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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on 07/01/2024 has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 07/01/2024 are acceptable.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure and the specification filed on 07/01/2024 are acceptable.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Bang (US 2018/0190740).
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Regarding claim 1, Bang (US 2018/0190740) discloses:
A display device comprising:
a substrate (111, ¶0041) having a pixel (P, ¶0051) including a plurality of sub-pixels (P1, P2, P3, ¶0051);
an insulating layer (250, ¶0062) on the substrate (111), the insulating layer including an indentation (the indentation is filled by element 271 in figure 4) that extends in a direction towards a lower surface of the substrate (111) and the indentation located at boundaries between the plurality of sub-pixels (figure 4);
an organic light emitting diode (¶0063) including a common emission layer (262, ¶0074) on the insulating layer (250), the common emission layer (262) in each of the plurality of sub-pixels; and
a color filter layer (elements 291, 292, 293, ¶0088) on the organic light emitting diode, the color filter layer including a plurality of color filters and a reflective member (263 and 273 taken together, ¶0084) between adjacent color filters from the plurality of color filters (291, 292, 293).
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) 6-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bang.
Regarding claim 6, Bang does not disclose “wherein the reflective member has a reverse tapered shape”. However, a change in size or shape or both is an unpatentable modification when it results in optimum conditions that differ from the prior art in degree but not in kind. In Re Rose, 220 F.2d 459, 105 USPQ 237, In reDailey, 357 F.2d 669, 149 USPQ 47). In the instant case the prior art device would not perform differently if modified to the claimed shape or size. Therefore the claimed limitations are considered met.
Regarding claim 7, Bang further discloses:
a capping layer (280, ¶0082) between the plurality of color filters (291, 292, 293) and the organic light emitting diode (¶0063).
Regarding claim 8, Bang further discloses:
wherein the organic light emitting diode includes a first electrode (261) on the insulating layer (250), the common emission layer (262) on the first electrode (261), and a second electrode (263, ¶0063) on the common emission layer (262), and the plurality of color filters (291, 292, 293) are in direct contact with the capping layer (280).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 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.
Regarding claim 2, the prior art does not disclose “wherein a portion of each of the plurality of color filters is in the indentation” in combination with the remaining claimed features.
Claims 9-25 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 9, the prior art does not disclose “wherein the first electrode of at least one of the plurality of organic light emitting diodes includes a transparent layer on the insulating layer and a reflective layer that electrically connects the corresponding transistor with the transparent layer, and the reflective layer includes an inclined surface with respect to an extension direction of the substrate” in combination with the remaining claimed features.
Regarding claim 14, the prior art does not disclose “a color filter layer on the organic light emitting diode, the color filter layer including a plurality of color filters and a portion of each of the plurality of color filters is in the indentation” in combination with the remaining claimed features.
Regarding claim 20, the prior art does not disclose “wherein a portion of a color filter from the plurality of color filters that is located at a boundary between adjacent sub-pixels from the plurality of sub-pixels is closer to the substrate than a lower surface of the first electrode” in combination with the remaining claimed features.
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 WILLIAM A HARRISTON whose telephone number is (571)270-3897. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9AM-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, Brent Fairbanks can be reached at (408) 918-7532. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WILLIAM A HARRISTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899
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