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
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 1-2, 11, 14-15, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Matsueda (US 20220199726 A1).
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Regarding claim 1, Matsueda discloses a display panel (Fig. 3), comprising a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix (Fig. 4), wherein: each of the plurality of pixels includes a first color sub-pixel (51G), a second color sub-pixel (51B) and a third color sub-pixel (51R), wherein the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel are arranged to form a triangle (see attached figure), two pixels of the plurality of pixels adjacent along a matrix row direction form a pixel group including a first pixel (right-side-up triangles in attached figure) and a second pixel (upside-down triangles in attached figure); two adjacent matrix rows include an n-th row and an (n+1)-th row, wherein pixel groups in the n-th row and pixel groups in the (n+1)-th row are offset such that first pixels of the n-th row and second pixels of the (n+1)-th row are located in a same matrix column, with n being a positive integer; and along the matrix row direction and/or the matrix column direction, at least part of sub-pixels of the same color in adjacent pixels are arranged adjacently (see attached figure), and light-emitting layers of the sub-pixels of the same color in the adjacent pixels are connected (Adjacent pixels share sub-pixels in accordance with Applicant's fig. 1, therefore sub-pixels of the same color in adjacent pixels would have connected light-emitting layers).
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Regarding claim 2, Matsueda discloses wherein: the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel in one pixel are connected to the light-emitting layers of adjacent sub-pixels of the same colors respectively (attached figure shows first and second color sub-pixels of pixel 1 being connected to first and second color sub-pixels of pixel 2, second and third color sub-pixels of pixel 1 being connected to second and third color sub-pixels of pixel 2, and first and third color sub-pixels of pixel 1 being connecting to first and third color sub-pixels of pixel 4.
Regarding claim 14, Matsueda discloses wherein: the first color sub-pixels in at least two of the plurality of pixels have a same area (Fig. 4 shows all green subpixels 51G having the same area); the second color sub-pixels in at least two of the plurality of pixels have a same area (Fig. 4 shows all blue subpixels 51B having the same area); and the third color sub-pixels in at least two of the plurality of pixels have a same area (Fig. 4 shows all red subpixels 51R having the same area).
Regarding claim 15, Matsueda discloses wherein: the first color sub-pixels, the second color sub-pixels and the third color sub-pixels respectively include one of a green organic light-emitting material, a red organic light-emitting material, or a blue organic light-emitting material (Para. 23 "The light-emitting elements of the pixels are… OLED (organic light-emitting diode) elements").
Regarding claim 17, Matsueda discloses wherein: in one pixel, the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel, and the third color sub-pixel have same shapes and sizes (Shown in Fig. 3).
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Regarding claim 20, Matsueda discloses a display device (Fig. 1) comprising a display panel (Fig. 3) including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix (Fig. 4), wherein: each of the plurality of pixels includes a first color sub-pixel (51G), a second color sub-pixel (51B) and a third color sub-pixel (51R), wherein the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel are arranged to form a triangle (see attached figure), two pixels of the plurality of pixels adjacent along a matrix row direction form a pixel group including a first pixel (right-side-up triangles in attached figure) and a second pixel (upside-down triangles in attached figure); two adjacent matrix rows include an n-th row and an (n+1)-th row, wherein pixel groups in the n-th row and pixel groups in the (n+1)-th row are offset, such that first pixels of the n-th row and second pixels of the (n+1)-th row are located in a same matrix column, and n is a positive integer; and along the matrix row direction and/or the matrix column direction, at least part of the sub-pixels of the same color in the adjacent pixels are arranged adjacently (see attached figure), and light-emitting layers of the sub-pixels of the same color in the adjacent pixels are connected (Adjacent pixels share sub-pixels in accordance with Applicant's fig. 1, therefore sub-pixels of the same color in adjacent pixels would have connected light-emitting layers).
Claim(s) 1 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Matsueda (US 20220199726 A1).
