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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 07/14/2026 has been entered.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A, claims 1-8 and 16, in the reply filed on 07/14/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 9-15 and 17-20 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/14/2026.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 8 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 8, the phase “filler material” should be “a filler material”; and
Claim 8, claim limitation “the filler material fills space between the light modulation devices” should be “the filler material fills a space between two adjacent light modulation devices”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 8 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim KR 20210085701A (see document of 18692543_2026-07-28_KR_20210085701_A_M.pdf).
Regarding claim 1, Kim discloses an optoelectronic system, in at least figs.1-8, comprising of arrays of light modulation devices (110) and light emission devices (150)(see figs.1, 3 and 8), the system comprising:
a light emitting device (150) bonded to a backplane (140) wherein a stage layer (130) is formed around the light emitting device;
the backplane having driving components (152) for driving the light emitting device or a light modulation device (110)(see fig.3);
the light modulation device bonded to a top of the stage layer (see figs.3 and 8), wherein the light modulation device includes one or more edges covered with a filler material (134)(see fig.3); and
the stage layer being a second layer of the backplane hosting an interconnect between the light modulation device, the driving components or the backplane (see figs.3 and 8).
Regarding claim 3, Kim discloses the stage layer has pads (130d) coupled to pads (114, P, or gate pad or data pad in P, page 10, para.7) in light modulation device (see figs.3, 5 and 8).
Regarding claim 4, Kim discloses the pads are metal, or solder (page 6 bottom-up line 4 discloses 114 is metal and page 8, para.8 discloses 130/230 can be metal too).
Regarding claim 5, Kim discloses at least part of a stage wall is covered with reflective materials (154, page 4, para.7 discloses a portion of the reflective plate 154 may extend along the upper surface of the frame 130 and fig.3).
Regarding claim 6, Kim discloses the reflective materials are foil laminated to walls and a surface or deposited on the surface (page 4, para.7 discloses a portion of the reflective plate 154 may extend along the upper surface of the frame 130 and fig.3).
Regarding claim 8, Kim discloses the filler material fills a space between two adjacent light modulation devices (see figs.3 and 8).
Regarding claim 16, Kim discloses the light modulation device is aligned to the stage layer (see figs.1, 3 and 8).
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(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim KR 20210085701A (see document of 18692543_2026-07-28_KR_20210085701_A_M.pdf) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kang US 20180173036.
Regarding claim 2, Kim does not explicitly disclose the stage layer has additional driving components.
Kang discloses an optoelectronic system, in figs.1-12B, the stage layer (120) has additional driving components (300 or 500) for the purpose of carrying them to control the display panel (para.77).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the stage layer has additional driving components as taught by Kang in the optoelectronic system of Kim for the purpose of carrying them to control the display panel.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang US 20180173036 in view of Kim KR 20210085701A.
Regarding claim 1, Kang discloses an optoelectronic system, in figs.1-12B, comprising of arrays of light modulation devices and light emission devices (see figs.10 and 11), the system comprising:
a light emitting device (162) bonded to a backplane (140) wherein a stage layer (120) is formed around the light emitting device;
the backplane having driving components (162a or 350) for driving the light emitting device or a light modulation device (110)(see fig.2);
the light modulation device bonded to a top of the stage layer (see figs.2 and 11), and
the stage layer being a second layer of the backplane hosting an interconnect between the light modulation device, the driving components or the backplane (see figs.2 and 11).
Kang does not explicitly disclose the light modulation device includes one or more edges covered with a filler material.
Kim discloses an optoelectronic system, in at least figs.1-8, the light modulation device (110) includes one or more edges covered with a filler material (134)(see figs.5 and 6) for the purpose of fixing the light modulation device with the stage layer (page 5, last paragraph).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the light modulation device includes one or more edges covered with a filler material as taught by Kang in the optoelectronic system of Kim for the purpose of fixing the light modulation device with the stage layer.
Regarding claim 2, Kang discloses the stage layer has additional driving components (300 or 500).
Regarding claims 3 and 4, Kang does not explicitly disclose the stage layer has pads coupled to pads in light modulation device, and the pads are metal, or solder.
Kim discloses the stage layer (130) has pads (130d) coupled to pads (114, P, or gate pad or data pad in P, page 10, para.7) in light modulation device (see figs.3, 5 and 8), and the pads are metal, or solder (page 6 bottom-up line 4 discloses 114 is metal and page 8, para.8 discloses 130/230 can be metal too) for the purpose of preventing light leakage (page 6, bottom-up 2nd paragraph) and bonding the stage layer with the light modulation device (page 5, last paragraph).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the stage layer has pads coupled to pads in light modulation device, and the pads are metal, or solder as taught by Kang in the optoelectronic system of Kim for the purpose of preventing light leakage and bonding the stage layer with the light modulation device.
Regarding claim 5, Kang discloses at least part of a stage wall is covered with reflective materials (161).
Regarding claim 6, Kang discloses the reflective materials are foil laminated to walls and a surface or deposited on the surface (see figs.2 and 11).
Regarding claim 8, Kim discloses the filler material fills a space between two adjacent light modulation devices (see figs.3 and 8) for the purpose of fixing the light modulation device with the stage layer (page 5, last paragraph). The reason for combining is the same as claim 1.
Regarding claim 16, Kang discloses the light modulation device is aligned to the stage layer (see figs.10 and 11).
Contact Information
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/JIA X PAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
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