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 .
Response to Amendments
2. The Amendments filed May 4th, 2026 in response to the Non-Final Office Action mailed 02/04/2026 are noted. Applicant’s amendment(s) to the Specification have overcome the objection(s) to the Title previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 02/04/2026, so the objection(s) to the Title has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s amendments to the claims are noted.
3. Claim 5 is now withdrawn; Claims 6-7 are newly-added.
4. Claims 1-4 and 6-7 have been fully considered in examination.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 04/29/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (U.S. PG Pub No US2022/0344405A1) (of record) in view of Foley (U.S. PG Pub No US2009/0213593A1) (of record) and Roudbari (U.S. PG Pub No US2014/0327632A1).
Regarding claim 1, Zhu teaches a transparent display device [see fig. 19, 0117] comprising:
a transparent display panel [see fig. 19, 0117-0122] (overall display device of fig. 19 comprising at-least-partially transparent components such as 40, 60 [0100, 0122]) comprising:
a substrate (10) fig. 19 [0058] having a plurality of display regions (regions overlapping 211) and a plurality of transparent regions (portions of 60 overlapping respective 211’s) (see annotated fig. 19 below); and
a pixel array (comprising collective 211’s) fig. 19 [0099] (see also fig. 14 for example of plan-layout) disposed on the substrate (10), wherein the pixel array (collective 211) comprises:
a plurality of pixels (211) fig. 19 [0058] disposed in an array along a first (horizontal) direction and a second (in/out of page in cross-section) direction (see fig. 14 for example of array layout [0105]; second direction = vertical direction in plan view), wherein the first (horizontal) direction and the second (in/out of page) direction are interleaved (alternative directions), and each of the plurality of pixels (211) overlaps with the corresponding display region (region overlapping 211) (see annotated fig. 19 below); and
a plurality of openings (openings in BM 23 hosting 211’s) fig. 19 [0062], wherein each of the plurality of openings (gaps in 211) is (laterally) surrounded by a portion of the plurality of pixels (collective 211’s), and each of the plurality of openings (openings in 23 hosting 211’s) overlaps with the corresponding transparent region (portions of 60 overlapping respective 211’s) (see annotated fig. 19 below); and
a functional film (comprising 60) fig. 19 [0117] disposed on (included in) the transparent display panel (comprising 10, 40, 60), wherein the pixel array (comprising 211’s) is located (vertically) between the functional film (60 with 61) and the substrate (10), there are a plurality of raised microstructures (61) fig. 19 [0117] on a surface of the functional film (60) facing away from the substrate (10), at least a portion of each of the plurality of raised microstructures (61) extends in a first oblique direction (OD1) (see annotated fig. 21 below), a size of the at least one portion (see annotated fig. 21 below) of each of the plurality of raised microstructures (61) is gradually decreased along the first oblique direction (OD1), and the first oblique direction (OD1) forms an acute angle α with a normal direction of the substrate (10) (see annotated figs. 19 and 21 below),
wherein each of the plurality of transparent regions (portions of 60 overlapping respective 211’s) (see annotated fig. 19 below) overlaps with one portion (upper half of overlapping portion) of the raised microstructures (61) along the normal direction, and each of the plurality of display regions (regions overlapping 211) overlaps with another portion (lower half of overlapping portion) of the raised microstructures (61) along the normal direction (based on boundaries of ‘regions’ as defined in fig. 19 below).
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Annotated fig. 19 and fig. 21of Zhu
However, Zhu does not explicitly disclose wherein the substrate (10) is a transparent substrate (material of substrate not disclosed),
a circuit structure comprising a plurality of signal lines that intersect with each other, wherein the display regions (regions overlapping 211) correspond to the circuit structure.
Foley teaches a transparent display device (100) fig. 2 [0021] wherein the substrate (118) fig. 2 [0021] is a transparent substrate (said to be formed of transparent material such as PET or PEN) [0021].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the transparent display device of Zhu such that the substrate is explicitly formed of a transparent material such as PET or PEN [0021 Foley] in order to favorable vary refractive index properties [0021] so as to minimize light reflections [0021] and help improve black level viewing of the display [0009-0011], as taught by Foley.