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Regarding claim 1, Matsueda discloses a display panel (Fig. 3), comprising a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix (Fig. 4), wherein: each of the plurality of pixels includes a first color sub-pixel (51G), a second color sub-pixel (51B) and a third color sub-pixel (51R), wherein the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel are arranged to form a triangle (see attached figure), two pixels of the plurality of pixels adjacent along a matrix row direction form a pixel group including a first pixel (labeled 1 in attached figure) and a second pixel (labeled 2 in attached figure); two adjacent matrix rows include an n-th row and an (n+1)-th row, wherein pixel groups in the n-th row and pixel groups in the (n+1)-th row are offset such that first pixels of the n-th row and second pixels of the (n+1)-th row are located in a same matrix column, with n being a positive integer; and along the matrix row direction and/or the matrix column direction, at least part of sub-pixels of the same color in adjacent pixels are arranged adjacently (see attached figure), and light-emitting layers of the sub-pixels of the same color in the adjacent pixels are connected (Adjacent pixels share sub-pixels in accordance with Applicant's fig. 1, therefore sub-pixels of the same color in adjacent pixels would have connected light-emitting layers).
Regarding claim 10, Matsueda discloses wherein along the matrix row direction (x direction), centers of sub-pixels of different colors are located on different straight lines; and along the matrix column direction, centers of sub-pixels of different colors are located on a same straight line (Shown in Fig. 4).
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) 3-5, 11, 13 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsueda (US 20220199726 A1) in view of Yue (US 20220069031 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Matsueda discloses the display panel according to claim 1. However, Matsueda does not disclose a plurality of support pillars wherein: one support pillar of the plurality of support pillars is located in a pixel surrounding area formed by the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel in one corresponding pixel in a thickness direction of the display panel the support pillar overlaps a center point of the pixel surrounding area and the support pillar does not overlap the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel.
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On the other hand, Yue discloses a plurality of support pillars (Fig. 28, 80), wherein: one support pillar of the plurality of support pillars is located in a pixel surrounding area formed by the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel in one corresponding pixel (see attached figure); in a thickness direction of the display panel, the support pillar overlaps a center point of the pixel surrounding area; and the support pillar does not overlap the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel (Shown in Fig. 28). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Matsueda according to the teachings of Yue such that a plurality of support pillars would be located in a pixel surrounding area formed by the first, second and third color sub-pixels and in a thickness direction the support pillar would overlap a center point of the pixel surrounding area, but not overlap the first, second or third color sub-pixels, in order to improve the structural integrity of the display device, especially to avoid damaging underlying components during layer manufacturing steps.
Regarding claim 4, Yue discloses wherein: in the thickness direction of the display panel, the support pillar has a shape matching a shape of the pixel surrounding area (see above attached figure).
Regarding claim 5, Yue discloses wherein: vertical distances between the support pillar and the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel are larger than or equal to 10 μm (Para. 164 "the closest distance from the support column 80 to the pixel opening 43 is… greater than or equal to 4.5 μm", where pixel openings 43 are the openings through which the sub-pixels' light is emitted).
Regarding claim 11, Matsueda discloses the display panel according to claim 1. However, Matsueda does not disclose wherein: positions of sub-pixels whose light-emitting layers are connected in adjacent pixels are evaporation areas the display panel includes first color light-emitting layer evaporation areas second color light-emitting layer evaporation areas and third color light-emitting layer evaporation areas the first color light-emitting layer evaporation areas are arranged along a first direction the second color light-emitting layer evaporation areas are arranged along a second direction the third color light-emitting layer evaporation areas are arranged along a third direction and the first direction, the second direction and the third direction intersect each other.
On the other hand, Yue discloses wherein: positions of sub-pixels whose light-emitting layers are connected in adjacent pixels are evaporation areas (Fig. 27, opening 43; para. 152 "a corresponding luminescent material is evaporated in the pixel opening 43 by using a mask to form the light-emitting layer 412", where evaporation areas correspond to the position of each of the respective pixels); the display panel includes first color light-emitting layer evaporation areas (Fig. 5 for example, opening corresponding to the positions of pixels 11), second color light-emitting layer evaporation areas (opening corresponding to the positions of pixels 12) and third color light-emitting layer evaporation areas (opening corresponding to the positions of pixels 13); the first color light-emitting layer evaporation areas are arranged along a first direction; the second color light-emitting layer evaporation
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areas are arranged along a second direction; the third color light-emitting layer evaporation areas are arranged along a third direction; and the first direction, the second direction and the third direction intersect each other (see attached figure). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Matsueda according to the teachings of Yue such that the display panel would include first color light-emitting layer evaporation areas, second color light-emitting layer evaporation areas and third color light-emitting layer evaporation areas; and the first, second and third color light-emitting layer evaporation areas would be arranged along a first, second and third directions respectively and the first, second and third directions would intersect each other, in order to allow for the use of an evaporation technique to form the light-emitting layers due to the technique’s ability to form high purity films with precise thickness control.
