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 Objections
Claims 1 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “T1 is the thickness (Å)” and “T2 is the thickness (Å)” however the unit “(Å)” is not required and in addition the claim does not specify a unit for λ1 and λ2, so it is not clear why the Applicant uses “(Å)” as the unit when it is already understood, thus by specifying the unit “(Å)” the claim becomes unclear. Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 6, 9, 11, 17, 18, 21, 23 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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7, 8, 10, 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son et al. (US 20210335955 A1) hereafter referred to as Son in view of Song et al. (KR 100852111 B1) hereafter referred to as Song
In regard to claim 1 Son teaches a display device [see Fig. 14, see “FIG. 6 is a layout view of a sub-display area of the display panel”] comprising:
a first base layer [SUB1 “Each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include (e.g., may be made of) an insulating material, for example, such as glass, quartz, or polymer resin. For example, each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include polyimide”] including, a first display area [some of the PXA around the any of the TA see “Referring to FIG. 6, the sub-display area SDA may include pixel areas PXA that include emission areas RE, GE1, BE, and GE2 for emitting light, and transmissive areas TA that transmit light” see also paragraph 0070, 0071 “display panel 300 may include a display area DA including a main display area MDA and a sub-display area SDA. The main display area MDA may occupy most of (e.g., a majority of) the display area DA. The sub-display area SDA may be disposed at (e.g., in or on) a side (e.g., an end) of the main display area MDA, for example, at an upper side (e.g., an upper end) of the main display area MDA as illustrated in FIG. 2, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto” “The main display area MDA may include a pixel area that includes pixels for displaying an image, but may not include a transmissive area that transmits light therethrough. On the other hand, the sub-display area SDA may include both a transmissive area that transmits light therethrough and a pixel area that includes pixels for displaying an image”] including a first pixel area, and a second display area [see there are PXA all around TA] at least partially surrounded by the first display area and including a transmission area [“transmissive areas TA”] and a second pixel area [i.e. the other PXA around the any of the TA];
a first barrier layer [BF1 see “each of the first buffer layer BF1 and the second buffer layer BF2 may be a multilayer in which one or more inorganic layers selected from a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a titanium oxide layer, and an aluminum oxide layer are alternately stacked”] disposed on the first base layer and including a first inorganic layer having a first thickness and a second inorganic layer having a second thickness;
a second base layer [SUB2 “Each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include (e.g., may be made of) an insulating material, for example, such as glass, quartz, or polymer resin. For example, each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include polyimide”] disposed on the first barrier layer;
a second barrier layer [BF2 see “each of the first buffer layer BF1 and the second buffer layer BF2 may be a multilayer in which one or more inorganic layers selected from a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a titanium oxide layer, and an aluminum oxide layer are alternately stacked”] disposed on the second base layer, and including a third inorganic layer having a third thickness and a fourth inorganic layer having a fourth thickness; and
a plurality of pixels [see Fig. 14 see “light emitting element layer EML is formed on the thin-film transistor layer TFTL. The light emitting element layer EML includes light emitting elements 170 and a bank 190”] disposed on the second barrier layer to be located within the first pixel area and the second pixel area,
but does not teach “wherein the second thickness is thinner than the first thickness” and “wherein the fourth thickness is thinner than the third thickness” and wherein each of the first thickness and the third thickness satisfies,
T1=(λ1ⅹm/2)/n1, [Equation 1] and wherein each of the second thickness and the fourth thickness satisfies,
T2=(λ2ⅹm/2)/n2, [Equation 2] wherein, in Equation 1, T1 is the thickness (Å) of any one of the first thickness and the third thickness, λ1 is a first wavelength within a visible light wavelength range, and n1 is a refractive index of any one of the first inorganic layer and the third inorganic layer, and wherein, in Equation 2, T2 is the thickness (Å) of any one of the second thickness and the fourth thickness, λ2 is a second wavelength within a visible light wavelength range, and n2 is a refractive index of any one of the second inorganic layer and the fourth inorganic layer, and wherein m is a natural number.
