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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 18 recites, “…wherein the shock- absorbing layer and the adhesive layer have the same directional characteristics with respect to heat.” The phrase "directional characteristics with respect to heat" is unclear and indefinite because it does not specify: (i) which thermal property is being characterized (e.g., thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, coefficient of thermal expansion, or other heat-related property), (ii) what direction is being referenced (e.g., in plane vs. through thickness direction, etc.). For the purpose of examination, this limitation has been interpretated as "selecting the shock-absorbing layer and adhesive layer so they thermally respond compatibly during the bonding operation i.e., both flow/soften under bonding heat and then cure/harden together".
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.
Claims 13-14, 16 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou (US 20170330857 A1) in view of Koo (US 20210050336 A1).
Re: Independent Claim 13, Zou discloses a manufacturing method of a display device using light emitting elements comprising:
preparing an assembly comprising a wiring substrate on which electrode pads is formed (Zou, Fig. 4A, receiving substrate 204 having signal leads 205 and electrode pads 205' for connecting the micro-LEDs);
locating the light emitting elements arranged on a base substrate at positions of the electrode pads on the assembly (Zou, Fig 4A, base substrate 201 having micro-LEDs 202, aligned with the pads on receiving substrate 204);
transferring the light emitting elements onto the shock-absorbing layer (Zou teaches, in Figs. 4A-4C, transferring micro-LEDs 202 onto the anisotropic conductive layer 203 on the receiving substrate 204; Zoe is silent regarding the layer that the light emitter elements are transferred to is a shock-absorbing layer, which is taught by Koo as explained below);
locating an adhesive layer on the transferred light emitting elements (Zou, Fig 4J, ¶ [0104], auxiliary substrate 213 coated with polymer 214 (adhesive layer) is positioned over the transferred micro-LEDs as an adhesive layer to stabilize them);
and bonding the light emitting elements to the electrode pads by applying pressure to the adhesive layer toward the light emitting elements (Zou, Fig 4K, ¶ [0105], pressure applied via auxiliary substrate 213 through adhesive layer 214 during processing ACF 203 on receiving substrate 204).
Zou is silent regarding a shock-absorbing layer which is located on the wiring substrate and that the light emitting elements are transferred to this shock-absorbing layer.
However, Koo teaches a shock-absorbing layer which is located on the wiring substrate (bonding layer 14 on the anisotropic conductive film 12 on the substrate 11; bonding layer 14 is a tacky layer which absorbs kinetic energy; and the LED chips 20 are transferred to this shock-absorbing layer 14).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zou's assembly so that the ACF interface layer 203 is implemented with (or includes) a tacky/cushioning bonding layer as taught by Koo's bonding layer 14, in order to absorb kinetic energy during transfer of micro-LEDs into receiving substrate and prevent the attached micro LED chips 20 from becoming askew, and temporally fix the attached micro LED chips (Koo, ¶ [0045]).
Re: Claim 14, Zou and Koo disclose all the limitations of claim 13 on which this claim depends.
Koo further teaches,
wherein the light emitting elements are electrically connected to the electrode pads by conductive balls located on the electrode pads (Koo, Figs. 2A-2E, conductive pad 22 which is a part of micro-LEDs 20 are electrically connected to electrode pads 110 by conductive particles 122 (conductive balls 122).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement Zou's pad-to-micro-LEDs electrical connection on the receiving substrate 204/pads 205' using conductive balls at the pad site as taught by Koo (e.g., conductive ball in the bonding layer region over the electrode pad) in order to provide a robust, repeatable electrical interconnect during the pressure bonding step of Zou while maintaining the same overall ACF-based assembly/transfer process. (Koo, ¶¶ [0033,0034]).
Re: Claim 16, Zou and Koo disclose all the limitations of claim 13 on which this claim depends.
Zou further teaches,
wherein transferring the light emitting elements onto the shock-absorbing layer comprises irradiating a laser on the light emitting elements from a base substrate side (Zou, in Fig. 4B, ¶ [0095], teaches that, during transfer of the micro-LEDs 202 from the original/base substrate 201 to the receiving substrate 204 (having ACF 203), a laser 206 is irradiated from the original/base substrate (201) side to selectively lift -off the micro-LEDs 202 onto the ACF 203).
Re: Claim 18, Zou and Koo disclose all the limitations of claim 13 on which this claim depends.
