DETAILED ACTION
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/22/2024 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of claims 8-14 in the reply filed on 5/19/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that it lacks a serious search burden. This is found persuasive and claims 8-14 are rejoined.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 14, ¶ [0059], line 5, “umber” should be “number.”
Page 13, ¶ [0058], last line, “portions 306 of the reflective layer 206”, “306” is disclosed but not shown in figures.
Page 17, ¶ [0069], line 3 bottom up, “sensor units 302”, “302” is notated twice, for cartridge substrate in Figs. 3A-3B and for sensor units in Fig. 5.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 7, line 2 recites “on a surface of a display substrate.” It should read “on a surface of the display substrate.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 8-10, 12-17, 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chen (US 20180090058 A1)
Regarding claim 8, Chen discloses A display unit (Fig. 14C) comprising:
a side-fire micro light-emitting diode (320, Fig. 14A) on a surface of a display substrate (310, Fig. 14A), the side-fire micro light-emitting diode coated with a first reflective layer (1434, Fig. 14C) such that light is emitted from an uncoated sidewall; and a shaped micro reflector (1437, Fig. 14B) coated with a second reflective layer (1435, Fig. 14C) on the display substrate, the shaped micro reflector adjacent to the side-fire micro light-emitting diode, the shaped micro reflector comprising a tapered sidewall positioned to redirect, via reflection against the second reflective layer, light from the uncoated sidewall of the side-fire micro light-emitting diode from an emitted angle to a reflection angle, the second reflective layer formed directly on opposite sidewalls and a bottommost surface of the shaped micro reflector (Fig. 14C).
Regarding claim 9, Chen discloses the display unit of claim 8, wherein the tapered sidewall comprises a degree of taper as measured with respect to the surface of the display substrate of between -90 and 90 degrees, wherein zero degrees of taper is orthogonal to the surface of the display substrate (Fig. 14C).
Regarding claim 10, Chen discloses the display unit of claim 9, wherein the shaped micro reflector comprises a taper of 30 to 60 degrees (Fig. 14C).
Regarding claim 12, Chen discloses the display unit of claim 8, wherein the uncoated sidewall of the side- fire micro light-emitting diode directly faces the tapered sidewall of the shaped micro reflector (Fig. 14C).
Regarding claim 13, Chen discloses the display unit of claim 8, further comprising a tracer (driving circuitry 315, Fig. 14A) formed on the display substrate.
Regarding claim 14, Chen discloses the display unit of claim 13, wherein the shaped micro reflector and second reflective layer are formed on the tracer (Fig. 14C).
Regarding claim 15, Chen discloses A method (¶ [0028]) comprising:
forming a side-fire micro light-emitting diode (320, Fig. 14A) on a surface of a display substrate (310, Fig. 14A, the side-fire micro light-emitting diode coated with a first reflective layer (1434, Fig. 14C) such that light is emitted from an uncoated sidewall;
and forming a shaped micro reflector (1437, Fig. 14B) coated with a second reflective layer (1435, Fig. 14C) on the display substrate, the shaped micro reflector adjacent to the side-fire micro light-emitting diode,
the shaped micro reflector comprising a tapered sidewall positioned to redirect, via reflection against the second reflective layer, light from the uncoated sidewall of the side-fire micro light-emitting diode from an emitted angle to a reflection angle (Fig. 14C), the second reflective layer formed directly on opposite sidewalls and a bottommost surface of the shaped micro reflector (Fig. 14C).
Regarding claim 16, Chen discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the tapered sidewall comprises a degree of taper as measured with respect to the surface of the display substrate of between -90 and 90 degrees, wherein zero degrees of taper is orthogonal to the surface of the display substrate (Fig. 14C).
Regarding claim 17, Chen discloses the method of claim 16 and the shaped micro reflector comprising a taper of 30 to 60 degrees (Fig. 14C).
Regarding claim 19, Chen discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the uncoated sidewall of the side-fire micro light-emitting diode directly faces the tapered sidewall of the shaped micro reflector (Fig. 14C).
Regarding claim 20, Chen discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising a tracer (driving circuitry 315, Fig. 14A) formed on the display substrate, wherein the shaped micro reflector and second reflective layer are formed on the tracer (Fig. 14C).
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) 1-2, 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pieralisi (US 20250318351 A1) in view of Chen (US 20180090058 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Pieralisi discloses A method comprising:
forming a cartridge (Figs. 4A-B), wherein forming the cartridge comprises:
forming a release layer (403) on a substrate (410);
forming a shaped micro reflector (406) on the release layer, the shaped micro reflector comprising sidewalls; and
forming a reflective layer (408, Fig. 4B) over the shaped micro reflector and the release layer; and bonding the cartridge to a display substrate (400, Fig. 4D) using a bonding layer (416) positioned between the reflective layer and the display substrate; and
removing (Fig. 4D) the release layer of the cartridge, thereby separating the substrate from the display substrate.