The Examiner notes that as pertains to the equations in the claim, a person of ordinary skill in the art is aware that the refractive index of the material that light travels in affects the effective wavelength in that material as opposed to vacuum.
See Son is worried about absorption see paragraph 0206 “Polyimide has high absorbance of short-wavelength light (e.g., blue-based light). Thus, when the first planarization layer 160, the second planarization layer 180, and the bank 190 include (e.g., are made of) polyimide, they may absorb the short-wavelength light. Therefore, when the first planarization layer 160, the second planarization layer 180, and the bank 190 are disposed in the transmissive area TA, the intensity of the short-wavelength light in the light sensed by the optical devices 740 through 770 may be low (e.g., may be very low)”.
See Song teaches see Fig. 1 “the light resonance layer 121 may be provided anywhere between these layers. to be” “In this case, the light resonance layer 121 includes two or more layers 1211 and 1212, and the thickness of the light resonance layer 121 is different according to wavelengths of light emitted” “light resonance layer 131 may alternately include a high refractive index layer and a low refractive index layer. Here, the high refractive index or the low refractive index refers to the relative size of the refractive index of the layers provided in the light resonance layer 121” see “optical path difference between the two lights is twice the thickness of the first layer 1211. When the thickness of the first layer 1211 is t1, the optical path difference is 2t1. The latter light has the same phase as the original phase. Therefore, when the wavelength of the light emitted from the subpixel is λ, constructive interference occurs when the optical path difference becomes an integer multiple of the wavelength, so that the thickness t1 of the first layer 1211 satisfies Equation 3 below” “[Equation 3] t1 = (nλ) / 2” “In Equation 3, n is a natural number. Since the wavelength of light emitted by each subpixel is different, the thickness of the first layer 1211 may be adjusted to satisfy Equation 3 according to the wavelength of light emitted from each subpixel to improve light extraction efficiency and brightness. Can be”, see “Equation 4” “Equation 5” are more complex structures that give exact results for a specific frequency “In Equation 4, m is k-n, that is, a natural number. The thickness t2 of the second layer 1212 satisfies Equation 4, thereby improving light extraction efficiency and brightness” but see the most important teaching of Song for this rejection is: “At this time, since the wavelength of light emitted by each subpixel is different, it is preferable to adjust the thickness t2 of the second layer 1212 to satisfy Equation 3 according to the wavelength of light emitted from each subpixel” i.e. Song is saying that using Equation 3 for each layer still yields good results.
Now remember that Son is worried about absorption for short-wavelength light (e.g., blue-based light), thus for the transmissive areas TA, the incoming light i.e. visible light includes Red, Green and Blue however the problem is most acute for Blue and least for Red.
Thus, it 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 to modify Son to include “wherein the second thickness is thinner than the first thickness” and “wherein the fourth thickness is thinner than the third thickness” and wherein each of the first thickness and the third thickness satisfies,
T1=(λ1ⅹm/2)/n1, [Equation 1] and wherein each of the second thickness and the fourth thickness satisfies,
T2=(λ2ⅹm/2)/n2, [Equation 2] wherein, in Equation 1, T1 is the thickness (Å) of any one of the first thickness and the third thickness, λ1 is a first wavelength within a visible light wavelength range, and n1 is a refractive index of any one of the first inorganic layer and the third inorganic layer, and wherein, in Equation 2, T2 is the thickness (Å) of any one of the second thickness and the fourth thickness, λ2 is a second wavelength within a visible light wavelength range, and n2 is a refractive index of any one of the second inorganic layer and the fourth inorganic layer, and wherein m is a natural number.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is that as Song teaches, using Equation 3 for each layer is easy and yields good results and that of the 3 primary colors Son has to optimize to increase transmission the higher energy Blue and Green and worry less about Red and that from Equation 3 it follows that higher refractive index layers can be thinner and satisfy Equation 3.