Koo further teaches,
wherein the shock- absorbing layer and the adhesive layer have the same directional characteristics with respect to heat ( Koo teaches an anisotropic conductive film 12 and a bonding layer 14, and the anisotropic conductive film and bonding layer 14 are cured (including by heat and/or pressure, etc.), and that during curing, the bonding layer 14 and anisotropic conducive film 12 may be partially mixed together by chemical/physical reaction-i.e., they are selected/processed to behave compatibly during heating/curing so the resulting cured structure is unified).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement Zou's adhesive layer (e.g., polymer 214 applied/ positioned via auxiliary substrate 213) so that it has the same heat-directional/thermal-response characteristics as the shock-absorbing ACF 203 (i.e., compatible flow/softening and curing/hardening behavior under the bonding thermal budget), as taught by Koo's co-curing/co-mixing of bonding layer 14 with ACF 12, in order to promote an integrated cured bond structure and fix the periphery of the conductive structure of the micro LED chip (Koo, ¶ [0056]).
Re: Claim 19, Zou and Koo disclose all the limitations of claim 13 on which this claim depends.
Koo further teaches,
wherein the base substrate comprises a sacrificial layer to which the light emitting elements are attached (Koo teaches, in Fig 2D, ¶ [0047] - [0049], micro-LEDs 20 are attached onto base substrate 31 by means of bonding agent 32, and that when laser L1 is radiated, the bonding agent 32 is ablated, hence, 32 is the sacrificial layer).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement Zou's laser lift transfer lift-off transfer from the base substrate using a sacrificial attachment layer as taught by Koo in order to provide controlled laser-based transfer of the light emitting elements for the base substrate.
Claims 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou (US 20170330857 A1) in view of Koo (US 20210050336 A1) further in view of Shim (WO 2020251070 A1).
Re: Claim 15, Zou and Koo disclose all the limitations of claim 13 on which this claim depends.
Zou and Koo are silent regarding,
wherein the assembly comprises partition walls configured to support the shock-absorbing layer to space the shock- absorbing layer apart from the electrode pads.
However, Shim teaches wherein the assembly comprises partition walls configured to support the shock-absorbing layer to space the shock- absorbing layer apart from the electrode pads (Shim, Fig. 10a-d and 11a-d, Shim teaches providing raised partition wall 1040 on an insulating layer 1030 over substrate 1010, with the partition wall 1040 also disposed on/over an assembly electrode 1020, such that the partition wall defines an assembly grove 1050. In this configuration, the raised partition wall structure functions as a standoff/support feature that establishes a spaced region relative to the underlying electrode).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Shim's partition walls (1040) into Zou's assembly in view of Koo (substrate 204 having circuit part/electrode pads 205/205' with the shock-absorbing bonding layer as taught by Koo thereon) in order to support the shock absorbing layer and maintain separation/controlled spacing relative to the electrode-pad regions, while also improving pixel-to-pixel isolation (i.e., limiting spread).
Claims 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou (US 20170330857 A1) in view of Koo (US 20210050336 A1) further in view of Lee (US 20170352716 A1).
Re: Claim 17, Zou and Koo disclose all the limitations of claim 13 on which this claim depends.
Zou and Koo are silent regarding,
wherein the shock- absorbing layer comprises a nano-fiber layer.
However, Lee teaches wherein the shock- absorbing layer comprises a nano-fiber layer (Lee teaches, in Fig. 1, ¶ [0041] - [0042], an anisotropic conductive film 10 that includes a nano fiber 14, i.e., a nano-fiber layer/portion within the ACF structure).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement Zou's ACF based shock-absorbing arrangement (further supported by Koo's bonding layer 14) to use an ACF structure that includes a nano-fiber layer as taught by Lee in order to enable a stable electrical connection between the driving IC and pad units (Lee, ¶ [0108]).
Claims 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zou (US 20170330857 A1) in view of Koo (US 20210050336 A1) further in view of Andry (US 20140106473 A1).
Re: Claim 20, Zou and Koo disclose all the limitations of claim 19 on which this claim depends.
Zou and Koo are silent regarding,
wherein the sacrificial layer comprises a UV absorbing layer.
However, Andry teaches wherein the sacrificial layer comprises a UV absorbing layer (Andry teaches, in Fig. 2 and ¶ [0046], release layer 24 between transparent handler (22) and a device wafer (21), where the release layer (24) is highly specialized to absorb UV laser wavelengths used for laser ablation, and is irritated by UV laser (25)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to select modify Koo's sacrificial bonding agent (32) such that it comprises a UV-absorbing layer as taught by Andry's UV-absorbing release layer (24) in order to increase absorption of UV irradiation during laser release thereby enabling more efficient ablation of the sacrificial layer (Andry, ¶ [0056]).
Prior art made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to current application disclosure.
Koo (US 20210265327 A1) and Yanagisawa (US 20200381590 A1) disclose micro-LED display and method of manufacturing with steps of transferring the LEDs from original substrate to base substrate.
Conclusion
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/BIPANA ADHIKARI DAWADI/Examiner, Art Unit 2898
/JESSICA S MANNO/SPE, Art Unit 2898