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 (Device), Species A of Fig. 6, claims 1-14 and 16, in the reply filed on August 13, 2026 is acknowledged. Examiner notes that claim 15 is directed to the non-elected species B of Fig. 9. Therefore, claims 1-14 and 16 are presented for examination.
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 and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or (a)(2) as being anticipated by Choung et al. (US 11,348,983; hereinafter Choung).
Regarding claim 1, Choung discloses A display panel, comprising:
a base layer (substrate 102, Fig. 2A);
a pixel definition layer (pixel-defining layer structure 126, Fig. 2A) on the base layer (102, Fig. 2A), wherein an emission opening (opening within 126, Fig. 2A and 1A) is defined in the pixel definition layer (126, Fig. 2A and 1A);
a partition wall (overhang structure 110, Fig. 2A) including a first partition layer (base portion 110A, Fig. 2A) on the pixel definition layer (126, Fig. 2A) and a second partition layer (top portion 110B, Fig. 2A) on the first partition layer (110A, Fig. 2A), wherein a partition opening (opening within 110A and 110B, Fig. 2A and 1A) is defined in the partition wall (110, Fig. 2A and 1A) to overlap the emission opening (opening within 126, Fig. 2A);
an emission element (metal layer 104/OLED material 112/cathode 114, Fig. 2A) including an anode (metal layer 104, Fig. 2A), an intermediate layer (OLED material 112, Fig. 2A) on the anode (104, Fig. 2A), and a cathode (cathode 114, Fig. 2A) on the intermediate layer (112, Fig. 2A); and
a subsidiary electrode (metal oxide surface 130, Fig. 2A) on the emission element (104/112/114, Fig. 2A), wherein the intermediate layer (112, Fig. 2A) and the cathode (114, Fig. 2A) are spaced apart from a lateral surface of the partition wall (lateral surface of 110A, Fig. 2A) when viewed in plan, because Applicants do not specifically claim whether the claimed lateral surface of the partition wall refers to a lateral surface of the first partition layer or a lateral surface of the second partition layer since “a lateral surface of the partition wall” does not specify which lateral surface of the partition wall it refers to, when viewed in plan view, a lateral surface of the base portion 110A by Choung is spaced apart from the OLED layer 112 and cathode 114 (Fig. 2A), and wherein the subsidiary electrode (130, Fig. 2A) is in contact with the partition wall (110A, Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 2, Choung further discloses for the display panel of claim 1 that the subsidiary electrode (130, Fig. 2A) covers both ends of the intermediate layer (112, Fig. 2A) and both ends of the cathode (114, Fig. 2A), because the metal oxide surface 130 by Choung laterally covers or overlaps both ends of the OLED material 112 and both ends of the cathode 114. Examiner notes that Applicants do not specifically claim the subsidiary electrode is in direct contact with both ends of the intermediate layer and both ends of the cathode.
Regarding claim 3, Choung further discloses for the display panel of claim 1 that the subsidiary electrode (130, Fig. 2A) is in contact with a first inner lateral surface of the first partition layer (lateral surface of 110A, Fig. 2A) and is electrically connected to the partition wall (110, Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 5, Choung further discloses for the display panel of claim 1 that the subsidiary electrode (130, Fig. 2A) extends along a first inner lateral surface of the first partition layer (along lateral surface, i.e., sidewall surface, of 110A, Fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 6, Choung further discloses for the display panel of claim 1 that the subsidiary electrode (130, Fig. 2A) extends along a first inner lateral surface of the first partition layer (along lateral surface, i.e., sidewall surface, of 110A, Fig. 2A) and a bottom surface of the second partition layer (bottom surface of 110B, Fig. 2A), because a top surface of the metal oxide surface 130 by Choung is in contact with the bottom surface of 110B and since the top surface of 130 is non-zero, the metal oxide surface 130 extends along the bottom surface of 110B.
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Choung et al. (US 11,348,983; hereinafter Choung) in view of Prushinskiy et al. (US 2016/0141339, hereinafter Prushinskiy).
Regarding claim 4, Choung does not explicitly disclose that the subsidiary electrode includes titanium nitride (TiN).
However, Prushinskiy discloses an organic light emitting display device including a lower electrode 290 (corresponding to the claimed anode) in a pixel region, a first sub-pixel 315 (corresponding to the claimed intermediate layer) disposed on the lower electrode 290, an upper electrode 355 (corresponding to the claimed cathode) disposed on the first sub-pixel 315 (Fig. 8). Prushinskiy further discloses an auxiliary electrode 365 disposed on the upper electrode 355 and a portion of the pixel defining layer 310 in the pixel region (Fig. 8), and therefore, the auxiliary electrode 365 corresponds to the claimed subsidiary electrode. Prushinskiy further teaches that “the auxiliary electrode 365 may include at least one of aluminum (Al), aluminum alloy, aluminum nitride (AlNx), silver (Ag), silver alloy, tungsten (W), tungsten nitride (WNx), copper (Cu), copper alloy, nickel (Ni), chrome (Cr), chrome nitride (CrNx), molybdenum (Mo), molybdenum alloy, magnesium (Mg), magnesium alloy, magnesium-silver (Mg-Ag) alloy, titanium (Ti), titanium nitride (TiNx), platinum (Pt), tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride (TaNx), neodymium (Nd), scandium (Sc), strontium ruthenium oxide (SRO), zinc oxide (ZnOx), aluminum zinc oxide (AZO), indium tin oxide (ITO), stannum oxide (SnOx), indium oxide (InOx), indium tin oxide (ITO), gallium oxide (GaOx), gallium zinc oxide (GZO), and indium zinc oxide (IZO). The auxiliary electrode 365 may include any other suitable material” (emphasis added, [0086]), therefore, Prushinskiy teaches that TiN is a suitable conductive material for an auxiliary electrode and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that TiN as a suitable known conductive material for use in the corresponding conductive metal oxide surface 130 of Choung.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ titanium nitride as the material of the relevant conductive layer in Choung, as taught by Prushinskiy, and it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use, In re Leshin, 125 USPQ 416.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-14 and 16 are allowed, because the prior arts cited in this office action do not teach the claim limitation, “a length in a first direction of the tip is equal to or greater than about 1.5 times a thickness of the first partition layer” recited in lines 13-14 of claim 9 and claims 10-14 and 16 depend on claim 9.
Claims 7-8 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, because the prior arts cited in this office action do not teach the claim limitations, “a length in a first direction of the tip is equal to or greater than about 1.5 times a thickness of the first partition layer” of claim 7 and “a thickness of the second partition layer is in a range of about 2,000 Å to about 3,000 Å” of claim 8.
Conclusion
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/WOO K LEE/Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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