In regard to claim 2 Son and Song as combined does not specifically teach wherein the first thickness and the third thickness are substantially equal, and the second thickness and the fourth thickness are substantially equal.
However see Son treats SUB1 and SUB2 similarly and BF1 and BF2 similarly see “Each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include” “each of the first buffer layer BF1 and the second buffer layer BF2 may be” i.e. everything is similar.
Thus, it 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 to modify Son to include wherein the first thickness and the third thickness are substantially equal, and the second thickness and the fourth thickness are substantially equal.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is ease of manufacture and design because Son treats SUB1 and SUB2 similarly and BF1 and BF2 similarly.
In regard to claim 3 Son and Song as combined teaches [see combination claim 1, see one is Blue and one is Green] wherein the first wavelength is a wavelength of green light and the second wavelength is a wavelength of blue light.
In regard to claim 4 Son and Song as combined teaches [see combination claim 1, see Song Equation 3, see wavelength of Blue, Green light] wherein each of the first thickness, second thickness, third thickness, and fourth thickness range from about 1000 Å to about 10000 Å.
In regard to claim 7 Son and Song as combined teaches [see “each of the first buffer layer BF1 and the second buffer layer BF2 may be a multilayer in which one or more inorganic layers selected from a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a titanium oxide layer, and an aluminum oxide layer are alternately stacked”] wherein the first inorganic layer and the third inorganic layer includes silicon oxynitride, and the second inorganic layer and the fourth inorganic layer includes silicon oxide.
In regard to claim 8 Son and Song as combined teaches [see under broadest reasonable interpretation it can be the bottom layer(s) of “each of the first buffer layer BF1 and the second buffer layer BF2 may be a multilayer in which one or more inorganic layers selected from a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a titanium oxide layer, and an aluminum oxide layer are alternately stacked”] further comprising; a buffer layer disposed on the second base layer and including an inorganic material.
In regard to claim 10 Son and Song as combined teaches [see Son “Each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include (e.g., may be made of) an insulating material, for example, such as glass, quartz, or polymer resin. For example, each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include polyimide”] wherein each of the first base layer and the second base layer includes polyimide.
In regard to claim 12 Son and Song as combined teaches wherein a transmittance of the first display area is smaller [see Son “The main display area MDA may include a pixel area that includes pixels for displaying an image, but may not include a transmissive area that transmits light therethrough. On the other hand, the sub-display area SDA may include both a transmissive area that transmits light therethrough and a pixel area that includes pixels for displaying an image”] than a transmittance of the second display area.
In regard to claim 13 Son and Song as combined teaches [see Son “A first sub-display area SDA1 may overlap with the proximity sensor 740 in the third direction (e.g., the Z-axis direction)” “A second sub-display area SDA2 may overlap with the illuminance sensor 750” “A third sub-display area SDA3 may overlap with the iris sensor 760” “A fourth sub-display area SDA4 may overlap with the second camera sensor 770”] further comprising; a functional module disposed under the first base layer corresponding to the second display area.
In regard to claim 14 Son and Song as combined teaches [see Son “A first sub-display area SDA1 may overlap with the proximity sensor 740 in the third direction (e.g., the Z-axis direction)” “A second sub-display area SDA2 may overlap with the illuminance sensor 750” “A third sub-display area SDA3 may overlap with the iris sensor 760” “A fourth sub-display area SDA4 may overlap with the second camera sensor 770”] wherein the functional module includes at least one of a camera module, a face recognition sensor module, a pupil recognition sensor module, an acceleration sensor module, a proximity sensor module, an infrared senser module, and an illuminance sensor module.
