The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1-9, 16-18, 20-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoon (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0210732, hereinafter referred to as Yoon).
As to claim 1, Yoon teaches 1. A light extraction sheet for a display device disposed on an emission area of the display device, the light extraction sheet comprising: a base layer comprising an insulating material [see 110 in Fig.1]; and transparent metal oxide crystals provided on one or both surfaces of the base layer as a pattern of irregular curves. [121a, 123 in Fig.1 and 3 for example; ¶0029]
As to claim 2, Yoon teaches 2. The light extraction sheet according to claim 1, wherein the base layer comprises an inorganic insulating material comprising one selected from among SiNx, SiOx, SiOxNv, AlOx, ZnSnOx, ITO, ZnO, IZO, ZnS, and MgO. [¶0029]
As to claim 3, Yoon teaches 3. The light extraction sheet according to claim 1, wherein the transparent metal oxide comprises one selected from among TiO2, ZnO2, and SnO2. [¶0029]
As to claim 4, Yoon teaches 4. The light extraction sheet according to claim 1, further comprising one or more insulating layers disposed on one or both surfaces of the base layer to cover the metal oxide crystals. [110 in Fig. 1 for example]
As to claim 5, Yoon teaches 5. The light extraction sheet according to claim 4, wherein the insulating layer comprises an inorganic insulating material comprising one selected from among SiNx, SiOx, SiOxNv, AlOx, ZnSnOx, ITO, ZnO, IZO, ZnS, and MgO. [¶0029]
As to claim 6, Yoon teaches 6. The light extraction sheet according to claim 4, wherein the metal oxide crystals are disposed above and below the base layer, the size of the metal oxide crystals located above the base layer being different from the size of the metal oxide crystals located below the base layer. [¶0030]
As to claim 7, Yoon teaches 7. A manufacturing method of a light extraction sheet for a display device, the light extraction sheet disposed on an emission area of the display device, and comprising: forming a base layer comprising an insulating material; and forming metal oxide crystals on one or both surfaces of the base layer as a pattern of irregular curves. [see Fig.11~12 for example]
As to claim 8, Yoon teaches 8. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, wherein the base layer comprises an inorganic insulating material comprising one selected from among SiNx, SiOx, SiOxNv, AlOx, ZnSnOx, ITO, ZnO, IZO, ZnS, and MgO. [¶0029]
As to claim 9, Yoon teaches 9. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, wherein the metal oxide comprises one selected from among TiO2, ZnO2, and SnO2. [¶0029]
As to claim 16, Yoon teaches 16. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, further comprising sintering the annealed base layer at a temperature of 450 to 550°C for 20 to 40 minutes. [¶0047]
As to claim 17, Yoon teaches 17. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, further comprising depositing one or more insulating layers to cover the metal oxide crystals formed on one or both surfaces of the base layer. [¶0029]
As to claim 18, Yoon teaches 18. The manufacturing method according to claim 17, wherein the deposition of the insulating layer comprises depositing one or more insulating layers on one or both surfaces of the base layer by sputtering, the one or more insulating layers comprising one selected from among SiNx, SiOx, SiOxNv, AlOx, ZnSnOx, ITO, ZnO, IZO, ZnS, and MgO. [¶0029]
As to claim 20, Yoon teaches 20. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, wherein the metal oxide crystals are transparent metal oxide crystals. [¶0028]
As to claim 21, Yoon teaches 21. A display device comprising: a plurality of subpixels on a substrate; an emission area overlapping with the plurality of subpixels; and a light extraction sheet on the emission area, the light extraction sheet including: a base layer including an insulating material, the base layer having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; and first transparent metal oxide crystals on the first surface of the base layer, the first transparent metal oxide crystals having first irregular patterns. [¶0002; 0029]
As to claim 22, Yoon teaches 22. The display device according to claim 21, comprising: second transparent metal oxide crystals on the second surface of the base layer, the second transparent metal oxide crystals having second irregular patterns. [¶0030]
As to claim 23, Yoon teaches 23. The display device according to claim 22, wherein the first irregular patterns and the second irregular patterns are different from each other. [see Fig. 3 for example]
As to claim 24, Yoon teaches 24. The display device according to claim 22, wherein the first irregular patterns include a plurality of grooves, each of the grooves of the plurality extending towards the base layer. [see Fig. 1 for example]
As to claim 25, Yoon teaches 25. The display device according to claim 24, wherein at least one of the grooves of the plurality exposes the first surface of the base layer. [see Fig. 1 for example]
