode (212 of Kim located at the top, second end) and electrically contacting the common electrode (212); the second electrode (32, fig. 1A and 1C) disposed on the third electrode (33) between the third electrode (33) and the first semiconductor layer (24); the first electrode (31, fig. 1A and 1C) disposed on the second electrode (32) between the second electrode (32) and the first semiconductor layer (24); the second semiconductor layer (28, fig. 1A) disposed on the first electrode (31) between the first electrode (31) and the first semiconductor layer (24); and the active layer (26, fig. 1A) disposed between the second semiconductor layer (28) and the first semiconductor layer (24) (Saito, fig. 1A and 1C). Regarding claim 16, Kim in view of Saito teaches the display device of claim 15, wherein the first semiconductor layer (24) is an n-type semiconductor layer doped with an n-type dopant [0029], and the second semiconductor layer (28) is a p-type semiconductor layer doped with a p-type dopant [0029] (Saito, fig. 1A, [0029]).
Regarding claim 17, Kim in view of Saito teaches the display device of claim 15, wherein the first electrode (31) includes a transparent conductive material (ITO, [0035]), and the second electrode (32) includes a conductive material having reflexibility (Ag, [0035]), and the third electrode (33) is a bonding electrode (TiW etc., [0035]) that bonds the pixel electrode and the light emitting element (Saito, fig. 1A, [0035]).
Regarding claim 18, Kim in view of Saito teaches the display device of claim 15, wherein the pixel electrode (211) includes a conductive material having reflexibility (Ag, [0153]), and the common electrode (212) includes a transparent conductive material (ITO, [0154]) (Kim, fig. 14, [0153]-[0154]).
Regarding claim 19, Kim in view of Saito teaches the display device of claim 15, wherein each of the pixels further includes an intermediate layer (213, fig. 14) [0145] disposed between the bank (206) and the common electrode (212) to fill the opening (206O) of the bank (206), and the intermediate layer (213) fixes the light emitting element (230), and includes a material which has an adhesive property and is cured (polyimide, epoxy etc., [0146]) (Kim, fig. 14, [0145]- [0146]).
Regarding claim 20, Kim in view of Saito teaches the display device of claim 15, wherein each of the pixels further includes: an emission area (area overlapping 230, fig. 14; hereinafter called 230’) including the light emitting element (230) and a non-emission area (area overlapping 206) adjacent to the emission area (230’); a cover layer (bottom of inorganic/organic stack of encapsulation layer 214, fig. 14) [0168] disposed entirely on the common electrode (212); and an upper substrate (top of inorganic/organic stack of encapsulation layer 214, fig. 14) [0168] disposed on the cover layer (Kim, fig. 14, [0168]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NDUKA E OJEH whose telephone number is (571)270-0291. The examiner can normally be reached M-F; 9am - 5pm..
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/NDUKA E OJEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2892