However, Zhu in view of Foley does not explicitly disclose a circuit structure comprising a plurality of signal lines that intersect with each other, wherein the display regions (regions overlapping 211) correspond to the circuit structure.
Roudbari teaches a transparent display device [see fig. 6, 0046-0047] comprising a plurality of signal lines (46, 48) fig. 6 [0036] that intersect with each other (in plan view of fig. 6), wherein the display regions (52) fig. 6 [0046] correspond to the (aligned with borders of) circuit structure (comprising 46, 48).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the transparent display device of Zhu in view of Foley such that the plurality of signal lines are disposed in a mesh-grid [0036, 0046] around the display pixels [0046-0048] in order to selectively and favorably control aperture [0046-0048] and transparent area [0047] characteristics of the plurality of display pixels [0046], as taught by Roudbari.
Regarding claim 2, Zhu in view of Foley and Roudbari teaches the transparent display device [see fig. 19, 0117] of claim 1. Zhu also teaches a portion of the transparent display panel (comprising 40, 60) fig. 19 [0100] is in (direct) contact with the functional film (comprising 60) fig. 19 [0117].
However, Zhu does not explicitly disclose wherein θmin≤α≤θmax; θmin satisfies: tanθmin=n2/n1, n1 is a refractive index of the portion of the transparent display panel (comprising 60), and the transparent display device is in an external environment medium, n2is a refractive index of the external environment medium, θmax satisfies: n1∙sinθmax=n2∙sinθt and [(n1cosθmax-n2cosθtn1)/(n1cosθmax + n2cosθt2)] ^2 =50%, n1 is the refractive index of the portion of the transparent display panel (60), n2 is the refractive index of the external environmental medium, the one pixel emits a light beam, and θt is an exit angle at which the light beam exits the portion of the transparent display panel and is transmitted toward the external environment medium (angles, refractive indices not disclosed).
Foley teaches a transparent display device (100) fig. 2 [0021] wherein θmin≤α≤θmax; θmin satisfies: tanθmin=n2/n1 (nc = n1; no = n2) [0052-0055 Foley] (nc / no ~ 1.46/1.53 [see fig. 7A] while α is ~ 90-15 degrees ~ 75 degrees [0052 Foley], arctan (1.46/1.53) = 43.66 degrees, satisfying θmin≤α, while ≤θmax [see fig. 7A] is 87 degrees [see fig. 7A Foley], satisfying θmin≤α≤θmax with 43.66≤75≤ 87 [see fig. 7A, 0052-0055 Foley]), a portion of the transparent display panel (comprising 104, 101) fig. 2 [0039] is in (direct) contact with the functional film (comprising 101) fig. 2 [0039], n1 (nc = n1) [0052-0055 Foley] is a refractive index of the portion of the transparent display panel (comprising 101), and the transparent display device (100 comprising 114) [0044] is (partially) in an external environment medium (external relative to internal portions of 101), n2 (no = n2) [0052-0055 Foley] is a refractive index of the external environment medium (114), θmax satisfies: n1∙sinθmax = n2∙sinθt [equation 4a [0052 Foley]] and [(n1cosθmax-n2cosθtn1)/(n1cosθmax + n2cosθt2)] ^2 =50% [equation 5 (may be set equal to 50%) [0054 Foley]) [0053-0054]], n1 (nc = n1) [0052-0055 Foley] is the refractive index of the portion of the transparent display panel [0055 Foley], n2 (no = n2) [0052-0055 Foley] is the refractive index of the external environmental medium (114 external relative to internal 101 [0055 Foley]), the one pixel emits a light beam [0052-0055 Foley], and θt is an exit angle (“angle of exitance” [0052 Foley]) at which the light beam exits the portion of the transparent display panel and is transmitted toward the external environment medium (space outside of internal 101).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have determined the slope angle and refractive indices of the microstructures and other features of the transparent display panel [0052-0055] in accordance with the Fresnel reflection equations [0053 Foley] in order to control and thereby reduce or eliminate undesirable Fresnel reflection [0030, 0040, 0051] and help improve black level viewing of the display [0009-0011], as taught by Foley.
