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 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) 1-6 and 12-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al (US 10170534).
Kim et al teaches
[claim 1] A display device, comprising: a substrate including an active area and a non-active area that extends from the active area (figure 4, col 4 lines 49-63, where element 100 is the substrate, element DA is the active area [display area] and element PA is the non-active area [peripheral area], where the non-active area [PA] extends from the active area [DA] to the left);
a light emitting diode on the substrate, the light emitting diode including an anode, a light emitting layer, and a cathode (figure 4, col 9 lines 56-67, and col 10 lines 32-42, where element 200 is the light emitting diode, elements 210 and 230 are the anode and cathode respectively);
a dam in the non-active area of the substrate; and a step relief pattern in a part of a surface of the dam, wherein the dam includes a first insulating layer and a second insulating layer on the first insulating layer (figure 4, col 7 lines 1-8 and col 14 lines 16-31, where element 340 is the dam structure in the non-active area on the substrate, element 72 is the step relief pattern in a part of the surface of the dam structure, and the dam includes two insulating layers, the first insulating layer is element 341, and the second insulating layer is element 342 on the first insulating layer [element 341]);
and the step relief pattern encloses a side surface of the first insulating layer and a lower portion of a side surface of the second insulating layer (figure 4, col 7 lines 1-8, where element 72 [step relief pattern] encloses a side surface of the first insulating layer [element 341] and a lower portion of a side surface of the second insulating layer [element 342]).
[claim 2] The display device according to claim 1, wherein the second insulating layer exposes a part of a top surface of the first insulating layer (figure 4, col 14 lines 16-31, where element 342 [second insulating layer] has an indent which is filled by the step relief layer [element 72] that exposes a top portion of the first insulating layer).
[claim 3] The display device according to claim 2, wherein the step relief pattern is in contact with the part of the top surface of the first insulating layer exposed by the second insulating layer (figure 4, col 14 lines 16-31, where element 72 [step relief pattern] is in contact with a top surface of the first insulating layer [element 341] that is exposes by the second insulating layer [element 342]).
[claim 4] The display device according to claim 1, wherein an end of the step relief pattern is on a same plane as an end of the first insulating layer (figure 4, col 7 lines 1-8, where element 72 [step relief pattern] has an end [bottom end] on a same plane as element 341 [first insulating layer]).
[claim 5] The display device according to claim 1, wherein the step relief pattern comprises a same material as the anode (figure 4, col 12 lines 4-9, where element 72 is an electrode which can be made of the same material as the anode [element 210]).
[claim 6] The display device according to claim 1, wherein the step relief pattern comprises a different conductive material than the anode (figure 4, col 12 lines 4-9, where element 72 is an conductor which may include the same material as the anode [element 210] but not required to, regardless it is an electrode which must be conductive).
[claim 12] The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a capping layer on the light emitting diode, wherein an end of the light emitting layer, an end of the cathode, and an end of the capping layer are on a same plane as an end of the substrate (figure 4, col 12 lines 58-67, where element 120 is the capping layer on the light emitting diode [element 200], where an end of the light emitting layer, cathode and capping layer all are in a vertical plane of the end of the substrate [element 100] as seen on the right hand side of the figure).
[claim 13] The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of structures at an inside and an outside of the dam, wherein the plurality of structures comprise an undercut shape (figure 4,col 7 line 19-21, where element 71A, 352, 125 and 72 comprises the plurality of structures in and outside of the dam structure [element 340] where the structures are an undercut shape).
[claim 14] The display device according to claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of structures includes an upper layer and a lower layer, and wherein an area of a bottom surface of the upper layer is larger than an area of a top surface of the lower layer (figure 4, col 7 lines 19-21 and col 14 lines 16-31, where element 72 is the upper layer and element 352 is the lower layer, where the upper layer’s bottom surface has a larger area than the lower layer’s top surface).
[claim 15] The display device according to claim 14, wherein the upper layer and the lower layer comprise different materials (figure 4, col 7 lines 19-21 and col 14 lines 16-31, where element 72 is the upper layer and element 352 is the lower layer, and are made of different materials).
[claim 16] The display device according to claim 15, wherein the upper layer comprises a conductive material, and the lower layer comprises an insulating material (figure 4, col 7 lines 19-21 and col 14 lines 16-31, where element 72 is the upper layer and element 352 is the lower layer, element 72 is made of a conductive material [upper layer] and element 352 [lower layer] is made of an insulating material).
[claim 17] The display device according to claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of structures includes a first layer, a second layer, and a third layer, and wherein an area of a bottom surface of the third layer is larger than an area of a top surface of the second layer (figure 4, col 7 lines 19-21 and col 14 lines 16-31, where element 125 is the first layer, element 352 is the second layer, element 71A is the third layer, where the area of the bottom surface of the third layer [element 71A] is larger than the top surface of the second layer [element 352]).
