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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0150725 Saitoh et al.
1. Referring to claim 1, Saitoh et al. teaches a display device comprising: a resin substrate, (Figures 1-8 #12); a thin film transistor layer, (Figures 1-8 #Tr), provided on the resin substrate, (Figures 1-8 #12), and including an inorganic insulating film, (Figures 1-8 #16 & Paragraph 0037); and a light-emitting element layer, (Figures 1-8 #24), provided on the thin film transistor layer, (Figures 1-8 #Tr), and arrayed with a plurality of light-emitting elements, (Figures 1-8 #24), corresponding to a plurality of subpixels, (Figures 1-8 #SP & Paragraph 0044), constituting a display region, (Figures 1-8 #DA), wherein a frame region, (Figures 1-8 #NA), is provided surrounding the display region, (Figures 1-8 #DA), a terminal portion, (Figures 1-8 #TW), is provided at an end portion of the frame region, (Figures 1-8 #NA), a bending portion, (Figures 1-8 #CL), is provided between the display region, (Figures 1-8 #DA), and the terminal portion, (Figures 1-8 #TW), the bending portion, (Figures 1-8 #CL), extending in one direction, a slit, (Figure 5 area of #CL), is provided at the bending portion, (Figures 1-8 #CL), in the inorganic insulating film, (Figures 1-8 #16), the slit extending in an extending direction of the bending portion and exposing a surface of the resin substrate, (Figures 1-8 #12), a resin filling film, (Figures 1-8 #EZ & Paragraph 0059), is provided at the bending portion, the resin filling film filling the slit, (Figures 1-8 #EZ), a plurality of lead wiring lines, (Figures 1-8 #WS3 & Paragraph 0060), are provided on the resin filling film, (Figures 1-8 #EZ), the plurality of lead wiring lines, (Figures 1-8 #WS3), extending parallel with each other in a direction intersecting the extending direction of the bending portion, (Figures 1-8 #CL), protrusions, (Figures 1-8 #HP), and recesses, (Figures 1-8 #LP), each extending in a direction intersecting the extending direction of the bending portion, (Figures 1-8 #CL), are alternately disposed in the extending direction of the bending portion, (Figures 1-8 #CL), on a surface of the resin filling film, (Figures 1-8 #EZ), and at least one of the plurality of lead wiring lines, (Figures 1-8 #WS3), is provided on a protrusion of the protrusions, (Figures 1-8 #HP).
2. Referring to claim 2, Saitoh et al. teaches a display device according to claim 1, wherein, of the plurality of lead wiring lines, one of a pair of the lead wiring lines adjacent to each other is provided on the protrusion of the protrusions, and the other of the pair of lead wiring lines is provided in a recess of the recesses, (Figure 11 WS4a and WS4b).
3. Referring to claim 4, Saitoh et al. teaches a display device according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the resin filling film, (Figures 1-8 #EZ), is increasingly higher than a surface of the inorganic insulating film, (Figures 1-8 #16), outside of the slit, (Figures 1-8 #CL), from both end portions toward a central portion of the slit in a width direction.
4. Referring to claim 9, Saitoh et al. teaches a display device according to claim 1, comprising a sealing film, (Figures 1-8 #6), in which a first inorganic sealing film, (Figures 1-8 #26 & Paragraph 0048), an organic sealing film, (Figures 1-8 #27 & Paragraph 0048), and a second inorganic sealing film, (Figures 1-8 #28 & Paragraph 0048), are sequentially layered, the sealing film, (Figures 1-8 #6), covering the light-emitting element layer, (Figures 1-8 #24).
5. Referring to claim 10, Saitoh et al. teaches a display device according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of light-emitting elements is an organic electroluminescence element, (Figures 1-8 #24 & Paragraph 0044).
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
6. Claims 3 and 5-8 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.
7. The prior art teaches the claimed matter in the rejections above, but is silent with respect to the above teachings in combination with the display device according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the resin filling film is increasingly lower than a surface of the inorganic insulating film outside of the slit, from both end portions toward a central portion of the slit in a width direction; and/or the display device according to claim 1, wherein the thin film transistor layer includes, as the inorganic insulating film, a base coat film, a gate insulating film, and an interlayer insulating film sequentially layered on the resin substrate, a first slit is provided in the gate insulating film and the interlayer insulating film as a portion of the slit, the first slit exposing a surface of the base coat film, and a second slit is provided in the base coat film as a portion of the slit, the second slit exposing the surface of the resin substrate.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICTOR A MANDALA whose telephone number is (571)272-1918. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 8-6:30 EST.
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/VICTOR A MANDALA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899 2/3/26