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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Delete [;] at the end of the claim and insert [.]
. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Won et al. (US. Pub: 2020/0106042 A1~hereinafter “Won”).
Regarding claim 1, Won discloses (in at least fig. 5) a method of manufacturing a display device, the method comprising: forming a light emitting element layer (512; [0097]) on a mother substrate (101); forming a through portion (TH; [0146]-[0147]) in a dummy area of a preliminary encapsulation substrate to form at least one bridge connecting a cell area of the preliminary encapsulation substrate and the dummy area adjacent to the cell area (see at least fig. 5); bonding the mother substrate (101) and the preliminary encapsulation substrate (102); applying a sealing member (882) through the through portion, the sealing member extending from an upper surface of the mother substrate (101) to a side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (102) which is exposed by the through portion; and cutting the at least one bridge and separating the dummy area of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (see fig. 5).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 2-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Won et al. (US. Pub: 2020/0106042 A1~hereinafter “Won”) in view of Jung et al. (US. Pub: 2020/0168849 A1~hereinafter “Jung”).
Regarding claim 2, Won does not expressly disclose the cutting of the at least one bridge includes applying an impact to an outer side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate.
Jung discloses (in at least figs. 1-3) a method of manufacturing a display device comprised of, in part, the cutting of the at least one bridge includes applying an impact to an outer side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52) in order to separate the dummy area of the preliminary encapsulation substrate.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of Jung in the manufacturing of the display device of Won in order to separate the dummy area of the preliminary encapsulation substrate. Also, it has been held that the selection of a known method based on its suitability for its intended use supported a prima facie obviousness determination.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Won as modified by Jung discloses (in at least fig. 5 Won; figs. 1-3 Jung) the applying of the impact to the outer side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52, 102) includes applying the impact in a second direction perpendicular to a first direction in which the at least one bridge extends (see at least fig. 3).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Won as modified by Jung discloses (in at least fig. 5 Won; figs. 1-3; [0027]-[0028] Jung) the applying of the impact to the outer side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52, 502) includes applying the impact in a diagonal direction between a first direction in which the at least one bridge extends and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction (see fig. 3).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Won as modified by Jung discloses (in at least fig. 5 Won; figs. 1-3 Jung) a width of a central portion of the at least one bridge is smaller than a width of each end of the at least one bridge.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Won as modified by Jung discloses (in at least fig. 5 Won; figs. 1-3 Jung) a thickness of the at least one bridge is smaller than a thickness of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52, 102).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Won as modified by Jung discloses (in at least fig. 5 Won; figs. 1-3 Jung) the forming of the through portion (TH, CL1) in the dummy area includes processing the side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52, 102) to have a chamfered shape (see fig. 3), and the side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52, 102) overlaps the cell area and is exposed by the through portion.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Won as modified by Jung discloses (in at least fig. 5 Won; figs. 1-3 Jung) strengthening the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52, 102) through an ion exchange process between the forming of the through portion in the dummy area and the cutting of the at least one bridge (see at least [0010]-[0011]; fig. 3 Jung).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Won as modified by Jung does not expressly disclose the mother substrate is formed of a silicon wafer.
However, Jung discloses ([0067]) the mother substrate is formed of a glass material.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to replace the glass substrate of Won as modified by Jung with a silicon wafer, since it has been held that simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is obvious.
Claim(s) 10-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. (US. Pub: 2020/0168849 A1~hereinafter “Jung”) in view of Kanaya (US. Pub: 2018/0151834 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Jung discloses (in at least figs. 1-3) a method of manufacturing a display device (title), the method comprising: forming a light emitting element layer (32; [0076]) on a mother substrate (10); forming a through portion (CL1) in a dummy area of a preliminary encapsulation substrate (52) to form at least one bridge connecting a cell area of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52) and the dummy area adjacent to the cell area (see fig. 5); bonding the mother substrate (10) and the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52); and cutting the at least one bridge and separating the dummy area of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52).
Jung does not expressly disclose forming a polarization layer on the preliminary encapsulation substrate.
However, Jung discloses (in at least [0034]) the mother protective film may include a polarization film.
Kanaya in the same field of manufacturing a display device discloses (in at least fig. 2) forming a polarization layer (138) on the preliminary encapsulation substrate (102) in order to convert unpolarized light unto linearly polarized light.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to consider forming the polarization layer of Jung as disclosed by Kanaya, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art.
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3 Jung; fig. 2 Kanaya) the forming of the polarization layer includes: forming a preliminary polarization layer (138) overlapping the cell area and the dummy area on the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52, 102); and cutting the preliminary polarization layer (138) and forming the polarization layer overlapping the cell area.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3, [0010]-[0011] Jung; fig. 2; [0079]-[0081] Kanaya) the cutting of the preliminary polarization layer (138) comprises irradiating a laser to the preliminary polarization layer (52, 102), and the irradiation of the laser overlaps both ends of the at least one bridge.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3, [0010]-[0011] Jung; fig. 2; [0079]-[0081] Kanaya) the cutting of the preliminary polarization layer (138) comprises simultaneously cutting the preliminary polarization layer (138) and the at least one bridge using the laser.
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3, [0010]-[0013] Jung; fig. 2; [0079]-[0081] Kanaya) the cutting of the preliminary polarization layer (138) is performed before the cutting of the at least one bridge.
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3, [0010]-[0013] Jung; fig. 2; [0079]-[0081] Kanaya) the cutting of the at least one bridge includes applying an impact to an outer side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3, [0010]-[0011] Jung; fig. 2; Kanaya) the applying of the impact to the outer side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate includes applying the impact in a second direction perpendicular to a first direction in which the at least one bridge extends.
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3, [0010]-[0013] Jung; fig. 2 Kanaya) the applying of the impact to the outer side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52) includes applying the impact in a diagonal direction between a first direction in which the at least one bridge extends and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3, [0010]-[0013] Jung; fig. 2 Kanaya) a width of a central portion of the at least one bridge is smaller than a width of each end of the at least one bridge.
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3, [0010]-[0013] Jung; fig. 2 Kanaya) the forming of the through portion in the dummy area includes processing a side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52) to have a chamfered shape, and the side surface of the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52) overlaps the cell area and is exposed by the through portion.
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Jung as modified by Kanaya discloses (in at least figs. 1-3, [0010]-[0013] Jung; fig. 2 Kanaya) strengthening the preliminary encapsulation substrate (52) through an ion exchange process between the forming of the through portion in the dummy area and the cutting of the at least one bridge.
Conclusion
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ELMITO BREVAL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2875
/ELMITO BREVAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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