Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/476,335

DISPLAY PANEL AND DISPLAY DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103§DP
Filed
Sep 28, 2023
Examiner
GREEN, TRACIE Y
Art Unit
2875
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 2m
To Grant
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allow Rate
1097 granted / 1385 resolved
+11.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+9.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
1417
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
60.3%
+20.3% vs TC avg
§102
20.3%
-19.7% vs TC avg
§112
11.6%
-28.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1385 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §DP
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 papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file. Specification 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. 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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 20160093828 A1) (Kim, hereafter) in view of Li et al. (US 11581507 B2)( Li, hereafter). Regarding claims 1, Kim discloses (Figure 2 and corresponding text)a display panel (100), comprising: a light-emitting device (120); and an encapsulating member (130) disposed on the light-emitting device (120) for encapsulating the light-emitting device (120), the encapsulating member comprising a first inorganic encapsulating layer (130), the first inorganic encapsulating layer (130)comprising at least a first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer(131), a second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer(132), and a third inorganic encapsulating(133) sub-layer that are sequentially stacked (π48) in a direction away from the light-emitting device (120); a refractive index of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n1, a refractive index of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n2, and a refractive index of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n3, wherein n2<n3<n1 (π59) and n1−n2>0.4 (π54). Kim fails to explicitly disclose wherein thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is greater than a thickness of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and a thickness of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer; Li discloses (Figures 2 and 3) wherein a thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer (1203)(500 to 60nm) layer is greater than a thickness of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer (1201) (200 to 300nm) and a thickness of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer (1202) (360-400 nm) (Column 5, lines 1-20). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date to modify wherein a thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is greater than a thickness of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and a thickness of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer the motivation being a controlled thickness leads to compactness of the device without sacrificing luminous efficiency. Regarding claims 2, Kim discloses wherein n1>1.9. (π16), Regarding claims 3 and 4, Kim as modified by Li fails to explicitly disclose wherein n3>1.7 (claim 3); wherein n2<1.5 (claim 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date to further modify the display device of Kim wherein n3>1.7 or wherein n2<1.5, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Regarding claim 5, Kim discloses (Figures 1 and 2), wherein the light-emitting device(11) comprises a first electrode (121), a second electrode (123), and a light-emitting layer 122) disposed between the first electrode(121) and the second electrode(123), and the second electrode (123)is disposed on one side of the light-emitting layer(122) close to the encapsulating member(130); Kim fails to explicitly disclose where the display panel further comprises an organic light-gathering layer disposed between the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and the second electrode. Li discloses in (figure 3) he encapsulation structure (12) further includes: a second encapsulation film layer (121) stacked on the first encapsulation film layer (120), the second encapsulation film layer (121) is doped with a light absorption particle (1211), and the light absorption particle (1211) is configured to absorb an ambient light incident on the second encapsulation film layer (121). Optionally, the second encapsulation film layer (121) may be an organic layer, and the light absorption particle (1211) may be an inorganic particle. Exemplarily, the light absorption particle (1211) may be a SiO.sub.2 particle. Wherein, a thickness of the second encapsulation film layer (121) may be 8 μm (micrometers) to 12 μm, and a diameter of the light absorption particle (1211) may be 1 μm to 2 μm. The light absorption particle (1211) can absorb the ambient light incident on the second encapsulation film layer (120) and reduce the ambient light reaching the light-emitting device 1; thus having the light-gathering function. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the display device of Kim as disclosed by Li where the display panel further comprises an organic light-gathering layer disposed between the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and the second electrode the motivation being reduce the ambient light reaching the light-emitting device . Regarding claims 6 , Kim discloses (Figures 1 and 2) wherein a side surface of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer (131)close to the light-emitting device(120) is in contact with a side surface of the light-emitting device(120) close to the encapsulating member(130). Regarding claim 7, Kim discloses wherein a material of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer comprises silicon nitride and the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer comprise silicon oxynitride(π49). Kim fails to explicitly disclose wherein materials of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is silicon oxynitride. Li discloses where the second encapsulation layer (1202) includes silicon oxynitride (column 5, lines 15-20). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the display device of Kim as disclosed by Li wherein materials of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is silicon oxynitride the motivation is to further enhance light extraction with in the device Regarding claim 8, Kim also discloses wherein the first inorganic encapsulating layer (130) further comprises a fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer(135) disposed on one side of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer(133) away from the light-emitting device; Kim as modified by Li fails to explicitly disclose wherein a thickness of the fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is less than the thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer, and a refractive index of the fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n4, n4<n3. However it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the display device wherein a thickness of the fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is less than the thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer, and a refractive index of the fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n4, n4<n3, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Regarding claim 9, Kim fails to explicitly an organic encapsulating layer disposed on one side of the first inorganic encapsulating layer away from the light-emitting device and a second inorganic encapsulating layer disposed on one side of the organic encapsulating layer away from the light-emitting device. LI discloses(Figure 2-3) an organic encapsulating layer(121) disposed on one side of the first inorganic encapsulating layer(120, bottom) away from the light-emitting device(11) and a second inorganic encapsulating layer(120, (top) disposed on one side of the organic encapsulating layer(121) away from the light-emitting device (11) (Column 5, lines 20-Column 6, line 5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further modify the display device as disclosed by Li an organic encapsulating layer disposed on one side of the first inorganic encapsulating layer away from the light-emitting device and a second inorganic encapsulating layer disposed on one side of the organic encapsulating layer away from the light-emitting device the motivation being to adjust an angle of an ambient light incident on the light-emitting device to reduce an amount of ambient light reflected from the display panel. Regarding claim 10, Kim discloses (Figures 1 and 2), wherein the light-emitting device(11) comprises a first electrode (121), a second electrode (123), and a light-emitting layer 122) disposed between the first electrode(121) and the second electrode(123), and the second electrode (123)is disposed on one side of the light-emitting layer(122) close to the encapsulating member(130); Kim fails to explicitly disclose where the display panel further comprises an organic light-gathering layer disposed between the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and the second electrode. Li discloses in (figure 3) he encapsulation structure (12) further includes: a second encapsulation film layer (121) stacked on the first encapsulation film layer (120), the second encapsulation film layer (121) is doped with a light absorption particle (1211), and the light absorption particle (1211) is configured to absorb an ambient light incident on the second encapsulation film layer (121). Optionally, the second encapsulation film layer (121) may be an organic layer, and the light absorption particle (1211) may be an inorganic particle. Exemplarily, the light absorption particle (1211) may be a SiO.sub.2 particle. Wherein, a thickness of the second encapsulation film layer (121) may be 8 μm (micrometers) to 12 μm, and a diameter of the light absorption particle (1211) may be 1 μm to 2 μm. The light absorption particle (1211) can absorb the ambient light incident on the second encapsulation film layer (120) and reduce the ambient light reaching the light-emitting device 1; thus having the light-gathering function. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the display device of Kim as disclosed by Li where the display panel further comprises an organic light-gathering layer disposed between the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and the second electrode the motivation being reduce the ambient light reaching the light-emitting device . Regarding claims 11, Kim discloses (Figures 1 and 2) wherein a side surface of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer (131)close to the light-emitting device(120) is in contact with a side surface of the light-emitting device(120) close to the encapsulating member(130). Regarding claims 12, Kim discloses (Figure 2 and corresponding text)a display panel (100), comprising: a light-emitting device (120); and an encapsulating member (130) disposed on the light-emitting device (120) for encapsulating the light-emitting device (120), the encapsulating member comprising a first inorganic encapsulating layer (130), the first inorganic encapsulating layer (130)comprising at least a first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer(131), a second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer(132), and a third inorganic encapsulating(133) sub-layer that are sequentially stacked (π48) in a direction away from the light-emitting device (120); a refractive index of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n1, a refractive index of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n2, and a refractive index of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n3, wherein n2<n3<n1 (π59) and n1−n2>0.4 (π54). Kim fails to explicitly disclose wherein a display device having a display panel ;wherein thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is greater than a thickness of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and a thickness of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer; Li discloses (Figures 2 and 3; figure 17) Display device with display panel(Column 16 line 45-65); wherein a thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer (1203)(500 to 60nm) layer is greater than a thickness of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer (1201) (200 to 300nm) and a thickness of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer (1202) (360-400 nm) (Column 5, lines 1-20). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date to modify the display device of Kim, as disclosed by Li, where the display panel is utilized; wherein a thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is greater than a thickness of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and a thickness of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer the motivation being a controlled thickness leads to compactness of the device without sacrificing luminous efficiency. Regarding claims 13, Kim discloses wherein n1>1.9. (π16), Regarding claims 14 and 15, Kim as modified by Li fails to explicitly disclose wherein n3>1.7 (claim 14); wherein n2<1.5 (claim 15). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date to further modify the display device of Kim wherein n3>1.7 or wherein n2<1.5, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Regarding claim 16, Kim discloses (Figures 1 and 2), wherein the light-emitting device(11) comprises a first electrode (121), a second electrode (123), and a light-emitting layer 122) disposed between the first electrode(121) and the second electrode(123), and the second electrode (123)is disposed on one side of the light-emitting layer(122) close to the encapsulating member(130); Kim fails to explicitly disclose where the display panel further comprises an organic light-gathering layer disposed between the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and the second electrode. Li discloses in (figure 3) he encapsulation structure (12) further includes: a second encapsulation film layer (121) stacked on the first encapsulation film layer (120), the second encapsulation film layer (121) is doped with a light absorption particle (1211), and the light absorption particle (1211) is configured to absorb an ambient light incident on the second encapsulation film layer (121). Optionally, the second encapsulation film layer (121) may be an organic layer, and the light absorption particle (1211) may be an inorganic particle. Exemplarily, the light absorption particle (1211) may be a SiO.sub.2 particle. Wherein, a thickness of the second encapsulation film layer (121) may be 8 μm (micrometers) to 12 μm, and a diameter of the light absorption particle (1211) may be 1 μm to 2 μm. The light absorption particle (1211) can absorb the ambient light incident on the second encapsulation film layer (120) and reduce the ambient light reaching the light-emitting device 1; thus having the light-gathering function. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the display device of Kim as disclosed by Li where the display panel further comprises an organic light-gathering layer disposed between the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer and the second electrode the motivation being reduce the ambient light reaching the light-emitting device . Regarding claims 17, Kim discloses (Figures 1 and 2) wherein a side surface of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer (131)close to the light-emitting device(120) is in contact with a side surface of the light-emitting device(120) close to the encapsulating member(130). Regarding claim 18, Kim discloses wherein a material of the first inorganic encapsulating sub-layer comprises silicon nitride and the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer comprise silicon oxynitride(π49). Kim fails to explicitly disclose wherein materials of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is silicon oxynitride. Li discloses where the second encapsulation layer (1202) includes silicon oxynitride (column 5, lines 15-20). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the display device of Kim as disclosed by Li wherein materials of the second inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is silicon oxynitride the motivation is to further enhance light extraction with in the device Regarding claim 19, Kim also discloses wherein the first inorganic encapsulating layer (130) further comprises a fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer(135) disposed on one side of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer(133) away from the light-emitting device; Kim as modified by Li fails to explicitly disclose wherein a thickness of the fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is less than the thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer, and a refractive index of the fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n4, n4<n3. However it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the display device wherein a thickness of the fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is less than the thickness of the third inorganic encapsulating sub-layer, and a refractive index of the fourth inorganic encapsulating sub-layer is n4, n4<n3, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Regarding claim 20, Kim fails to explicitly an organic encapsulating layer disposed on one side of the first inorganic encapsulating layer away from the light-emitting device and a second inorganic encapsulating layer disposed on one side of the organic encapsulating layer away from the light-emitting device. LI discloses(Figure 2-3) an organic encapsulating layer(121) disposed on one side of the first inorganic encapsulating layer(120, bottom) away from the light-emitting device(11) and a second inorganic encapsulating layer(120, (top) disposed on one side of the organic encapsulating layer(121) away from the light-emitting device (11) (Column 5, lines 20-Column 6, line 5). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to further modify the display device as disclosed by Li an organic encapsulating layer disposed on one side of the first inorganic encapsulating layer away from the light-emitting device and a second inorganic encapsulating layer disposed on one side of the organic encapsulating layer away from the light-emitting device the motivation being to adjust an angle of an ambient light incident on the light-emitting device to reduce an amount of ambient light reflected from the display panel. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in the 892 and below: US 20240292715 A1-Same Assignee-inorganic encapsulation-no double patenting US 20230022371 A1-inorganic 3 sub-layer encapsulation US 20200203663 A1-thin-film encapsulation US 20190051862 A1-edge covered encapsulation Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACIE Y GREEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3104. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thursday, 10am-8pm. 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, James R Greece can be reached at (571)272-3711. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. TRACIE Y. GREEN Primary Examiner Art Unit 2875 /TRACIE Y GREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 28, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 15, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §DP (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
79%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (+9.4%)
2y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1385 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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