Claim(s) 15, 16, 19, 20, 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Son et al. (US 20210335955 A1) hereafter referred to as Son in view of Song et al. (KR 100852111 B1) hereafter referred to as Song
In regard to claim 15 Son teaches a display device [see Fig. 14, see “FIG. 6 is a layout view of a sub-display area of the display panel”] comprising:
a first base layer [SUB1 “Each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include (e.g., may be made of) an insulating material, for example, such as glass, quartz, or polymer resin. For example, each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include polyimide”] including a first display area [some of the PXA around the any of the TA see “Referring to FIG. 6, the sub-display area SDA may include pixel areas PXA that include emission areas RE, GE1, BE, and GE2 for emitting light, and transmissive areas TA that transmit light” see also paragraph 0070, 0071 “display panel 300 may include a display area DA including a main display area MDA and a sub-display area SDA. The main display area MDA may occupy most of (e.g., a majority of) the display area DA. The sub-display area SDA may be disposed at (e.g., in or on) a side (e.g., an end) of the main display area MDA, for example, at an upper side (e.g., an upper end) of the main display area MDA as illustrated in FIG. 2, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto” “The main display area MDA may include a pixel area that includes pixels for displaying an image, but may not include a transmissive area that transmits light therethrough. On the other hand, the sub-display area SDA may include both a transmissive area that transmits light therethrough and a pixel area that includes pixels for displaying an image”] including a first pixel area, and a second display area [see there are PXA all around TA] at least partially surrounded by the first display area and including a transmission area [“transmissive areas TA”] and a second pixel area [i.e. the other PXA around the any of the TA];
a first barrier layer [BF1 see “each of the first buffer layer BF1 and the second buffer layer BF2 may be a multilayer in which one or more inorganic layers selected from a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a titanium oxide layer, and an aluminum oxide layer are alternately stacked”] disposed on the first base layer and including a first inorganic layer having a first thickness and a second inorganic layer having a second thickness;
a second base layer [SUB2 “Each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include (e.g., may be made of) an insulating material, for example, such as glass, quartz, or polymer resin. For example, each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include polyimide”] disposed on the first barrier layer;
a second barrier layer [BF2 see “each of the first buffer layer BF1 and the second buffer layer BF2 may be a multilayer in which one or more inorganic layers selected from a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a titanium oxide layer, and an aluminum oxide layer are alternately stacked”] disposed on the second base layer and including a third inorganic layer having a third thickness and a fourth inorganic layer having a fourth thickness; and
a plurality of pixels [see Fig. 14 see “light emitting element layer EML is formed on the thin-film transistor layer TFTL. The light emitting element layer EML includes light emitting elements 170 and a bank 190”] disposed on the second barrier layer to be located in the first pixel area and the second pixel area,
but does not teach “wherein the second thickness is thinner than the first thickness” and “wherein the fourth thickness is thinner than the third thickness” and wherein the first thickness is determined by dividing a first wavelength of green light by a refractive index of the first inorganic layer, and the second thickness is determined by dividing a second wavelength of blue light by a refractive index of the second inorganic layer.
The Examiner notes that a person of ordinary skill in the art is aware that the refractive index of the material that light travels in affects the effective wavelength in that material as opposed to vacuum.
See Son is worried about absorption see paragraph 0206 “Polyimide has high absorbance of short-wavelength light (e.g., blue-based light). Thus, when the first planarization layer 160, the second planarization layer 180, and the bank 190 include (e.g., are made of) polyimide, they may absorb the short-wavelength light. Therefore, when the first planarization layer 160, the second planarization layer 180, and the bank 190 are disposed in the transmissive area TA, the intensity of the short-wavelength light in the light sensed by the optical devices 740 through 770 may be low (e.g., may be very low)”.