Regarding claim 4, Zhu in view of Foley and Roudbari teaches the transparent display device [see fig. 19, 0117] of claim 1. Zhu also teaches wherein each of the plurality of raised microstructures (61) fig. 19 [0117] comprises:
a first portion (“first portion” annotated fig. 21 above) extending in the first oblique direction (OD1), wherein a size of the first portion of the raised microstructure (61) is gradually decreased along the first oblique direction (OD1) (see annotated fig. 21 above); and
a second portion (“second portion” annotated fig. 21 above) extending in a second oblique direction (OD2), wherein the normal (vertical) direction of the transparent substrate (10) is located on a normal plane of the transparent substrate (10), the first oblique direction (OD1) and the second oblique direction (OD2) respectively point at opposite sides of the normal (vertical) plane, a size of the second portion of the raised microstructure (61) is gradually decreased along the second oblique direction (OD2) (see annotated fig. 21 above), and the second oblique direction (OD2) and the normal direction of the transparent substrate (10) form an acute angle β (see annotated fig. 21 above).
Regarding claim 6, Zhu in view of Foley and Roudbari teaches the transparent display device [see fig. 19, 0117] of claim 1. Zhu in view of Foley and Roudbari (with reference to Roudbari) also teaches wherein the first (x) direction and the second (y) direction intersect with each other along a (top) surface of the transparent substrate (10 comprising 120) fig. 1 [0046, 0049, 0051] (see also fig. 7), the plurality of signal lines (46, 48) fig. 6 [0036] of the circuit structure (comprising 46, 48) form a mesh structure (see fig. 6 grid [0046-0048], and the plurality of transparent regions (52) fig. 6 [0046-0047] correspond to (borders of) a plurality of meshes (defined by edges of 46, 48) of the mesh structure (comprising plurality of 46, 48 in grid).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (U.S. PG Pub No US2022/0344405A1) (of record) modified by Foley (U.S. PG Pub No US2009/0213593A1) (of record) and Roudbari (U.S. PG Pub No US2014/0327632A1), as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Robinson (U.S. PG Pub No US2017/0139097A1) (of record).
Regarding claim 4, Zhu in view of Foley and Roudbari teaches the teaches the transparent display device [see fig. 19, 0117] of claim 1. However, Zhu does not explicitly disclose wherein 33.7o≤ α ≤41.4o (angles not explicitly disclosed).
Robinson teaches a transparent display device [see fig. 40, 0002, 0268, 0272] wherein 33.7o≤α≤41.4o (slant angles of microstructures 1 α = 503/505 may be 35 degrees, for example [see fig. 40, 0268, 0272]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the light guiding microstructures to have a slope α of about 35 or 40 degrees [0272] in order to favorably modulate light transmission [0269-0272] to improve the uniformity of illumination across a wide variety of angles [0010, 0027-0031], as taught by Robinson.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (U.S. PG Pub No US2022/0344405A1) (of record) in view of Foley (U.S. PG Pub No US2009/0213593A1) (of record) and Cheng (U.S. PG Pub No US2022/0252937A1).
