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 .
Status of Claims
Applicants’ election of species III, drawn to Figure 4B and claims 1-14 & 18 is acknowledged. Claims 15-17 are drawn to an unelected species and are thus withdrawn from further examination. Claims 1-3, 7-10, 14, and 18 are examined herein.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 15-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 06/28/2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of species III, drawn to Figure 4B and claims 1-14 & 18 in the reply filed on 06/28/2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/12/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) in view of Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A).
Regarding claim 1, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) teaches a display panel (OLED display substrate, Abstract), comprising: a substrate (base plate 1, Figure 2, paragraph 0056); a pixel definition layer (pixel defining layer 2, Figure 2, paragraph 0056) on the substrate; wherein the pixel definition layer comprises: a plurality of first barrier walls (barrier wall 3, Figure 2, paragraph 0057); the plurality of first barrier walls comprise: two edge barrier walls (Figure 2) which are two first barrier walls at two edges along the second direction; a plurality of intermediate barrier walls (Figure 2) between the two edge barrier walls; and two separation barrier walls (Figure 2) between the two edge barrier walls and respectively on both sides of the plurality of intermediate barrier walls along the second direction, as claimed.
PNG
media_image1.png
286
612
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) is silent to explicitly teach the first barrier walls extending along a first direction and arranged along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction intersect. Further, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) is silent to teach a plurality of second barrier walls, extending along the second direction and arranged along the first direction; wherein the plurality of first barrier walls and the plurality of second barrier walls define a plurality of openings for defining pixel units, one pixel unit corresponds to one opening, and the pixel unit is in the corresponding opening; wherein heights of the second barrier wall, the edge barrier wall and the separation barrier wall each is greater than a height of the intermediate barrier wall.
In an analogous art, Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) teaches the first barrier walls extending along a first direction and arranged along a second direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction intersect (Figure 1); a plurality of second barrier walls (third retaining walls 203, Figure 1), extending along the second direction and arranged along the first direction; wherein the plurality of first barrier walls and the plurality of second barrier walls define a plurality of openings (opening H, Figure 1, paragraph 0053) for defining pixel units, one pixel unit (paragraph 0053) corresponds to one opening, and the pixel unit is in the corresponding opening.
PNG
media_image2.png
477
631
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Therefore, it would have been obvious for some one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) with the first barrier wall arrangement and the second barrier walls as taught by Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) thereby defining openings and pixel units in the display panel.
Further Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) suggests that the heights of the edge barrier wall and the separation barrier wall each is greater than the height of the intermediate barrier wall (Figure 2); and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) discloses the second barrier walls being taller than the first barrier walls (paragraph 0062).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for some one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the teachings of Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) with the teachings of Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) thereby having second barrier walls, edge barrier wall, and separation barrier walls with greater heights than the intermediate barrier walls, per design requirements.
Regarding claim 2, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) teach the display panel of claim 1, as claimed. Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) further teaches wherein the edge barrier wall and the separation barrier wall have equal heights (Figure 2).
PNG
media_image3.png
286
612
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) is silent to teach wherein the second barrier wall has the same height as the edge and separation barrier walls. While Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) discloses the first and second barrier walls having different heights for the purpose of isolating ink flow from the sub-pixel regions during an inkjet printing process (paragraph 0062), such that the claimed function would not perform differently from the prior art, a recitation of relative dimensions is not patentably distinct from the prior art (MPEP 2144.04(IV)(A)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for some one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the teachings of Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) by having the second barrier walls have a similar height to the edge and separation barrier walls, per design requirements.
Regarding claim 3, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) teach the display panel of claim 2, as claimed. Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) further teaches the intermediate barrier wall has a height of 0.2 μm to 0.5 μm (height h1, Figure 7, paragraph 0062), such that where the general conditions exist it is not inventive to find the most optimal or workable ranges through routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05).
Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) further teaches wherein the second barrier wall has a height of 0.6 μm to 1.5 μm (paragraph 0062) such that where the general conditions exist it is not inventive to find the most optimal or workable ranges through routine experimentation (MPEP 2144.05).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the teachings of Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) by having second barrier walls and intermediate barrier walls have the desired heights, per design requirements.
Regarding claim 4, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) teach the display panel of claim 2, as claimed. Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) further teaches wherein the plurality of first barrier walls further comprise: at least one spacing barrier wall (Figure 2) between the edge barrier wall and the separation barrier wall on at least one side along the second direction.
PNG
media_image4.png
272
624
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) is silent to teach wherein a height of the spacing barrier wall is equal to the height of the second barrier wall. While Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) discloses the first and second barrier walls having different heights for the purpose of isolating ink flow from the sub-pixel regions during an inkjet printing process (paragraph 0062), such that the claimed function would not perform differently from the prior art, a recitation of relative dimensions is not patentably distinct from the prior art (MPEP 2144.04(IV)(A)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for some one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the teachings of Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) by having the second barrier walls have a similar height to the spacing barrier walls, per design requirements.
Regarding claim 5, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) teach the display panel of claim 4, as claimed. Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) further teaches wherein the plurality of first barrier walls comprise a plurality of spacing barrier walls, and the plurality of spacing barrier walls are respectively between the edge barrier walls and the separation barrier walls on both sides along the second direction (Figure 2); a quantity of the spacing barrier walls between the edge barrier walls and the separation barrier walls on the both sides along the second direction is equal (Figure 2).
PNG
media_image5.png
278
610
media_image5.png
Greyscale
Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) is silent to teach the height of the spacing barrier wall is equal to the height of the second barrier wall. While Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) discloses the first and second barrier walls having different heights for the purpose of isolating ink flow from the sub-pixel regions during an inkjet printing process (paragraph 0062), such that the claimed function would not perform differently from the prior art, a recitation of relative dimensions is not patentably distinct from the prior art (MPEP 2144.04(IV)(A)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for some one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the teachings of Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) by having the second barrier walls have a similar height to the spacing barrier walls, per design requirements.
