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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
Applicant’s election, without traverse, of Group I (Fig. 7), claims 1-6 and 9-12, in the reply filed on June 5th, 2026 is acknowledged. Non-elected invention and species, claims 7-8 have been withdrawn from consideration. Claims 1-6 and 9-12 have been amended. Claims 1-12 are pending.
Action on merits of Group I, claims 1-6 and 9-12 follows.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 26th, 2024, has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 02/26/2024 are acceptable.
Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
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.
Claims 1-6, 9-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin (US 2019/0067409, hereinafter as Shin ‘409) in view of Koo (US 2021/0126060, hereinafter as Koo ‘060).
Regarding Claim 1, Shin ‘409 teaches a display device comprising:
a resin substrate (Fig. 5, (110); [0005] and [0093]);
a thin film transistor layer (TFT; [0045]) provided on the resin substrate (110) and comprising a first metal layer (GE; [0066]), an inorganic insulating film (113; [0066]), a second metal layer (SD; [0066]), and an organic resin film (114; [0069]) that are layered in this stated order;
a light-emitting element layer (EL; [0070]) provided on the thin film transistor layer and comprising a plurality of light-emitting elements that is arrayed corresponding to a plurality of subpixels forming a display region; and
a sealing film (120; [0040]) provided on the light-emitting element layer to cover the light-emitting element layer, wherein:
a frame region is provided around the display region, a terminal portion is provided at an end portion of the frame region (see Fig. 1), a bending portion (BA; [0087]) is provided between the display region and the terminal portion (PAD; [0036]), the bending portion extending in a first direction, a plurality of lead wiring lines (see Fig. 1) is provided in the frame region and between the display region and the bending portion region, the plurality of lead wiring lines extending in parallel with each other in a second direction that intersects intersecting the first direction in which the bending portion extends, and each of the plurality of lead wiring lines includes: a first wiring line (152) provided on a display region side, and formed of a same material and in a same layer as the second metal layer (SD), a second wiring line provided on a bending portion side (BA) (see Fig. 5), and formed of the same material, and in the same layer as the second metal layer (SD) (see Fig. 5), and
a third wiring line (151; [0061]) provided between the first wiring line and the second wiring line, formed of a same material and in a same layer as the first metal layer, and electrically connected to each of the first wiring line and the second wiring line via a first contact hole and a second contact hole, respectively, the first contact hole and second contact hole formed in the inorganic insulating film (113).
Thus, Shin ‘409 is shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the features: “a first inorganic sealing film, an organic sealing film, and a second inorganic sealing film that are layered in order”.
Koo ‘060 teaches a first inorganic sealing film (310; [0123]), an organic sealing film (320; [0123]), and a second inorganic sealing film (330; [0123]) that are layered in order.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Shin ‘409 by having a first inorganic sealing film, an organic sealing film, and a second inorganic sealing film that are layered in order to prevent or substantially prevent damage to the light-emitting diode due to moisture introduced through the through hole or the opening, and may simplify processes or reduce costs by using layers included in the display layer (see para. [0184]) as suggested by Koo ‘060.
Regarding Claim 2, Shin ‘409 teaches a wiring line covering layer (Fig. 5, (130); [0041]) formed of a same material and in a same layer as the organic resin film (114) (see para. [0083]) is provided on the second wiring line to cover the second wiring line (see Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 3, Shin ‘409 teaches the wiring line covering layer (Fig. 5, (130); [0041]) extends to the bending portion side of the inorganic insulating film (113; [0066]) that is provided on the third wiring line (151; [0061]).
Regarding Claim 4, Shin ‘409 teaches the sealing film (120) on the first wiring line to cover the first wiring line (see Fig. 5).
Koo ‘060 teaches a first inorganic sealing film (310; [0123]), an organic sealing film (320; [0123]), and a second inorganic sealing film (330; [0123]) that are layered in order.
Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would recognize that the limitations of dependent claim 4 could easily accomplished by applying the features of the sealing film as disclosed in Koo ‘060 to invention disclosed in Shin ‘409.
Regarding Claim 5, Shin ‘409 teaches the sealing film (120) on an extended portion of the wiring line covering layer (130) to cover the extended portion on the display region side (see Fig. 5).
Koo ‘060 teaches a first inorganic sealing film (310; [0123]), an organic sealing film (320; [0123]), and a second inorganic sealing film (330; [0123]) that are layered in order.
Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would recognize that the limitations of dependent claim 5 could easily accomplished by applying the features of the sealing film as disclosed in Koo ‘060 to invention disclosed in Shin ‘409.
Regarding Claim 6, Shin ‘409 teaches an end portion of the extended portion of the wiring line covering layer (130) on the display region side is provided being separated from an end portion of the first wiring line on the bending portion (BA) side (see Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 9, Koo ‘060 teaches the second metal layer (SE/DE; [0106]) is formed by a titanium-based metal film, an aluminum-based metal film, and a titanium-based metal film which that are layered in this stated order (Ti/Al/Ti; [0106]) on the inorganic insulating film (207; [0107]).
Regarding Claim 10, Koo ‘060 teaches the second metal layer (SE/DE; [0106]) is formed by an aluminum-based metal film and a molybdenum-based metal film that are layered in this stated order on the inorganic insulating film (207; [0107]). Since the second metal layer formed by a multilayered structure (see para. [0107]), it would obviously appear that it includes an aluminum-based metal film and a molybdenum-based metal film that are layered in this stated order on the inorganic insulating film.
Regarding Claim 12, Shin ‘409 teaches each of the plurality of light-emitting elements is an organic electroluminescence element (OLED element; [0048]).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin ‘409 and Koo’ 060 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Jiang (US 2019/0019966, hereinafter as Jian ‘966).
Regarding Claim 11, Shin ‘409 and Koo ‘060 are shown to teach all the features of the claim with the exception of explicitly the features: “a slit is provided in the inorganic insulating film, the slit extending in the first direction and exposing a surface of the resin substrate in the bending portion, a resin filler film is provided in the bending portion to fill in the slit, and the second wiring line is provided on the resin filler film”.
Jian ‘966 teaches a slit is provided in the inorganic insulating film (Fig. 4, (800); [0097]), the slit extending in the first direction and exposing a surface of the resin substrate in the bending portion (Fig. 6, (BB; [0150]), a resin filler film (910; [0101], [0125]) is provided in the bending portion to fill in the slit, and the second wiring line (700; [0133]) is provided on the resin filler film.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Shin ‘409 and Koo ‘060 by having a slit is provided in the inorganic insulating film, the slit extending in the first direction and exposing a surface of the resin substrate in the bending portion, a resin filler film is provided in the bending portion to fill in the slit, and the second wiring line is provided on the resin filler film in order to improve the bending reliability of the display device (see para. [0108]) as suggested by Jian ‘966.
Examiner’s Note
Applicant is reminded that the Examiner is entitled to give the broadest reasonable interpretation to the language of the claims. Furthermore, the Examiner is not limited to Applicants' definition which is not specifically set forth in the claims. See MPEP 2111, 2123, 2125, 2141.02 VI, and 2182.
Examiner has cited particular paragraph numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following patents are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to semiconductor devices:
Kim et al. (US 2019/0245159 A1)
Choi et al. (US 2019/0051859A1)
Kim et al. (US 2018/0315809 A1)
Kim et al. (US 2017/0237038 A1)
Kim et al. (US 2017/0031323 A1)
For applicant’s benefit portions of the cited reference(s) have been cited to aid in the review of the rejection(s). While every attempt has been made to be thorough and consistent within the rejection it is noted that the PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DZUNG T TRAN whose telephone number is (571) 270-3911. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8 AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sue Purvis can be reached on (571) 272-1236. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DZUNG TRAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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