See Song teaches see Fig. 1 “the light resonance layer 121 may be provided anywhere between these layers. to be” “In this case, the light resonance layer 121 includes two or more layers 1211 and 1212, and the thickness of the light resonance layer 121 is different according to wavelengths of light emitted” “light resonance layer 131 may alternately include a high refractive index layer and a low refractive index layer. Here, the high refractive index or the low refractive index refers to the relative size of the refractive index of the layers provided in the light resonance layer 121” see “optical path difference between the two lights is twice the thickness of the first layer 1211. When the thickness of the first layer 1211 is t1, the optical path difference is 2t1. The latter light has the same phase as the original phase. Therefore, when the wavelength of the light emitted from the subpixel is λ, constructive interference occurs when the optical path difference becomes an integer multiple of the wavelength, so that the thickness t1 of the first layer 1211 satisfies Equation 3 below” “[Equation 3] t1 = (nλ) / 2” “In Equation 3, n is a natural number. Since the wavelength of light emitted by each subpixel is different, the thickness of the first layer 1211 may be adjusted to satisfy Equation 3 according to the wavelength of light emitted from each subpixel to improve light extraction efficiency and brightness. Can be”, see “Equation 4” “Equation 5” are more complex structures that give exact results for a specific frequency “In Equation 4, m is k-n, that is, a natural number. The thickness t2 of the second layer 1212 satisfies Equation 4, thereby improving light extraction efficiency and brightness” but see the most important teaching of Song for this rejection is: “At this time, since the wavelength of light emitted by each subpixel is different, it is preferable to adjust the thickness t2 of the second layer 1212 to satisfy Equation 3 according to the wavelength of light emitted from each subpixel” i.e. Song is saying that using Equation 3 for each layer still yields good results.
Now remember that Son is worried about absorption for short-wavelength light (e.g., blue-based light), thus for the transmissive areas TA, the incoming light i.e. visible light includes Red, Green and Blue however the problem is most acute for Blue and least for Red.
Thus, it 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 to modify Son to include “wherein the second thickness is thinner than the first thickness” and “wherein the fourth thickness is thinner than the third thickness” and wherein the first thickness is determined by dividing a first wavelength of green light by a refractive index of the first inorganic layer, and the second thickness is determined by dividing a second wavelength of blue light by a refractive index of the second inorganic layer.
Thus it would be obvious to combine the references to arrive at the claimed invention.
The motivation is that as Song teaches, using Equation 3 for each layer is easy and yields good results and that of the 3 primary colors Son has to optimize to increase transmission the higher energy Blue and Green and worry less about Red and that from Equation 3 it follows that higher refractive index layers can be thinner and satisfy Equation 3.
In regard to claim 16 Son and Song as combined teaches [see combination claim 15, see Song Equation 3, see wavelength of Blue, Green light] wherein the first thickness ranges from about 2900 Å to about 3600 Å, and the second thickness ranges from about 2700 Å to about 3400 Å.
In regard to claim 19 Son and Song as combined teaches [see “each of the first buffer layer BF1 and the second buffer layer BF2 may be a multilayer in which one or more inorganic layers selected from a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a titanium oxide layer, and an aluminum oxide layer are alternately stacked”] wherein the first and third inorganic layers include silicon oxynitride, and the second and fourth inorganic layers include silicon oxide.
In regard to claim 20 Son and Song as combined teaches [see under broadest reasonable interpretation it can be the bottom layer(s) of “each of the first buffer layer BF1 and the second buffer layer BF2 may be a multilayer in which one or more inorganic layers selected from a silicon nitride layer, a silicon oxynitride layer, a silicon oxide layer, a titanium oxide layer, and an aluminum oxide layer are alternately stacked”] further comprising; a buffer layer disposed on the second base layer and including an inorganic material.
In regard to claim 22 Son and Song as combined teaches [see Son “Each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include (e.g., may be made of) an insulating material, for example, such as glass, quartz, or polymer resin. For example, each of the first substrate SUB1 and the second substrate SUB2 may include polyimide”] wherein each of the first base layer and the second base layer includes polyimide.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SITARAMARAO S YECHURI whose telephone number is (571)272-8764. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-4:30 PM.
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/SITARAMARAO S YECHURI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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