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 § 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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yu et al. (U.S. Patent No. 10,826,015).
Regarding to claim 1, Yu teaches a light-emitting substrate having a bonding area and a functional area that are arranged along a first direction in sequence (Fig. 13), the light-emitting substrate comprising:
a substrate (Figs. 13-14, element 00; column 10, line 21);
a plurality of functional element groups located on a side of the substrate and located in the functional area (Figs. 13-14, element AA on top side of the substrate; column 9, line 25, group of OLED elements in the display area AA); and
a first electrostatic pathway located on a same side of the substrate with the plurality of functional element groups (Figs. 13-14, element 40 on top side of the substrate; column 10, line 10), wherein the first electrostatic pathway is electrically connected to the bonding area (Figs. 13-14, element 63; column 10, lines 4-16), a portion of the first electrostatic pathway is located in the functional area (Fig. 12, portion TP of electrostatic pathway 40 is located in the functional area AA), and the first electrostatic pathway is configured to conduct static electricity from the functional area to the bonding area (column 9, lines 9-13; column 10, lines 8-12).
Regarding to claim 2, Yu teaches the first electrostatic pathway includes a first annular conductive structure and at least one first conductive pattern (Fig. 13, element 40); the first annular conductive structure includes a first sub-segment (Fig. 13, left vertical portion of element 40), a second sub-segment (Fig. 13, right vertical portion of element 40) and a third sub-segment (Fig. 13, top horizontal portion of element 40) that are electrically connected (Fig. 13); the first sub-segment and the second sub-segment are located on opposite sides of the functional area along a second direction (Fig. 13), and the third sub-segment is located on a side of the functional area away from the bonding area (Fig. 13); at least a portion of a first conductive pattern is located in the functional area, and an orthographic projection of the first conductive pattern on the substrate does not overlap with orthographic projections of the plurality of functional element groups on the substrate (Fig. 14), wherein
the first conductive pattern is electrically connected to the third sub-segment (Fig. 14); and
the first direction intersects with the second direction (first direction is vertical in cross-sectional view (z-direction), second direction is horizontal direction in top-down view (x-direction)).
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Regarding to claim 3, Yu teaches a plurality first conductive patterns, in the first direction, two adjacent first conductive patterns are electrically connected, and a first conductive pattern closest to the third sub-segment is electrically connected to the third sub-segment (Fig. 17).
Claims 1-2 and 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xiong et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0040607).
Regarding to claim 1, Xiong teaches a light-emitting substrate having a bonding area and a functional area that are arranged along a first direction in sequence, the light-emitting substrate comprising:
a substrate (Figs. 6-7, element 30);
a plurality of functional element groups located on a side of the substrate and located in the functional area (Figs. 6-7, element 20 on top side of the substrate, group of pixel elements in the display area); and
a first electrostatic pathway located on a same side of the substrate with the plurality of functional element groups (Figs. 6-7, element 40 on top side of the substrate), wherein the first electrostatic pathway is electrically connected to the bonding area, a portion of the first electrostatic pathway is located in the functional area (Fig. 7), and the first electrostatic pathway is configured to conduct static electricity from the functional area to the bonding area ([0030], last 3 lines).
Regarding to claim 2, Xiong teaches the first electrostatic pathway includes a first annular conductive structure and at least one first conductive pattern (Fig. 6, element 40); the first annular conductive structure includes a first sub-segment (left vertical segment), a second sub-segment (right vertical segment) and a third sub-segment (top horizontal segment) that are electrically connected (Fig. 6); the first sub-segment and the second sub-segment are located on opposite sides of the functional area along a second direction (Fig. 6), and the third sub-segment is located on a side of the functional area away from the bonding area (Fig. 6); at least a portion of a first conductive pattern is located in the functional area, and an orthographic projection of the first conductive pattern on the substrate does not overlap with orthographic projections of the plurality of functional element groups on the substrate (Fig. 7), wherein
the first conductive pattern is electrically connected to the third sub-segment (Fig. 7); and
the first direction intersects with the second direction (first direction is vertical in cross-sectional view (z-direction), second direction is horizontal direction in top-down view (x-direction)).
Regarding to claim 24, Xiong teaches a backlight module, comprising the light-emitting substrate according to claim 1 and an optical film disposed on a light-exit surface of the light-emitting substrate ([0029], lines 3-8, an LTPS LCD is a type of liquid crystal display including backlight module).
Regarding to claim 25, Xiong teaches a display apparatus, comprising: the backlight module according to claim 24; an array substrate disposed on a light-exit surface of the backlight module; and a color filter substrate disposed on a side of the array substrate away from the backlight module ([0029], lines 3-8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 7, 9-19, 21, and 23 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 to claim 5, the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “the first electrostatic pathway further includes a plurality of bridge portions; and in any column of first conductive patterns, two adjacent first conductive patterns are electrically connected through a bridge portion” in combination with the limitations recited in claims 1-2.
Regarding to claim 7, the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “orthographic projections of the plurality of first conductive patterns on the substrate do not overlap with orthographic projections of the first connection line and the second connection line on the substrate” in combination with the limitations recited in claims 1-2 and the rest of limitations recited in claim 7.
Regarding to claim 9, the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “the first electrostatic pathway includes a plurality of first voltage lines and at least one third connection line, the plurality of first voltage lines extend along the first direction and arranged at intervals along a second direction, and a third connection line is used to connect at least two first voltage lines wherein the first direction intersects with the second direction” in combination with the limitations recited in claim 1.
Regarding to claim 15, the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “the first electrostatic pathway includes: a plurality of second voltage lines, wherein a second voltage line is electrically connected to a column of functional element groups; and a plurality of second conductive patterns, wherein orthographic projections of the plurality of second conductive patterns on the substrate do not overlap with orthographic projections of the plurality of functional element groups on the substrate, wherein a second conductive pattern is electrically connected to the second voltage line, and at least a portion of the second conductive pattern is located in the device region” in combination with the limitations recited in claim 1.
Regarding to claim 17, the prior art fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations including “a plurality of functional pins located in the bonding area; the plurality of functional pins are electrically connected to the portion of the fourth sub-portion located on the side of the plurality of functional pins away from the functional area” in combination with the limitations recited in claim 1 and the rest of limitations recited in claim 17.
Pertinent Art
For the benefits of the Applicant, US-10921634-B2, US-20250059980-A1, US-20210013270-A1, US-10700020-B2, US-9425418-B2, and US-10139557-B2, are cited on the record as being pertinent to significant disclosure through some but not all claimed features of the defined invention. In particular, the references fail to disclose the limitations including “the first electrostatic pathway is electrically connected to the bonding area, a portion of the first electrostatic pathway is located in the functional area, and the first electrostatic pathway is configured to conduct static electricity from the functional area to the bonding area.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VU A VU whose telephone number is (571)270-7467. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:00AM - 5:00PM.
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/VU A VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897
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