Notice of 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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1, 3-5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al. (US 2016/0103356 A1) in view of Bok et al. (US 2021/0191552 A1).
Regarding independent claim 1: Shin teaches (e.g., Figs. 1-2) a display device, comprising:
at least one display panel ([0041]-[0042]: LCP);
a plurality of routing lines ([0048]: ALN lines) disposed on an outside surface of at least one side of the at least one transparent display panel (LCP); and
a wiring substrate ([0041] and [0048]: ADS) disposed on a rear surface or a top surface of the at least one transparent display panel (LCP), and having a plurality of connection lines ([0056]: TP) connected to the plurality of routing lines (ALN),
wherein the plurality of connection lines (TP) extend to the rear surface of the at least one display panel (LCP) to overlap a part of the at least one transparent display panel (LCP).
Shin does not expressly teach a transparent display panel and transparent wiring substrate.
Bok teaches (Figs. Figs. 1-2 and 25) a display device comprising
a transparent display panel (Figs. 1-2 and 25; [0468]) and transparent wiring substrate Fig. 25; [0468]: WL1, Wl2, WL3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the display device comprising a transparent display panel and transparent wiring substrate, as taught by Bok, so that an object or a background arranged or disposed on the lower surface of the display panel may be seen through the upper surface of the display panel (Bok: [0196])
Regarding claim 3. Shin and Bok teach the claim limitation of the display device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
wherein the at least one transparent display panel includes:
a first substrate (Shin: [0009]-[0012] and [0042]: TFS);
a second substrate (Shin: [0009]-[0012] and [0042]: CFS) disposed opposite to the first substrate; and
an element unit (Shin: [0012] and [0042] and [0044]: LC/TFT) disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate.
Regarding claim 4: Shin and Bok teach the claim limitation of the display device according to claim 3, on which this claim depends,
Shin as modified by Bok teaches that the element unit includes a thin film transistor (TFT) element layer ([0265]: TFT), a light emitting diode layer (Bok: [0265]: ED), and an encapsulation layer (Bok: [0265]: ENCM),
Regarding claim 5: Shin and Bok teach the claim limitation of the display device according to claim 3, on which this claim depends,
wherein the second substrate (Shin: TFS) has a size smaller than a size of the first substrate (Shin: CFS) to expose one side of the first substrate, and
wherein a plurality of first pads (Shin: [0048]: APD1, APD2) are disposed at the exposed one side of the first substrate (Shin: CFS).
Regarding claim 12: Shin and Bok teach the claim limitation of the display device according to claim 1, on which this claim depends,
wherein the at least one display panel is sequentially disposed in a horizontal direction or sequentially disposed in a vertical direction (Shin: [0046]-[0047] and [0051]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 6-11 and 13-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 2: the cited prior art of record, either singly or in proper combination, does not teach or make obvious, along with the other claimed features, a display device comprising:
“a support layer disposed between the at least one transparent display panel and the transparent wiring substrate to maintain a gap between the at least one transparent display panel and the transparent wiring substrate”.
Regarding claim 6: the cited prior art of record, either singly or in proper combination, does not teach or make obvious, along with the other claimed features, a display device comprising:
“a plurality of second pads disposed on a top surface or a rear surface of the transparent wiring substrate to overlap the plurality of first pads”.
Claims 7-11 and 19-20 depend from claim 6, and therefore, are allowable for the same reason as claim 6.
Regarding claim 13: the cited prior art of record, either singly or in proper combination, does not teach or make obvious, along with the other claimed features, a display device comprising:
“wherein the connection line is disposed on an entire surface of the transparent wiring substrate with a constant pitch”.
Regarding claim 14: the cited prior art of record, either singly or in proper combination, does not teach or make obvious, along with the other claimed features, a display device comprising:
“wherein the at least one transparent display panel includes: at least one lower display panel; and at least one upper display panel disposed on the at least one lower display panel”.
Regarding claim 15: the cited prior art of record, either singly or in proper combination, does not teach or make obvious, along with the other claimed features, a display device comprising:
“a lower connection line extending to a rear surface of the at least one lower display panel to overlap a part of the at least one lower display panel; and
an upper connection line extending to a rear surface of the at least one upper display panel to overlap a part of the at least one upper display panel”.
Regarding claim 16: the cited prior art of record, either singly or in proper combination, does not teach or make obvious, along with the other claimed features, a display device comprising:
“a first connection line disposed in an up and down direction to overlap a part of a lower side of the at least one transparent display panel; and
a second connection line disposed in a left and right direction to overlap a part of at least one of left and right sides of the at least one transparent display panel”.
Claims 17-18 depend from claim 16, and therefore, are allowable for the same reason as claim 16.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HERVE-LOUIS Y ASSOUMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-2606. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 08:30 AM-5:30 PM.
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/HERVE-LOUIS Y ASSOUMAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2812
