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
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 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)(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 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0255731 Kim et al.
1. Referring to claim 1, Kim et al. teaches a display apparatus comprising: a first pixel, (Figure 11 left side #210); a second pixel, (Figure 11 right side #210), placed adjacent to the first pixel, (Figure 11 left side #210); a first conductive layer, (Figure 11 #42), a second conductive layer, (Figure 11 #44); and a first insulating layer, (Figure 11 #43), wherein the first pixel comprises a first pixel electrode, (Figure 11 left side #210), a first EL layer, (Figure 11 left side #220), over the first pixel electrode, (Figure 11 left side #210), and a common electrode, (Figure 11 #230), over the first EL layer, (Figure 11 left side #220), wherein the second pixel comprises a second pixel electrode, (Figure 11 right side #210), a second EL layer, (Figure 11 right side #220), over the second pixel electrode, (Figure 11 right side #210), and the common electrode, (Figure 11 #230), over the second EL layer, (Figure 11 right side #220), wherein the first conductive layer, (Figure 11 #42), is placed over the common electrode, (Figure 11 #230), wherein the first insulating layer, (Figure 11 #43), is placed over the first conductive layer, (Figure 11 #42), wherein the second conductive layer, (Figure 11 #44), is placed over the first insulating layer, (Figure 11 #43), wherein one or both of the first conductive layer, (Figure 11 #42), and the second conductive layer, (Figure 11 #44), overlap with a region interposed between the first EL layer, (Figure 11 left side #220), and the second EL layer, (Figure 11 right side #220), and wherein a side surface of the first EL layer, (Figure 11 left side #220), and a side surface of the second EL layer, (Figure 11 right side #220), are placed to face each other.
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 of this title, 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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0255731 Kim et al. in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0279068 Shiratori et al.
2. Referring to claim 8, Kim et al. teaches a display apparatus according to claim 1, but is silent and not limited to wherein the display apparatus comprises a region in which a distance between the first pixel electrode and the second pixel electrode is less than or equal to 8 µm.
Shiratori et al. teaches a similar device where the pixel pitch is less than or equal to 10 µm, (Paragraph 0026).
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 to combine the teachings of Shiratori et al. with Kim et al. because it is well known in the art to have a pixel pitch of less than or equal to 8 µm and where it is the common market trend to decrease the pixel pitch to increase the definition of the display as whole, and also since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Note that the specification contains no disclosure of either the critical nature of the claimed dimensions or any unexpected results arising therefrom. Where patentability is said to be based upon particular chosen dimensions or upon another variable recited in a claim, the Applicant must show that the chosen dimensions are critical. In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 1578, 16 USPQ2d 1934, 1936 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
3. Claims 2-7 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.
4. The prior art teaches the claimed matter in the rejections above, but is silent with respect to the above teachings in combination with a display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a second insulating layer; and third insulating layer over the second insulating layer, wherein the second insulating layer contains an inorganic material, wherein the third insulating layer contains an organic material, wherein a part of the second insulating layer and a part of the third insulating layer are placed at a position interposed between an end portion of the side surface of the first EL layer and an end portion of the side surface of the second EL layer, and wherein another part of the third insulating layer overlaps with a part of a top surface of the first EL layer and a part of a top surface of the second EL layer with the second insulating layer therebetween; a display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a first substrate and a second substrate, wherein the first pixel and the second pixel are placed over the first substrate, and wherein the second substrate is bonded to a surface of the first substrate where the first insulating layer and the second conductive layer are placed with an adhesive layer; and/or a display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first pixel comprises a common layer placed between the first EL layer and the common electrode, and wherein the second pixel comprises the common layer placed between the second EL layer and the common electrode.
Conclusion
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/VICTOR A MANDALA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899 6/2/26/
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