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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 2, 4-5 and 8-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
In the instant case, applicant has added a negative limitation, “each of the one or more protrusions is disposed only between an edge of the deposition mask and an outermost peripheral pixel opening among the plurality of pixel openings”, that was not positively recited in instant application. It is the examiner position that any negative limitation or exclusionary proviso must have basis in the original disclosure. Since the disclosure is not exclusively limited ONLY to such embodiment, See In re Johnson, 558 F.2d 1008, 1019, 194 USPQ 187, 196 (CCPA 1977). Therefore, any claim containing a negative limitation which does not have basis in the original disclosure should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement.
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.
(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(s) 1, 2, 4 and 8-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yotsuya (US 2006/0191864), (hereinafter, Yotsuya).
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RE Claims 1, 8 and 9, Yotsuya discloses in FIGS. 1-7 a thin film deposition mask and a method of making the same and a method of using the mask to make a pattern for an electroluminescent device. Yotsuya discloses a deposition mask “M”, comprising:
a plurality of pixel openings 24 disposed in a surface of the deposition mask “M”, made of silicon [0014 and 0042];
one or more protrusion 28, made of magnetic material, where each of the one or more protrusion hence meeting the limitation of Claim 8, disposed only between an edge of the deposition mask and an outermost peripheral pixel opening 24 among the plurality of pixel openings 24, referring to FIGS. 1B, 2, 5C and 7, in the surface of the deposition mask to face a substrate “L”, which is made of glass [0087], hence meeting Claim 9 limitation, on which a deposition pattern is deposited, referring to FIG. 7; and
a crosspiece, referring to FIG. 1A annotated above, located between two pixel openings 24 adjacent to each other, among the plurality of pixel openings 24, referring to FIGS. 5C and 7,
wherein a material of the crosspiece, and a material of the deposition mask “M” are the same, since the mask “M” includes the crosspieces is made of silicon material as a one piece substrate, and wherein a material of the one or more protrusions 28 is different from the material of the deposition mask, since it is made of magnetic material, hence meeting the claimed limitation. It is the examiner position the mask M has openings 24 and protrusions 28, wherein the edges of protrusions 28 are terminated at the peripheral edges of the openings 24, hence meeting the claimed limitations of disposed only between an edge of the deposition mask and an outermost peripheral pixel opening 24 among the plurality of pixel openings 24
RE Claim 2, Yotsuya discloses a deposition mask, wherein with W as a width of the region from the pixel opening 24 disposed in the outermost peripheral portion, referring to FIG. 5C, the protrusions 28 are formed within a range of W/2 from the pixel opening 24 disposed in the outermost peripheral portion. It is clear that the protrusions 28 is disposed within a range of W/2 from the pixel opening, since its edge is disposed “aligned” with the edge of the openings 24, referring to FIG. 5C, hence meeting the claimed limitation.
RE Claim 4, Yotsuya discloses a deposition mask, wherein the deposition mask “M” has a frame in contact with a support member “MA” of the deposition mask “M”, and wherein a thickness of the frame is greater than a thickness of a first crosspiece S “silicon pattern”, in a thickness direction of the deposition mask, referring to FIG. 5C.
RE Claim 10, Yotsuya discloses a method for producing an organic light-emitting element, comprising:
forming an organic compound layer using the deposition mask according to Claim 1 referring to FIG.8 [0098-0101].
RE Claim 11, Yotsuya discloses a display device, comprising:
an organic light-emitting element having an organic compound layer formed using the deposition mask according to Claim 1 referring to FIG.8 [0098-0101].
RE Claim 12, Yotsuya discloses an imaging device “by bi=virtue of forming an image in a display” [0107, 0115], comprising: an organic light-emitting element having an organic compound layer formed using the deposition mask according to Claim 1 [0098-0101, 0107, 0108, 0115 and 0116].
RE Claim 13, Yotsuya discloses an electronic device “POS terminal”, comprising:
an organic light-emitting element having an organic compound layer formed using the deposition mask according to Claim 1 [0098-0101, 0107, 0108, 0115 and 0116].
