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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-13 and 14) in the reply filed on March 16th, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 15-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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 1-3, 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kwak (Pub. No.: US 2005/0184927 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Kwak discloses an organic light emitting diode display device in Figs. 2A-2B, comprising: a subpixel (a pixel in display area 200) on a substrate (substrate 110) (see Fig. 2B and [0067-0068]); a circuit part (a TFT including layers 130, gate 150 and soure/drain electrodes 170) in the subpixel on the substrate (see [0070-0071]); a plurality of conductive lines (plurality of patterns of power supply line 300) connected to the circuit part (connecting to source 170 through driving line 310) (see Fig. 2A-2B and [0077]); an overcoat layer (protection layer 180) on the plurality of conductive lines, the overcoat layer having a measurement hole (one of holes 811 as shown in Fig. 2B) corresponding to at least one of the plurality of conductive lines (being above and corresponds to one of the plurality of patterns of power supply line 300) (see Fig. 2B and [0071], [0087]); and a light emitting diode (EL unit 230) on the overcoat layer, the light emitting diode connected to the circuit part (see [0072-0075]).
Regarding claim 2, Kwak discloses the organic light emitting diode display device of claim 1, further comprising a bank layer (sealing substrate 110) disposed on the overcoat layer and filling the measurement hole of the overcoat layer (see Fig. 2B and [0087]).
Regarding claim 3, Kwak discloses the organic light emitting diode display device of claim 1, wherein the overcoat layer has a measurement groove (another one of holes 811) corresponding to at least one of the plurality of conductive lines (corresponds to another one of the plurality of patterns of power supply line 300), and wherein the measurement groove is spaced apart from the measurement hole (see Figs. 2A-2B).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Kwak and Jung discloses the organic light emitting diode display device of claim 3, wherein both the measurement hole and the measurement groove are disposed above the power line (see Figs. 2A and 2B).
Regarding claim 14, Kwak discloses a method of fabricating an organic light emitting diode display device in Figs. 2A-2B, the method comprising: forming a circuit part (a TFT including layers 130, gate 150 and soure/drain electrodes 170) in a subpixel (a pixel in display area 200) on a substrate (substrate 110) (see Fig 2B, [0067-0068], [0070-0071]); forming a plurality of conductive lines (plurality of patterns of power supply line 300) connected to the circuit part (connecting to source 170 through driving line 310) (see Fig. 2A-2B and [0077]); forming an overcoat layer (protection layer 180) on the plurality of conductive lines, the overcoat layer having a measurement hole (one of holes 811 as shown in Fig. 2B) corresponding to at least one of the plurality of conductive lines (corresponds to one of the plurality of patterns of power supply line 300) (see Fig. 2B and [0071], [0087]); and forming a light emitting diode (EL unit 230) on the overcoat layer, the light emitting diode connected to the circuit part (see [0072-0075]).
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
a. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
b. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
c. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
d. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwak (Pub. No.: US 2005/0184927 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and in view of JUNG et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2018/0097047 A1), hereinafter as Jung.
Regarding claim 4, Kwak discloses the organic light emitting diode display device of claim 1, wherein the circuit part comprises: a buffer layer (buffer layer 120) on the substrate (see [0068]); a transistor (TFT including layer 130 and gate 150) on the buffer layer (see Fig. 2B and [0068-0071]); and a passivation layer (interlayer 160) on the transistor (see Fig. 2B and [0070]), wherein the measurement hole exposes a top surface of the passivation layer corresponding to at least one of the plurality of conductive lines (one of the holes 811 exposes the top surface of interlayer 160 and adjacent to one of the plurality of patterns of power supply line 300) (see Fig. 2B).
Kwak fails to disclose a light shielding layer and the buffer layer on the light shielding layer.
Jung discloses an organic light emitting diode display device comprising: a light shielding layer (light shielding layer 110) on a substrate (substrate 100) and a buffer layer (buffer layer 125) on the light shielding layer (see Fig. 2A and [0039-0040], [0044]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the light shielding layer of Jung into the organic light emitting diode display device of Kwak because the modified structure would prevent a light incident onto the active layer of the transistor that generates unwanted free carriers that would degrade the performance of the transistor.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Kwak and Jung discloses the organic light emitting diode display device of claim 4, wherein the plurality of conductive lines include one or more of a gate line, a data line, a power line and a reference line (power supply line 300) (see [0077]).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwak (Pub. No.: US 2005/0184927 A1) as applied to claim 3 above, and in view of BAEK et al. (US Pub. No.: US 2021/0135166 A1), hereinafter as Baek.
Regarding claim 7, Kwak discloses the organic light emitting diode display device of claim 3, but fails to disclose further comprising: a plurality of microlenses on the overcoat layer and corresponding to the light emitting diode.
Baek discloses an organic light emitting diode display device comprising a plurality of microlenses (a plurality of microlens unit 1151) on an overcoat layer (layer 1140) and corresponding to a light emitting diode (OLED) (see Fig. 11 and [0130-0131], [0190-0191]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the plurality of microlenses of Baek into the organic light emitting diode display device of Kwak because the modified structure would further improve the light extraction and provide excellence luminance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 8-11 and 13 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 an examiner's statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The cited art, whether taken singularly or in combination, especially when all limitations are considered within the claimed specific combination, fails to disclose or suggest the claimed invention having:
Wherein the power line has a same layer and a same material as the light shielding layer, and wherein the measurement hole is disposed over the power line as in claim 6.
Wherein the measurement groove has a shape corresponding to the plurality of microlenses and is used for monitoring the plurality of microlenses as recited in claim 8.
Wherein the measurement hole has a width greater than a diameter of an incident light of a spectrometer as recited in claim 9.
Wherein a connecting portion of a top surface of the overcoat layer and a sidewall of the measurement hole has a sharp shape having an acute angle as recited in claim 10.
A passivation layer disposed between the overcoat layer and the power line, wherein the measurement hole exposes a portion of the passivation layer corresponding to the power line.as recited in claim 11.
wherein the measurement hole is a thru-hole and the measurement grove is an indentation as recited in claim 13.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CUONG B NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1509 (Email: CuongB.Nguyen@uspto.gov). The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM-5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven H. Loke can be reached on (571) 272-1657. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CUONG B NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818
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