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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim (s) 1-4 and 12, 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (KR 20210005350) in view of Hong et al. (KR 20210086900A) hereinafter Hong.
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses display device ( Fig.15d) comprising: a circuit board (BF) comprising a plurality of circuit pads (CPD) a display panel (see DP in Fig.2) comprising a plurality of pad areas (see BP in Fig.15d) and a plurality of non-pad areas (see areas between CPD) alternately arranged in a direction; and a conductive adhesive member (see AP;Fig.15d) that electrically connects the circuit board (BF) to the display panel (DP), wherein the display panel further comprises: a base layer (DP-b) comprising a plurality of openings (HP), which overlap the plurality of non-pad areas in a plan view, respectively (see Fig.15d) and a plurality of display pads (DPD) which correspond to the plurality of circuit pads (CPD) and are arranged in the direction to overlap the plurality of pad areas in a plan view (see DPD and CPD), respectively.
Park is silent with respect to a light transmission layer disposed in each of the plurality of openings and having a light transmittance greater than a light transmittance of the base layer.
Hong discloses a light transmission layer (FM; Fig.15-16) disposed in each of the plurality of openings (see openings within 310_1, ; Fig.15-16) and having a light transmittance greater than a light transmittance of the base layer (FM has a light transmittance greater than layer 310_1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the light transmission layer of Hong to modify the display panel of Park in order to provide electrical insulation between the conductive components of the display panel and circuit board and the outside environment and enhanced visibility of components within the device for troubleshooting.
Regarding claim 2, Park discloses wherein the plurality of openings (see HP) are arranged in the direction and do not overlap the plurality of pad areas (see BP) in a plan view (top-down view).
Regarding claim 3, Park fails to discloses wherein the light transmission layer is in direct contact with an opening surface of the base layer, which defines the plurality of openings.
Hong discloses wherein the light transmission layer is in direct contact with an opening surface of the base layer, which defines the plurality of openings (see FM in direct contact with the sidewalls of 310_1; Fig.16).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the light transmission layer of Hong to modify the display panel of Park in order to provide electrical insulation between the conductive components of the display panel and circuit board and the outside environment and enhanced visibility of components within the device for troubleshooting.
Regarding claim 4, Park fails to discloses wherein the light transmission layer is filled in the plurality of openings.
Hong discloses wherein the light transmission layer is filled in the plurality of openings (see FM in direct contact with the sidewalls of 310_1; Fig.16).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the light transmission layer of Hong to modify the display panel of Park in order to provide electrical insulation between the conductive components of the display panel and circuit board and the outside environment and enhanced visibility of components within the device for troubleshooting.
Regarding claim 12, Park discloses wherein a pitch of each of the plurality of display pads in the direction and a pitch of each of the plurality of circuit pads in the direction are same (see pitch of the two connecting pads in Fig.15d).
Regarding claim 15, Park discloses display device (Fig.15f) comprising: a circuit board (BF) comprising a plurality of circuit pads (CPD); a display panel (see DP in Fig.2) comprising a plurality of pad areas (see BP in Fig.15f) arranged in a first direction and extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction and a non-pad area (see areas between DPD) adjacent to the plurality of pad areas (BD); and a conductive adhesive member (see ED-AP) that electrically connects the circuit board (BF) to the display panel (DP), wherein the display panel further comprises: a base layer (DP-b and PL) comprising a plurality of layers (see DP-b and PL) and an opening (HP) defined in at least one of the plurality of layers (see HP in DP-b); and a plurality of display pads (DPD;Fig.15f) which correspond to the plurality of circuit pads (CPD) and arranged in the first direction to overlap the plurality of pad areas in a plan view, respectively (see Fig.15f).
Park fails to specifically disclose a light transmission layer disposed in the opening and having a light transmittance greater than a light transmittance of the base layer.