Regarding claim 13, Matsueda discloses the display panel according to claim 1. However, Matsueda does not disclose further including a plurality of anodes wherein: two sub-pixels whose light-emitting layers are connected in adjacent pixels are connected to different pixel driving circuits through different anodes.
On the other hand, Yue discloses further including a plurality of anodes (Fig. 27, anode 411 in subpixel 11 and anode 411 in subpixel 12), wherein: two sub-pixels whose light-emitting layers are connected in adjacent pixels are connected to different pixel driving circuits through different anodes (Shown). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Matsueda according to the teachings of Yue such that the display panel would include a plurality of anodes where two sub-pixels with connected light-emitting layers would be connected to different pixel driving circuits through different anode, in order to allow the different sub-pixels to be controlled independently of one another as is common and necessary in display devices.
Regarding claim 16, Matsueda discloses wherein: the first color sub-pixels, the second color sub-pixels and the third color sub-pixels respectively include one of a green organic light-emitting material, a red organic light-emitting material, or a blue organic light-emitting material (Para. 23 "The light-emitting elements of the pixels are… OLED (organic light-emitting diode) elements"). However, Matsueda does not disclose in one pixel, an area of the first color sub-pixel is larger than an area of the second color sub-pixel and the area of the second color sub-pixel is larger than an area of the third color sub-pixel.
On the other hand, Yue discloses in one pixel, an area of the first color sub-pixel (Fig. 2, blue subpixel 12) is larger than an area of the second color sub-pixel (red sub-pixel 11), and the area of the second color sub-pixel is larger than an area of the third color sub-pixel (green sub-pixel 13). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Matsueda according to the teachings of Yue such that the area of the first color sub-pixel would be larger than an area of a second color sub-pixel, and the area of the second color sub-pixel would be larger than the area of the third color sub-pixel, in order to compensate for the differences in light emission efficiency of blue, red and green OLEDs by varying their respective light emitting areas.
Claim(s) 6-8 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsueda (US 20220199726 A1) in view of Shao (US 20200212124 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Matsueda discloses the display panel according to claim 1. However, Matsueda does not disclose wherein: the shapes of the first pixel and the second pixel are both equilateral triangles.
On the other hand, Shao discloses wherein: the shapes of the first pixel and the second pixel are both equilateral triangles (Fig. 1B; para. 24 "Connection lines between the centers of adjacent three sub-pixel units constitutes an equilateral triangle"). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Matsueda according to the teachings of Shao such that the shapes of the first and second pixels would be both equilateral triangles, in order to distribute light evenly across the display area.
Regarding claim 7, Matsueda discloses wherein: the shape of the first pixel is an equilateral triangle, and the shape of the second pixel is an inverted equilateral triangle (Shown in Fig. 4).
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Regarding claim 8, Shao discloses wherein: one side edge (see attached figure, arrow pointing along side edge of blue sub-pixel) of the first color sub-pixel, one side edge (arrow pointing along side edge of red sub-pixel) of the second color sub-pixel and one side edge (arrow pointing along side edge of green sub-pixel) of the third color sub-pixel are respectively parallel to and at least partially overlap extending directions of the three side edges of the equilateral triangle (shown with dotted lines) respectively.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsueda (US 20220199726 A1) in view of Yue ((US 2022069031 A1)) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Shao (US 20200212124 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Matsueda in view of Yue discloses the display panel according to claim 11. However, Matsueda in view of Yue does not disclose wherein: angles between the first direction, the second direction and the third direction are 60°.
