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 .
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.
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.
Claim 1-4 and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shi et al. (CN publication 114744135 A (see IDS), using English translation), hereinafter referred to as Shi135.
Regarding claim 1, Shi135 teaches a display panel (fig. 1 and related text), comprising: a base substrate (10, see description, page 5); a plurality of light-emitting units (20) disposed on the base substrate; a plurality of protruding structures (31/41, fig. 1) disposed on the base substrate provided with the light-emitting units, wherein the protruding structures correspond to the light-emitting units (fig. 1), and an orthographic projection of the protruding structure on the base substrate surrounds an orthographic projection of a corresponding light-emitting unit on the base substrate (fig. 1); and a first light-transmitting structure (40) disposed on the base substrate provided with the protruding structures, wherein the first light-transmitting structure is disposed between two protruding structures corresponding to two adjacent light-emitting units (fig. 1); the first light-transmitting structure covers at least a portion of a sidewall of the protruding structure (fig. 1); and refractive index of a material of the first light-transmitting structure is greater than refractive index of a material of the protruding structure (see description, page 5).
Regarding claim 2, Shi135 teaches wherein the protruding structure is in a prismoid shape, with dimensions of the protruding structure on one side proximal to the base substrate larger than dimensions of the protruding structure on one side distal to the base substrate (fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Shi135 teaches further comprising a second light-transmitting structure (30, fig. 1), wherein the second light-transmitting structure is disposed within a region surrounded by the protruding structure; the second light-transmitting structure covers at least a portion of a sidewall of the protruding structure; and refractive index of a material of the second light-transmitting structure is greater than the refractive index of the material of the protruding structure (see description).
Regarding claim 4, Shi135 teaches further comprising a protection layer (50, fig. 1), wherein the protection layer is disposed on one side of the first light-transmitting structure and the second light-transmitting structure distal to the base substrate, and the protection layer covers the first light-transmitting structure and the second light-transmitting structure (fig. 1).
Regarding claim 14, Shi135 teaches wherein the protruding structure includes a top surface, a bottom surface, and a sidewall connecting the bottom surface and the top surface, an included angle between the sidewall and the bottom surface is in a range of 20° to 90° (fig. 1).
Regarding claim 15, Shi135 teaches a display device (fig. 1 and related text), comprising a display panel, wherein the display panel comprises: a base substrate (10, see description, page 5); a plurality of light-emitting units (20) disposed on the base substrate; a plurality of protruding structures (31/41, fig. 1) disposed on the base substrate provided with the light-emitting units, wherein the protruding structures correspond to the light-emitting units, and an orthographic projection of the protruding structure on the base substrate surrounds an orthographic projection of a corresponding light-emitting unit on the base substrate (fig. 1); and a first light-transmitting structure (40) disposed on the base substrate provided with the protruding structures, wherein the first light-transmitting structure is disposed between two protruding structures corresponding to two adjacent light-emitting units (fig. 1); the first light-transmitting structure covers at least a portion of a sidewall of the protruding structure (fig. 1); and refractive index of a material of the first light-transmitting structure is greater than refractive index of a material of the protruding structure (see description, page 5).
Regarding claim 16, Shi135 teaches wherein the protruding structure is in a prismoid shape, with dimensions of the protruding structure on one side proximal to the base substrate larger than dimensions of the protruding structure on one side distal to the base substrate (fig. 1).
Regarding claim 17, Shi135 teaches further comprising a second light-transmitting structure (30, fig. 1), wherein the second light-transmitting structure is disposed within a region surrounded by the protruding structure; the second light-transmitting structure covers at least a portion of a sidewall of the protruding structure (fig. 1); and refractive index of a material of the second light-transmitting structure is greater than the refractive index of the material of the protruding structure (see description).
Regarding claim 18, Shi135 teaches further comprising a protection layer (50, fig. 1), wherein the protection layer is disposed on one side of the first light-transmitting structure and the second light-transmitting structure distal to the base substrate, and the protection layer covers the first light-transmitting structure and the second light-transmitting structure (fig. 1).
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 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shi135, as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 13, Shi135 discloses all the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above on which this claim depends.
Shi135 also teaches further comprising a pixel definition layer (60, fig. 1), wherein the pixel definition layer is provided with pixel openings, and the light-emitting units are disposed within the pixel openings; an edge of the orthographic projection of the protruding structure on the base substrate and an edge of an orthographic projection of the pixel opening on the base substrate are separated by a specified distance, the specified distance being greater than or equal to 0 micron (fig. 1).
Shi135 does not explicitly teach the specified distance being greater than or equal to 0 micron and less than or equal to 5 microns. However, these values are parameters that one must consider and decide upon and depends on a process technology, overall size of the device. Furthermore, it has been held where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. (MPEP §2144.05 II/III).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the teachings of Shi135 so that the specified distance being greater than or equal to 0 micron and less than or equal to 5 microns for the purpose of optimizing device performance and overall size of the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-12 and 19-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The claims contain limitations that none of the prior art of record discloses, teaches or fairly suggests, alone or in combinations when taken in combination with all other limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: see the attached form PTO-892 for pertinent cited art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mohammed R Alam whose telephone number is 469-295-9205 and can normally be reached between 8:00am-6:00pm (M-F) or by e-mail via Mohammed.Alam1@uspto.gov.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jacob Choi can be reached on 469-295-9060. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMMED R ALAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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