DETAILED ACTION
The following Office action concerns Patent Application Number 18/942,287. Claims 1-7 are pending in the application.
Claims 4 and 6 are withdrawn from consideration as being drawn to a non-elected invention.
The applicant’s amendment filed March 6, 2026 has been entered.
The previous grounds of rejection are withdrawn in light of the applicant’s amendment.
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 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 1-3, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Yahata et al (US 2021/0040383) in view of Shirosaki et al (JP 2019-112516, m.t., included in the applicant’s IDS).
Yahata et al teaches an apparatus comprising a light source on a bottom plate (a substrate) and a wavelength (color) conversion layer (Fig. 2; par. 85, 127). The wavelength conversion member is a cured product of a quantum dot ink (par. 90). The light source is a light-emitting diode (par. 123). The light source has a wavelength of 430-480 nm (par. 120). The device absorbs blue light and emits red or green light (par. 3).
The quantum dot ink comprises a thiol compound, photo-polymerizable monomer, photopolymerization initiator, quantum dots, and light scatterer (pigment) (par. 132, 197). The amount of thiol compound is 5-50 % by mass, which equates to 5-50 parts per hundred composition (par. 172).
The ink comprises a solvent (par. 194). The amount of solvent is 1-10 % (par. 195).
Regarding claim 5, the limitations “the color conversion member consists of. . .” and “the quantum dot ink composition consists of. . .” define the color conversion member and the quantum dot ink. The limitations do not exclude the claimed apparatus from comprising any other element.
Yahata et al does not teach that the amount of light scatterer is 2-20 parts by weight.
However, Shirosaki et al teaches an ink composition for forming a color conversion layer (par. 7, 20). The ink comprises light scattering particles (par. 10). The amount of light scattering particles 0.1-60 % by weight based upon the non-volatile content of the ink (par. 92). The non-volatile content excludes the solvent (par. 51). As discussed above, Yahata et al teaches that the ink includes 1-10 % solvent. The resulting content of light scattering particles in the ink containing 1-10 % solvent is about 0.09-59 % by weight, which equates to 0.09-59 parts by weight. The light scattering particles include barium titanate (par. 10).
Yahata et al and Shirosaki et al are both directed to an ink for forming a color conversion layer. Shirosaki et al teaches light scattering particles which reduce light leakage and provide excellent discharge stability (par. 89-90). A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the amount and type of light scattering particles of Shirosaki et al with the ink of Yahata et al in order to obtain reduced light leakage and excellent discharge stability.
Response to Arguments
The previous grounds of rejection are withdrawn in light of the applicant’s amendment. New grounds of rejection are presented above.
The applicant argues that Yahata et al requires a carboxylic acid which is excluded by the instant claims. However, the claim 5 limitations “the color conversion member consists of. . .” and “the quantum dot ink composition consists of. . .” define the claimed color conversion member and quantum dot ink. The limitations do not exclude the claimed apparatus from comprising any other element such as a carboxylic acid.
Examiner’s Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William Young whose telephone number is (571) 270-5078. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew, can be reached at 571-272-2817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000./WILLIAM D YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761 April 10, 2026
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