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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Currently, claims 1-20 are pending and examined below.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement (IDS)
Two information disclosure statements submitted on 11/02/2023 ("11-02-23 IDS") and 09/04/2024 (“09-04-24 IDS”) are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the 11-02-23 IDS and 09-04-24 IDS are being considered by the examiner.
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.
The following title is suggested: DISPLAY DEVICE HAVING CRACK DETETION LINE OVERLAPPING SPIDER LINES IN NON-DISPLAY AREA
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 1021
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.
Claims 1-3 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pub. No. US 2019/0019441 A1 to Shin et al. ("Shin").
Figs. 1 and 28 of Shin have been annotated and Fig. 22 of Shin has been provided to support the rejections below:
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Regarding independent claim 1, Shin teaches a display device (see annotated Figs. 1 and Fig. 28, for example. See also Fig. 22.) comprising:
a substrate 110 (para [0053] - “For example, the base substrate 110 may include a display area DA and a peripheral area NDA around the display area DA, and the peripheral area NDA may include the bending area BA.”) comprising a display area DA and a non-display area NDA (see Fig. 1) including a line area (area that encompasses adjacent to a side of the display area DA;
a crack detection line RL2 (para [0233] - “a second crack detection line RL2”) on the substrate 110 in the non-display area NDA, extending to the line area LA (see annotated Figs. 1 and 21) and comprising a first line part LP1 (in the line area LA) and a second line part LP2 (in the bending area BA) connected to the first line part LP1; and
a plurality of spider lines TL3b, TL3a (para [0236] - “In some embodiments, the third test signal line TL3 may include a fifth sub-test signal line TL3a and a sixth sub-test signal line TL3b.”) on the substrate 110 in the line area LA to receive a data voltage (A limitation of “to receive a data voltage” has been interpreted as a statement of intended use. The first test line TL3 is reasonably capable of being subjected to a voltage or a data voltage.), and overlapping the first line part LP1 and not overlapping the second line part LP2 on a plane (see annotated Fig. 28).
Regarding claim 2, Shin teaches the first line part LP1 that is on a different layer from the second line part LP2 (see annotated Fig. 28).
Regarding claim 3, Shin teaches the first line part LP1 that is above the second line part LP2 (see annotated Fig. 28).
Regarding claim 11, Shin teaches a pad portion TP3 on the substrate 110 in the non-display area NDA (see Fig. 22),
wherein an end of the crack detection line RL2 is connected to the pad portion TP3.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 4 is objected to for depending on a rejected base claim 1, but would be allowable if it is rewritten in independent form to include all of the limitations of the base claim 1 or the base claim 1 is amended to include all of the limitations of claim 4.
Claims 5 and 6 are allowable for depending on the allowable claim 4.
Claim 7 is objected to for depending on a rejected base claim 1, but would be allowable if it is rewritten in independent form to include all of the limitations of the base claim 1 or the base claim 1 is amended to include all of the limitations of claim 7.
Claims 8-10 are allowable for depending on the allowable claim 7.
Independent claim 12 is allowed, because the prior art of record, singularly or in combination, fails to disclose or suggest, in combination with the other claimed elements in claim 12, a plurality of spider lines on the substrate in the first line area and the second line area, connected to the plurality of data lines, overlapping the first line part on a plane in the first line area, not overlapping the second line part on the plane in the first line area, and spaced apart from the crack detection line on the plane in the second line area.
Claims 13-20 are allowed, because they depend from the allowed independent claim 12.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Pub. No. US 2022/0271102 A1 to Kim et al.
Pub. No. US 2021/0367000 A1 to Kim et al.
Pub. No. US 2021/0110745 A1 to Jung et al.
Pub. No. US 2020/0203641 A1 to Lee et al.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL JUNG whose telephone number is (408) 918-7554. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 A.M. to 7 P.M.
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, Eliseo Ramos-Feliciano can be reached on (571) 272-7925. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MICHAEL JUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817 24 March 2026
1 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 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