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 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.
Claims 1-2 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 20220131076 A1) in view of Bae et al. (KR 20190014188 A, Machine Translation).
As to claim 1, Chen discloses a mask assembly [Abstract; claim 18] comprising:
a mask frame 50 comprising an outer frame through which a cell opening is defined [para. 0134, Fig. 3-7, Fig. 4-9];
a cell mask 20 disposed on the mask frame 50 and comprising a plurality of masking patterns corresponding to the cell opening [Fig. 3-7, Fig. 4-9] and a polymer material [para. 0117, “debonding layer 20 includes, but not limited to, organic film, such as polyimide”]; and
a mesh frame 30/40 disposed between the mask frame 50 and the cell mask 20 and comprising a plurality of conductive patterns 30/40 corresponding to the plurality of masking patterns a/b/c/e [Fig. 3-7, Fig. 4-9; claim 18-19].
Chen discloses the patterned metal layers 30/40 and polyimide layer 20 have a continuous width [Fig. 3-7, Fig. 4-9]. Chen therefore fails to explicitly disclose:
wherein a width of each of the plurality of masking patterns continuously decreases as a distance from a corresponding conductive pattern among the plurality of conductive patterns decreases.
However, Bae teaches a mask frame assembly having tapered masking patterns [Fig. 10], comprising:
wherein a width of each of the plurality of masking patterns continuously decreases as a distance from a corresponding conductive pattern among the plurality of conductive patterns decreases [Fig. 10; pg. 4, para. 2-4].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the masking patterns, of the deposition mask of Chen, to have a tapered shape, of Bae in order to improve control the deposition material that passes through the hole pattern, as taught by Bae [pg. 4, para. 4], and thereby improve pattern edge definition.
As to claim 2, modified Chen discloses the mask assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of conductive patterns 30/40 comprises:
a first surface which is in contact with the plurality of masking patterns a/b/c/e [Chen, Fig. 3-7, Fig. 4-9]; and
a second surface opposite to the first surface [Chen, Fig. 3-7, Fig. 4-9], the first surface has a width equal to or smaller than the width of each of the plurality of masking patterns, and the second surface has a width smaller than the width of the first surface [Bae; Fig. 10].
As to claim 4, modified Chen discloses the mask assembly of claim 1, wherein the mesh frame comprises a metal material 30/40 or a transparent conductive oxide [para. 0118-119], and the cell mask comprises polyimide [para. 0117].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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: The prior art of record, alone or in combination, fails to teach or suggest the feature of “wherein each of the plurality of conductive patterns further comprises a side surface portion connecting the first surface and the second surface, and the side surface portion has a curved surface shape.”
Here, Chen teaches a straight (perpendicular), non-cruved, side surface shape [Fig. 3-7, Fig. 4-9], and Bae teaches a tapered side surface profile having a straight, non-curved, shape [Fig. 10].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: The additionally cited references are cited to show conventional deposition masks [Abstracts].
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/CHRISTOPHER REMAVEGE/Examiner, Art Unit 1713