Hong discloses a light transmission layer (FM; Fig.15-16) disposed in each of the plurality of openings (see openings within 310_1; Fig.15-16) and having a light transmittance greater than a light transmittance of the base layer (FM has a light transmittance greater than layer 310_1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the light transmission layer of Hong to modify the display panel of Park in order to provide electrical insulation between the conductive components of the display panel and circuit board and the outside environment and enhanced visibility of components within the device for troubleshooting.
Regarding claim 16, Park discloses wherein the non-pad area includes a plurality of non-pad areas (BP), and the plurality of non-pad areas (HP) and the plurality of pad areas are alternatively arranged in the first direction (see alternating BP and HP in Fig.15f).
Claim (s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (KR 10-2021-0005350) in view of Hong et al. (KR 20210086900A) hereinafter Hong, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Park et al. (WO 2018/124804) hereinafter Park 804.
Regarding claim 10, Park fails to specifically disclose wherein the light transmission layer comprises a polymer material that transmits ultraviolet light.
Park 804 discloses wherein the light transmission layer (110b; Fig.2) comprises a polymer material that transmits ultraviolet light (110b may be made of polyester).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the material of Park 804 with the light transmission layer of Park in order to allow the user to see through the device
Regarding claim 11, Park fails to specifically disclose wherein the light transmission layer has the light transmittance in a range of about 80% to about 95%.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use a light transmission layer has the light transmittance in a range of about 80% to about 95% to allow the user to see through the device, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ233.
Claim (s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (KR 10-2021-0005350) in view of Hong et al. (KR 20210086900A) hereinafter Hong, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Woo et al. (US 2021/0066828 A1) hereinafter Woo.
Regarding claim 13, Park fails to specifically disclose wherein a width of each of the plurality of display pads in the direction is less than a width of each of the plurality of circuit pads in the direction.
Woo discloses a width of each of the plurality of pads (DCNP1; Fig.16) in the direction is less than a width of each of the plurality of circuit pads (DMP1_1) in the direction.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Woo to modify the pads of Park in order to perform circuit operations.
Claim (s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Hong, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Chen et al. (CN 114374101A) hereinafter Chen.
Regarding claim 14, Park fails to specifically disclose wherein the conductive adhesive member comprises a photoinitiator.
Chen discloses wherein the conductive adhesive member (730; Fig.6C) comprises a photoinitiator (“In some embodiments, the insulating layer 732 further comprises an additive, such as curing agent crosslinking agent, diluent, photoinitiator, coupling, agent”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Chen to modify the conductive adhesive member of Park in order to allow the adhesive to cured with light.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9 and 17-20 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:
Regarding claims 5-9, The prior art of record neither anticipates norrenders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole eithertaken alone or in combination, in particular, prior art of record does not teach" wherein the base layer further comprises: a first barrier layer disposed below the display pads; and a first sub base layer disposed below the first barrier layer, wherein the first barrier layer is disposed to overlap the plurality of pad areas and the plurality of non-pad areas in a plan view, and the first sub base layer comprises first openings arranged to respectively overlap the plurality of non-pad areas in a plan view. " in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim 1.
Regarding claims 17-20, The prior art of record neither anticipates norrenders obvious the claimed subject matter of the instant application as a whole eithertaken alone or in combination, in particular, prior art of record does not teach" a first barrier layer disposed below the display pads; and a first sub base layer disposed below the first barrier layer, wherein the first barrier layer is disposed to overlap the plurality of pad areas and the plurality of non-pad areas in a plan view, and the first sub base layer comprises first openings arranged to respectively overlap the plurality of non-pad areas in a plan view" in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim 15.
Therefore, prior art of record neither anticipates nor renders obvious the instantapplication claimed invention as a whole either taken alone or in combination.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no laterthan the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferablyaccompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "Comments onStatement of Reasons for Allowance."
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETE LEE whose telephone number is (571) 270-5921. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (2nd & 4th Friday Off). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Timothy Dole can be reached at (571) 272-2229 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).
/PETE T LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2848