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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: Display Device with a Plurality of Light-emitting Stacks
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)(2) as being anticipated by Lee et al. US 2020/0328256 A1, hereinafter “Lee”.
Regarding independent claim 1, Lee discloses A display device (Lee display device 1 Fig 5 [0070]) comprising: a first substrate comprising a first emission area and a second emission area spaced from each other (substrate 10 with light-emitting areas LA1-LA3 shown [0075]);
a first light emitting element on the first substrate and overlapping the first emission area (light emitting layer OL shown in detail in Fig 7 comprises light emitting layers EML1-EML4, and these omitting layers OL are included in each light-emitting element ED1-ED3 in Fig 5 [0087-0095]) and a second light emitting element on the first substrate and overlapping the second emission area (OL disposed on ED2 in LA2 of Fig 5);
a light transmitting layer on the first light emitting element (light-transmitting pattern 330 [0181] overlapping the first light-emitting area LA1); and a first wavelength conversion layer on the second light emitting element and comprising a light scatterer (wavelength conversion pattern 340 over LA2 with second light scatterers 343 [0186]), wherein each of the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element comprises four or more stacks (Fig 7 shows the light emitting element structure being made of four stacks ST1-ST4),
wherein at least two selected from among the stacks are configured to emit first component light, wherein at least two selected from among the stacks are configured to emit second component light ("at least one of the first, second, third, and fourth light-emitting layer EML1, EML2, EML3, and EML4 may emit green light, and at least one other of the first, second, third, and fourth light-emitting layer EML1, EML2, EML3, and EML4 may emit blue light." [Lee 0134], let blue light be the first component light emitting from layers EML1 and EML2, and green light be the second component light emitting from layers EML3 and EML4 in Fig 7),
and wherein any two adjacent stacks selected from among the stacks are configured to emit the first component light, and other two adjacent stacks selected from among the stacks are configured to emit the second component light (the disclosed embodiment where Fig 7 may have ELM1 and ELM2 configured to emit blue light and ELM3 and ELM4 configured to emit green light).
Regarding claim 12, Lee discloses The display device of claim 1, wherein the first wavelength conversion layer (Fig 5 340) further comprises a base resin (second base resin 341 [0188]) and a first wavelength conversion shifter (first wavelength shifter 345 [0189]).
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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Kim Hoon et al. US 2022/0037414 A1, hereinafter “Kim”.
Regarding claim 2, Lee discloses The display device of claim 1. Lee fails to disclose wherein the light transmitting layer does not comprise the light scatterer or comprises the light scatterer in an amount of about 8.5 wt % or less based on a total weight of the light transmitting layer.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Kim discloses a display device with a color conversion panel including a light transmitting layer that does not comprise the light scatterer (Kim Fig 3 transmission layer 226 “may absorb a blue light and emit the blue light. The transmission layer 226 may include a resin part” [0076], and Fig 3 shows the layer 226 with no light scatterer) or comprises the light scatterer in an amount of about 8.5 wt % or less based on a total weight of the light transmitting layer.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, to modify the device of Lee to have the transmission layer without scatterers as disclosed in Kim to transmit the incident light without color conversion [Kim 0076].
Claim(s) 3-4, 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Ahn et al. US 9444066 B2, hereinafter “Ahn”.
Regarding claim 3, Lee discloses The display device of claim 1, wherein the first component light is blue light, and the second component light is green yellow light, but Lee fails to explicitly disclose the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element are configured to emit white light.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ahn discloses the first light emitting element (Ahn BEML1 and BEML2 from two of the three emission layers 116, 126, 136 in Fig 5 [Ahn Col 5 Para 2]) and the second light emitting element (the third of the emission layers emits yellow-green light) are configured to emit white light (“the electroluminescent device … realizes white light” [Ahn Col 5 Para 2]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, to modify the first and second light-emitting elements disclosed in Lee, to be made up of light-emitting elements that emit the blue and green-yellow light having properties disclosed in Ahn, to realize a LED that emits white light and has an enhanced lifespan [Ahn Col 8 lines 45-49].