[claim 18] The display device according to claim 17, wherein the third layer comprises a conductive material, and the first layer and the second layer comprise insulating materials (figure 4, col 7 lines 19-21 and col 14 lines 16-31, where element 125 is the first layer, element 352 is the second layer and are both made of insulating material, element 71A is the third layer and made of a conductive material).
[claim 19] The display device according to claim 17, wherein the third layer comprises a same material as the anode, and wherein the first layer and the second layer comprise insulating materials (figure 4, col 7 lines 19-21 and col 14 lines 16-31, where element 125 is the first layer, element 352 is the second layer and are both made of insulating material, element 71A is the third layer and made of the same conductive material as the anode [element 210]).
[claim 20] The display device according to claim 13, further comprising: a capping layer on the light emitting diode, wherein the light emitting layer, the cathode, and the capping layer are spaced apart from each other through the plurality of structures (figure 4, col 10 lines 43-62 and col 16 line 66 – col 17 line 2, where element 430 is the capping layer on the light emitting diode [element 200] where the cathode [element 230 and 72], light emitting layer and capping layer extend into the non-active area [PA] and can be spaced apart in the structures [structures on the side of element 340 comprising of elements 71A, 352, 72, and 1125/353]).
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) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al (US 10170534) in view of Lee (US 20220344441).
Kim et al teaches all of the limitations of the parent claim, claim 1, but does not specifically disclose
[claim 7] The display device according to claim 1, wherein the step relief pattern comprises titanium.
[claim 8] The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a bank and a spacer in the active area of the substrate, wherein the dam further includes: a third insulating layer on the second insulating layer, the third insulating layer comprising a same material as the bank, and a fourth insulating layer on the third insulating layer, the fourth insulating layer comprising a same material as the spacer.
However, Lee teaches
[claim 7] The display device according to claim 1, wherein the step relief pattern comprises titanium (paragraph 0077, where the electrode [which the step relief pattern is an electrode] can be made of titanium).
[claim 8] The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a bank and a spacer in the active area of the substrate (figure 6, paragraph 0123, where element 119 is the bank and element 121 is a spacer in the display area),
wherein the dam further includes: a third insulating layer on the second insulating layer, the third insulating layer comprising a same material as the bank, and a fourth insulating layer on the third insulating layer, the fourth insulating layer comprising a same material as the spacer (figure 6, paragraph 0146, where element PW2 is the dam, and the third insulating layer is element 119P2 which is made of the same material as the bank layer [element 119] and the fourth insulating layer is element 121P2 which is made of the same material as the spacer [element 121]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the teachings of Kim et al to incorporate the teaching of Lee in order to provide another insulating layer in the dam structure to provide greater support for the non-display area with a larger dam structure with more insulation.
Claim(s) 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al (US 10170534) in view of Na et al (US 20220181417).
Regarding claims 9 and 11,
Kim et al teaches all of the limitations of the parent claim, claim 1, but does not specifically disclose
[claim 9] The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a metal layer between the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer.
[claim 11] The display device according to claim 9, wherein the metal layer comprises titanium.
However, Na et al does teach
[claim 9] The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a metal layer between the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer (figure 4, paragraph 0075, where element 125 is the metal layer between the first and second insulating layers of the dam, where DAM1 is the dam, and the top layer is the second insulating layer and the layer surrounded by element 125 is the first insulating layer).
[claim 11] The display device according to claim 9, wherein the metal layer comprises titanium (paragraph 0076, where the metal layer connected to element 125 can be made of the same material as element 125 which comprises titanium).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the teachings of Kim et al to incorporate the teachings of Na et al in order to provide a metal layer in the dam structure to provide more thermal conductivity and structural stability.
Regarding claim 10,
Kim et al further discloses
[claim 10] The display device according to claim 9, further comprising: a connection electrode below the light emitting diode and electrically connected to the anode (figure 4, col 6 lines 22-31, where element 71A is the connection electrode situated below the light emitting diode [element 200] and electrically connected to the anode [element 210]),
However, Kim et al as modified does not specifically disclose
[claim 10] wherein the metal layer is on a same layer as the connection electrode and comprises a same material as the connection electrode.
However, Na et al does teach
[claim 10] wherein the metal layer is on a same layer as the connection electrode and comprises a same material as the connection electrode (figure 4, paragraph 0075, where element 125 is the metal layer between the first and second insulating layers of the dam, where DAM1 is the dam, and is connected to the portion of the light emitting device where the LED is located from Kim et al [situated over the TFT which drives the LED]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present application to have modified the teachings of Kim et al to incorporate the teachings of Na et al in order to provide electrical connection from the LED to other portions of the device to maximize spatial efficiency by connecting through layers across the display and non-display area rather than connecting outside the device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lee et al (US 20220208879), Lee et al (US 20220208904), Lee et al (US 20220164051), Kang et al (US 20210202895), and Lim et al (US 20210183985) as other light emitting diodes with dam structures in a non-active area.
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/ANDREW JOHN ZABEL/Examiner, Art Unit 2818
/JEFF W NATALINI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2818
