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 Amendment
The amendment filed on 6/22/2026 has been considered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to all of the references being used in the current rejection. Specifically, Applicant s arguments filed 6/22/2026 applied to the Kwon 864 reference used to reject at least claim 1 in the rejection under 35 USC 102(a)(1). In the current rejection, Applicant s amendment filed 6/22/2026 necessitated the incorporation of a reference Park 769 instead of Kwon 864 by providing the specifically recited claimed the plurality of banks partitioning the first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer and the transmission layer.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 6 and 8-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park (US 2021/0074769).
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses, in at least figure 33 and related text, a display device comprising:
a first substrate (110, [171]);
a transistor (T1/T2/T3, [173]) disposed on the first substrate (110, [171]);
a light emitting device (ED1/ED2/ED3, [176]) connected to the transistor (T1/T2/T3, [173]);
an encapsulation layer (170, [177]) covering the light emitting device (ED1/ED2/ED3, [176]);
a plurality of banks (380, [187]) disposed to overlap the encapsulation layer (170, [177]) in a plan view and partitioning a first emission area (TA2, [188]), a second emission area (TA3, [188]), and a third emission area (TA1, [188]);
a first color conversion layer (340, [187]) disposed in the first emission area (TA2, [188]);
a second color conversion layer (350, [187]) disposed in the second emission area (TA3, [188]); and
a transmission layer (330, [187]) disposed in the third emission area (TA1, [188]),
wherein the plurality of banks (380, [187]) partition the first color conversion layer (340, [187]), the second color conversion layer (350, [187]) and the transmission layer (330, [187]),
wherein a thickness of at least one of the first color conversion layer (340, [187]) and the second color conversion layer (350, [187]) is greater than a thickness of the plurality of banks (380, [187]).
Regarding claim 3, Park discloses the display device of claim 1 as described above.
Park further discloses, in at least figure 33 and related text, an upper surface of the at least one of the first color conversion layer (340, [187]) and the second color conversion layer (350, [187]), which is thicker than the thickness of the plurality of banks (380, [187]), is flat.
Regarding claim 6, Park discloses the display device of claim 1 as described above.
Park further discloses, in at least figure 33 and related text, a side surface of the at least one of the first color conversion layer (340, [187]) and the second color conversion layer (350, [187]), which is thicker than the thickness of the plurality of banks (820, [106]), is spaced apart from the plurality of banks (380, [187]).
Regarding claim 8, Park discloses the display device of claim 1 as described above.
Park further discloses, in at least figure 33 and related text, a spacer (321/322/323, [202]) disposed to overlap the plurality of banks (380, [187]) in a plan view.
Regarding claim 9, Park discloses the display device of claim 1 as described above.
Park further discloses, in at least figure 33 and related text, two or more of the first color conversion layer (340, [187]), the second color conversion layer (350, [187]), and the transmission layer (330, [187]) have a thickness greater than the thickness of the plurality of banks (380, [187]).
Regarding claim 10, Park discloses the display device of claim 1 as described above.
Park further discloses, in at least figure 33 and related text, a thickness of the first color conversion layer (340, [187]), a thickness of the second color conversion layer (350, [187]), and a thickness of the transmission layer (330, [187]) is greater than the thickness of the plurality of banks (380, [187]).
Regarding claim 11, Park discloses the display device of claim 1 as described above.
Park further discloses, in at least figure 33 and related text, a second substrate (310, [187]) facing the first substrate (110, [170]);
a color filter (361/363/365, [190]) disposed on the second substrate (310, [187]); and
a filling layer (391, [205]) disposed between the color filter (361/363/365, [190]) and the first color conversion layer (340, [187]), the second color conversion layer (350, [187]), and the transmission layer (330, [187]).
Regarding claim 12, Park discloses the display device of claim 1 as described above.
Park further discloses, in at least figure 33 and related text, a cover layer (310, [187]) disposed on the first color conversion layer (340, [187]), the second color conversion layer (350, [187]), and the transmission layer (330, [187]); and
a filling layer (700, [59]) disposed between the cover layer (310, [187]) and the encapsulation layer (170, [177]).
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.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 2021/0074769) in view of Park (US 2022/0028922).