Regarding claim 4, Lee discloses The display device of claim 1, but Lee fails to explicitly disclose wherein resonance areas of the first component light and the second component light overlap each other.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ahn discloses wherein resonance areas of the first component light and the second component light overlap each other (Ahn Fig 6 discloses a contour map dependent on the distances between electrodes and thicknesses of emission layers displaying the overlap of “resonance areas” (as defined by the instant application [0124]) of the first and second component light by constructive interference [Ahn Col 7 Para 7]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, to modify the light-emitting layers in the stacks of Lee with the distances between the electrodes, light-emitting layers, and thicknesses of layers disclosed in Ahn to overlap the resonance areas; therefore, enhancing the constructive interference between the blue and green-yellow light [Ahn Col 7 Para 7].
Regarding independent claim 13, Lee in view of Ahn discloses A display device comprising (Lee Fig 5): a first substrate comprising a first emission area and a second emission area spaced from each other (Lee substrate 10 with light-emitting areas LA2-LA3 shown [0075]);
a plurality of anode electrodes on the first substrate and in the first emission area and the second emission area (Lee anode electrodes AE1-AE3);
a light emitting layer on the anode electrodes and comprising a plurality of stacks that are sequentially stacked (Lee OL layer in Fig 5 shown in detail with 4 stacks in Fig 7);
a cathode electrode on the light emitting layer (Lee cathode electrode CE); a light transmitting layer on the cathode electrode and overlapping the first emission area (Lee light-transmitting patterns 330-350 [0181], where 340 overlaps emission area LA2);
and a first wavelength conversion layer on the cathode electrode and overlapping the first emission area (wavelength conversion pattern 340 over LA2 with second light scatterers 343 [0186], let LA2 be the first emission area, and LA3 be the second emission area),
wherein a resonance area of first component light emitted by at least one selected from among the stacks and a resonance area of second component light emitted by at least another one selected from among the stacks overlap each other (Lee modified by Ahn wherein the light emitting layer OL is modified to purposefully overlap the resonance areas of the first and second component light and enhance constructive interference [Ahn Col 7 Para 7], see [Lee 0134] for discussion of the light-emitting layers EML1-EML4 being able to emit either blue or green light, which are the first component light and second component light, respectively).
Regarding claim 14, Lee in view of Ahn discloses The display device of claim 13, wherein the first component light is blue light (blue light disclosed in Lee), the second component light is green yellow light (Lee discloses green light, and Ahn more explicitly discloses green-yellow light "having a maximum luminescence wavelength of 550nm to 560nm" [Ahn Col 7 Para 6]) , and a fifth resonance area of the first component light and a fourth resonance area of the second component light overlap each other (the graph in the instant application Fig 6 as well as the definition of "resonance area" given: "resonance areas may be defined based on points where the current efficiency decreases and then increases" [instant 0124]. The "resonance areas" which are disclosed as areas of constructive interference in Ahn's contour map in Fig 6, may be counted starting at any instance of current efficiency decreasing and then increasing along the propagation of the light, as far as that light may travel. It naturally follows that the fifth resonance area of blue light would overlap the fourth resonance area of green-yellow light because the wavelength of blue light is shorter. Also, looking at the instant Fig 6, all of the resonance areas B1-B7 and GY1-GY5 do overlap, and cover each other partly.)
Regarding claim 15, Lee in view of Ahn discloses The display device of claim 13, wherein the light emitting layer comprises two or more stacks configured to emit the first component light and two or more stacks configured to emit the second component light (Lee [0134] discussed for claim 1).
Regarding claim 16, Lee in view of Ahn discloses The display device of claim 13, wherein the plurality of anode electrodes are reflective electrodes (Lee [0082] "the first, second, and third anode electrodes AE1, AE2, and AE3 may be reflective electrodes").
Claim(s) 5-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee as applied to claim 1, further in view of Okazaki et al. US2022/0320184 A1, hereinafter “Okazaki”.
