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 § 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claims 1, 5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. US Pub. No. 2020/0259056.
In Regard to Claim 1 Hong discloses:
A display panel, comprising [0071, display module]:
a substrate (100) including a first surface (101), a second surface (105) and a plurality of side surfaces connecting the first surface and the second surface, wherein at least one of the plurality of side surfaces is a selected side surface (103) [0164];
a plurality of light-Emitting devices disposed on the first surface[0083, (151) pixel area];
a plurality of first electrodes (111, first connection pads) disposed on the first surface and arranged at intervals in a first direction, wherein the plurality of first electrodes are closer to the selected side surface than the plurality of light-emitting devices [0164];
a plurality of second electrodes (113, first connection pads) disposed on the second surface, wherein the plurality of second electrodes are arranged at intervals in the first direction and close to the selected side surface [0164]; and
a plurality of connecting traces (239, conductive ribbons) arranged in parallel and at intervals, wherein each connecting trace of the plurality of connecting traces includes a first portion (239c), a second portion (239a) and a third portion (239e) that are connected in sequence; the first portion is disposed at least on the first surface, and the first portion is electrically connected to a first electrode of the plurality of first electrodes; the second portion is disposed on the selected side surface; the third portion is disposed at least on the second surface and electrically connected to a second electrode of the plurality of second electrodes [0168].
Hong does not disclose:
wherein a maximum width of the first portion in the first direction and/or a maximum width of the third portion in the first direction is greater than a maximum width of the second portion in the first direction.
Hong in the fifth embodiment uses s conductive ink with a 3D inkjet printing method shown in Figs 20A to 20G[0193-0194]. The conductive ink is discharged in such away as to cover the connection pads on the first and second sides [0200].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the conductive ink to maximize a width of the first portion and or the third portion in the first direction greater than a maximum width of the second portion in the first direction as taught by Hong in order to maximize an area where an image is displayed in the display module.
In regards to claim 5, further comprising a plurality of signal lines (131) disposed on the first surface, wherein the plurality of signal lines electrically connect the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of light-emitting devices, each signal line electrically connected to a first electrode of the plurality of first electrodes, and a dimension of the signal line in the first direction is not greater than a dimension of the first electrode in the first direction [0090].
In regard to Claim 12,
Hong does not disclose:
wherein the substrate includes a first substrate and a second substrate; the first substrate includes: the first surface and a third surface that are opposite to each other, and a plurality of first side surfaces connecting the first surface and the second surface; the second substrate includes: a fourth surface and the second surface that are opposite to each other, and a plurality of second side surfaces connecting the fourth surface and the second surface; the third surface and the fourth surface are close to each other; at least one first side surface of the plurality of first side surfaces is a first selected side surface, at least one second side surface of the plurality of second side surfaces is a second selected side surface, and the first selected side surface and the second selected side surface are located in a same plane to constitute the selected side surface of the substrate.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a first substrate and a second substrate by the Duplication of Parts (In re Harza, 274 F.2d 669, 124 USPQ 378 (CCPA 1960)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 6-11 and 13-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WALTER LEE LINDSAY JR whose telephone number is (571)272-1674. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9-7.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Allana Lewin Bidder can be reached at 571-272-5560. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WALTER L LINDSAY JR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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