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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I (claims 1-15) in the reply filed on June 8, 2026 is acknowledged. Therefore claims 16-20 drawn to non-elected invention have been withdrawn from examination for patentability.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application KR 10-2023-0070368 filed in the Ministry of Intellectual Property (MOIP) on May 31, 2023 and receipt of a certified copy thereof.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on March 6, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS is considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informality:
In claim 1, lines 7-8, “a first protective part including a first base resin and an ultraviolet curable resin” should read --a first protective part including a first base resin including an ultraviolet curable resin--. Support can be found at least in paragraph [00110] of the original specification.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(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 1-3, 6, 7, 9-11 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sung et al. US 2021/0266999.
Regarding claim 1, Sung teaches an electronic device (e.g., Fig. 2, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, the description thereof) comprising:
a display panel (e.g., DP and IL, Fig. 2, Fig 9) including a first region (e.g., first region; see the annotated Fig. 9 below) corresponding to an electronic module (e.g., DEM associated with CL and PCB, Fig. 9, [75], [94]), a second region (e.g., second region; see the annotated Fig. 9 below) which extends from the first region, and a third region (e.g., third region; see the annotated Fig. 9 below) which is spaced apart from the first region with the second region therebetween; and
a protective layer (e.g., PI-6, Fig. 9) facing the display panel at the second region and the third region, the protective layer including:
a first protective part (e.g., first protective part including a portion of PL1 and a portion of PL2; see the annotated Fig. 9 below) including an ultraviolet curable resin (e.g., [121]), the first protective part being adjacent to the first region and overlapping the second region (e.g., see the annotated Fig. 9 below); and
a second protective part (e.g., second protective part including another portion of PL1 and another portion of PL2; see the annotated Fig. 9 below) including a heat radiating material (e.g., graphene; [117]), the second protective part being adjacent to the second region and overlapping the third region (e.g., see the annotated Fig. 9 below).
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Annotated Fig. 9 of Sung
Regarding claim 2, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first protective part and the second protective part further includes a light blocking material (e.g., black pigmen or black dye, [154]).
Regarding claim 3, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first protective part includes a light blocking material including an ultraviolet transmitting material (e.g., [154]).
Regarding claim 6, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the protective layer defines a hole (e.g., hole formed by 20 in which PL2 is disposed, Fig. 9) therein which overlaps the first region, and the first protective part of the protective layer surrounds the hole (e.g., see the annotated Fig. 9 above).
Regarding claim 7, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the display panel includes a lower surface closest to the protective layer, and the protective layer is directly on the lower surface of the display panel (e.g., Fig. 9).
Regarding claim 9, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first protective part has substantially the same thickness as the second protective part (e.g., see the annotated Fig. 9 above; Applicant did not specifically claim what the limitation “substantially the same” stands for, thus, the first and second protective parts of Sung are considered as to meet the claimed subject matter).
Regarding claim 10, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first protective part and the second protective part are coplanar with each other (e.g., the first protective part and the second protective part have a coplanar surface; see the annotated Fig. 9 above).
Regarding claim 11, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the protective layer further includes a filling layer (e.g., filling layer; see the annotated Fig. 9 above) which is coplanar with the first protective part and the second protective part (e.g., the first protective part, the second protective part and the filling layer have a coplanar surface; see the annotated Fig. 9 above), overlaps the first region and transmits light (e.g., [122]).
Regarding claim 13, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the display panel further includes: an active region (e.g., AA, Fig. 2) including the first region, the second region and the third region; and a peripheral region (e.g., NAA, Fig. 2) adjacent to the active region, and the protective layer overlaps the peripheral region (e.g., Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 14, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 13, wherein the protective layer further includes a third protective part (e.g., a portion of PL2 overlapping NAA, Fig. 2, Fig. 7) including an ultraviolet curable resin (e.g., [169]), the third protective part being coplanar with the first protective part and the second protective part (e.g., the first protective part, the second protective part and the third protective part have a coplanar surface of PL2), adjacent to the third region and overlapping the peripheral region (e.g., Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 15, Sung teaches an electronic device (e.g., Fig. 2, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, the description thereof) comprising:
a display panel (e.g., DP, Fig. 2, Fig 9) including a first region a first region (e.g., first region; see the annotated Fig. 9 above) corresponding to an electronic module DEM associated with CL and PCB, Fig. 9, [75], [94]), a second region (e.g., second region; see the annotated Fig. 9 above) which extends from the first region, and a third region (e.g., third region; see the annotated Fig. 9 above) which is spaced apart from the first region with the second region therebetween; and
a protective layer (e.g., PI-6, Fig. 9) facing the display panel at the second region and the third region, the protective layer including:
a first protective part (e.g., first protective part; see the annotated Fig. 9 above) including a first base resin and an ultraviolet curable resin (e.g., resin of PL2, [121]; see the claim objection above), the first protective part being adjacent to the first region and overlapping the second region (e.g., see the annotated Fig. 9 above); and
a second protective part (e.g., second protective part; see the annotated Fig. 9 above) including a second base resin (e.g., resin of PL1, [119]) different from the first base resin and a heat radiating material (e.g., graphene; [117]) which is in the second base resin, the second protective part being coplanar with the first protective part (e.g., the first protective part and the second protective part have a coplanar surface; see the annotated Fig. 9 above), adjacent to the second region and overlapping the third region (e.g., see the annotated Fig. 9 above).
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 of this title, 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 8 and 12 are rejected are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sung et al. US 2021/0266999.
Regarding claim 8, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1 as discussed above.
Sung does not explicitly teach wherein a thickness of the first protective part and a thickness of the second protective part range from about 50 micrometers to about 300 micrometers. A thickness of a protective layer is a matter of obvious design choice. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to control and optimize the device of Sung to have the claimed range because a thickness of a protective layer in the claimed range can be achieved by the general skill of a worker in the art through ordinary means of routine work for example.
Regarding claim 12, Sung teaches the electronic device of claim 1 as discussed above.
Sung does not explicitly teach wherein the heat radiating material of the second protective part adjacent to the second region and overlapping the third region has an average diameter of about 5 micrometers to about 100 micrometers. Sung, however, recognizes that the heat radiating material such as graphene (considered as inorganic particles) has a diameter equal to or less than 10 micrometers (e.g., [14]), which overlaps the claimed range. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to control and optimize the device of Sung to have the claimed range since it has been held that where the criticality of the claimed range is not shown and the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art, a prima facie case of obviousness exists. MPEP § 2144.05.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 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
The art made of record and not applied to the rejection is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. It is cited primarily to show inventions relevant to the examination of the instant invention. For example, AN relates to an electronic device including a protective layer defining a hole in which an electronic module is disposed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bo Bin Jang whose telephone number is (571) 270-0271. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Eva Montalvo can be reached at (571) 270-3829. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BO B JANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2818 August 26, 2026
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