DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the distinction between depicted elements is not clear. Regarding Figure 1, the boundary between epitaxial layer 112 and insulation layer 128 is not clear and the insulation layer 128 is generally difficult to distinguish. Regarding Fig. 2B, the boundary between epitaxial layers 220 and 210 and insulation layer 252 is not clear and the insulation layer 252 is generally difficult to distinguish. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-9, 12-14, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (U.S. PGPub 2019/0206927).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches a single pixel multi-color micro light-emitting diode (LED) device for a display panel ([0009]-[0053], Figs. 11-12), comprising: a substrate supporting a pixel driver (Fig. 12, 10, [0202], [0096]); a first LED epitaxial layer stacked on top of the substrate and a second LED epitaxial layer stacked on top of the first LED epitaxial layer (20/30 or 30/40, [0209]-[0210]), wherein: the first LED epitaxial layer and the second LED epitaxial layer substantially overlap laterally with one another to form a light path that combines light emitted from the first LED epitaxial layer and the second LED epitaxial layer (Fig. 1, [0104]); and an insulation layer covers a top and a side wall of the single pixel multi-color LED device (83, [0235]).
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches wherein the second LED epitaxial layer is a top LED epitaxial layer (Fig. 12, 40); and the second LED epitaxial layer forms a green light LED ([0053], each can be a different one of red, green, or blue, [0105]).
Regarding claim 3, Lee teaches a third LED epitaxial layer stacked on top of the second LED epitaxial layer, wherein the first LED epitaxial layer, the second LED epitaxial layer, and the third LED epitaxial layer substantially overlap laterally with one another to form a light path that combines light emitted from the first LED epitaxial layer, the second LED epitaxial layer, and the third LED epitaxial layer (Fig. 12, 20/30/40, [0209]-[0210], Fig. 1, [0104]).
Regarding claim 4, Lee teaches wherein the third LED epitaxial layer is a top LED epitaxial layer (Fig. 12, 40); and the third LED epitaxial layer forms a green light LED ([0053], each can be a different one of red, green, or blue, [0105]).
Regarding claim 5, Lee teaches wherein: the first LED epitaxial layer forms a red light LED; the second LED epitaxial layer forms a blue light LED; and the third LED epitaxial layer forms a green light LED ([0053], each can be a different one of red, green, or blue, [0105]).
Regarding claim 6, Lee teaches a first bonding layer between the substrate and the first LED epitaxial layer; a second bonding layer between the first LED epitaxial layer and the second LED epitaxial layer; and a third bonding layer between the second LED epitaxial layer and the third LED epitaxial layer (61, 63, 65, [0220], [0227], [0231]).
Regarding claim 7, Lee teaches wherein the second bonding layer and third bonding layer are transparent ([0112], 63, 65).
Regarding claim 8, Lee teaches wherein a bottom portion of each of the first LED epitaxial layer, the second LED epitaxial layer, and the third LED epitaxial layer is electrically connected to the pixel driver through a first-type electrode (120/35pc/45pc, Figs. 11-12, [0199], [0218]); an upper portion of the first LED epitaxial layer is electrically connected to a first second-type electrode; an upper portion of the second LED epitaxial layer is electrically connected to a second second-type electrode; and an upper portion of the first LED epitaxial layer is electrically connected to a third second-type electrode (21n/31n/41n, [0116], [0119], [0122]).
Regarding claim 9, Lee teaches wherein the first-type electrode is a P-electrode and each of the first second-type electrode, the second second-type electrode, and the third second-type electrode is a N-electrode; or the first-type electrode is a N-electrode and each of the first second-type electrode, the second second-type electrode, and the third second-type electrode is a P-electrode ([0218], [0116], [0119], [0122]).
Regarding claim 12, Lee in the embodiment of Figs. 11-12 teaches a first reflection layer between the substrate and the first LED epitaxial layer (25p, [0225]), a second reflection layer between the first LED epitaxial layer and the second LED epitaxial layer; and a third reflection layer between the second LED epitaxial layer and the third LED epitaxial layer (71, 73, [0133]-[0138]).
Regarding claim 13, Lee teaches wherein at least one of the first reflection layer, the second reflection layer, and the third reflection layer comprises a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) structure ([0138]).
Regarding claim 14, Lee teaches wherein light emitted from the first LED epitaxial layer propagates through the second reflection layer and the third reflection layer; and light emitted from the second LED epitaxial layer propagates through the third reflection layer ([0136]-[0137]).
Regarding claim 19, Lee teaches a micro light-emitting diode (LED) display chip ([000]-[0053], Figs. 11-12), comprising: a substrate (10, [0202]), and an array of single pixel multi-color micro LED devices (Fig. 7, [0179]-[0183], [0197]), wherein: each single pixel multi-color micro LED device of the array of single pixel multi-color micro LED devices comprises a first LED epitaxial layer stacked on top of the substrate, a second LED epitaxial layer stacked on top of the first LED epitaxial layer, and a third LED epitaxial layer stacked on top of the second LED epitaxial layer (20/30/40, [0209]-[0210]), an insulation layer covers a top and a side wall of each single pixel multi-color LED device (83, [0235]), and within each single pixel multi-color micro LED device, the first LED epitaxial layer, the second LED epitaxial layer, and the third LED epitaxial layer substantially overlap laterally with one another to form a light path that combines light emitted from the first LED epitaxial layer, the second LED epitaxial layer, and the third LED epitaxial layer (Fig. 1, [0104]).
Regarding claim 20, Lee teaches wherein the first LED epitaxial layer forms a red light LED; the second LED epitaxial layer forms a blue light LED; and the third LED epitaxial layer forms a green light LED ([0053], each can be a different one of red, green, or blue, [0105]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-11 and 15-18 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 10, the prior art, alone or in combination, does not teach or suggest wherein the insulation layer comprises a first opening on the bottom portion of the first LED epitaxial layer, a second opening on the bottom portion of the second LED epitaxial layer, and a third opening on the bottom portion of the third LED epitaxial layer; and the first-type electrode is formed in the first opening, the second opening, and the third opening to contact each of the first LED epitaxial layer, the second LED epitaxial layer, and the third LED epitaxial layer, respectively, in combination with the other claim limitations. Claim 11 further depends from and further limits claim 10 and is therefore correspondingly allowable.
Regarding claim 15, the prior art, alone or in combination, does not teach or suggest a first lower conductive layer and a first upper conductive layer formed at a bottom and a top of the first LED epitaxial layer, respectively; a second lower conductive layer and a second upper conductive layer formed at a bottom and a top of the second LED epitaxial layer, respectively; and a third lower conductive layer and a third upper conductive layer formed at a bottom and a top of the third LED epitaxial layer, respectively, in combination with the other claim limitations. Claims 16-17 depend from and further limit claim 15 and are therefore correspondingly allowable.
The prior art teaches a variety of multi-color stacked LED devices, but does not teach the required claim limitations. See JP3259931, Fig. 7; U.S. Pat. 5739552, Fig. 1(e); U.S. PGPub 2003/0213967, Fig. 2A; U.S. PGPub 2007/0069220, Fig. 2; U.S. Pat. 8058663, Fig. 7C; U.S. PGPub 2020/0287080, Fig. 1; U.S. PGPub 2019/0198709, Fig. 1J; U.S. PGPub 2019/0189596; U.S. PGPub 2019/0165207; U.S. PGPub 2019/0214373). Art that does not qualify as prior art further teaches related structures (U.S. PGPub 2020/0402964, Fig. 1; U.S. Pat. 11404604, Fig. 1).
Conclusion
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/ALIA SABUR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
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