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.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-15 and 17-20 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected Species B-E, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/06/2026. Applicant identified claims 1-20 as directed to Species A (FIG. 2), but only claim 16 is properly directed to Species A (FIG. 2), and therefore claims 1-15 and 17-20 are withdrawn.
In the Requirement for Restriction/Election dated 01/08/2026, claims 1-6, 8-12, and 17-20 were indicated as generic; claims 7 and 16 were indicated as specific species claims of Species D and A, respectively; and claims 13-15 were not explicitly indicated as generic or specific species claims. Claims 1-6, 8-15, and 17-20 are properly identified as directed to Species B-E (i.e. generic). Claim 7 is properly identified as a specific species claim of Species D. Claim 16 is properly identified as a specific species claim of Species A shown in FIG. 2. This figure (included below) clearly shows a “hollow portion” 213 as claimed by claim 16 and does not include a “concave and/or convex” portion as required by the limitations of claims 1-15 and 17-20.
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Therefore, claims 1-6, 8-15, and 17-20 are directed to Species B-E and Species A is not directed to claims 1-6, 8-15, 17-20.
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.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fujikawa (US 20200203281 A1; hereinafter Fujikawa).
Regarding claim 16, FIGS. 1-7 of Fujikawa teach a chip on film (e.g. FIG. 7), comprising a display bonding area (32 ¶ [0055]) corresponding to bonding positions of a display panel (e.g. 100, 105 of FIG. 3 ¶ [0049],[0054]), and comprising: a base (31A ¶ [0089]); and bonding terminals (21a-21b, 312-315, 322-325 ¶ [0089]-[0090],[0099]), disposed on a side of the base (31A), wherein in the display bonding area (32), the base (31A) comprises a first bonding portion (first bonding portion including 21, 21a-21b, 311a-311b) and a second bonding portion (second bonding portion including 312-315, 322-325), and both of the first bonding portion (first bonding portion including 21, 21a-21b, 311a-311b) and the second bonding portion (second bonding portion including 312-315, 322-325) are provided with the bonding terminals (21a-21b, 312-315, 322-325, respectively) thereon; the first bonding portion (first bonding portion including 21, 21a-21b, 311a-311b) has an outer contour (outer edge of 31A) and comprises one part of outer edges of the base (31A); and the second bonding portion (second bonding portion including 312-315, 322-325) comprises one or more second sub-portions (second sub-portions including 322-325), the base (31A) further comprises one or more hollow portions (H1-H2 ¶ [0089]), and each of the second sub-portions (second sub-portions including 322-325) comprises inner edges of the base (inner edges of 31A) surrounding one of the hollow portions (one of H1-H2, see Examiner annotated FIG. 7 below).
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Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20100133677 A1 – discloses a chip on film comprising concave portions.
US 20210217741 A1 – discloses a lead frame comprising concave portions.
US 5631191 A – discloses a chip on film comprising cutouts.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nora T Nix whose telephone number is (571)270-1972. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Landau can be reached at (571) 272-1731. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Nora T. Nix/Assistant Examiner, Art Unit 2891
/MATTHEW C LANDAU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2891
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