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 .
Drawings
Figure 1 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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, 12 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu, US 2024/0241402 (for CN 113433731) in view of Liu, US 2021/0398955.
Regarding Claims 1 and 12, Hu teaches A display module, comprising:
a display panel (Figs. 1 and 2), wherein the display panel includes a display main body 100, a bending portion , and a binding portion 300 sequentially connected to each other, and the binding portion is provided on a back of the display main body through the bending portion (Fig. 3); and a cover plate 10, wherein the cover plate has an attaching curved surface facing the display panel, a portion of the attaching curved surface is attached to a display side of the display panel by a transparent glue 40, and the attaching curved surface fully covers the display main body and the bending portion;
wherein the bending portion includes a wiring 30 with references to Figs. 1 – 5 in paragraphs 48 – 61.
Hu fails to teach the bending portion includes at least one groove, and the groove extends along a bending direction of the bending portion and is disposed outside the wiring.
Liu teaches a recessed (groove) 031 extending along a bending direction of the bending portion 032 of a display device with reference to Fig. 7 in paragraphs 85 – 89 for the benefit of reducing the risk of breakage of the bending lead portion in paragraph 85.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hu and include at least one groove in the bending portion, and the groove extends along a bending direction of the bending portion for the benefit of reducing the risk of breakage of the bending lead portion as taught by Liu in paragraph 85 and , it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hu so that the groves are disposed outside the wiring since the groves are designed to protect the material in the bending area.
Regarding Claims 2 and 13, Hu in view of Liu teaches wherein in a longitudinal axis direction of the bending portion, the attaching curved surface has a consistent curvature radius (Hu, Figs. 1 and 3), and a plurality of the grooves are uniformly disposed as taught by Liu with reference to Fig. 7 in paragraph 86.
Claim(s) 7 – 11 and 18 – 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu, US 2024/0241402 (for CN 113433731) in view of Liu, US 2021/0398955 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Choi, US 2024/0324350.
Regarding Claims 7 and 18, Hu in view of Liu, teaches the display panel comprises a flexible substrate provided corresponding to the display body, the bending portion, and the binding portion, but fails to teach the thin film transistor with all insulating and organic layers and wherein in the bending portion, the organic layer is provided with the groove, and the groove is extended through at least a portion of the organic layer.
Choi teaches a display panel comprising a flexible substrate provided corresponding to the display body, the bending portion, and the binding portion, and teach the thin film transistors with all insulating and organic layers and wherein in the bending portion with references to Figs. 1 – 8 throughout the disclosure for the benefit of forming a display apparatus having improved transmittance in paragraph 7.
Regarding the grooves, Hu in view of Liu teaches the organic layer is provided with the groove, and the groove is extended through at least a portion of the organic layer as was described earlier in rejecting Claims 2 and 13.
Regarding Claims 8 and 19, Hu in view of Liu teaches wherein the groove is extended through all film layers of the bending portion as was described earlier in rejecting Claims 2 and 13.
Regarding Claims 9 and 20, Hu in view of Liu and further in view of Choi teaches the descriptions of the TFT structure with a light-shielding layer, a buffer layer, a first active layer, a first insulating layer, a first metal layer, a second insulating layer, a second metal layer, a first interlayer dielectric layer, a second active layer, a third insulating layer, a third metal layer, a second interlayer dielectric layer, and a fourth metal layer; wherein the light-shielding layer is disposed on the flexible substrate; the buffer layer is disposed on the light-shielding layer and covers the flexible substrate; the first active layer is disposed on the buffer layer; the first insulating layer covers the first active layer and the buffer layer; the first metal layer is disposed on the first insulating layer; the first metal layer includes a first gate electrode overlapped with the first active layer; the second insulating layer covers the first metal layer and the first insulating layer; the second metal layer is disposed on the second insulating layer; the second metal layer includes an electrode plate and a second gate electrode; the electrode plate is overlapped with the first gate electrode to define a capacitance; the second gate electrode is disposed on a side of the electrode plate; the first interlayer dielectric layer covers the second metal layer and the second insulating layer; the second active layer is disposed on the first interlayer dielectric layer; the second active layer is overlapped with the second gate electrode; the third insulating layer covers the second active layer and the first interlayer dielectric layer; the third metal layer is disposed on the third insulating layer; the third metal layer comprises a third gate electrode overlapped with the second active layer; the second interlayer dielectric layer covers the third metal layer and the third insulating layer; the fourth metal layer is disposed on the second interlayer 28 dielectric layer; the fourth metal layer comprises a first source electrode, a first drain electrode, a second source electrode and a second drain electrode; the first source electrode and the first drain electrode are connected to the first active layer; and the second source electrode and the second drain electrode are connected to the second active layer; wherein the buffer layer, the first insulating layer, the second insulating layer, the first interlayer dielectric layer, the third insulating layer, and the second interlayer dielectric layer are stacked to define the inorganic insulating stacked layer, and the opening is extended through at least one layer of the inorganic insulating stacked layer with references to Figs. 1 – 8 throughout the disclosure for the benefit of forming a display apparatus having improved transmittance in paragraph 7.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hu in view of Liu and use the transistor structure as described above for the benefit of forming a display apparatus having improved transmittance as taught by Choi in paragraph 7.
Regarding Claim 10, Hu teaches wherein the display panel further comprises a protective layer 50 covering the bending portion, the protective layer is extended to cover a portion of the display main body and a portion of the binding portion (see Figs. 1 – 3), and Liu teaches the groove is extended through the protective layer; wherein the display panel includes an encapsulating glue filled in the groove as was described earlier in rejecting Claim 2.
Regarding Claim 11, Hu in view of Liu and further in view of Choi teaches wherein the display panel comprises: a flexible substrate provided corresponding to the display body, the bending portion, and the binding portion; and a thin film transistor structure layer, wherein the thin film transistor structure layer includes a thin film transistor and an inorganic insulating stacked layer; the thin film transistor is provided corresponding to the display main body; the inorganic insulating stacked layer is disposed corresponding to the display main body, the bending portion, and the binding portion; the inorganic insulating stacked layer is provided with a plurality of openings corresponding to the bending portion; the plurality of opening is arranged in a longitudinal axis direction of the bending portion, and is extended in a bending direction of the bending portion; and at least one of a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a gate electrode of the thin film transistor is disposed in a same layer with the wiring; wherein each of the plurality of openings is filled with an organic material, the groove is defined on the organic material, and a depth of the groove is less than a thickness of the organic material, or the groove penetrates through all film layers of the bending portion as was described earlier in rejecting claims 1, 2, 7 and 9.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 – 6 and 14 – 17 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: The claims teaches a display panel with bending portions having two regions with variation of groove sizes, distances and densities and curved surfaces as enumerated in the claim limitations. Furthermore, the art of record does not disclose or anticipate the above limitation in combination with other claim elements nor would it be obvious to modify the art of record so as to form a device including the above limitation.
Conclusion.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ASOK K SARKAR whose telephone number is (571)272-1970. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri; 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM.
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/ASOK K SARKAR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2891 February 26, 2026