On the other hand, Shao discloses wherein: angles between the first direction, the second direction and the third direction are 60° (Fig. 1B; para. 24 "Connection lines between the centers of adjacent three sub-pixel units constitutes an equilateral triangle", where all angles in an equilateral triangle are necessarily 60°). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Matsueda in view of Yue according to the teachings of Shao such that all angles between the first, second and third directions would be 60°, in order to increase integration density by using patterns which extend to regular hexagons, which are known to maximize density per unit area.
Claim(s) 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yue (US 20220069031 A1) in view of Matsueda (US 20220199726 A1).
Regarding claim 18, Yue discloses a fabrication method of a display panel, comprising: providing a motherboard (Fig. 27, comprising substrate 30 and circuit layer 70); and using masks to form light-emitting layers on the motherboard (para. 152 "a corresponding luminescent material is evaporated in the pixel opening 43 by using a mask to form the light-emitting layer 412"), to form a plurality of pixels and obtain the display panel (Shown in Figs. 26-27), and obtain the display panel, wherein: the plurality of pixels is arranged in a matrix (Shown best in Fig. 25): each of the plurality of pixels includes a first color sub-pixel (11), a second color sub-pixel (12) and a third color sub-pixel (13). However, Yue does not disclose wherein the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel are arranged to form a triangle two pixels of the plurality of pixels adjacent along a matrix row direction form a pixel group including a first pixel and a second pixel two adjacent matrix rows include an n-th row and an (n+1)-th row wherein pixel groups in the n-th row and pixel groups in the (n+1)-th row are offset such that first pixels of the n-th row and second pixels of the (n+1)-th row are located in a same matrix column and n is a positive integer; and light-emitting layers of the sub-pixels of the same color in the adjacent pixels are connected.
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On the other hand, Matsueda discloses wherein the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel are arranged to form a triangle, two pixels of the plurality of pixels adjacent along a matrix row direction form a pixel group (see attached figure) including a first pixel (right-side-up triangles in attached figure) and a second pixel (upside-down triangles in attached figure); two adjacent matrix rows include an n-th row and an (n+1)-th row, wherein pixel groups in the n-th row and pixel groups in the (n+1)-th row are offset, such that first pixels of the n-th row and second pixels of the (n+1)-th row are located in a same matrix column (see attached figure), and n is a positive integer; and light-emitting layers of the sub-pixels of the same color in the adjacent pixels are connected (Adjacent pixels share sub-pixels in accordance with Applicant's fig. 1, therefore sub-pixels of the same color in adjacent pixels would have connected light-emitting layers). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing of the invention to modify Yue according to the teachings of Matsueda such that the first, second and third color sub-pixels would be arranged to form a triangle; the first and second pixels in the nth and (n+1)th rows would be offset such that the first pixels in the nth row and the second pixels in the (n+1)th row would be in the same matrix column, and that light-emitting layers of the sub-pixels of the same color in adjacent pixels would be connected, in order to improve the luminosity and image quality of the display by using a triangle pattern to increase integration density of the OLED devices.
Regarding claim 19, Yue discloses before using the masks to form the light-emitting layers on the motherboard, further including: forming a plurality of support pillars (Fig. 27, 80) on the motherboard, wherein: using the masks to form the light-emitting layers on the motherboard includes: using the plurality of support pillars to support the masks (Para. 152 "To avoid direct contact between the mask and the pixel defining layer 42, the support column 80 needs to be disposed above the pixel defining layer 42 to support the mask"), and using the masks to form the light-emitting layers on the motherboard (para. 152 "a corresponding luminescent material is evaporated in the pixel opening 43 by using a mask to form the light-emitting layer 412"), wherein: in the thickness direction of the motherboard, at least one of the plurality of support pillars does not overlap any of evaporation openings of the masks (Pixel openings 43 necessarily correspond to evaporation openings, which are not overlapped by support pillars 80).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 9, the prior art of record does not disclose the display panel according to claim 8, wherein shapes of the first color sub-pixel, the second color sub-pixel and the third color sub-pixel are isosceles trapezoids, and bases of the isosceles trapezoids are parallel to and at least partially overlap the extension directions of the sides of the equilateral triangle respectively.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL J SMITH whose telephone number is (703)756-5706. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 EST.
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/S.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2817
/MARLON T FLETCHER/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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