DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-14 in the reply filed on 12-03-2025 is acknowledged.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9 and 11-14 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: Although the prior art teaches a similar display device, the prior art does not teach or reasonably suggest such a display device in which each of the first and second protection layers includes at least one of an epoxy-based resin, a urethane-based resin, an acrylic resin, or a silicon-based resin (as in claim 8), or in which the display module comprises an optical layer that is disposed on the panel and comprises a pigment or dye (as in claim 11). Claims 9 and 12-14 would likewise be allowable due to their dependency from claims 8 and 11.
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 1-7 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song et al., US PGPub. No. 2021/0193962 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Song teaches a display device (Abstract, Fig. 11) comprising a display module (“DP” of Fig 11, see [0109]) and a protection member comprising a first protection layer (“AL1” of Fig. 11) having a storage modulus of between 0.005 and 0.2 MPa at room temperature (Table 4) and a second protection layer (“PPF” of Fig. 11) that is disposed on the first layer and has a Young’s modulus of between 1 GPa and 8 GPa at room temperature ([0007]).
The teachings of Song differ from the present invention in that Song does not teach a thickness of 300 microns to 1 mm for the second layer. It would, however, have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select an appropriate thickness for the second layer of the product of Song based on the intended thickness of the product and desired material properties of the product, as well as the specific materials being used to make the layer. Additionally, the claimed thickness of 300 microns to 1 mm appears to be an arbitrary recitation of size, which cannot distinguish the claimed invention (see MPEP (2144.04 IV).
Regarding claim 2, Song teaches that the protection member (“AL1” and “PPF” of Fig. 11) are disposed direction on the display module (“DP” of Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 3, Song does not teach a glass substrate as a component of the protection member, and instead teaches a variety of polymer materials ([0055]-[0056]).
Regarding claim 4, the teachings of Song differ from the present invention in that Song does not teach a thickness of 100 microns to 1 mm for the first layer. It would, however, have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select an appropriate thickness for the first layer of the product of Song based on the intended thickness of the product and desired material properties of the product, as well as the specific materials being used to make the layer. Additionally, the claimed thickness of 100 microns to 1 mm appears to be an arbitrary recitation of size, which cannot distinguish the claimed invention (see MPEP (2144.04 IV).
Regarding claim 5, the teachings of Song differ from the present invention in that Song does not teach any relative thickness for the first and second layers. It would, however, have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select an appropriate thickness for each layer of the product of Song based on the intended thickness of the product and desired material properties of the product, as well as the specific materials being used to make the layers. Additionally, arbitrary recitations of relative proportion cannot distinguish the claimed invention (see MPEP (2144.04 IV).
Regarding claim 6, the teachings of Song differ from the present invention in that Song does not teach a thickness of 400 microns to 2 mm for the protection member. It would, however, have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select an appropriate thickness for the protection member of the product of Song based on the intended thickness of the product and desired material properties of the product, as well as the specific materials being used to make the protection member. Additionally, the claimed thickness of 400 microns to 2 mm appears to be an arbitrary recitation of size, which cannot distinguish the claimed invention (see MPEP (2144.04 IV).
Regarding claim 7, Song teaches that the second layer (“PPF” of Fig. 11) is disposed directly on the first layer (“AL1” of Fig. 11).
Regarding claim 10, although Song teaches that the product may include a polarizer ([0053]), the inclusion of a polarizer is clearly taught to be optional.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ian A Rummel whose telephone number is (571)270-5692. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday and alternating Fridays, 8:30-5:00.
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/IAN A RUMMEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1785