RE Claim 14, Yotsuya discloses lighting device, comprising:
an organic light-emitting element having an organic compound layer formed using the deposition mask according to Claim 1 [0098-0101, 0107, 0108, 0115 and 0116]. Examiner notes that the recitation of “organic light-emitting element” of the claimed invention is an intended use language does not result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art, thus claimed invention is only an art recognized suitability for an intended purpose, See In re Casey, 152 USPQ 235 (CCPA 1967) and In re Otto, 136 USPQ 458, 459 (CCPA 1963).
RE Claim 15, Yotsuya discloses a moving body “CAR” with car navigation device, comprising:
an organic light-emitting element having an organic compound layer formed using the deposition mask according to Claim 1 [0098-0101, 0107, 0108, 0115 and 0116].
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yotsuya (US 2006/0191864), (hereinafter, Yotsuya) in view of Yotsuya et al. (US 2006/0160026), (hereinafter, Yotsuya II).
RE Claim 5, Yotsuya does not discloses a deposition mask, wherein the deposition mask has a frame in contact with a support member of the deposition mask, and a second crosspiece located between two pixel openings adjacent to each other, from among the plurality of pixel openings, and dl, d2 and d3, as values of thickness of the frame, the first crosspieces and the second crosspieces, in a thickness direction of the deposition mask, satisfy expression (1):dl>d2>d3 (1).
However, in the same field of endeavor, Yotsuya II discloses in FIGS. 1-6 a thin film deposition mask and a method of using the mask to make a pattern for an electroluminescent device [0052]. Yotsuya II discloses a deposition mask 10,
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wherein a plurality of pixel openings 31/51 are disposed in a surface, referring to FIG. 1, of a deposition mask 10, which is to face a substrate [0034] on which a deposition pattern is deposited,
wherein protrusions 4 including a material “magnetic” different from a material included in the deposition mask 3 “silicon” are formed in a region which is located from a pixel opening 31/51 that is disposed at an outermost peripheral portion in the surface, from among the plurality of pixel openings 31/51, up to an edge of the deposition mask 10, and wherein in the deposition mask 10, a crosspiece 32 which is located between two pixel openings 31/51 adjacent to each other, from among the plurality of pixel openings include the material “silicon”.
Yotsuya II discloses a deposition mask, wherein the deposition mask 10 has a frame 3 in contact with a support member 3/32 of the deposition mask 10, and a second crosspiece 32 located between two-pixel openings 31 adjacent to each other, from among the plurality of pixel openings 24, and
dl, d2 and d3, as values of thickness of the frame 3, the first crosspieces and the second crosspieces, in a thickness direction of the deposition mask, satisfy expression (1); d1≥d2≥d3 (1), referring to FIGS. 1 and 6, as annotated above.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to have the Yotsuya’s mask structure similar to the mask structure of Yotsuya II as a well-known mask structure in order to control the proximity effects
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/06/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In the instant case, the mask M has openings 24 and protrusions 28, wherein the edges of protrusions 28 are terminated at the peripheral edges of the openings 24, hence meeting the claimed limitations of disposed only between an edge of the deposition mask and an outermost peripheral pixel opening 24 among the plurality of pixel openings 24
Moreover, applicant has added a negative limitation, “each of the one or more protrusions is disposed only between an edge of the deposition mask and an outermost peripheral pixel opening among the plurality of pixel openings”, that was not positively recited in instant application. It is the examiner position that any negative limitation or exclusionary proviso must have basis in the original disclosure. Since the disclosure is not exclusively limited ONLY to such embodiment, See In re Johnson, 558 F.2d 1008, 1019, 194 USPQ 187, 196 (CCPA 1977).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. In the instant case, MIYAMOTO et al. (US 2019/0360091) disclose a CVD mask comprising a sheet portion and a first projection are included. The sheet portion has a sheet shape and includes one or more mask openings. The first projection is provided on a surface of the sheet portion the surface is configured to face a substrate, and the first projection has a frame shape and is formed along an edge of at least one of the one or more mask openings. With this configuration, thin films having dimensions conforming to the design dimensions and preventing blurring are formed over the substrate.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YASSER ABDELAZIEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-5783. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9 am - 6 pm.
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, Leonard Chang can be reached at (571)270-3691. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YASSER A ABDELAZIEZ, PhD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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