DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to Application filed April 26, 2024.
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicants’ election without traverse of Species III, drawn to a display substrate whose structure is shown in Fig. 3B; subspecies i, drawn to a first display region, a second display region, and a third display region of a display substrate, whose structures are shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, respectively; sub-subspecies A, drawn to a compensation pattern in a display substrate whose structure is shown in Fig. 9; and sub-sub-subspecies i, drawn to a functional layer in a display substrate whose structure is shown in Fig. 15I, which read on claims 1-3, 5, 7-10, 12-21, and 23, and withdrawal of claim 22, in the reply filed on July 17, 2026 is acknowledged.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-3, 5, 7-10, 12-21, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1-3, 10, 12, 15-19, and 21 are rendered as indefinite because they recite the term “compensation pattern”. It is unclear what classifies a pattern as a “compensation pattern”. What is the term “compensation” referring to? Is the compensation mechanical, electrical, magnetic, optical, etc.? Depending on what the compensation pattern compensates, the structure, shape, material composition and size of the compensation pattern would be different.
Claims 2-3, 5, 7-10, 12-21, and 23 depend on claim 1, and therefore, claims 2-3, 5, 7-10, 12-21, and 23 are also rendered as indefinite.
For purposes of examination, the term “compensation pattern” is interpreted by the Examiner as “pattern”.
The limitation “at least partially overlaps” recited in claims 1, 3, and 14-15 is indefinite because the term “at least partially” can mean partially or completely, and therefore it is unclear what Applicants mean, and it does not appear that the phrase “at least partially” can be interpreted as “entirely.”
Claims 2-3, 5, 7-10, 12-21, and 23 depend on claim 1, and therefore, claims 2-3, 5, 7-10, 12-21, and 23 are also indefinite.
The limitation “the straight line intersects the first direction and the second direction” recited in claim 5 is rendered as indefinite because it lacks coherence. A line is a one-dimensional object. A line cannot intersect a direction because a direction does not have any physical dimension to intersect, not to mention not having any specific origin. A direction is simply an orientation in space.
Claims 10, 12, 15-19, and 21 are rendered as indefinite because they include asymmetrically-shaped Chinese characters. It is more difficult to manufacture semiconductor features that are not symmetric. Therefore, it is unclear what Applicants mean by claiming the shape of asymmetric Chinese characters, and how close the shapes of the claimed structural elements to the shapes of the Chinese characters that are not exactly isotropic or symmetrical should be.
Claims 13-19 depend on claim 12, and therefore, claims 13-19 are also indefinite.
For purposes of examination, the shape of the claimed Chinese characters is interpreted by the Examiner as a shape.
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(s) 1-3, 5, 9-10, 12, 20-21, and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a(1) as being anticipated by Ling et al. (AU 2019279939 A1, which Applicants filed (US 20210408203 A1) on October 21, 2024 together with IDS; attached English Translation of AU 2019279939 A1 is used for current Office Action).
Regarding claim 1, as best understood, Ling discloses a display substrate, having a display region (Figs. 3 and 6), wherein the display region comprises: a base substrate (101) ([0067]), a plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113) on the base substrate (101), wherein each of at least part of the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113) comprises a pixel driving circuit (220) ([0067]) and a light-emitting device (1114, 1124, and 1134), the light-emitting device comprises a first electrode (171, 172, and 173) electrically connected to the pixel driving circuit (220) [0067], a plurality of data lines (121) on the base substrate (101) and in a first metal layer (121) [0090], and a plurality of first signal lines (GL, EM, RL, 121, 122, Cst, 1200, and 1209) on the base substrate (101) and in a second metal layer (120) [0069] [0093], wherein the second metal layer (120) is on a side of the first metal layer (121) away from the base substrate (101), at least one of the plurality of first signal lines (GL, EM, RL, 121, 122, Cst, 1200, and 1209) is electrically connected to at least one of the plurality of data lines (121) through a first via (381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, and 388) [0086]; wherein the display region comprises a first display region (Figs. 3 and 6), in the first display region (Figs. 3 and 6), the plurality of first signal lines (GL, EM, RL, 121, 122, Cst, 1200, and 1209) extend in a first direction, the first display region (Figs. 3 and 6) comprises a plurality of first compensation patterns (111), in the first display region (Figs. 3 and 6), first electrodes (171, 172, and 173) of light-emitting devices (1114, 1124, and 1134) of the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113) are on a side of the plurality of first signal lines (GL, EM, RL, 121, 122, Cst, 1200, and 1209) and the plurality of first compensation patterns (111) away from the base substrate (101), an orthographic projection of at least one of the plurality of first compensation patterns (111) on the base substrate (101) at least partially overlaps with an orthographic projection of the first electrode (171, 172, and 173) of the light-emitting device (1114, 1124, and 1134) of at least one of the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113) on the base substrate (101).
Regarding claim 2, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of first compensation patterns (111) are in the second metal layer (120).
