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 statements filed on 07/02/2024 have been acknowledged and a signed copy of the PTO-1449 is attached herein.
Claim Objections
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 13 recites “a flip chip type micro light emitting element (LED)…” The parenthetical abbreviation “(LED)” does not correspond to the term it follows (“light emitting element”).
. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 1 recites “attaching the light emitting elements on the moving polymer layer.” Claim 4 recites that “the disposing of the light emitting elements includes causing the moving polymer layer and the light emitting elements to contact each other.” Attachment of one element on another necessarily requires contact between them; claim 4 therefore recites a limitation that is inherent in, the corresponding limitation of claim 1. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6, 8-10, and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by YOU et al. (US 2021/0193497 A1, hereinafter “YOU”).
In regards to claim 1, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) a method of manufacturing a display device, the method comprising:
manufacturing light emitting elements (“micro LEDs 100 formed on the substrate”, See Par [0052]);
disposing the light emitting elements (100) on a moving member (See Par [0058], Fig. 3);
bonding (See, Fig. 5) the light emitting elements (100) and a stamp member (310/330) to each other; and
transferring the light emitting elements (100) on a pixel circuit layer (410/415, See Fig. 9),
wherein the moving member includes a moving base (210) and a moving polymer layer (230) on the moving base (210),
the disposing of the light emitting elements (See, Fig. 3/4) includes attaching the light emitting elements (100) on the moving polymer layer (230), and
the bonding of the light emitting elements includes separating the light emitting elements (100) and the moving polymer layer (230) from each other by a laser (“The substrate separation device 540 separates the substrate 110 from the micro LED 100 …laser lift-off process…”, See Par [0075]).
In regards to claim 2, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) wherein the manufacturing of the light emitting elements includes:
manufacturing a first light emitting element that emits light of a first color (“blue micro LED”, See Par [0053]);
manufacturing a second light emitting element that emits light of a second color (“green micro LED”, See Par [0053]); and manufacturing a third light emitting element that emits light of a third color (“red micro LED”, See Par [0053]).
In regards to claim 4, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) wherein the disposing of the light emitting elements includes causing the moving polymer layer (230) and the light emitting elements (100) to contact (See, Fig. 3) each other.
In regards to claim 6, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) wherein the stamp member includes a stamp base (310) and a stamp layer (330) disposed on the stamp base (310), and the bonding of the light emitting elements includes the stamp layer (330) and at least some of the light emitting elements (110) contacting (See, Fig. 5) each other.
In regards to claim 8, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) wherein the separating of the light emitting elements (100) and the moving polymer layer (230) from each other includes: applying the laser (UV wavelength band) to at least a portion of the moving polymer layer (See, Par [0056]); and decreasing an adhesion between the at least a portion of the moving polymer layer (“an adhesiveness thereof is reduced to about 1/100 or less”, See Par [0056]), to which the laser (UV wavelength band) is applied, and the light emitting elements (100).
In regards to claim 9, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) wherein, in the separating of the light emitting elements (100) and the moving polymer layer (230) from each other, the
adhesion between the at least a portion of the moving polymer layer (230) and the light emitting
elements (100) after the laser (UV wavelength band) is applied is less than an adhesion between
the stamp layer (330) and the light emitting elements (100, See also Pars [0063]-[0064], Figs. 5-
6).
In regards to claim 10, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) the laser has an ultraviolet
wavelength band (“UV light L1”, See Par [0061]).
In regards to claim 12, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) wherein the transferring of the light emitting elements (100) on the pixel circuit layer (415/410) includes disposing the light emitting elements (100, Fig. 7) on the pixel circuit layer (415/410) by performing a laser bonding process, a thermo-compression bonding process, or a eutectic bonding process (See, Pars [0063], [0065], and [0069]).
In regards to claim 13, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) wherein each of the light emitting elements is a flip chip type micro light emitting element (LED), a lateral type micro LED, or a vertical type micro LED (“The micro LED 100 may have pads 105, and the pads 105 may be adhered to corresponding pads of a circuit board through a bonding layer”, See Par [0054], pad-to-pad = flip chip type).
In regards to claim 14, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) a display device (400, See
Fig. 9) manufactured according to the method of claim 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, 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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YOU.
In regards to claim 3, YOU discloses (See, for example, Figs. 1-10) wherein the first light emitting element (100, “blue micro LED”), the second light emitting element (100, “green micro LED”), and the third light emitting element (100, “red micro LED”) are respectively manufactured on separate growth substrates (110).
YOU is silent about the manufacturing of the first light emitting element, the manufacturing of the second light emitting element, and the manufacturing of the third light emitting element are sequentially performed.
However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to sequentially performing the manufacturing of the first, second and third light emitting elements because performing the disclosed sequence separately for each color wafer is no more than the ordered repetition of a disclosed process, and the selection of an order of performing process steps is prima-facie obvious absent new or unexpected results. See MPEP 2144.04 (IV)(C ).
Claims 5 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YOU in view of Takagi (US 2020/0357950 A1, hereinafter “Takagi”).
In regards to claims 5 and 11, YOU discloses all limitations of claim 1 above except that the moving polymer layer includes at least one selected from the group consisting of epoxy resin, phenol resin, polyimide resin, polyurethane resin, melamine resin, and urea resin.
; wherein the stamp layer includes a plurality of protrusion portions
spaced apart from each other, and the bonding of the light emitting elements includes bonding
the light emitting elements respectively to the plurality of protrusion portions; and wherein the laser has a wavelength in a range of about 245 nm to about 350 nm.
Takagi while disclosing a method of manufacturing display device teaches the moving polymer layer includes at least one selected from the group consisting of epoxy resin, phenol resin, polyimide resin, polyurethane resin, melamine resin, and urea resin (See, “polyimide resin, …, epoxy resin”, claim 5); and wherein the laser has a wavelength in a range of about 245 nm to about 350 nm (See, for example, Pars [0019], [0052], [0072]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify YOU by Takagi because
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YOU in view of Bower et al. (US 2016/0020131 A1, hereinafter “Bower”).
In regards to claim 7, YOU discloses all limitations of claim 6 above except that wherein the stamp layer includes a plurality of protrusion portions spaced apart from each other, and the bonding of the light emitting elements includes bonding the light emitting elements respectively to the plurality of protrusion portion.
Bower while disclosing an apparatus and methods for micro-transfer printing teaches (See, for example, Figs. 1A-1C, 21A-21B, 12, 28A-28B, 22) wherein the stamp layer (102, “…elastomer or visco-elastomer stamp(e.g., PDMS…”, See Par [00345]) includes a plurality of protrusion portions (114) spaced apart from each other, and the bonding of the light emitting elements includes bonding the light emitting elements (104) respectively to the plurality of protrusion portion (114).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have provided the stamp layer of YOU with the spaced-apart post of Bower, because a stamp layer having a plurality of printing posts confines contact to individual semiconductor elements and thereby prevents the continuous surface between the posts from sagging and inadvertently picking up printable material.
Correspondence
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERMIAS T WOLDEGEORGIS whose telephone number is (571)270-5350. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8 am - 5 pm E.S.T..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Britt Hanley can be reached on 571-270-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERMIAS T WOLDEGEORGIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893
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