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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/22/2023 is being considered by the examiner.
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, 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al (US 20230041252 A1 hereinafter Chen) in view of Park et al (US 2021/0043707 A1 hereinafter Park).
Regarding Claim 1, Chen discloses in Fig 1B: A display panel comprising:
an insulating layer (102) having a groove defined thereon, wherein the insulating layer is disposed on the base layer;
an anode (104) disposed in the groove;
a pixel defining layer (126) disposed on the insulating layer and having a light-emitting opening defined therein and exposing at least a portion of the anode (104);
a partition wall (110A/110B), having a partition wall opening defined therein and corresponding to the light-emitting opening, comprising a tip portion (206), and disposed on the pixel defining layer (126);
a cathode (114) at least partially disposed in the partition wall opening and in contact with an inner side surface of the partition wall defining the partition wall opening; and
a light-emitting pattern (112) disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the anode comprises:
a first portion; and
a second portion protruding from the first portion toward the pixel defining layer and covered by the pixel defining layer (126) (See mark-up below) [0024-0035].
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Chen does not disclose: a base layer; an insulating layer is disposed on the base layer
However, Park in a similar device teaches in Fig 7 that a base layer (110) and an insulating layer (180) is formed on the base layer (110) [0076, 0081].
References Chen and Park are analogous art because they both are directed to display devices and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify device of Chen with the specified features of Park because they are from the same field of endeavor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing of the invention to combine teachings of Chen and Park so that a base layer; an insulating layer is disposed on the base layer as taught by Park in Chen’s device since, forming an insulating layer since the insulating layer provides isolation between various layers in the display device.
Regarding Claim 2, Chen and Park disclose: The display panel of claim 1, Chen further discloses: wherein an upper surface of the second portion covered by the pixel defining layer (126) is substantially coplanar with an upper surface of the insulating layer (102).
Regarding Claim 5, Chen and Park disclose: The display panel of claim 1, Chen further discloses: wherein the insulating layer (102) is composed of a single film.
Regarding Claim 7, Chen and Park disclose: The display panel of claim 1, Chen further discloses: wherein the pixel defining layer (126) is generally flat.
Regarding Claim 8, Chen and Park disclose: The display panel of claim 1, Chen further discloses: wherein the partition wall comprises:
a first layer (110A) comprising a first inner side surface defining a first region of the partition wall opening; and
a second layer (110B) disposed on the first layer and comprising a second inner side surface defining a second region of the partition wall opening,
wherein:
the first inner side surface is disposed more inward than the second inner side surface;
the tip portion corresponds to the second layer protruding from the first layer; and an upper surface of the second layer is generally flat (See Fig 1B) [0028].
Regarding Claim 9, Chen and Park disclose: The display panel of claim 1, Chen further discloses: wherein the pixel defining layer (126) comprises an inorganic insulating material [0026].
Claim(s) 1, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al (US 20230041252 A1 hereinafter Chen) in view of Park et al (US 2021/0043707 A1 hereinafter Parkalt).
Regarding Claim 1, Chen discloses in Fig 1B: A display panel comprising:
an insulating layer (102) having a groove defined thereon, wherein the insulating layer is disposed on the base layer;
an anode (104) disposed in the groove;
a pixel defining layer (126) disposed on the insulating layer and having a light-emitting opening defined therein and exposing at least a portion of the anode (104);
a partition wall (110A/110B), having a partition wall opening defined therein and corresponding to the light-emitting opening, comprising a tip portion (206), and disposed on the pixel defining layer (126);
a cathode (114) at least partially disposed in the partition wall opening and in contact with an inner side surface of the partition wall defining the partition wall opening; and
a light-emitting pattern (112) disposed between the anode and the cathode, wherein the anode comprises:
a first portion; and
a second portion protruding from the first portion toward the pixel defining layer and covered by the pixel defining layer (126) (See mark-up below) [0024-0035].
Chen does not disclose: a base layer; an insulating layer is disposed on the base layer
However, Parkalt in a similar device teaches in Fig 7 that a base layer (110) and an insulating layer (180/164) is formed on the base layer (110) [0076, 0081].
References Chen and Park are analogous art because they both are directed to display devices and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify device of Chen with the specified features of Park because they are from the same field of endeavor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing of the invention to combine teachings of Chen and Park so that a base layer; an insulating layer is disposed on the base layer as taught by Park in Chen’s device since, forming an insulating layer since the insulating layer provides isolation between various layers in the display device.
Regarding Claim 6, Chen and Park disclose: The display panel of claim 1.
Chen does not disclose: wherein: the insulating layer comprises a lower film and an upper film, wherein the upper film includes an opening defined therein and is disposed on the lower film; and wherein the groove is defined by the opening and an upper surface of the lower film exposed by the opening.
However, Parkalt in a similar device teaches in Fig 7 that wherein: the insulating layer comprises a lower film (164) and an upper film (180), wherein the upper film includes an opening (181) defined therein and is disposed on the lower film; and wherein the groove (taught by combined device of Chen and Park) is defined by the opening and an upper surface of the lower film exposed by the opening [0101, 0102].
References Chen and Park are analogous art because they both are directed to display devices and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify device of Chen with the specified features of Park because they are from the same field of endeavor.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing of the invention to combine teachings of Chen and Park so that the insulating layer comprises a lower film and an upper film, wherein the upper film includes an opening defined therein and is disposed on the lower film; and wherein the groove is defined by the opening and an upper surface of the lower film exposed by the opening as taught by Park in Chen’s device since, forming an insulating layer since the insulating layer provides isolation between various layers in the display device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 and 10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: With respect to claim 3, the primary reason for indication of allowable subject matter is that the prior art of record either singularly or in combination fails to teach or suggest the limitation “further comprising a sacrificial pattern disposed on the first portion, covered by the pixel defining layer, and having a sacrificial opening defined therein and corresponding to the light-emitting opening, wherein the sacrificial pattern is surrounded by the second portion.” as recited in claim 3 in combination with the remaining features.
Dependent claim 4 is allowed based on virtue of their dependencies
The most relevant prior art references, Chen et al (US 20230041252 A1) in Fig 1B in view of Park et al (US 2021/0043707 A1) in Fig 7 substantially teach the limitations of the claims 3-4, with the exception of the limitations described in the preceding paragraph.
With respect to claim 10, the primary reason for indication of allowable subject matter is that the prior art of record either singularly or in combination fails to teach or suggest the limitation “a first dummy pattern disposed on the partition wall, comprising the same material as the light-emitting pattern, and spaced apart from the light-emitting pattern; a second dummy pattern disposed on the first dummy pattern, comprising the
same material as the cathode, and spaced apart from the cathode; and a lower encapsulation inorganic pattern disposed to correspond to the light-emitting opening and disposed on the cathode and the second dummy pattern” as recited in claim 10 in combination with the remaining features.
The most relevant prior art references, Chen et al (US 20230041252 A1) in Fig 1B in view of Park et al (US 2021/0043707 A1) in Fig 7 substantially teach the limitations of the claim 10, with the exception of the limitations described in the preceding paragraph.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NISHATH YASMEEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7564. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9AM-6PM.
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/NISHATH YASMEEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2811
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