DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the application No. 18/574,725 filed on December 27, 2023.
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 .
Acknowledgment
This is responsive to the application filed on 12/27/2023. Accordingly, pending in this Office action are claims 1-21.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: the recited “plat part” needs to be corrected to “planar part”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 9 recites the limitation “the fifth conductive layer”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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)(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 1-4 and 18-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim (US 2022/0246698).
Regarding Claim 1, Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 8-10 and annotated Figs. 8 and 10), teaches a display panel, comprising:
a driving backplane BP;
a first electrode layer 121, disposed on one side S1 of the driving backplane BP and comprising a plurality of first electrodes ITO/Ag/ITO distributed at intervals (see, e.g., par. 0088);
a separation layer 119/200, disposed on the side S1 of the driving backplane BP same as the first electrode layer 121 (see, e.g., pars. 0073, 0123);
wherein the separation layer 119/200 comprises a support layer 119 and a cutoff layer 200 stacked in a direction Z away from the driving backplane BP;
a material of the support layer 119 is an insulating material and each of the first electrodes 121 is exposed (see, e.g., par. 0089);
an orthographic projection OP200 of the cutoff layer 200 on the driving backplane BP and an orthographic projection OP121 of the first electrode 121 on the driving backplane BP are spaced apart;
the separation layer 119/200 is configured with a cut groove H1 located elsewhere of the first electrode 121, the cut groove H1 comprises a first groove CG1 located on the support layer 119 and a second groove CG2 located on the cutoff layer 200, an orthographic projection OPCG2 of at least one side wall SW1 of the second groove CG2 on the driving backplane BP is located between orthographic projections OPCG1 of boundaries of two side walls SW2 of the first groove CG1 away from a surface of the driving backplane BP on the driving backplane BP;
a light-emitting layer 120, covering the separation layer 119/200 and the first electrode 121 (see, e.g., pars. 0069, 0090); and
a second electrode 123, covering the light-emitting layer 120 (see, e.g., par. 0072).
Regarding Claim 2, Kim teaches all aspects of claim 1. Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 8-10 and annotated Figs. 8 and 10), teaches that the separation layer 119/200 comprises a plurality of pixel openings OP exposing each of the first electrodes 121, and boundaries of each pixel opening OP are located inside boundaries of the first electrodes 121 exposed by the pixel opening OP (see, e.g., par. 0089).
Regarding Claim 3, Kim teaches all aspects of claim 1. Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 8-10 and annotated Figs. 8 and 10), teaches that the separation layer 119/200 has a plurality of pixel openings OP, and the first electrodes 121 are provided in each of the pixel openings OP in one-to-one correspondence (see, e.g., par. 0089).
Regarding Claim 4, Kim teaches all aspects of claim 2. Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 8-10 and annotated Figs. 8 and 10), teaches that the pixel opening OP is located in the support layer 119 (see, e.g., par. 0089).
Regarding Claim 18, Kim teaches all aspects of claim 1. Kim (see, e.g., 4B, Figs. 8-10 and annotated Figs. 8 and 10), teaches that the light-emitting layer 120 further comprises a plurality of light-emitting sub-layers 124 connected in series, and at least one of the light-emitting sub-layers 124 is connected in series to an adjacent light-emitting sub-layer 124 through a charge generation layer 125 (see, e.g., par. 0094).
Regarding Claim 19, Kim teaches all aspects of claim 2. Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 8-10 and annotated Figs. 8 and 10), teaches that the second electrode 123 is recessed at the cut groove H1 to form a recessed area.
Regarding Claim 20, Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 8-10 and annotated Figs. 8 and 10), teaches a method of manufacturing a display panel, comprising:
forming a driving backplane BP;
forming a first electrode layer 121 and a separation layer 119/200 on one side S1 of the driving backplane BP, wherein the first electrode layer 121 comprises a plurality of first electrodes ITO/Ag/ITO distributed at intervals (see, e.g., par. 0073, 0088, 0123);
the separation layer 119/200 comprises a support layer 119 and a cutoff layer 200 stacked in a direction Z away from the driving backplane BP;
a material of the support layer 119 is an insulating material and each of the first electrodes 121 is exposed (see, e.g., par. 0089);
an orthographic projection OP200 of the cutoff layer 200 on the driving backplane BP and an orthographic projection OP121 of the first electrode 121 on the driving backplane BP are spaced apart;
the separation layer 119/200 is configured with a cut groove H1 located elsewhere of the first electrode 121, the cut groove H1 comprises a first groove CG1 located on the support layer 119 and a second groove CG2 located on the cutoff layer 200, an orthographic projection OPCG2 of at least one side wall SW1 of the second groove CG2 on the driving backplane BP is located between orthographic projections OPCG1 of boundaries of two side walls SW2 of the first groove CG1 away from a surface of the driving backplane BP on the driving backplane BP;
forming light-emitting layer 120 covering the separation layer 119/200 and the first electrode 121 (see, e.g., pars. 0069, 0090); and
forming a second electrode 123 covering the light-emitting layer 120 (see, e.g., par. 0072).
Regarding Claim 21, Kim teaches all aspects of claim 1. Kim (see, e.g., Figs. 8-10 and annotated Figs. 8 and 10), teaches a display device 1, comprising the display panel according to claim 1 (see, e.g., par. 0053)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim 5, 6, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2022/0246698) in view of Jun Gi (US 2023/0048617).
Regarding Claim 5, Kim teaches all aspects of claim 4. Kim does not teach that the display panel further comprises:
an etching barrier layer, disposed on the side of the driving backplane same as the separation layer and is insulated from the first electrode;
the first groove is penetrated in a direction perpendicular to the driving backplane, to expose at least a partial area of the etching barrier layer;
a material of the etching barrier layer is different from a material of the support layer.
Jun Gi (see, e.g., Fig. 25), in similar display devices to Kim, on the other hand, teaches:
an etching barrier layer CDP2, disposed on the side of the driving backplane TFTL same as the separation layer MTL2/205 and is insulated from the first electrode MTL1;
the first groove GR is penetrated in a direction DR3 perpendicular to the driving backplane TFTL, to expose at least a partial area of the etching barrier layer CDP2;
a material of the etching barrier layer CDP2 is different from a material of the support layer 205.
The second conductive pattern CDP2 may serve to prevent the planarization layer 200 from being etched in the same process as other etching processes. To this end, the second conductive pattern CDP2 may include any material having a lower etch rate than the etch rate of the pixel defining layer material layer 222 (see, e.g., pars. 0159, 0234).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to include in Kim’s device, an etching barrier layer, disposed on the side of the driving backplane same as the separation layer and insulated from the first electrode; the first groove being penetrated in a direction perpendicular to the driving backplane, to expose at least a partial area of the etching barrier layer; a material of the etching barrier layer being different from a material of the support layer, as taught by Jun Gi, to prevent the planarization layer from being etched in the same process as other etching processes.
Regarding Claim 6, Kim and Jun Gi teach all aspects of claim 5. Jun Gi (see, e.g., Fig. 25), teaches that the etching barrier layer CDP2 is formed of conductive material (see, e.g., par. 0234).
Regarding Claim 10, Kim and Jun Gi teach all aspects of claim 5. Jun Gi (see, e.g., Fig. 25), teaches that orthographic projections of the cutoff layer MTL2 and the etching barrier layer CDP2 on the driving backplane TFTL are partly overlapped.
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Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 8, and 11-17 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nelson Garcés whose telephone number is (571)272-8249. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wael Fahmy can be reached on (571)272-1705. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Nelson Garces/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814