Regarding claim 4, Park769 discloses the display device of claim 1 as described above.
Park769 does not explicitly disclose an upper surface of the at least one of the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer, which is thicker than the thickness of the plurality of banks, is curved.
Park922 teaches, in at least figure 21 and related text, the device comprising an upper surface of the at least one of the first color conversion layer (WCL1, [243]) and the second color conversion layer (WCL2, [243]), which is thicker than the thickness of the plurality of banks (UBM, [247]), is curved, for the purpose of providing a display device having a novel pixel arrangement and electrode structure ([6]).
Park769 and Lee are analogous art because they both are directed to display device and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify Park769 with the specified features of Park922 because they are from the same field of endeavor.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the structure disclosed in Park769 to have the upper surface of the at least one of the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer, which is thicker than the thickness of the plurality of banks, being curved, as taught by Park922, for the purpose of providing a display device having a novel pixel arrangement and electrode structure ([6], Park922).
Claim(s) 5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US 2021/0074769) in view of Lee (US 2020/0033670).
Regarding claim 5, Park discloses the display device of claim 1 as described above.
Park does not explicitly disclose a portion of the at least one of the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer, which is thicker than the thickness of the plurality of banks, is disposed to overlap the plurality of banks in a plan view.
Lee teaches, in at least figure 2 and related text, the device comprising a portion of the at least one of the first color conversion layer (410G, [39]) and the second color conversion layer (410R, [39]), which is thicker than the thickness of the plurality of banks (BM, [39]), is disposed to overlap the plurality of banks (BM, [39]) in a plan view, for the purpose of providing color conversion element to set a balance between luminance and a viewing angle or color purity for a specific color to a desired level ([112]).
Park and Lee are analogous art because they both are directed to display device and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify Park with the specified features of Lee because they are from the same field of endeavor.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the structure disclosed in Park to have the portion of the at least one of the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer, which is thicker than the thickness of the plurality of banks, being disposed to overlap the plurality of banks in a plan view, as taught by Lee, for the purpose of providing color conversion element to set a balance between luminance and a viewing angle or color purity for a specific color to a desired level ([112], Lee).
Regarding claim 7, Park discloses the display device of claim 6 as described above.
Park further discloses, in at least figure 33 and related text, a cover layer (310, [187]) disposed on the first color conversion layer (340, [187]), the second color conversion layer (350, [187]), and the transmission layer (330, [187]).
Park does not explicitly disclose the cover layer is disposed in an area between a side of the plurality of banks and the at least one of the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer, which is thicker than the plurality of banks.
Lee teaches, in at least figure 2 and related text, the device comprising the cover layer (500, [68]) is disposed in an area between a side of the plurality of banks (BM, [39]) and the at least one of the first color conversion layer (410G, [39]) and the second color conversion layer (410R, [39]), which is thicker than the plurality of banks (BM, [39]), for the purpose of providing color conversion element to set a balance between luminance and a viewing angle or color purity for a specific color to a desired level ([112]).
Park and Lee are analogous art because they both are directed to display device and one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to modify Park with the specified features of Lee because they are from the same field of endeavor.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the structure disclosed in Park to have the cover layer being disposed in an area between a side of the plurality of banks and the at least one of the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer, which is thicker than the plurality of banks, as taught by Lee, for the purpose of providing color conversion element to set a balance between luminance and a viewing angle or color purity for a specific color to a desired level ([112], Lee).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is 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 because the prior art of record neither anticipates nor render obvious the limitations of the base claims 1 and 2 that recite "a difference between the thickness of the at least one of the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer and the thickness of the plurality of banks is in a range of about 1 μm to about 5 μm" in combination with other elements of the base claims 1 and 2.
Claims 13-16 are allowed because the prior art of record neither anticipates nor render obvious the limitations of the base claims 13 that recite "an auxiliary spacer layer disposed to overlap the first color conversion layer or the second color conversion layer in a plan view" in combination with other elements of the base claims 13.
Claims 17-20 are allowed because the prior art of record neither anticipates nor render obvious the limitations of the base claims 17 that recite "a thickness of the transmission layer is less than the thickness of the bank" in combination with other elements of the base claims 17.
Conclusion
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.
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/TONG-HO KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2811
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