Pieralisi is also silent to the reflector having tapered sidewalls. Chen, an analogous art, discloses (Fig. 3, ¶ [0041]) a support structure 337 with reflective sidewalls 335 wherein the sidewalls are tapered. The sidewall slopes spreading 335 between the micro-leds 317 forming openings (reflective cups 330). And the height and steepness of the sidewall slopes are adjusted to reduce the divergence angle of the micro-LED (¶¶ [0044-0045]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to substitute the geometry of the support structure of Chen for the reflector of Pieralisi such that when the reflective coating is deposited on the reflector, the sidewall slopes of the reflective layer can be used to optimize the divergence angle of the incoming light.
The modification would result for the geometry of the reflector of Pieralisi having tapered sidewalls.
Regarding claim 2, Pieralisi In view of Chen discloses the method of claim 1; Pieralisi further discloses the release layer comprises at least one of an ultraviolet (UV) curable material and a thermally curable material (¶ 0044] disclosing 403 as thermal release film, sensitive to certain temperature or specific wavelengths).
Regarding claim 5, Pieralisi In view of Chen discloses the method of claim 1; Pierasili further discloses the cartridge is flipped (Fig. 4A-B) prior to bonding to the display substrate.
Regarding claim 6, Pieralisi In view of Chen discloses the method of claim 1; Pieralisi further discloses removing the release layer comprises at least one of exposing the release layer to UV radiation and exposing the release layer to thermal energy (¶ [0044]).
Regarding claim 7, Pieralisi In view of Chen discloses the method of claim 1 and a micro light emitting diode (402, Fig. 4D) emitting light on the display substrate but is silent regarding the light emitting diode is coated and light is emitting from uncoated sidewall. Chen further discloses forming a side-fire micro light- emitting diode (320, Fig. 14A) on a surface of a display substrate (310, Fig. 14A), the side-fire micro light-emitting diode coated (1434, Fig. 14C) such that light is emitted from an uncoated sidewall. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to adopt the coated light emitting diode of Chen for the light emitting diode of Pieralisi to manage the light emission of the light emitting diode for different applications.
Claim(s) 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pieralisi (US 20250318351 A1) in view of Chen (US 20180090058 A1) and Marion (US 20140075747 A1)
Regarding claim 3, Pieralisi In view of Chen discloses the method of claim 1. Pieralisi discloses the reflective layer deposited onto the reflector (408 on 406, Fig. 4B) but does not disclose the reflective layer covered the release layer (408 not on 403). Marion discloses (Fig. 9, ¶¶ [0016, 0026]) the reflective layer is conformally deposited over the cores and the component on which the cores reside for streamline processing. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to apply the blanket deposition of Marion to form the reflective layer of Pieralisi for conformation and cost saving.
Regarding claim 4, Pieralisi In view of Chen discloses the method of claim 2 but is silent regarding the reflective layer is conformally deposited to a thickness of between 5 nanometers and 3 microns.) Marion discloses (Fig. 9, ¶¶ [0016, 0026]) the reflective layer is conformally deposited over the cores and the component on which the cores reside for streamline processing. However, Marion does not teach the required thickness. Absent unpredictable results, one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention would have selected the thickness of the reflective layer being between 5 nanometers and 3 microns through routine optimization to direct light in desired directions.
Claim(s) 11, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 20180090058 A1) in view of Pieralisi (US 20250318351 A1)
Regarding claim 11, Chen discloses the display unit of claim 8 but is silent regarding wherein a topmost surface opposite the bottommost surface of the shaped micro reflector is not coated with the second reflective layer.
Pieralisi discloses (Figs. 4A-D) a reflector (406) being coated with reflective layer (408) on a first substrate (410) and flipped to transfer the coated reflector to a display substrate (400), thus resulting the topmost surface of the reflector is not coated with the reflective layer.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to substitute the reflector of Pieralisi for the reflector of Chen for a diversity of display applications.
Regarding claim 18, Chen discloses the method of claim 15 but is silent regarding a topmost surface opposite the bottommost surface of the shaped micro reflector is not coated with the second reflective layer.
Pieralisi discloses (Figs. 4A-D) a reflector (406) being coated with reflective layer (408) on a first substrate (410) and flipped to transfer the coated reflector to a display substrate (400), thus resulting the topmost surface of the reflector is not coated with the reflective layer.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to substitute the reflector of Pieralisi for the reflector of Chen for a diversity of display applications.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ren (US 20230387364 A1) and Sato (US 20120305969 A1) each discloses an led display wherein LEDs and reflectors are adjacent to each other.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DZUNG T HOANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5622. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 - 5:00.
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/DTH/Examiner, Art Unit 2898
/Leonard Chang/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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