As to claim 26, Yoon teaches 26. The display device according to claim 21, comprising: a first insulation layer on the first transparent metal oxide crystals. [¶0029]
As to claim 27, Yoon teaches 27. The display device according to claim 22, comprising: a second insulation layer on the second transparent metal oxide crystals, wherein the base layer is between the first insulation layer and the second insulation layer.[¶0030]
As to claim 28, Yoon teaches 28. The display device according to claim 21, wherein the display device includes any device selected from among a micro-light-emitting diode display device, a mini- light-emitting diode display device, an organic light-emitting display device, a liquid crystal display device, and a quantum dot light-emitting display device.[¶0002]
As to claim 29, Yoon teaches 29. The display device according to claim 26, wherein the first insulation layer contacts the plurality of grooves and extends into the plurality of grooves. [see Fig. 1 for example]
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
1. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
2. Claim 10-15, 19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Yoon in view of Kim et al. (KR20170113944, IDS, hereinafter referred to as Kim).
As to claim 10, Yoon may not explicitly teach 10. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, wherein the obtaining of the metal oxide crystals comprises: applying a sol-gel solution by adding a metal precursor to a mixture of a first solvent and a second solvent having different evaporation rates; stirring the sol-gel solution at a temperature of 50 to 70°C for 20 to 40 minutes; coating one or both surfaces of the base layer with the sol-gel solution by spin coating or slit coating; and annealing the base layer coated with the sol-gel solution while increasing a temperature from 100°C to 400°C at a temperature growth rate of 10 to 30°C/min.
Kim teaches this limitation […First, the source solution (30) can be manufactured by a sol-gel method using a stirring process of the first solution (10) and the second solution (20). In addition, the light extraction layer (1200) can be manufactured by performing a dynamic annealing process that gradually increases the temperature of the source solution (30) coated on the substrate (100). In this way, since the light extraction layer (120) is manufactured through the sol-gel method and the dynamic annealing process, which can be said to be relatively simple processes, the process cost and process time required for manufacturing the organic light-emitting device (200) can be reduced…¶0093]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to combine the teachings of Yoon and Kim to “use a sol-gel method" in Yoon according to Kim, for the further advantage of “utilizing known method of obtaining light extraction layer”.
As to claim 11, Yoon and Kim teach 11. The manufacturing method according to claim 10, wherein the metal precursor comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a zinc precursor, a titanium precursor, and a tin precursor. [¶0040 Kim]
As to claim 12, Yoon and Kim may not explicitly teach 12. The manufacturing method according to claim 11, wherein the zinc precursor comprises zinc acetate dehydrate.
The Examiner takes official notice that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use above precursors as they are well known material.
As to claim 13, Yoon and Kim may not explicitly teach 13. The manufacturing method according to claim 11, wherein the titanium precursor comprises titanium oxyacetylacetonate or titanium isopropoxide.
The Examiner takes official notice that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use above precursors as they are well known material.
As to claim 14, Yoon and Kim may not explicitly teach 14. The manufacturing method according to claim 11, wherein the tin precursor comprises tin acetate or tin acetylacetonate.
The Examiner takes official notice that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use above precursors as they are well known material.
As to claim 15, Yoon and Kim may not explicitly teach 15. The manufacturing method according to claim 10, wherein the first solvent comprises ethanolamine or diethanolamine, and the second solvent comprises one selected from among 2-methoxyethanol, ethanol, methanol, and isopropyl alcohol (2-propanol).
The Examiner takes official notice that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use above precursors as they are well known material.
As to claim 19, Yoon and Kim teach 19. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, wherein obtaining metal oxide crystals on one or both surfaces of the base layer as a pattern of irregular curves includes using sol-gel synthesis to the metal oxide crystals at the base layer. [¶0093 Kim]
Conclusion
Claims 1-29 are rejected as explained above.
The prior art made of record in the PTO-892 form and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/JAEHWAN OH/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899