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
The 9/1/2026 "Reply" elects without traverse and identifies claims 1, 4-7, 14, and 16 as being drawn to Group I, Species A. Accordingly, Examiner has withdrawn claims 2-3, 8-13, and 15 from further consideration as being drawn to a non-elected invention. See, for example, 37 CFR § 1.142(b).
The 7/28/2026 restriction requirement is proper, is maintained, and is hereby made final.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “at least one of the plurality of first conductive particles and the plurality of second conductive particles comprises elastic protrusions coated with a conductive material on a polymer ball” of claims 4 and 16 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
Claims 1, 6, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoshida (US Pub. No. 2015/0249069).
Regarding claim 1, in FIGs. 2 and 38, Yoshida discloses a display module comprising: an inorganic light emitting device (50/30) comprising a lower electrode (51, paragraph [0346]) on a first side of the inorganic light emitting device and an upper electrode (71, paragraph [0347]) on a second side of the inorganic light emitting device, opposite to the first side; a first substrate (61/11, paragraph [0331]) at the first side of the inorganic light emitting device and comprising a first electrode (62/12, paragraph [0331]); a second substrate (64/21, paragraph [0332]) at the second side of the inorganic light emitting device and comprising a second electrode (65/22, paragraph [0332]); a first film layer (bottom 90/13, paragraph [0437]) between the first substrate and the inorganic light emitting device and comprising a plurality of first conductive particles (bottom 91/5, paragraph [0336]); and a second film layer (top 90/23) between the second substrate and the inorganic light emitting device and comprising a plurality of second conductive particles (top 91/5), wherein the first film layer is configured to connect the first electrode and the lower electrode through at least one of the plurality of first conductive particles, and wherein the second film layer is configured to connect the second electrode and the upper electrode through at least one of the plurality of second conductive particles.
Regarding claim 6, in FIG. 38, Yoshida discloses that at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate comprises a transparent material (paragraphs [0331] and [0332]).
Regarding claim 14, in FIG. 38, Yoshida discloses a display module comprising: an inorganic light emitting device (32); a first electrode (62) at a first side of the inorganic light emitting device; a second electrode (65) at a second side of the inorganic light emitting device, opposite to the first side; a first film layer (bottom 90) between the first electrode and the inorganic light emitting device and comprising a plurality of first conductive particles (bottom 91s); and a second film layer (top 90) being between the second electrode and the inorganic light emitting device and comprising a plurality of second conductive particles (top 91s), wherein the first film layer is configured to connect the first electrode and the inorganic light emitting device through at least one of the plurality of first conductive particles, and wherein the second film layer is configured to connect the second electrode and the inorganic light emitting device through at least one of the plurality of second conductive particles.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshida (US Pub. No. 2015/0249069).
Regarding claim 7, in FIG. 38, Yoshida discloses that each of the upper electrode, the first electrode, and the second electrode comprises a transparent material (paragraphs [0182] and [0347]; transparent electrodes help form a transparent display).
Yoshida appears not to explicitly disclose that the lower electrode comprises a transparent material.
However, to form a transparent display 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 form the lower electrode from a transparent material.
Claims 4, 5, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoshida (US Pub. No. 2015/0249069) in view of West (US Pub. No. 2012/0175643).
Regarding claims 4 and 16, Yoshida appears not to explicitly disclose that at least one of the plurality of first conductive particles and the plurality of second conductive particles comprises elastic protrusions coated with a conductive material on a polymer ball, and wherein at least one of the first film layer and the second film layer comprises a non-conductive film comprising the elastic protrusions.
The art however well recognized Au-coated polymer balls to be suitable for use as a conductive particle in an ACF film. See, for example, West, paragraph [0048].
According to well-established patent law precedents (see, for example, M.P.E.P. § 2144.07), therefore, 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 have formed the Yoshida disclosed conductive particles from Au-coated polymer balls for its recognized suitability as a conductive particle in an ACF film. In doing so, at least one of the first film layer and the second film layer comprise a non-conductive film comprising the elastic protrusions.
Regarding claim 5, in FIG. 2, Yoshida discloses an additional inorganic light emitting device (another adjacent 30) that is adjacent to the inorganic light emitting device, and wherein a distance between adjacent elastic protrusions among the elastic protrusions in the non-conductive film is less than a distance between the inorganic light emitting device and the additional inorganic light emitting device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TUCKER J WRIGHT whose telephone number is (571)270-3234. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Landau can be reached at 571-272-1731. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TUCKER J WRIGHT/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2891
