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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) or (f), 365(a) or (b), or 386(a) based upon an application filed in the REPUBLIC OF KOREA on 01/17/2023. Certified copies of the priority documents have not been received.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of “Species A (Claims 1-10)” in the reply filed on 04/17/2026, is acknowledged. Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
(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 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2023/0009750; Yamazaki et al.; 01/2023; (“750”).
Regarding Claim 1. 750 teaches in Figs. 1A and 1B about a display device comprising:
a substrate (Fig. 1B, item 101) including a first pixel area (Fig. 1B, area item 110R), a second pixel area (Fig. 1B, area item 110G) adjacent to the first pixel area (area items 110R and 110G are adjacent), and a non-light emitting area (Fig. 1A, area in between pixel area items 110R and 110G) surrounding the first pixel area and the second pixel area (Fig. 1A, non-light emitting area fully surrounds pixel area items 110R and 110G);
a first electrode (Fig. 1B, item 111R) disposed in a portion overlapping the first pixel area on the substrate (Fig. 1B, item 111R is disposed overlapping pixel area item 110R);
a second electrode (Fig. 1B, item 111G) disposed in a portion overlapping the second pixel area on the substrate (Fig. 1B, item 111G is disposed overlapping pixel area item 110G);
a third electrode (Fig. 1B, item 113) disposed on the first electrode and the second electrode (Fig. 1B, item 113 is disposed on electrode items 111R and 111G) and defining at least one opening (Fig. 1B, electrode item 113 defines at least the upper limit of the opening filled by item 126) in a portion overlapping the non-light emitting area (Fig. 1B, item 126 is in a portion overlapping the non-light emitting area); and
a resin layer filling the opening (Fig. 1B, “resin layer 126 is positioned … to fill”, [0093], Ln. 5-6).
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754
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Fig. 1B, annotated by Examiner from Yamazaki et al., “750”
Regarding Claim 5. 750 teaches in Fig. 1B about a display device, wherein the third electrode is continuously disposed over the first pixel area, the second pixel area, and the non-light emitting area (electrode item 113 is continuously disposed over and in between areas 110R and 110G).
Regarding Claim 6. 750 teaches in Fig. 1B about a display device, comprising:
a first light emitting layer disposed between the first electrode and the third electrode (layer 112R is disposed between electrode items 111R and 113); and
a second light emitting layer disposed between the second electrode and the third electrode (layer 112G is disposed between electrode items 111G and 113.
Regarding Claim 7. 750 teaches in Fig. 1B about a display device, wherein each of the first light emitting layer and the second light emitting layer includes a quantum dot (“each of the light-emitting elements 110R, 110G … a quantum-dot light-emitting diode (QLED) is preferably used”, [0079], Ln. 1-4).
Regarding Claim 8. 750 teaches in Fig. 1B about a display device, further comprising:
a first electron auxiliary layer disposed between the first light emitting layer and the third electrode (“layer 112 … include one or more of an electron injection layer, an electron-transport layer”, [0085], Ln. 1-3); and
a second electron auxiliary layer disposed between the second light emitting layer and the third electrode (“layer 112 … include one or more of an electron injection layer, an electron-transport layer”, [0085], Ln. 1-3).
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 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over US 2023/0009750; Yamazaki et al.; 01/2023; (“750”) in view of US 2015/0228850 A1; Zheng et al.; 08/2015; (“850”).
Regarding Claim 9. 750 teaches in Fig. 1B about a display device, wherein each of the first electron auxiliary layer and the second electron auxiliary layer does not include a plurality of nanoparticles.
750 does not teach about a display device, wherein each of the first electron auxiliary layer and the second electron auxiliary layer includes a plurality of nanoparticles.
850 teaches in Fig. 1 about a display device, wherein the electron auxiliary layer (“ZnO layer to serve as an electron transport layer”, [0040], Ln. 7-8) includes a plurality of nanoparticles (layer item ZnO NPs, wherein NPs is an abbreviation for nanoparticles).
Thus, it would have been obvious to try by one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the
invention was made, to consider utilizing the electron auxiliary layer with nanoparticles of 850 to aid in the injection of electrons to the light emitting layers of 750 to provide efficient electron transport between an electrode and a light emitting layer as taught by 850 in Fig. 1 and [0040], Ln. 7-8.
Regarding Claim 10. 850 teaches in Fig. 1 about a display device, wherein each of the plurality of nanoparticles includes a metal oxide (layer item ZnO NPs, wherein ZnO is an abbreviation for Zinc Oxide and NPs is an abbreviation for nanoparticles).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 are objected to 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, since the prior art does not teach or suggest the claimed limitations.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JORGE ANDRES LOPEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-5763. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (8:30am to 5:00pm).
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/FERNANDO L TOLEDO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2897
/JORGE ANDRES LOPEZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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