Regarding claim 7, Zhu teaches a transparent display device [see fig. 19, 0117] comprising:
a transparent display panel [see fig. 19, 0117-0122] (overall display device of fig. 19 comprising at-least-partially transparent components such as 40, 60 [0100, 0122]) comprising:
a transparent substrate having a plurality of display regions and a plurality of transparent regions; and
a substrate (10) fig. 19 [0058] having a plurality of display regions (regions overlapping 211) and a plurality of transparent regions (portions of 60 overlapping respective 211’s) (see annotated fig. 19 below); and
a pixel array (comprising collective 211’s) fig. 19 [0099] (see also fig. 14 for example of plan-layout) disposed on the substrate (10), wherein the pixel array (collective 211) comprises:
a plurality of pixels (211) fig. 19 [0058] disposed in an array along a first (horizontal) direction and a second (in/out of page in cross-section) direction (see fig. 14 for example of array layout [0105]; second direction = vertical direction in plan view), wherein the first (horizontal) direction and the second (in/out of page) direction are interleaved (alternative directions), and each of the plurality of pixels (211) overlaps with the corresponding display region (region overlapping 211) (see annotated fig. 19 below), and each of the plurality of pixels (211) comprises light-emitting elements [0063, 0097]; and
a plurality of openings (openings in BM 23 hosting 211’s) fig. 19 [0062], wherein each of the plurality of openings (gaps in 211) is (laterally) surrounded by a portion of the plurality of pixels (collective 211’s), and each of the plurality of openings (openings in 23 hosting 211’s) overlaps with the corresponding transparent region (portions of 60 overlapping respective 211’s) (see annotated fig. 19 below); and
a functional film (comprising 60) fig. 19 [0117] disposed on (included in) the transparent display panel (comprising 10, 40, 60), wherein the pixel array (comprising 211’s) is located (vertically) between the functional film (60 with 61) and the substrate (10), there are a plurality of raised microstructures (61) fig. 19 [0117] on a surface of the functional film (60) facing away from the substrate (10), at least a portion of each of the plurality of raised microstructures (61) extends in a first oblique direction (OD1) (see annotated fig. 21 below), a size of the at least one portion (see annotated fig. 21 below) of each of the plurality of raised microstructures (61) is gradually decreased along the first oblique direction (OD1), and the first oblique direction (OD1) forms an acute angle α with a normal direction of the substrate (10) (see annotated figs. 19 and 21 below),
wherein the raised microstructures (61) (partially) overlap with the plurality of openings (openings in BM 23 hosting 211’s).
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Annotated fig. 19 and fig. 21of Zhu
However, Zhu does not explicitly disclose wherein the substrate (10) is a transparent substrate (material of substrate not disclosed),
wherein the raised microstructures (61) overlap with the light-emitting elements (in 211) of the plurality of pixels (211) along the normal (vertical) direction.
Foley teaches a transparent display device (100) fig. 2 [0021] wherein the substrate (118) fig. 2 [0021] is a transparent substrate (said to be formed of transparent material such as PET or PEN) [0021].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the transparent display device of Zhu such that the substrate is explicitly formed of a transparent material such as PET or PEN [0021 Foley] in order to favorable vary refractive index properties [0021] so as to minimize light reflections [0021] and help improve black level viewing of the display [0009-0011], as taught by Foley.
However, Zhu in view of Foley does not explicitly disclose wherein the raised microstructures (61) overlap with the light-emitting elements (in 211) of the plurality of pixels (211) along the normal (vertical) direction.
Cheng teaches a transparent display device [see fig. 4A, 0050] wherein the raised microstructures (of 110) fig. 4A [0049-0050] overlap with the light-emitting elements (in 130) fig. 4A [0050] of the plurality of pixels (comprising respective 130s) along the normal (vertical) direction.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the transparent display device of Zhu in view of Foley such that the plurality of light emitting elements (LED’s [0051]) are at least partially overlapped by the microstructures of the optical film [0049-0050] in order to improve light diffusion properties of the LED array [0049] so as to improve illumination performance [0049, 0002-0005], as taught by Cheng.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 3-4, filed 05/04/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Cheng (U.S. PG Pub No US2022/0252937A1) under 35 U.S.C. 103.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and that “apparently, Zhu does not disclose, teach or suggest that "each of the plurality of transparent regions overlaps with one portion of the raised microstructures along the normal direction, and each of the plurality of display regions overlaps with another portion of the raised microstructures along the normal direction" have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection relies upon a reinterpretation of the boundaries of the claimed “transparent regions” and “display region” to be expanded such that they at least partially overlap the microstructures 61 of Zhu. See 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection of claim 1 for reannotated figures of Zhu.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 7 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
All references made available on the PTO-892 form (of record) are considered relevant to the present disclosure because they all feature display devices with light guiding microstructures.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN AYERS WINTERS whose telephone number is (571)270-3308. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:30 am - 7:00 pm (EST).
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/SEAN AYERS WINTERS/Examiner, Art Unit 2892 07/20/2026
/NORMAN D RICHARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2892
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