Attorney’s Docket Number: P231115US00
Filing Date: 11/10/2023
Claimed Priority Date: 07/22/2020 (CON of 16/964,169 now PAT 11,930,669)
09/27/2019 (371 of PCT/CN2019/108526)
Applicants: Zhang et al.
Examiner: Younes Boulghassoul
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the Amendment filed on 07/23/2026.
Remarks
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Acknowledgment
The Amendment filed on 07/23/2026, responding to the Office action mailed on 04/24/2026, has been entered. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Applicant added new claims 11-12. Accordingly, pending in this application are claims 1-12.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments to the Specification and Claims have overcome the respective objections to the Specification and Claims, as previously set forth in the Non-Final Office action mailed on 04/24/2026. Accordingly, all previous objections to the Specification and Claims are hereby withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have overcome the claim rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112 and 35 U.S.C. 102, as previously formulated in the same Office action. Accordingly, all previous claim rejections are hereby also withdrawn. However, Applicant’s amendments have raised new issues, and new grounds for rejection are presented below, as necessitated by Applicant’s amendments to the claims.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
- L. 2-3: amend “other than a conductive intermediate-connection pattern portions” to either -- other than a conductive intermediate-connection pattern portion--, or -- other than [[a]] conductive intermediate-connection pattern portions--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 8 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 8 recites the limitation “wherein the second source-drain metal layer further comprises an imaging pinhole” at L. 1-2. However, claim 1 has been amended to recite “the light shielding layer comprises an imaging pinhole” at L. 19, and it is unclear if both recitations of the “imaging pinhole” feature are directed to a same or different features. For the purpose of examination, the claim will be construed as reciting -- wherein the second source-drain metal layer further comprises the imaging pinhole --, as best understood by the examiner in view of the disclosure as originally filed, and until further clarifications are provided by applicant.
Claim 10 recites the limitation “a light reflection layer provided on a side of the organic light emitting layer away from the light shielding layer; the light shielding layer comprises an imaging pinhole;” at L. 1-3. However, claim 1 has been amended to recite “the light shielding layer comprises an imaging pinhole” at L. 19. Therefore, the last portion of the limitation seems redundant, and it is unclear if both recitations of the “imaging pinhole” feature are directed to a same or different features. For the purpose of examination, the claim will be construed as reciting -- a light reflection layer provided on a side of the organic light emitting layer away from the light shielding layer; --, as best understood by the examiner in view of the disclosure as originally filed, and until further clarifications are provided by applicant.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7, 9, and 11-12 are allowable.
Claim 8 and 10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 1, the prior art fails to show or suggest a display panel, wherein the light shielding layer comprises an imaging pinhole; and the light shielding layer is provided on a light incoming side of a fingerprint recognition sensor, the imaging pinhole permitting light to pass therethrough to the fingerprint recognition sensor.
Regarding Claim 11, the prior art fails to show or suggest a display panel, wherein a second source-drain metal layer is re-used as the light shielding layer; and the second source-drain metal layer further comprises an imaging pinhole, at least one hollow structure, and at least one conductive intermediate-connection pattern portion.
Regarding Claim 12, the prior art fails to show or suggest a display panel, wherein the display panel further comprises a light reflection layer provided on a side of the organic light emitting layer away from the light shielding layer; the light shielding layer comprising an imaging pinhole; the display panel further comprises a plurality of fingerprint recognition sensors arranged in an array, the fingerprint recognition sensors are arranged on a side of the base substrate away from the light shielding layer; the light shielding layer is provided on a light incoming side of the fingerprint recognition sensors; a minimum distance between the imaging pinhole and the organic light emitting layer in the red sub-pixels is less than a minimum distance between the imaging pinhole and the organic light emitting layer in the green sub-pixels; and the minimum distance between the imaging pinhole and the organic light emitting layer in the red sub-pixels is less than a minimum distance between the imaging pinhole and the organic light emitting layer in the blue sub-pixels.
Therefore, the above limitations in the entirety of their respective claims are neither anticipated nor rendered obvious over the prior art of record.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks with respect to the claims filed on 07/23/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Younes Boulghassoul whose telephone number is (571) 270-5514. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-6pm EST. 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, Wael Fahmy can be reached on (571) 272-1705. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YOUNES BOULGHASSOUL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
