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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-10 in the reply filed on March 12, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
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(s) 1-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2017/0098690 A1) in view of Tabatake (US 2023/0309367 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 6 and 7, Lee discloses a display apparatus (Fig. 1) comprising: a light-emitting element (200) comprising a pixel electrode (210), an intermediate layer (220) and an opposite electrode (230); a bank layer (180) on the pixel electrode and defining a pixel opening which corresponds to the pixel electrode (210); an inorganic encapsulation layer (310, ¶[0039]) on the pixel electrode and having a first refractive index; and a planarization layer (320) on the inorganic encapsulation layer (310) and having a second refractive index which is greater than the first refractive index (¶[0072]). Lee fails to exemplify the bank comprising: an inorganic bank layer, a first metal bank layer and a second metal bank layer sequentially on the pixel electrode; the first metal bank layer, and the second metal bank layer together defining a pixel opening of the bank layer which corresponds to the pixel electrode, further comprising an organic bank layer is formed between the second metal bank layer and the inorganic encapsulation layer, wherein the first metal bank layer comprises a lateral surface defining the pixel opening, and the opposite electrode is in direct contact with the lateral surface of the first metal bank layer which defines the pixel opening.
Tabatake discloses a display apparatus (Fig. 5) comprising: a light-emitting element (20) comprising a pixel electrode (LE), an intermediate layer (ORa) and an opposite electrode (UEa); a bank layer comprising: an inorganic bank layer (5), a first metal bank layer (61) and a second metal bank layer (62) sequentially on the pixel electrode, and the inorganic bank layer (5, ¶[0063]), the first metal bank layer (61, ¶[0072]), and the second metal bank layer (62, ¶[0073]) together defining a pixel opening (AP3, Fig. 2) of the bank layer which corresponds to the pixel electrode (LE); an inorganic encapsulation layer (SE, ¶[0062]) on the pixel electrode; and a planarization layer (14) on the inorganic encapsulation layer (Fig. 3), and an organic bank layer (ORb) is formed between the second metal bank layer (62) and the inorganic encapsulation layer (SE), wherein the first metal bank layer (61) comprises a lateral surface defining the pixel opening, and the opposite electrode (UEa) is in direct contact with the lateral surface of the first metal bank layer which defines the pixel opening (Fig. 3, ¶[0079]), the metal bank layers act as feeding lines for applying common voltage to the opposite upper electrode (¶[0068]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filling of the claimed invention to incorporate the bank comprising an inorganic bank layer, a first metal bank layer and a second metal bank layer as disclosed by Tabatake in the display apparatus of Lee in order to provide a metal bank acting as feeding lines for applying common voltage to the opposite upper electrode.
Regarding claim 2, Lee discloses a display apparatus wherein the first refractive index of the inorganic encapsulation layer is about 1.3 to about 1.6, and the second refractive index of the planarization layer is about 1.6 to about 2.5 (¶[0072]).
Regarding claims 3-4, Lee fails to exemplify wherein the first metal bank layer and the second metal bank layer respectively comprise a lateral surface defining the pixel opening, and the second metal bank layer protrudes further than the lateral surface of the first metal bank layer to define a tip of the second metal bank layer, the tip defining the lateral surface of the second metal bank layer, wherein the tip of the second metal bank layer comprises a lower surface, and the inorganic encapsulation layer is in direct contact with the lower surface of the tip of the second metal bank layer.
Tabatake further discloses a display apparatus wherein the first metal bank layer (61) and the second metal bank layer (62) respectively comprise a lateral surface defining the pixel opening (Fig. 3), and the second metal bank layer (62) protrudes further than the lateral surface of the first metal bank layer to define a tip (62a, Fig. 4) of the second metal bank layer (62), the tip (62a) defining the lateral surface of the second metal bank layer (62), wherein the tip (62a) of the second metal bank layer comprises a lower surface, and the inorganic encapsulation layer (SE) is in direct contact with the lower surface of the tip of the second metal bank layer (Fig. 3), the disclosed bank configuration aids during a deposition process to properly divide the deposited layers for each subpixel (¶[0084-0086]). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filling of the claimed invention to incorporate the bank layer structure as disclosed by Tabatake in the display apparatus of Lee in order to aid the division of the deposited layers for each subpixel during deposition process.
Regarding claim 5, Lee discloses a display apparatus wherein the planarization layer (320) is in the pixel opening of the bank layer (180), and the planarization layer (320) forms an interface with the inorganic encapsulation layer (310), the interface corresponding to the pixel opening (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 8, Lee discloses a display apparatus further comprising a protective layer (330) on the planarization layer (320), the protective layer (330) having a third refractive index which is less than the second refractive index of the planarization layer (¶[0072]).
Regarding claim 9, Lee discloses a display apparatus further comprising: a light-shielding layer (410) on the protective layer and defining a filter opening overlapping the pixel electrode; and a color filter (420) corresponding to the filter opening and the pixel electrode (Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 10 is objected to 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim(s) 10, the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in claim(s) 10, and specifically comprising the limitation of at a position adjacent to the pixel opening, the inorganic encapsulation layer and the protective layer are in direct contact with each other.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jiang et al. (US 2024/0298475 A1) discloses a display panel, including a substrate, a drive layer, an anode layer, a luminescent layer, a cathode layer, and an encapsulation layer, a pixel defining layer is arranged around the anode layer, conductive units are arranged on the pixel defining layer, and eave layers are arranged on the conductive units.
Lin et al. (US 11,610,954 B1) discloses a device including a substrate, a plurality of adjacent pixel-defining layer (PDL) structures disposed over the substrate, and a plurality of sub-pixels, each sub-pixel includes adjacent first overhangs, adjacent second overhangs, an anode, a hole injection layer (HIL) material, an additional organic light emitting diode (OLED) material, and a cathode, each first overhang is defined by a body structure disposed over and extending laterally past a base structure disposed over the PDL structure, each second overhang is defined by a top structure disposed over and extending laterally past the body structure.
Yeo et al. (US 2022/0199948 A1) discloses a display device including a substrate; a light-emitting element layer on the substrate; a first thin-film encapsulation layer that is on the light-emitting element layer, has an upper surface conforming an upper surface of the light-emitting element layer, and includes a recessed portion; a bank layer on the first thin-film encapsulation layer and having an opening overlapping the recessed portion; a wavelength conversion layer in the opening on the first thin-film encapsulation layer and at least partially in the recessed portion; a first inorganic layer on the bank layer and the wavelength conversion layer; an organic layer on the first inorganic layer; and a second inorganic layer on the organic layer, wherein the organic layer and the first and second inorganic layers have different refractive indices.
The rejections above rely on the references for all the teachings expressed in the text of the references and/or one of ordinary skill in the art would have reasonably understood or implied from the texts of the references. To emphasize certain aspects of the prior art, only specific portions of the texts have been pointed out. Each reference as a whole should be reviewed in responding to the rejection, since other sections of the same reference and/or various combinations of the cited references may be relied on in future rejections in view of amendments.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mariceli Santiago whose telephone number is (571) 272-2464. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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/Mariceli Santiago/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2879
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