Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/498,048

DISPLAY DEVICE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Oct 31, 2023
Examiner
RALEIGH, DONALD L
Art Unit
2875
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Magnolia White Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 0m
To Grant
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allow Rate
1067 granted / 1349 resolved
+11.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +15% lift
Without
With
+14.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 0m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
1373
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
50.7%
+10.7% vs TC avg
§102
32.1%
-7.9% vs TC avg
§112
13.3%
-26.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1349 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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. 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 § 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. Claim(s) 1, 4 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takata (US PG Pub NO. 2009/0009069). Regarding Claim 1 , Takata in figure 1 discloses: A display device (title, OLED) comprising: a circuit layer (200, TFT) including a pixel circuit (the drain (108) connects to the pixel electrode), an insulating layer (1 10 , ¶ [0044]) which covers the circuit layer (200) and comprises a contact hole; (from 330 to 108) a lower electrode (300, ¶ [0040]) provided above the insulating layer (1 10 ) and connected to the pixel circuit (108) through the contact hole (fig. 1) ; an organic layer (310, ¶ [0040]) which covers the lower electrode (300) through the pixel aperture (between the banks) and emits light based on application of voltage (¶ [0040]) ; and an upper electrode ( 320 , ¶ [ 0040 ) which covers the organic layer ( 310) a filling material (from the rib 330) located inside the contact hole and formed of an organic insulating material (which can be acrylic resin , ¶ [004 8 ]) which covers the lower electrode (300) ; a rib (330) comprising a pixel aperture (see fig.) which overlaps the lower electrode (300) ; a partition (350 /340 , ¶ [0041]) provided above the rib (330) ; wherein the rib (330) and the partition (350/340) overlap an entire of the contact hole (see fig. 1) as seen in (a) plan view, and a thickness of the filling material (from 330) is less than a depth of the contact hole (since the lower electrode has thickness and covers the bottom of the contact hole. Regarding Claim 4 , Takata discloses in figure 1: wherein the pixel circuit includes a conductive layer (108, [0045]) exposed from the insulating layer ( 11 0) through the contact hole , and the lower electrode ( 300 is in contact with the conductive layer (108) inside the contact hole . Regarding Claim 1 2 , Takata discloses in figure 1: wherein the partition (350/340) includes a conductive lower portion (340, ¶ [0040]) and an upper portion (350) provided on the lower portion (340) and protruding from a side surface (top) of the lower portion (340) . Regarding Claim 1 3 , Takada discloses in figure 1: wherein a thin film including the organic layer ( 310 ) and the upper electrode (320) is divided by the partition (350/340) . Regarding Claim 1 4 , Takada discloses in figure 1: further comprising a sealing layer (401, ¶ [0076]) formed of an inorganic insulating material (¶ [0077]) and continuously covering a plurality of portions of the thin film divided by the partition (350/340) . Allowable Subject Matter Claims 16-20 are allowed. Claim s 2-3 and 5- 10 are 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. Regarding Claim 2 , the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in Claim 2 , and specifically comprising the limitation of “ wherein the filling material has a shape in which the thickness decreases toward a center of the contact hole ” including the remaining limitations Regarding Claim 3 , the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in Claim 3 , and specifically comprising the limitation of “ wherein an upper surface of the filling material has a shape which is depressed toward a lower side ” including the remaining limitations Regarding Claim 5 , the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in Claim 5 , and specifically comprising the limitation of “ wherein the conductive layer comprises an end portion located inside the contact hole , the lower electrode comprises a step portion generated by the end portion of the conductive layer, and the filling material covers the step portion ” including the remaining limitations Claims 6-8 are allowable, at least, because of their dependencies on claim 5. Regarding Claim 9 , the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in Claim 9 and specifically comprising the limitation of “ wherein the lower electrode comprises an end portion located inside the contact hole , and the filling material covers the end portion of the lower electrode ” including the remaining limitations. Claim 10 is allowable, at least, because of its dependency on claim 9. Regarding Claim 1 1 , the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in Claim 11 and specifically comprising the limitation of “ wherein each of the rib and the partition comprises a recess portion which is depressed toward (the) inside of the contact hole ” including the remaining limitations. Examiner Note: in Takada, above, only the rib “ comprises a recess portion which is depressed toward (the) inside of the contact hole ”. Regarding Claim 1 5 , the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in Claim 15, and specifically comprising the limitation of “ wherein neither the thin film nor the sealing layer is provided above the contact hole” . Including the remaining limitations. Regarding Claim 16 , the references of the Prior Art of record fails to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in Claim 16, and specifically comprising the limitation of “ forming a filling material having a thickness less than a depth of the contact hole inside the contact hole by developing the photosensitive material to remove a portion of the photosensitive material located outside the contact hole, and by reducing a thickness of a portion of the photosensitive material located inside the contact hole ” including the remaining limitations. Claims 17-20 are allowable, at least, because of their dependencies on claim 16. CONTACT INFORMATION Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT DONALD L RALEIGH whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-3407 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 7AM -3 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT James R. Greece can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 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. /DONALD L RALEIGH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 31, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 26, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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DISPLAY PANEL, DATA PROCESSING DEVICE, AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF THE DISPLAY PANEL
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
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Patent 12598864
METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING DISPLAY DEVICE, DISPLAY DEVICE, DISPLAY MODULE, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE
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Patent 12593595
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2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
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
94%
With Interview (+14.7%)
2y 0m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1349 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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