DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 22 – 29 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on December 03, 2025.
Claim Objections
Claims 4, 12, 18, and 21 are objected to because of the following informalities:
At Line 3 of Claim 4, Line 3 of Claim 12, and Line 3 of Claim 18: the recitations “10um” require a change to - - 10 um (micrometers) - - to capture the unabbreviated form for clarity.
At Line 2 of Claim 21: the recitation “ 3° ” requires a change to - - 3° (degrees) - - to capture the unabbreviated form for clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 (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 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.
Claims 1 – 3, 6 – 8, 10 – 11, 13 – 14, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park et al. (United States Patent Application Publication US 2020/0371549 A1), hereinafter referenced as Park.
Regarding Claim 1, Park discloses “A display device” (Figure 2 and Paragraph [0029] (Notice that a display device in shown in Figure 2.)), “comprising: a display panel comprising a display area” (Figure 2, Item DA, and Paragraph [0063], Lines 1 – 3 (Notice that a display of panel form is shown with display area DA.)), “and a bending area at one side of the display area” (Figure 2, Item BA2, and Paragraph [0072], Line 2 (Notice that a bending area BA2 is provide at one side of the display area DA.)), “and a panel upper member on the display panel (Figures 2 and 5, Item ISI2/IS12 (Notice that a panel upper member ISI2/IS12 is provide on the described display pane.)), “wherein the display panel further comprises: a substrate” (Figures 2 and 5, Item SUB, and Paragraph [0070, Line 1 (Notice that the display panel shown in Figures 2 and 5 comprises a substrate SUB.)), “a first conductive layer on the substrate in the bending area” (Figures 2 and 5, Items IST1b/IST1, and Paragraph [0144], Lines 1 – 2 (Notice that a sensing pattern IST1b of sensing wire 1ST1 provides a first conductive layer on the substrate SUB in the bending area BA2.)), “and a second conductive layer on the first conductive layer at one side of the bending area” (Figure 5, Item IST1a, and Paragraph [0133], Lines 1 – 3 (Notice the fist patter IST1a of the first sensing wire IST1 provides a second conductive layer on the first conductive layer IST1b/IST1 at one side of the bending area BA2.)), “and wherein one end of the panel upper member facing toward the bending area is more protruded toward the bending area than one end of the second conductive layer facing toward the bending area” (Figure 5 (Notice that one end of the panel upper member ISI2 facing toward the bending area BA2 is more protruded toward BA2 than the one end of IST1a facing toward BA2.)).
Regarding Claim 2, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Park discloses “wherein an upper surface of the display panel is an exposed surface in the bending area” (Figure 5, Item LPL2, and Paragraph [0079], Lines 3 - 4 (Notice that an upper surface of second wire protective film LPL2 of the display panel is exposed in the bending area BA2.)).
Regarding Claim 3, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 2). In addition, Park discloses “wherein the display panel does not include a bending passivation layer on the upper surface of the display panel in the bending area” (Figure 5, Item LPL2 (Notice that no bending passivation layer is provided on the upper surface of second wire protective film LPL2 of the display panel in the bending area BA2.))
Regarding Claim 6, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Park discloses “wherein the display panel further comprises: an insulating layer between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer” (Figure 5, Item IS11/ISI1, and Paragraph [0077], Line 1 (Notice that an insulating layer IS11/ISI1 is between the first conductive layer IST1b and second conductive layer IST1a.)), “and a contact hole penetrating through the insulating layer, and connecting the first conductive layer with the second conductive layer” (Figure 5, Item OPN1, and Paragraph [0146], Line 3 (Notice that opening portion OPN1 provide a contact hole penetrating through insulating layer IS11/ISI1 where first conductive layer IST1b and second conductive layer IST1a connect.)).
Regarding Claim 7, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Park discloses “wherein the upper panel member comprises any one of a protective member, an optical member, or an adhesive member” (Figure 5, Item ISI2/IS12 (Notice that ISI2/IS12 provides an adhesive member by adhering to at least IST1a. Notice that Claim 7 is met with respective to the alternative “or” condition.)).
Regarding Claim 8, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 7). In addition, Park discloses “wherein the upper panel member comprises adhesive layer” (Figure 5, Item ISI2/IS12 (Notice that ISI2/IS12 provides an adhesive layer by adhering to at least IST1a.)).
Regarding Claim 10, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Park discloses “further comprising a touch driver located on one end of the display panel, wherein: the display panel further comprises a first line on the second conductive layer, and a second line on the first conductive layer; and the first and second lines are electrically connected to the touch driver” (Figure 2 and Paragraph [0067], Lines 1 – 4 (Notice that a touch driver is provided by an external touch integrated chip (IC) that is located to an end portion of the display panel and is connected to first line on and of the second conductive layer IST1a and second line on and of the first conductive layer IST1b.))
Regarding Claim 11, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 10). In addition, Park discloses “wherein the one end of the panel upper member is more protruded toward the bending area than one end of the first line” (Figure 5 (Notice that the described one end of panel upper member ISI2/IS12 is more protruded toward the bending area BA2 that the end of the first line on and of IST1b that is closest to OPN1.))
Regarding Claim 13, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 10). In addition, Park discloses “wherein the display panel further comprises a touch electrode on the second conductive layer; and the touch electrode is electrically connected to the touch driver through the first line and the second line” (Figure 5 and Paragraph [0133] (Notice that the display panel further comprises a touch electrode ISM2 on and off the second conductive layer IST1a, where the touch electrode is connected to the touch driver integrated chip via the first line on an of IST1b and second line on and of IST1a.)).
Regarding Claim 14, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 13). In addition, Park discloses “wherein: the first line is connected to the touch electrode” (Figures 2 and 5 (Notice that the first line on and of IST1b is electrically connected to touch electrode ISM2 via IST1a)), “the second line is connected to the touch driver” (Figures 2 and 5 (Notice that the second line on and of IST1a is connected to the touch driver integrated chip via IST1b.)), “and the first line and the second line are connected to each other through a contact hole” (Figure 5, Item OPN1 (Notice that the first line on an of IST1b is electrically connected to the second line on an of IST1a via opening portion OPN1 serving as a contact hole.)).
Regarding Claim 20, Park discloses everything claimed as applied above (See Claim 1). In addition, Park discloses “wherein the display panel further comprises: a folding area that overlaps with the display area; and first and second non-folding areas located at opposite sides of the folding area, respectively” (Figures 1 and 2 (Notice that the display panel further comprises a folding area BA1 that overlaps with display area DA and has first and second non-folding areas located at opposites sides of the folding area BA1 in the DR2 direction. In other words, there are first and second areas of the display area DA that do not fold, where one area is along DR2 in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 2 and the other area is along DR2 in the opposite direction of the arrow shown in Figure 2.)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 – 5, 9, 12, 15 – 19, and 21 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 and if the Objections made of record above are overcome.
In the prior art of record, it has been shown to provide for the limitations of Claim 1 from which Claims 4 – 5, 9, 12, 15 – 19, and 21 are dependent. However, it has not been shown in the prior art of record to provide for the limitations of Claims 4 – 5, 9, 12, 15 – 19, and 21 in combination with those of Claim 1 and any intervening claims through each separate chain of claim dependency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRIAN M BUTCHER whose telephone number is (571)270-5575. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday from 6:30 AM to 3:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Ke Xiao, can be reached at (571) 272 - 7776. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRIAN M BUTCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627 February 13, 2026