Regarding claim 3, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 1, wherein the display region further comprises a second display region (Figs. 3 and 6), in the second display region (Figs. 3 and 6), the plurality of first signal lines (GL, EM, RL, 121, 122, Cst, 1200, and 1209) extend in a second direction, the second display region (Figs. 3 and 6) comprises a second compensation pattern (112), in the second display region (Figs. 3 and 6), first electrodes (171, 172, and 173) of light-emitting devices (1114, 1124, and 1134) of the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113) are on a side of the plurality of first signal lines (GL, EM, RL, 121, 122, Cst, 1200, and 1209) and the plurality of second compensation patterns (112) away from the base substrate (101), an orthographic projection of at least one of the plurality of second compensation patterns (112) on the base substrate (101) at least partially overlaps with an orthographic projection of the first electrode (171, 172, and 173) of the light-emitting device (1114, 1124, and 1134) of at least one of the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113) on the base substrate (101); the first direction is different from the second direction.
Regarding claim 5, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of first signal lines (GL, EM, RL, 121, 122, Cst, 1200, and 1209) are electrically connected to the plurality of data lines (121) through a plurality of first vias (381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, and 388), respectively, the plurality of first vias (381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, and 388) are in the second display region (Figs. 3 and 6) and arranged in a straight line, the straight line intersects the first direction and the second direction.
Regarding claim 9, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 1, wherein the pixel driving circuit (220) and the first electrode (171, 172, and 173) are electrically connected through a second via (1116, 1126, and 1136), in a direction perpendicular to the base substrate (101), the second via (1116, 1126, and 1136) does not overlap with the first via (381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, and 388).
Regarding claim 10, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of first compensation patterns (111) and the plurality of second compensation patterns (112) are respectively in a shape of Chinese character"-", a shape of Chinese character"+", a shape of Chinese character "ffi ", a shape of Chinese character "*", a shape of a ring or a shape of a block.
Regarding claim 12, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 3, wherein in the first display region (Figs. 3 and 6), the plurality of first compensation patterns (111) comprise first compensation patterns (111) electrically connected with the plurality of first signal lines (GL, EM, RL, 121, 122, Cst, 1200, and 1209), respectively, and respectively in a shape of Chinese character "-" extending in the second direction.
Regarding claim 20, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 3, wherein the light-emitting device (1114, 1124, and 1134) further comprises a light-emitting material layer (1114, 1124, and 1134) on a side of the first electrode (171, 172, and 173) away from the base substrate (101) and a second electrode (1116, 1126, and 1136) on a side of the light-emitting material layer (1114, 1124, and 1134) away from the base substrate (101); the display substrate further has a peripheral region surrounding the display region, the display substrate further comprises a first power signal line (122) configured to provide a first power signal to second electrodes (1116, 1126, and 1136) of the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113), and the first power signal line (122) is electrically connected, in the peripheral region, to the second electrodes (1116, 1126, and 1136) of the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113).
Regarding claim 21, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 20, wherein in the second display region (Figs. 3 and 6), the second compensation pattern (112) in the shape of Chinese character "+" is electrically connected with the first power signal line (122).
Regarding claim 23, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 1, wherein the display region further comprises a third display region (Figs. 3 and 6), the third display region (Figs. 3 and 6) comprises a metal pattern (120), first electrodes (171, 172, and 173) of light-emitting devices (1114, 1124, and 1134) of the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113) are on a side of the metal pattern (120) away from the base substrate (101), the metal pattern (120) comprises a plurality of metal lines (121 and 122) extending at least along the first direction and the second direction and crossing with each other; or, the metal pattern (120) comprises a plurality of block patterns respectively overlapping with the first electrodes (171, 172, and 173) of the light-emitting devices (1114, 1124, and 1134) of at least part of the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113).
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) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ling et al. (AU 2019279939 A1) in view of Fang et al. (CN 109285868 A; attached English Translation of CN 109285868 A is used for current Office Action).
Regarding claim 13, Ling discloses the display substrate according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of sub-pixels (111, 112, and 113) comprise red sub-pixels (112), green sub-pixels (113), and blue sub-pixels (111).
Ling does not disclose light-emitting devices of the red sub-pixels and the blue sub-pixels are in a same row, and light-emitting devices of the green sub-pixels are in a same row, and rows where the light-emitting devices of the red sub-pixels and the blue sub-pixels are located and rows where the light-emitting devices of the green sub-pixels are located are alternately arranged; the light-emitting devices of the red sub-pixels and the blue sub-pixels are in a same column, the light-emitting devices of the green sub-pixels are in a same column, and columns where the light-emitting devices of the red sub-pixels and the blue sub-pixels are located and columns where the light-emitting devices of the green sub-pixels are located are alternately arranged.
Fang discloses (Fig. 4) light-emitting devices of the red sub-pixels and the blue sub-pixels (701 and 702) are in a same row, and light-emitting devices of the green sub-pixels (703) are in a same row, and rows where the light-emitting devices of the red sub-pixels and the blue sub-pixels (701 and 702) are located and rows where the light-emitting devices of the green sub-pixels (703) are located are alternately arranged; the light-emitting devices of the red sub-pixels and the blue sub-pixels (701 and 702) are in a same column, the light-emitting devices of the green sub-pixels (703) are in a same column, and columns where the light-emitting devices of the red sub-pixels and the blue sub-pixels (701 and 702) are located and columns where the light-emitting devices of the green sub-pixels (703) are located are alternately arranged.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to arrange the plurality of sub-pixels disclosed by Ling into the arrangement disclosed by Fang because the rearrangement of sub-pixels does not alter device operation, and it is common practice to improve device performance through the rearrangement of parts.
Conclusion
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/JAY C KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2815
/ANGELICA ROSE GALVAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2815
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