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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/27/2025 has been considered by the examiner.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3,13-14, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 20210200361 A1) (Park, here after) in view of Cheng et al. (US 20210242422 A1) (Cheng, hereafter).
Regarding claims 1 and 18, Park discloses (Figures 1-11 and corresponding text) a display device comprising: a substrate including a display area (Figure 2) capable of displaying an image and a non-display area (Figure 3) different from the display area(Figure 3); a plurality of light emitting devices(130) disposed on the substrate (110); a bank (Figure 2 and 3: 118) for defining an emission area (DA)of each of the plurality of light emitting devices (130); a first inorganic layer(135a) on the plurality of light emitting devices(130) and the bank (118); a first organic layer (135b) on the first inorganic layer(135a); a second inorganic layer(135c) on the first organic layer(135b)(π88-π90); and a stopper (180, π132-π135) disposed outside the display area and located on the outermost upper part of the bank,(118) wherein at least((183,dam) a portion of the stopper (180,dam) is disposed further outside the first organic layer(105b). Park fails to disclose wherein an inner side of the stopper has a reverse taper shape.
Cheng discloses cross-sectional structure of the blocking portion 30 comprises a first sub-blocking portion 31, a second sub-blocking portion 32, and two blocking units 33. The second sub-blocking portion 32 can be disposed in a second blocking layer, and the second blocking layer can be made by coating and a UV lamp curing process. In order to further prevent the organic layer from overflowing, a cross-section of the second sub-blocking portion 32 has an inverted trapezoidal shape, wherein a bottom angle a2 of the second sub-blocking portion 32 ranges from 50 degrees to 70 degrees. The second sub-blocking portion 32 is made of a material different from the material of the first sub-blocking portion 31. The second sub-blocking portion 32 partially covers (not completely) the first sub-blocking portion 31, that is, an area of an orthographic projection of the second sub-blocking portion 32 on a base substrate of the display panel is smaller than an area of an orthographic projection of the first sub-blocking portion 31 on the base substrate. In one embodiment, the second sub-blocking portion 32 has a width of 16 μm, and the second sub-blocking portion 32 has a thickness of 1.5 μm.1
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing effective filing date to modify the electronic device of Park by inverting the stopper as is disclosed by Cheng the motivation being to have an encapsulating effect that is improved, and a product lifespan of the display panel is prolonged, and since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70.
Regarding claim 2, Park discloses (figure 3:180), wherein an outer side of the stopper has a regular taper shape.
Regarding claim 3, Park discloses wherein the stopper includes an inorganic material (π130-π140)
Regarding claim 14, Park discloses wherein the second inorganic layer (Figure 2:135c) extends from the display area(Figure 2) to the non-display area(Figure 3:135), and wherein the second inorganic layer extends along an outer side of the stopper(181-183) and an outer side of the bank (118).
Regarding claim 15, Park discloses: a second organic layer (135d,π90, not shown) disposed on the second inorganic layer(135c); and a third inorganic layer (135E,not shown,) disposed on the second organic layer(135d,not shown), wherein the third inorganic layer (135e)extends along a side of the second organic layer(135d) and further extends above the second inorganic layer(135c) located outside the bank (118).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4,16, and 19 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. Claims 5-13, 17, and 20 are objected to because of their dependency upon the above mentioned claims respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in the 892 provided with this office action or below:
US 20230165054 A1-General State of the art-a display device having a minimized dead space
US 20220158128 A1- General State of the art- apparatus with excellent performance such as thinner, lighter, and low power consumption
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACIE Y GREEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3104. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thursday, 10am-8pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James R Greece can be reached at (571)272-3711. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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TRACIE Y. GREEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2875
/TRACIE Y GREEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875