Regarding claim 6, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) teach the display panel of claim 1, as claimed.
Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) is silent to teach wherein colors of emergent light of the pixel units adjacent in the second direction are same, and colors of emergent light of the pixel units adjacent in the first direction are different. However, Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) teaches wherein colors of emergent light of the pixel units adjacent in the second direction are same (Figure 1), and colors of emergent light of the pixel units adjacent in the first direction are different (Figure 1).
PNG
media_image6.png
477
631
media_image6.png
Greyscale
Therefore, it would have been obvious for some one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified the teachings of Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) with the pixel color arrangement of Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A), per design requirements.
Regarding claim 12, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) and Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) teach the display panel of claim 1, as claimed. Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) further teaches a display device (paragraph 0072) comprising the display panel according to claim 1, as claimed.
Regarding claim 13, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) teaches a method for manufacturing a display panel (OLED display substrate, Abstract), comprising: forming an anode (anode material layer 4, Figure 8, paragraph 0008) of each pixel unit on a substrate (base plate 1, Figure 2, paragraph 0056); forming a pixel definition layer (pixel defining layer 2, Figure 2, paragraph 0056) on the substrate; and forming a light emitting layer (light emitting layer 9, Figure 8, paragraph 0071) and a cathode (cathode layer 10, Figure 8, paragraph 0071) of each pixel unit on one side of the anode and the pixel definition layer facing away from the substrate; wherein the plurality of first barrier walls comprise: two edge barrier walls (Figure 2), a plurality of intermediate barrier walls (Figure 2) and two separation barrier walls (Figure 2); the two edge barrier walls are two first barrier walls at two edges along the second direction; the plurality of intermediate barrier walls are between the two edge barrier walls (Figure 2); the two separation barrier walls are between the two edge barrier walls and respectively on both sides of the plurality of intermediate barrier walls along the second direction (Figure 2), as claimed.
PNG
media_image1.png
286
612
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) is silent to teach wherein the pixel definition layer comprises: a plurality of first barrier walls and a plurality of second barrier walls; the plurality of first barrier walls extend along a first direction and are arranged along a second direction, the plurality of second barrier walls extend along the second direction and are arranged along the first direction; the first direction and the second direction intersect; the plurality of first barrier walls and the plurality of second barrier walls define a plurality of openings, and one opening corresponds to one anode; and heights of the second barrier wall, the edge barrier wall and the separation barrier wall each is greater than a height of the intermediate barrier wall. However, Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) does teach a pixel definition layer with a plurality of first barrier walls (barrier wall 3, Figure 2, paragraph 0057) and the heights of the edge barrier wall and the separation barrier wall each being greater than the height of the intermediate barrier wall (Figure 2).
In an analogous art, Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) teaches a pixel definition layer with a plurality of second barrier walls (third retaining walls 203, Figure 1); the plurality of first barrier walls extend along a first direction and are arranged along a second direction (Figure 1), the plurality of second barrier walls extend along the second direction and are arranged along the first direction (Figure 1); the first direction and the second direction intersect (Figure 1); the plurality of first barrier walls and the plurality of second barrier walls define a plurality of openings (opening H, Figure 1, paragraph 0053), and one opening corresponds to one anode (paragraph 0053); and the height of the second barrier wall is greater than the height of the intermediate barrier wall (paragraph 0062).
PNG
media_image2.png
477
631
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Therefore, it would have been obvious for some one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Yan (Chinese Patent CN110993834A) with the teachings of Hu (Chinese Patent CN112186016A) thereby having a pixel definition layer with second barrier walls that intersect the first barrier walls and are taller than intermediate barrier walls to create openings corresponding to anodes, per design requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-11, 14, and 18 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the prior art of record does not teach or suggest the combination of the pixel units being divided into first pixel units and second pixel units; the second pixel units being distributed on both sides of the first pixel units along the second direction; the pixel units between the two separation barrier walls being the first pixel units, as claimed in claim 7.
The pixel units between the separation barrier walls and the edge barrier walls on both sides along the second direction being the second pixel units, as claimed in claim 8.
The at least one row of pixel units between the separation barrier wall and the edge barrier wall on at least one side along the second direction and adjacent to the separation barrier wall being the first pixel units; and the at least one row of pixel units being at least one row of pixel units arranged along the first direction, as claimed in claim 9.
The first barrier wall between the adjacent first pixel units and the second pixel units being a spacing barrier wall, and the height of the spacing barrier wall being greater than the height of the intermediate barrier wall, as claimed in claim 10.
The quantity of the second pixel units arranged along the second direction and located on any side of the first pixel units along the second direction being less than 6, as claimed in claim 11.
The forming an entire lyophilic material layer on the substrate; etching the lyophilic material layer to form the plurality of intermediate barrier walls; forming an entire lyophobic material layer on one side of the plurality of intermediate barrier walls facing away from the substrate; and etching the lyophobic material layer to form the plurality of second barrier walls, the two edge barrier walls and the two separation barrier walls, as claimed in claim 14.
The etching the lyophobic material layer to form the plurality of second barrier walls, the two edge barrier walls, the two separation barrier walls and the at least one spacing barrier wall, as claimed in claim 18.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREEM M MOHAMED-ALY whose telephone number is (571)270-0312. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm.
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, Leonard Chang can be reached at (571) 270-3691. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KAREEM M MOHAMED-ALY/Examiner, Art Unit 2898
/Leonard Chang/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2898
Prosecution Insights