Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/616,392

ARRAY SUBSTRATE AND DISPLAY APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Mar 26, 2024
Examiner
HA, NATHAN W
Art Unit
2814
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allow Rate
1043 granted / 1144 resolved
+23.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
10 currently pending
Career history
1154
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
§103
43.5%
+3.5% vs TC avg
§102
34.8%
-5.2% vs TC avg
§112
6.3%
-33.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1144 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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. Claim(s) 1-2 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jinta et al. (US 2014/0284570, hereinafter, Jinta.) In regard to claims 1 and 20, in figs. 2-4, Kinta discloses a plurality of light emitting elements respectively in a plurality of subpixels (see the abstract); and a plurality of pixel driving circuits respectively in the plurality of subpixels configured to respectively drive the plurality of light emitting elements (fig. 3.); wherein multiple pixel driving circuits of the plurality of pixel driving circuits are arranged along a first direction (fig. 3); a respective one of the pixel driving circuits comprises a third transistor; a width, along the first direction, of a third anode of a third light emitting element in a respective third subpixel is no less than a distance, along the first direction, between two adjacent third transistors in two adjacent pixel driving circuits of the multiple pixel driving circuits (fig. 3.) Regarding claim 20, see fig. 5. Regarding claim 2, wherein the width, along the first direction of the third anode of the third light emitting element in the respective third subpixel is no less than a minimum distance, along the first direction, between gate electrodes of the two adjacent third transistors in the two adjacent pixel driving circuits (fig. 3.) 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) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jinta as applied to claim 1 above. In regard to claim 3, Jinta discloses all of the claimed limitations as mentioned above. Jinta also shows the relationship of the dimensions of the elements in the whole circuit, except the exact arrangements as claimed. Thus, Jinta recognizes that there is a need for having the dimension at some values. The distance of the element is therefore a result-effective variable. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to vary, through routine optimization, the distance of the elements as Jinta has identified the thickness as a result-effective variable. Further, one of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success to arrive at a distance of the elements as claimed in order to achieve the desired connections among the layers. MPEP 2144.05. Furthermore, the applicant has not presented persuasive evidence that the claimed thickness is for a particular purpose that is critical to the overall claimed invention (i.e., that the invention would not work without the specific claimed inventions.) Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4-19 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. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art does not show a main portion, a first protrusion portion, and a second protrusion portion; wherein the first protrusion portion and the second protrusion portion can be intersected by a virtual straight line extending along the first direction. And, wherein third transistors respectively in subpixels in a same row are controlled by a same gate line, and having gate electrodes of a substantially same shape; and an orthographic projection of the third anode of the third light emitting element in the respective third subpixel on a base substrate at least partially overlaps with orthographic projections of two third transistors respectively in two adjacent subpixels on the base substrate. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN W HA whose telephone number is (571)272-1707. The examiner can normally be reached M-T: 8:00AM-6:00PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, WAEL FAHMY can be reached at (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 published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /NATHAN W HA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 26, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 03, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 20, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION APPARATUS, PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION SYSTEM, AND MOVING OBJECT
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
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2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12598795
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES AND METHOD OF FORMING THE SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
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2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
91%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+7.7%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1144 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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