Regarding claim 5, Lee discloses The display device of claim 1, wherein each of the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element comprises an anode electrode (Lee Fig 5 anode electrodes AE1-AE3),
a hole injection layer on the anode electrode (Lee [0129] “a hole injection layer (HIL) may be further disposed between the first stack ST1 and the first anode electrode AE1”, see Fig 7),
a first stack on the hole injection layer (Fig 7 ST1 [0129]), a second stack on the first stack (Fig 7 ST2), a third stack on the second stack (Fig 7 ST4), a fourth stack on the third stack (Fig 7 ST3). But Lee fails to disclose a fifth stack on the fourth stack, an electron injection layer on the fifth stack, and a cathode electrode on the electron injection layer, and two stacks selected from among the first to fifth stacks are configured to emit the first component light, and the other three stacks selected from among the first to fifth stacks are configured to emit the second component light.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Okazaki discloses a display apparatus with a fifth stack on the fourth stack (Okazaki [0379] "tandem structure, the number of light-emitting units is not particularly limited and can be two or more", shown in Fig 15B where "n light-emitting units 512Q_1 to 512Q_n (n is an integer greater than or equal to 2) are stacked" [0381]), an electron injection layer on the fifth stack (see Okazaki Fig 15B, “the intermediate layer 531 can be favorably formed using a material that can be used for the electron-injection layer” [0374]), and a cathode electrode on the electron injection layer (Okazaki electrode 502), and two stacks selected from among the first to fifth stacks are configured to emit the first component light, and the other three stacks selected from among the first to fifth stacks are configured to emit the second component light (“the light-emitting substance, a substance whose emission color is blue, violet, bluish violet, green, yellowish green, yellow, orange, red, or the like is appropriately used.” [Okazaki 0116] to provide a “full color display” where three light-emitting layers are made of “the same structure (material, thickness, and the like)” [0371]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, to modify the device of Lee to include more stacks of light-emitting layers in the element OL of Fig 5, to "reduce the current necessary for obtaining the same luminance; thus, power consumption of the light-emitting device can be reduced in accordance with the number of stacked layers" [Okazaki 0382].
Regarding claim 6, Lee in view of Okazaki discloses The display device of claim 5, wherein the two stacks configured to emit the first component light comprise different thicknesses from each other (Okazaki [0378] “ the number of light-emitting layers in each light-emitting unit is not limited. For example, the light-emitting units 512Q_1 and 512Q_2 may each include a different number of light-emitting layers”, Fig 13A, the light-emitting layers may also have different thicknesses [0347], therefore having stacks comprising different thicknesses from each other) and two of the three stacks configured to emit the second component light comprise different thicknesses from each other (this may be achieved also by altering the amount of light-emitting layers in two of the three stacks emitting yellow-green light [Okazaki 0378 and 0347]).
Regarding claim 7, Lee in view of Okazaki discloses The display device of claim 5, wherein a sum of the thicknesses selected from among the stacks configured to emit the first component light and a sum of the thicknesses selected from among the stacks configured to emit the second component light are different from each other (Okazaki [0347 and 0378] allows for the sum of thicknesses of the stacks that produce the first and second component lights as disclosed in Lee to be different from each other).
Regarding claim 8, Lee in view of Okazaki discloses The display device of claim 5, wherein the second stack and the third stack are configured to emit the first component light, and the first stack, the fourth stack, and the fifth stack are configured to emit the second component light (Lee [0134] discloses “at least one of the first, second, third, and fourth light-emitting layer EML1, EML2, EML3, and EML4 may emit green light, and at least one other of the first, second, third, and fourth light-emitting layer EML1, EML2, EML3, and EML4 may emit blue light” allowing for a customization of the ordering of emitting the first and second component lights from different stacks, while Okazaki [0381] discloses the obvious addition of a fifth stack that may emit either component light).
Regarding claim 9, Lee in view of Okazaki discloses The display device of claim 5, wherein the first stack and the second stack are configured to emit the first component light, and the third stack, the fourth stack, and the fifth stack are configured to emit the second component light (Lee [0134] and Okazaki [0381]) .
Regarding claim 10, Lee in view of Okazaki discloses The display device of claim 5, wherein the first to fifth stacks comprise first to fifth hole transport layers, respectively, and the first to fifth hole transport layers comprise different thicknesses from each other (Okazaki Figs 15A and 15B, layer 522 hole-transport layer [0366] which “may have a structure that differs among pixels” where the structure is material, thickness, and the like [0371], so the thickness of layer 522 may vary between stacks).
