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
Claims 2 and 4-6 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species (B), Modification (C2-C4) and Embodiment (I), there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 15 July 2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A, Modification C1 and Embodiment II in the reply filed on 15 July 2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 14 March 2024 and 10 September 2024 have been considered by the examiner and made of record in the application file.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
Claims 1, 3 and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ji Hyung Moon et al. (US 2011/0193123 A1; hereinafter “Moon”) in view of Hitoshi Murofushi et al. (US 2006/0076565 A1; hereinafter “Murofushi”).
Regarding Claim 1, Moon teaches a light-emitting device comprising:
a first electrode (143, Fig. 17, para [0156] describes a second conductive layer 143 forming a first electrode);
a second electrode that is disposed to face the first electrode and has a light-transmitting property (105, Fig. 17, para [0144] describes a current spreading layer 105 that may include a conductive transmitting oxide);
a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type that is provided between the first electrode and the second electrode (130, Fig. 17, para [0038] describes a p-type semiconductor layer 130 provided between the first electrode 143 and the second electrode 105);
a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type different from the first conductivity type that is provided between the first semiconductor layer and the second electrode and is in contact with the second electrode (110, Fig. 17, para [0030] describes an n-type semiconductor layer 110 different from the first p-type conductivity and provided between the first semiconductor layer 130 and the second electrode 105 and is in contact with the second electrode 105);
a light-emitting layer that is provided between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer (120, Fig. 17, para [0029] describes an active layer 120 of a light emitting structure layer 135 provided between the first semiconductor layer 130 and the second semiconductor layer 110); and
a light-transmitting portion provided on a side of the second electrode opposite to the second semiconductor layer (190 and 40, Fig. 17 and Fig. 18, para [0160] describes a resin layer 190 provided on a side of the second electrode 105 opposite to the second semiconductor layer 110 and a further molding member 40 including a resin material and a lens structure), wherein
light generated in the light-emitting layer is emitted from a side of the second electrode (143 and 105, para [0156] describes wherein the first electrode 143 is a reflective electrode and the second electrode is a transmitting oxide layer resulting in the light generated in the light-emitting layer 120 being emitted from a side of the second electrode 105),
a refractive index of the second electrode is lower than a refractive index of the second semiconductor layer (105 and 110, Fig. 17, para [0144] describes wherein the second electrode 105 may include a material having a refractive index lower than that of the second semiconductor layer 110), and
a surface of the second semiconductor layer in contact with the second electrode has an uneven structure (112, 110 and 105, Fig. 17, para [0031] describes wherein the second semiconductor layer 110 may include a light extracting structure 112 at a top surface including a roughness at the top surface resulting in an uneven surface for the second semiconductor layer 110 and second electrode 105 at a contact surface between the two).
Moon fails to explicitly disclose wherein a refractive index of the second electrode is higher than a refractive index of the light-transmitting portion.
However, Murofushi teaches a similar light-emitting device wherein a refractive index of the second electrode (23, Fig. 5, para [0061] describes a transparent conductor film 23 comprised of a same indium tin oxide material as the second electrode 105 of Moon) is higher than a refractive index of the light-transmitting portion (25, Fig. 5, para [0070] describes a protection layer 25, comprised of a same epoxy resin material as the light-transmitting portion 40 and 190 of Moon, wherein para [0070] describes wherein the second electrode 23 has a higher refractive index than the light-transmitting portion 25 as shown by the inequality n4 (25) < n1 (23)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Moon with Murofushi to further disclose a light-emitting device wherein a refractive index of a second electrode is higher than a refractive index of a light-transmitting portion in order to provide the advantage of suppressing the total reflection on the interface between adjacent layers thus improving light extraction efficiency in the light-emitting device (Murofushi, para [0075]).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Moon and Murofushi teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 1 further comprising a metal portion provided on a side surface of the light-transmitting portion (Moon, 171, Fig. 17, para [0064] describes a metal layer 171 disposed on a side surface of the light transmitting portion 190).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Moon and Murofushi teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 3, wherein the uneven structure (Moon, 112 and 110, Fig. 17) overlaps the metal portion (Moon, 171, Fig. 17) as viewed in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the first semiconductor layer and the light-emitting layer are stacked (Moon, O, SD and OD, annotated Fig. 17 depicts wherein the uneven structure 112 of the first semiconductor layer 110 overlaps O with the metal portion 171 in a directional orthogonal OD to a direction in which the first semiconductor layer 110 and the light-emitting layer 120 are stacked SD).
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Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Moon and Murofushi teaches the light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the light-transmitting portion opposite to the second electrode is a lens surface (Moon, 190 and 40, Fig. 17 and Fig. 18, para [0169] describes wherein a top surface of the light-transmitting portion 190 and 40 may include a lens structure wherein Fig. 18 depicts the light-transmitting portion 40 on an upper surface of the semiconductor device 100 of Fig. 17).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Moon and Murofushi teaches a display device comprising the light-emitting device according to claim 1 (Moon, Fig. 19 and Fig. 20, para [0173]-para [0175] describes wherein the light-emitting device according to claim 1 can be used in a lighting system such as a display device as shown in Fig. 19 and Fig. 20).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Moon and Murofushi teaches an electronic apparatus comprising the light-emitting device according to claim 1 (Moon, Fig. 21, para [0173]-para [0175] describes wherein the light-emitting device according to claim 1 can be used in a lighting system such as an electronic apparatus depicted by an illumination device in Fig. 21).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER M MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-6051. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julio Maldonado can be reached at 571(272)-1864. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER MICHAEL MILLER/Examiner, Art Unit 2898 /JULIO J MALDONADO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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