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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 6 and 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yim et al. (US 2013/0314647 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yim discloses a display device (Fig. 12) comprising: a first sub-pixel (31), a second sub-pixel (31, ¶[0041]), and a transparent area (32) between the first and second sub-pixels; a substrate (1) disposed across the first and second sub-pixels; an anode electrode (221) disposed on the substrate for each of the first and second sub-pixels; a common light-emitting layer (¶[0087]) disposed on each of the anode electrodes of the first and second sub- pixels; and a light control unit (329) in the transparent area, the light control unit comprising a lower electrode (321), an upper electrode (325) opposing the lower electrode, and a liquid crystal layer (329) between the lower and upper electrodes (Fig. 12).
Regarding claim 5, Yim discloses a display device further comprising a bank (219) disposed between the anode electrode (221) and the common light-emitting layer (EL), covering an end of the anode electrode.
Regarding claim 6, Yim discloses a display device wherein the bank is not disposed in the transparent area (Fig. 12).
Regarding claim 13, Yim discloses a display device comprising: a first sub-pixel (31), a second sub-pixel (31, ¶[0041]), and a transparent area (32) between the first and second sub-pixels; a substrate (1) disposed across the first and second sub-pixels; an anode electrode (221) disposed on the substrate within each of the first and second sub-pixels;2a common light-emitting layer (¶[0087]) disposed on each of the anode electrodes of the first and second sub- pixels; and a light control unit in the transparent area, the light control unit (329) being configured to block external light incident on the display device in a first mode, and transmit external light incident on the display device in a second mode (¶[0051]).
Regarding claim 14, Yim discloses a display device wherein the light control unit comprises a lower electrode (321), an upper electrode (325) opposing the lower electrode, and a liquid crystal layer (329) between the lower and upper electrodes.
Regarding claim 15, Yim discloses a display device wherein the lower electrode (321) and the upper electrode (325) are configured to flow no current therebetween in the first mode and flow current therebetween in the second mode (¶[0051]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4, 7-12 and 16 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim(s) 2, the references of the Prior Art of record fail to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in claim(s) 2, and specifically comprising the limitation of the substrate is not disposed in the transparent area.
Regarding claim(s) 3-4, claims(s) 3-4 is/are allowable for the reasons given in claim(s) 2 because of its/their dependency status from claim(s) 2.
Regarding claim(s) 7, the references of the Prior Art of record fail to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in claim(s) 7, and specifically comprising the limitation of an insulating layer between the anode electrode and the substrate, wherein the light control unit has a surface height lower than a surface height of the insulating layer.
Regarding claim(s) 8-12, claims(s) 8-12 is/are allowable for the reasons given in claim(s) 7 because of its/their dependency status from claim(s) 7.
Regarding claim(s) 16, the references of the Prior Art of record fail to teach or suggest the combination of the limitations as set forth in claim(s) 16, and specifically comprising the limitation of the first mode is a virtual reality (VR) mode and the second mode is an augmented reality (AR) mode.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Li et al. (CN 109994521 B) discloses an organic light emitting display including: a display panel, which is divided into a light emitting unit and a light transmission unit, the light emitting unit is provided with an organic light emitting diode, the light transmission unit selectively transmits light; and a driving circuit, which is configured to drive the display panel.
Park et al. (US 2017/0162636 A1) discloses a transparent display device including a first substrate, a second substrate facing a first surface of the first substrate, and a third substrate facing a second surface of the first substrate; a display unit arranged between the first and third substrates, and including a transmissive area and an emission area; and a light controller arranged between the first and second substrates, and transmitting or shielding incident light.
Song et al. (US 2015/0168776 A1) discloses an organic light emitting device including a plurality of pixels having a first region emitting light and a second region through which external light is transmitted, and including, in the second region, a liquid crystal element for controlling transmittance of external light.
Kim et al. (US 2020/0266251 A1) discloses a display apparatus including a first substrate and a second substrate opposing to the first substrate, the first substrate including a transmission area in which a shutter unit is disposed and an emission area in which an organic light emitting diode is disposed.
The rejections above rely on the references for all the teachings expressed in the text of the references and/or one of ordinary skill in the art would have reasonably understood or implied from the texts of the references. To emphasize certain aspects of the prior art, only specific portions of the texts have been pointed out. Each reference as a whole should be reviewed in responding to the rejection, since other sections of the same reference and/or various combinations of the cited references may be relied on in future rejections in view of amendments.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mariceli Santiago whose telephone number is (571) 272-2464. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James R. Greece, can be reached on (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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/Mariceli Santiago/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2879
