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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55, which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/8/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 9/8/2023. These drawings are considered acceptable by Examiner.
America Invents Act
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 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.
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.
1. Claim(s) 1-3, 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamauchi (U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0160165 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Yamauchi teaches a display device comprising: a display panel (103, display panel, ¶ [0075]-¶ [0080]); a protection layer (133) on the display panel (103) and comprising a plurality of grooves (grooves in 133) each having an anchor shape (shape of grooves of 133), wherein the plurality of grooves (grooves in 133) comprise at least a first groove (1st groove in 133); a 1-1 layer (1st 132) arranged along at least a portion of an inner side surface of the first groove (1st groove in 133); and a plurality of transparent partition walls (131, plurality of dips into the grooves) on the protection layer (133) and comprising a first transparent partition wall (1st 131), wherein the first transparent partition wall (1st 131) is arranged along the first groove and has a portion filling the first groove (1st groove in 133).
Regarding Claim 2, Yamauchi teaches the display device of claim 1, further comprising a 2-1 layer (2nd 132) arranged along at least a portion of an outer side surface of the first transparent partition wall (1st 131).
Regarding Claim 3, Yamauchi teaches the display device of claim 2, wherein the 1-1 layer (1st 132) and the 2-1 layer (2nd) comprise a same material.
Regarding Claim 6, Yamauchi teaches the display device of claim 1, wherein, in a plan view, each of the plurality of grooves (grooves in 133) has a different width for each location (the plurality of grooves have different widths from a side-view at differing heights).
Regarding Claim 7, Yamauchi teaches the display device of claim 2, wherein the plurality of grooves (grooves in 133) further comprise a second groove (2nd groove in 133) spaced apart from the first groove (1st groove in 133).
Allowable Subject Matter
A. Claim(s) 4-5 are objected as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance:
The prior art of record (most comprehensive prior art of record to Yamauchi) suggests a display device comprising: a display panel; a protection layer on the display panel and comprising a plurality of grooves each having an anchor shape, wherein the plurality of grooves comprise at least a first groove; a 1-1 layer arranged along at least a portion of an inner side surface of the first groove; and a plurality of transparent partition walls on the protection layer and comprising a first transparent partition wall, wherein the first transparent partition wall is arranged along the first groove and has a portion filling the first groove.
However, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art the display device comprising the various elements as claimed above in combination with the specific limitation of the inner side surface of the first groove comprises: a 1-1 sub-inner side surface extending from a top surface of the protection layer in a direction toward the display panel and having a first width in a plan view; and a 1-2 sub-inner side surface extending from a bottom of the 1-1 sub-inner side surface in the direction toward the display panel and having a second width that is greater than the first width in the plan view as set forth in Claim 4.
Claim(s) 5 are allowable because of their dependency status from Claim 4.
B. Claim(s) 8-18 are objected as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance:
The prior art of record (most comprehensive prior art of record to Yamauchi) suggests a display device comprising: a display panel; a protection layer on the display panel and comprising a plurality of grooves each having an anchor shape, wherein the plurality of grooves comprise at least a first groove; a 1-1 layer arranged along at least a portion of an inner side surface of the first groove; and a plurality of transparent partition walls on the protection layer and comprising a first transparent partition wall, wherein the first transparent partition wall is arranged along the first groove and has a portion filling the first groove.
However, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art the display device comprising the various elements as claimed above in combination with the specific limitation of the plurality of transparent partition walls further comprise a second transparent partition wall arranged on the protection layer along the second groove and having a portion filling the second groove as set forth in Claim 8.
Claim(s) 9-18 are allowable because of their dependency status from Claim 8.
Other Prior Art Cited
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Espacenet Patent Search Complete (Global Dossier).
U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0115404 teaches a similar protection layer.
Examiner's Note
The Examiner cites particular figures, paragraphs, columns and line numbers in the reference(s), as applied to the claims above. Although the particular citations are representative teachings and are applied to specific limitations within the claims, other passages, internally cited references, and figures may also apply. In preparing a response, it is respectfully requested that the Applicant fully consider the references, in their entirety, as potentially disclosing or teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as fully consider the context of the passage as taught by the reference(s) or as disclosed by the Examiner.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Hana Featherly whose telephone number is (571)-272-8654. The examiner can normally be reached on M-R 10 AM - 2 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James Greece can be reached on 571-272-3711. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-272-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/Hana Featherly/
USPTO Art Unit 2875
Patent Examiner Hana Featherly
/JAMES R GREECE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2875