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 Group I drawn to claims 1-11, 13-19 and 21, in the reply filed on 7/7/26 is acknowledged. Claims 12 and 20 are withdrawn from consideration.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, for claim 8 (and claim 9 which is dependent on claim 8),
the first contact electrode is in contact with the entire surface of the first reflective pattern and wherein the second contact electrode is in contact with the entire surface of the second reflective pattern (The entire surface of reflective pattern is not shown to be in contact with the first contact electrode)
AND
for claim 17, the first contact electrode is in contact with the entire surface of the first reflective pattern and wherein the second contact electrode is in contact with the entire surface of the second reflective pattern;
must be shown or the claims be canceled.
No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objection
Claims 6,7,10-11,13-14, 16,18-19 and 21 are objected 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.
The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance:
For claims 6 and 16, the prior art of record neither shows nor suggests the limitation of:
wherein the first contact electrode includes a first part which is in contact with the first reflective pattern and the first electrode of the light emitting diode, and a second part which is spaced apart from the first part and is in contact with the first assembly electrode and the first reflective pattern, and wherein the second contact electrode includes a first part which is in contact with the second reflective pattern and the first electrode of the light emitting diode, and a second part which is spaced apart from the first part and is in contact with the second assembly electrode and the second reflective pattern
nor would it be obvious to modify the reference to include such limitation.
The allowable subject matter refers to the features of Applicant’s Figure 2B, wherein the first part is 161a is in contact with the first reflection pattern is RP1 and the first electrode 134.
Regarding claims 10 and 18, Kwon teaches a planarization layer PAS3 (Fig.2) disposed on the first protrusion, the second protrusion, the light emitting diode, the first contact electrode, and the second contact electrode; whereas Park (US 20230402578 A1) teaches: a pixel electrode CNE1 which is disposed on the planarization layer and is electrically connected to the light emitting diode;
However, the prior art of record neither shows nor suggests the limitation of:
a first connection electrode which is disposed on the planarization layer and is electrically connected to the first contact electrode;
and a second connection electrode which is disposed on the planarization layer and is electrically connected to the second contact electrode
nor would it be obvious to modify the reference to include such limitation.
The allowable subject matter refers to the features of Applicant’s Figure 2B, wherein the connection electrode is CE and the contact electrode is 161.
Claims 7,11,13-14,19 and 21 have allowable subject matter due to their dependency on claims 6 ,10 and 18.
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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Kwon (US 20230317903 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Kwon teaches a display device (Fig.2), comprising: a substrate Sub1 including a plurality of sub pixels ([0060]); a first assembly electrode and a second assembly electrode (VL1 on left and right) which are disposed on each of the plurality of sub pixels and are spaced apart from each other; a first protrusion and a second protrusion (BP on left and right) disposed on the first assembly electrode and the second assembly electrode, respectively, the first protrusion having a side surface and the second protrusion having a side surface; a light emitting diode ED (Middle) disposed between the first protrusion and the second protrusion (first protrusion is 3rd BP or 4 th BP from left and second protrusion is 5th BP or 6 th BP from left in between which is the middle diode ED);
a first reflective pattern which is disposed on the side surface of the first protrusion opposite to the light emitting diode (applies to PAS2 section from RME1 on the right side); a second reflective pattern RME2 ([0098],[0099]) which is disposed on the side surface of the second protrusion opposite to the light emitting diode; a first contact electrode (CTEs) which is disposed on the first protrusion and the first reflective pattern and is electrically connected to the first assembly electrode; and a second contact electrode (second CTE) which is disposed on the second protrusion and the second reflective pattern and is electrically connected to the second assembly electrode.
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Although Kwon does not explicitly teach the arrangement on each sub-pixel,
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to use the arrangement as claimed, for every sub-pixel, in order to provide continuity between the tiled sub-pixels ([0006]).
Regarding claim 2, Kwon teaches a display device (Fig.2), wherein the first assembly electrode and the second assembly electrode are low potential power lines ([0084] in Kwon).
