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
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 1 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuyama et al. (US 2019/0294012) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2019/0196260).
As to claim 1, Okuyama discloses in figures 11-13: a display panel PNL including a first substrate SUB1, a second substrate SUB2, and a liquid crystal layer 30 located between the first substrate and the second substrate and containing streaky polymers and liquid crystal molecules (see abstract), wherein the second substrate includes: a transparent first basement 20 having a first main surface opposed to the liquid crystal layer 30, a second main surface on a side opposite to the first main surface, and a first side surface located between the first main surface and the second main surface; a transparent conductive layer 21 located between the first main surface and the liquid crystal layer 30; a metal line 23 (paragraph [0057], layers 51 and 52 are formed of metal) located between the first main surface and the transparent conductive layer, formed of metal, and being in contact with the transparent conductive layer 21.
Okuyama does not disclose a first optical layer located between the first main surface and the transparent conductive layer, overlapping with the metal line, and having a refractive index lower than a refractive index of the first basement. Zhang discloses in figure 3, a low refractive index layer 32 overlapping the black matrix 2 (the metal line of Okuyama is a light shielding layer). Zhang discloses in paragraph [0041] that the low refractive index layer 32 improves transmittance. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Okuyama by overlapping the metal line with a low refractive index layer as disclosed by Zhang in order to improve transmittance. Zhang further discloses in paragraph [0040] that the refractive index of the low refractive index layer is 1.2, which is lower than the typical refractive index of a glass substrate (1.5). Furthermore, even with this modification, the metal line 23 would still be in contact with the transparent conductive layer 21 via the side surfaces.
As to claim 15, Okuyama discloses in figures 11-13: a display panel PNL including a first substrate SUB1, a second substrate SUB2, and a liquid crystal layer 30 located between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the second substrate includes: a transparent first basement 20 having a first main surface opposed to the liquid crystal layer 30, a second main surface on a side opposite to the first main surface, and a first side surface located between the first main surface and the second main surface; a transparent conductive layer 21 located between the first main surface and the liquid crystal layer 30; a metal line 23 (paragraph [0057], layers 51 and 52 are formed of metal) located between the first main surface and the transparent conductive layer, formed of metal, and being in contact with the transparent conductive layer 21, and an opposite side of the first substrate from the liquid crystal layer is visually recognizable from the second main surface (paragraph [0041]).
Okuyama does not disclose a first optical layer located between the first main surface and the transparent conductive layer, overlapping with the metal line, and having a refractive index lower than a refractive index of the first basement. Zhang discloses in figure 3, a low refractive index layer 32 overlapping the black matrix 2 (the metal line of Okuyama is a light shielding layer). Zhang discloses in paragraph [0041] that the low refractive index layer 32 improves transmittance. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Okuyama by overlapping the metal line with a low refractive index layer as disclosed by Zhang in order to improve transmittance. Zhang further discloses in paragraph [0040] that the refractive index of the low refractive index layer is 1.2, which is lower than the typical refractive index of a glass substrate (1.5). Furthermore, even with this modification, the metal line 23 would still be in contact with the transparent conductive layer 21 via the side surfaces.
Claims 13-14 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okuyama et al. (US 2019/0294012) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2019/0196260) as applied to claims 1 and 15 above, and further in view of Ikeda et al. (US 2022/0214588).
As to claims 13 and 18, Okuyama in view of Zhang discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claims 1 and 15, but does not disclose: a transparent substrate having a seventh main surface opposed to the second substrate, an eighth main surface on a side opposite to the seventh main surface, and a third side surface located between the seventh main surface and the eighth main surface; a fixing member located between the transparent substrate and the display panel to fix the display panel to the transparent substrate; and a light source unit opposed to the third side surface of the transparent substrate to emit light to the third side surface. Ikeda discloses in figures 3-4: a transparent substrate 30 having a seventh main surface opposed to the second substrate 20, an eighth main surface on a side opposite to the seventh main surface, and a third side surface located between the seventh main surface and the eighth main surface; a fixing member AD located between the transparent substrate 30 and the display panel to fix the display panel to the transparent substrate; and a light source unit LD opposed to the third side surface of the transparent substrate 30 to emit light to the third side surface. Ikeda discloses in paragraph [0034] that the transparent substrate prevents light leakage. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Okuyama by providing a transparent substrate as disclosed by Ikeda in order to prevent light leakage.
As to claims 14 and 19, Okuyama in view of Zhang and Ikeda discloses all of the elements of the claimed invention discussed above regarding claims 13 and 18. Okuyama further discloses in figures 7-8, wherein the light source unit LS is opposed to the first side surface E22 of the first basement 20 and emits light toward the first side surface.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-12 and 16-17 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
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/DAVID Y CHUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2871