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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of device embodiment 1 as shown in fig. 5 (claims 1, 2, 4-14 readable thereon, claims 3, 15-20 withdrawn) in the reply filed on 3/11/2026 is acknowledged.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (US PGPub 2021/0193941) in view of Li et al. (US PGPub 2021/0365083; hereinafter “Li2”).
Re claim 1: Li teaches (e.g. figs. 7 and 3) a window member comprising: a resin layer (flexible layers 332,333,334 are formed of polyimide outside of folding second A3; e.g. paragraphs 73 and 97; hereinafter “RL”) overlapping a non-folding region (areas outside of folding section A3; hereinafter “NFR”); and an adhesive layer (flexible layers 332,333,334 are formed of polyimide within folding section A3; e.g. paragraphs 73 and 97; hereinafter “AL”) overlapping a foldable region (folding section A3; e.g. paragraph 97), the foldable region (A3) being adjacent the non-folding region (NFR), and the adhesive layer (AL) comprising a first resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 332), a second resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 333) on the first resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 332), and a third resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 333) on the second resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 333).
Although the claims do not require it, the teachings of Li may be considered as not teaching resins within each of the first, second, and third resin pattern.
Li2 discloses (e.g. fig. 3) forming flexible hardened material 202 within openings within rigid hardened material 201 (e.g. paragraph 31).
The combined teachings of Li and Li2 would have resulted in the flexible hardened material of Li2 within the resin patterns of Li resulting in comprising a first resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 332 of Li filled with 202 of Li2; hereinafter “1RP”), a second resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 333 of Li filled with 202 of Li2; hereinafter “2RP”) on the first resin pattern (1RP), and a third resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 333 of Li filled with 202 of Li2; hereinafter “3RP”) on the second resin pattern (2RP).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, absent unexpected results, to use the flexible hardened material of Li2 in the device of Li in order to have the predictable result of improving the flexibility and bending performance (see paragraph 37 of Li2).
Re claim 2: Li in view of Li2 teaches the window member of claim 1, wherein the first resin pattern (1RP) comprises a plurality of first patterns (331 within 332 of Li would be arranged as shown in fig 3 of Li) repeatedly arranged with each other in a first direction (up-down direction of fig. 3 of Li; hereinafter “1D”) and a second direction (left-right direction of fig. 3 of Li; hereinafter “2D”) intersecting the first direction (1D), the second resin pattern (2RP) comprises a plurality of second patterns (331 within 333 of Li would be arranged as shown in fig 3 of Li) repeatedly arranged with each other in the first direction (1D) and the second direction (2D), and the third resin pattern (3RP) comprises a plurality of third patterns (331 within 334 of Li would be arranged as shown in fig 3 of Li) repeatedly arranged with each other in the first direction (1D) and the second direction (2D).
Re claim 4: Li teaches (e.g. figs. 7 and 3) a display device comprising: a display panel (OLED display module 31; e.g. paragraph 95) comprising a non-folding region (areas outside of folding section A3; hereinafter “NFR”) and a foldable region (folding second A3; e.g. paragraph 97) adjacent the non-folding region (NFR); and a window member (33) on the display panel (31) and comprising a resin layer (flexible layers 332,333,334 are formed of polyimide outside of folding section A3; e.g. paragraphs 73 and 97; hereinafter “RL”) overlapping the non-folding region (NFR), and an adhesive layer (flexible layers 332,333,334 are formed of polyimide within folding second A3; e.g. paragraphs 73 and 97; hereinafter “AL”) comprising a first resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 332) overlapping the foldable region (A3) and a second resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 333) on the first resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 332).
Although the claims do not require it, the teachings of Li may be considered as not teaching resins within each of the first and second resin pattern.
Li2 discloses (e.g. fig. 3) forming flexible hardened material 202 within openings within rigid hardened material 201 (e.g. paragraph 31).
The combined teachings of Li and Li2 would have resulted in the flexible hardened material of Li2 within the resin patterns of Li resulting in comprising a first resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 332 of Li filled with 202 of Li2; hereinafter “1RP”), a second resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 333 of Li filled with 202 of Li2; hereinafter “2RP”) on the first resin pattern (1RP).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, absent unexpected results, to use the flexible hardened material of Li2 in the device of Li in order to have the predictable result of improving the flexibility and bending performance (see paragraph 37 of Li2).
Re claim 5: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 4, wherein the first resin pattern (1RP) comprises a plurality of first patterns (331 within 332 of Li would be arranged as shown in fig 3 of Li; hereinafter “1P”) repeatedly arranged with each other in a first direction (up-down direction of fig. 3 of Li; hereinafter “1D”) and a second direction (left-right direction of fig. 3 of Li; hereinafter “2D”) intersecting the first direction (1D) while being spaced apart from each other.
Re claim 6: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 5, wherein the second resin pattern (2RP) comprises a plurality of second patterns (331 within 333 of Li would be arranged as shown in fig 3 of Li; hereinafter “2P”) repeatedly arranged with each other in the first direction (1D) and the second direction (2D) while being spaced apart from each other.
Re claim 7: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 6, wherein the adhesive layer (AL) further comprises a third resin pattern (relief hole 331 within 333 of Li filled with 202 of Li2; hereinafter “3RP”) on the second resin pattern (2RP).
Re claim 8: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 7, wherein the second resin pattern (2RP) is spaced apart from the first resin pattern (3RP) in a third direction (vertical direction coming out of the page of fig. 3; hereinafter “3D”) that is normal to a plane defined by the first direction (1D) and the second direction (2D), and the third resin pattern (3RP) is spaced apart from the second resin pattern (2RP) in the third direction (3D).
Re claim 9: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 7, wherein the third resin pattern (3RP) comprises a plurality of third patterns (331 within 334 of Li would be arranged as shown in fig 3 of Li; hereinafter “3P”) repeatedly arranged with each other in the first direction (1D) and the second direction (2D) while being spaced apart from each other.
Re claim 10: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 9, wherein each of the first patterns (1P), the second patterns (2P), and the third patterns (3P) has a polygonal shape (fig. 3 of Li shows the patterns each being rectangular) when viewed in a plan view.
Re claim 11: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 10, wherein each of the first patterns, the second patterns, and the third patterns has a rectangular shape when viewed in the plan view.
Re claim 12: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 11, wherein the resin layer, the first resin pattern (1P), the second pattern (2P), and the third pattern (3P) include substantially the same material (Li2 discusses the flexible hardened material 202 is a mixture of siloxane polymer and resin material; e.g. paragraph 32).
Re claim 13: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 12, wherein each of the resin layer (RL), the first resin pattern (1RP), the second resin pattern (2RP), and the third resin pattern (3RP) comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a siloxane-based resin (Li2 discusses the flexible hardened material 202 and rigid hardened material 201 is a mixture of siloxane polymer and resin material of different ratios to make either a flexible or rigid overall characteristic; e.g. paragraph 32), an epoxy-based resin, an acryl-based resin, a polyvinyl alcohol-based resin, a polyacrylic acid, polyacrylimide, and a methylolated melamine resin.
Re claim 14: Li in view of Li2 teaches the display device of claim 13, further comprising a protective layer (base substrate 32 of Li of 1 of Li2) on the window member (33), wherein the protective layer (32) comprises substantially the same material (1 of Li2 is flexible polymer; e.g. paragraph 31 of Li2) as the resin layer (RL).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSE Y MIYOSHI whose telephone number is (571)270-1629. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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/JESSE Y MIYOSHI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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