Claims 1,3,4,5,8,9 ,15 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bae (US 20240203966 A1)
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Regarding claim 1, Bae teaches a display device, comprising: a substrate BSL including a plurality of sub pixels ([0076]); a first assembly electrode and a second assembly electrode (ICL on two ends ) which are disposed on each of the plurality of sub pixels and are spaced apart from each other; a first protrusion and a second protrusion (INP at the two ends) disposed on the first assembly electrode and the second assembly electrode, respectively,
the first protrusion having a side surface and the second protrusion having a side surface; a light emitting diode (either one of the LDs, between the two extreme protrusions INP) disposed between the first protrusion and the second protrusion; a first reflective pattern (142b in [0190]) in extreme left and 142a in extreme right) which is disposed on the side surface of the first protrusion opposite to the light emitting diode; a second reflective pattern which is disposed on the side surface of the second protrusion opposite to the light emitting diode (142b in [0190]) in extreme left and 142a in extreme right); a first contact electrode (AE on left) which is disposed on the first protrusion and the first reflective pattern and is electrically connected to the first assembly electrode; and a second contact electrode (CE on right) which is disposed on the second protrusion and the second reflective pattern and is electrically connected to the second assembly electrode.
Although Bae does not explicitly teach the arrangement on each sub-pixel, however it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to use the arrangement as claimed, for every sub-pixel, in order to achieve improved process efficiency.
Regarding claim 15, Bae teaches a display device, comprising: a substrate including a plurality of sub pixels; a first assembly electrode and a second assembly electrode which are disposed on each of the plurality of sub pixels and are spaced apart from each other; a first protrusion which is disposed on the first assembly electrode and includes a top surface and a side surface disposed on a different plane from the top surface, the side surface of the first protrusion extends from the top surface of the first protrusion; a second protrusion which is disposed on the second assembly electrode and includes a top surface and a side surface disposed on a different plane from the top surface, the side surface of the second protrusion extends from the top surface of the second protrusion; a light emitting diode disposed between the first protrusion and the second protrusion; a first reflective pattern disposed on the side surface of the first protrusion; a second reflective pattern disposed on the side surface of the second protrusion; a first contact electrode which is disposed on the first protrusion and the first reflective pattern and is electrically connected to the first assembly electrode; and a second contact electrode which is disposed on the second protrusion and the second reflective pattern and is electrically connected to the second assembly electrode;
wherein the side surface of the first protrusion on which the first reflective pattern is disposed and the side surface of the second protrusion on which the second reflective pattern is disposed are opposite to the light emitting diode (see rejection of the claim 1 above , wherein the same citations apply).
Regarding claim 3, Bae teaches a display device, wherein the side surface of the first protrusion on which the first reflective pattern is disposed and the side surface of the second protrusion on which the second reflective pattern is disposed are inclined surfaces (from shape in Figure above).
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Regarding claim 4, Bae teaches a display device, further comprising: a passivation layer PSV disposed on the first assembly electrode and the second assembly electrode, wherein the first contact electrode is electrically connected to the first assembly electrode through a contact hole (hole in PSV) of the passivation layer disposed at the outside of the first protrusion INP and the second contact electrode is electrically connected to the second assembly electrode through a contact hole of the passivation layer disposed at the outside of the second protrusion.
Regarding claim 5, Bae teaches a display device, wherein the light emitting diode includes a first electrode, a first semiconductor layer, an emission layer, a second semiconductor layer, and a second electrode, and wherein the first contact electrode and the second contact electrode are in contact with the first electrode ([0065] and [0070] with two electrode layers).
Regarding claim 7, Bae teaches a display device, wherein a reflectance of the first contact electrode and the second contact electrode is lower than the reflectance of the first reflective pattern and the second reflective pattern (AE are CE are regular electrodes without mention of any reflectivity).
Regarding claims 8 and 17, Bae teaches a display device, wherein the first contact electrode is in contact with the entire surface of the first reflective pattern and wherein the second contact electrode is in contact with the entire surface of the second reflective pattern (see Objection to drawing above).
Regarding claim 9, Bae teaches a display device, wherein the reflectance of the first contact electrode and the second contact electrode is equal to or higher than the reflectance of the first reflective pattern and the second reflective pattern (see Objection to Drawing above, also AE are CE are regular electrodes without mention of reflectivity).
Other art
US 12740207 B2
US 20240128409 A1; US 20240105899 A1; US 20220271021 A
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fatima Farokhrooz whose telephone number is (571)-272-6043. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday- Friday, 9 am - 5 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s Supervisor, James Greece can be reached on (571) 272-3711.
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/Fatima N Farokhrooz/
Examiner, Art Unit 2875
Prosecution Insights