Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Detailed Action.
Information Disclosure Statement
The prior art documents submitted by Applicant(s) in the information Disclosure Statement(s) have all been considered and made of record (note the attached copy of form(s) PTO-1449).
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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 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.
Claim 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Baek ” et al., US 6887742 B2.
Regarding claim 7 Baek teaches a display device , (see figs. 1-35 and summary) comprising:
a first conductive layer 201/204 having a function of a gate electrode of a transistor (see at least fig. 2); a first insulating layer 30 over the first conductive layer;
a semiconductor layer 40 over the first insulating layer, the semiconductor layer 40 having a channel formation region of the transistor (shown in at least fig. 2);
a second conductive layer 65 over the semiconductor layer 40, the second conductive layer having a function of one of a source electrode and a drain electrode of the transistor (shown in at least fig. 2, 10-18);
a third conductive layer (I.e., 82, fig. 10-18) over the semiconductor layer 40, the third conductive layer having a function of the other of the source electrode and the drain electrode of the transistor (i.e., see fig. 10-18, pixel electrode); a second insulating layer (i.e., 70) having a region in contact with a surface of the second conductive layer and a region in contact with a surface of the third conductive layer (shown in at least fig. 11); and a fourth conductive layer (i.e., 84) over the second insulating layer 70, the fourth conductive layer having a function of a wiring (see at least col. 9, lines 1-10).
However, Baek does not teach all above limitations (i.e., second insulation layer as claimed) in a single embodiment. Nonetheless, all embodiments of Baek are closely interrelated and thus before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Baek’s one embodiment using another related embodiment to construct the display claimed invention as to provide in-plane electrode field with improved viewing angle (pa. 0060).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is allowed because the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to disclose or render wherein a thickness of the second conductive layer is smaller than a thickness of the fourth conductive layer, wherein, in a plan view, the third conductive layer has a region sandwiched between the second conductive layer, wherein the third conductive layer has a region extending in a first direction, wherein the fourth conductive layer has a region extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and wherein, in the plan view, the fourth conductive layer overlaps with part of the second conductive layer in a region overlapping with the first conductive layer. in combination with the rest of the limitations of the base claim. Claim 3-6 are allowable because of dependency.
Citation of Relevant Prior Art
Prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. In accordance with MPEP 707.05 the following references are pertinent in rejection of this application since they provide substantially the same information disclosure as this patent does. These references are:
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Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAVEH C KIANNI whose telephone number is (571)272-2417. The examiner can normally be reached on 9-19.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hollweg can be reached on571-270-1739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAVEH C KIANNI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874
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