Regarding claim 11, Lee in view of Okazaki discloses The display device of claim 5, wherein each of the first light emitting element and the second light emitting element comprises a first charge generation layer between the first stack and the second stack, a second charge generation layer between the second stack and the third stack, a third charge generation layer between the third stack and the fourth stack, and a fourth charge generation layer between the fourth stack and the fifth stack (Okazaki [0193] “an intermediate layer such as a charge-generation layer is preferably provided between the plurality of light-emitting units” where the light-emitting units are the stacks 512Q_1-512Q_n in Fig 15B; Lee also discloses charge-generation layers CGL1-3 between all stacks ST1-4 in Fig 7, so in adding a fifth stack to the structure of Lee as taught by Okazaki, a fourth charge-generation layer between the fourth stack and the fifth stack is included).
Claim(s) 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee, in view of Hack et al. US 2015/0340410 A1, hereinafter “Hack”.
Regarding independent claim 17, Lee discloses A display device (display device 1a in Fig 16 [0220]) comprising: a first anode electrode (Lee Fig 16 AE1 anode electrode [0080]) and a second anode electrode (AE2) spaced from each other on a first substrate (first based member 110 may be substrate of different materials [0074]);
a light emitting layer on the first anode electrode and the second anode electrode (light emitting layer OLa shown in detail in Fig 7 comprises light emitting layers EML1-EML4, and these omitting layers OL are included in each light-emitting element ED1-ED3 in Fig 16 [0092]);
a cathode electrode on the light emitting layer (Lee Fig 16 cathode electrode CE [0041]);
a light transmitting layer on the cathode electrode and overlapping the first anode electrode (light-transmitting patterns 330 over the first anode AE1 [0222]);
and a first wavelength conversion layer on the cathode electrode and overlapping the second anode electrode (wavelength conversion pattern 340 over the second electrode AE2 [0213]),
Lee fails to explicitly disclose wherein a thickness of the first anode electrode and a thickness of the second anode electrode are different from each other.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Hack discloses an LED with multiple emissive stacks wherein a thickness of the first anode electrode (Hack Fig 23B anode 1) and a thickness of the second anode electrode (Fig 23B anode 2) are different from each other (anode 2 is thicker than anode 1)
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Lee with the differing anode thicknesses disclosed in Han where “the anodes may be patterned separately to individually optimize emission from each sub-pixel” [Han 0128].
Regarding claim 18, Lee in view of Hack discloses The display device of claim 17, wherein the thickness of the first anode electrode is smaller than the thickness of the second anode electrode (Hack Fig 23B anode 1 is less thick than anode 2, also see Hack Fig 57 [0132]).
Claim(s) 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee, in view of Hack, further in view of Ahn.
Regarding claim 19, Lee in view of Hack discloses The display device of claim 17, wherein the light emitting layer comprises a plurality of stacks, but they fail to disclose wherein a resonance area of first component light emitted by at least one selected from among the stacks and a resonance area of second component light emitted by at least another one selected from among the stacks overlap each other.
However, Ahn discloses the overlapping resonance areas, as discussed for claim 4, wherein a resonance area (Ahn Fig 6 contour map of constructive interference) of first component light (blue light emitted from first blue emission layer) emitted by at least one selected from among the stacks and a resonance area of second component light (yellow-green light emitted from yellow-green emission layer) emitted by at least another one selected from among the stacks overlap each other (overlap to cause constructive interference regions shown in Fig 6).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device of Lee and Hack, with anodes of different thicknesses, with the structure in Ahn that overlaps the resonance areas of the first and second component lights to enhance constructive interference [Ahn Col 7 Para 7].
Regarding claim 20, Lee in view of Hack, further in view of Ahn discloses The display device of claim 19 (disclosed by Lee in view of Hack), wherein the first component light is blue light (Lee discloses "at least one of the first, second, third, and fourth light-emitting layer EML1, EML2, EML3, and EML4 may emit green light, and at least one other of the first, second, third, and fourth light-emitting layer EML1, EML2, EML3, and EML4 may emit blue light." [0134]), and the second component light is green yellow light or green light (Lee’s blue light is the first component light and the green light is the second component light).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yamamoto et al. US 2022/0020945 A1 Fig 3 discloses a stacked LED structure with repeating blue and yellow light-emitting layers
Kim Hwakyung et al. US 2014/0084256 A1 Figs 9 and 10 disclose a light-emitting stack structure with a yellow-green emission layer and blue emission layer between a cathode and anode electrode
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TERESA MICKEY whose telephone number is (571)270-3109. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8am to 5pm ET.
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/TERESA N MICKEY/Examiner, Art Unit 2897 /CHAD M DICKE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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