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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/29/2026 has been entered.
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, 2 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. (US 2012/0086889 A1) in view of Chan et al. (US 2019/0113208 A1) and Yu et al. (US 2015/0168629 A1).
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Regarding claim 1, Chang et al. teaches a light-emitting device, comprising:
a circuit board (222; see at least figures 2 and 3 and paragraph [0034]) having a light-reflecting region (226c; see at least figures 2 and 3);
a plurality of light-emitting elements (224; see at least paragraph [0034] and at least figures 2-3) arranged on the circuit board (222);
a first reflective element (226c; see at least figure 2) disposed on the circuit board (222; see at least figure 2 and 3); and
a second reflective element (226b; figure 2) disposed on the first reflective element (226c) and comprising a plurality of apertures (226d), wherein the plurality of light-emitting elements (224) are disposed in the plurality of apertures (226d).
Chang does not explicitly teach the plurality of apertures overlapping the circuit board along a normal direction of the circuit board and exposing the first reflective element.
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Chan et al. teaches a plurality of apertures (openings 26; paragraph [0035]) overlapping the circuit board (substrate 20) along a normal direction (see figure 2b; paragraph [0035]) of the circuit board (20) and exposing the first reflective element (reflecting structures 24).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify Chang et al. to teach a plurality of apertures overlapping the circuit board along a normal direction and exposing the reflective element as taught by Chan et al. to form an aspect of direct backlighting to achieve a desired illumination output (see paragraph [0034] of Chan et al.) .
Chang modified by Chan et al. does not explicitly teach wherein along the normal direction of the circuit board, at least a part of the first reflective element is located in at least one of the plurality of apertures, the first reflective element and the second reflective element respectively overlap at least part of the light-reflecting region, the first reflective element is disposed between the second reflective element and the circuit board, and the first reflective element partially overlaps the second reflective element.
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Yu et al. (US 2015/0168629 A1) teaches wherein along the normal direction of the circuit board (where light source 6 is positioned), at least a part of the first reflective element (10) is located in at least one of the plurality of apertures (102), the first reflective element (10) and the second reflective element (124) respectively overlap at least part of the light-reflecting region, the first reflective element (10) is disposed between the second reflective element (124) and the circuit board (6), and the first reflective element (10) partially overlaps the second reflective element (124).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify Chang et al. to include a light reflective region on the circuit board and a reflective element that overlaps on of the light emitting element along a normal direction of the circuit board as taught by Yu et al. to improve utilization of the backlight source and also help improve homogeneity of illumination (see paragraph [0046] of Yu et al.) .
Regarding claim 2, Chang et al. further teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second reflective element (226b; see at least figure 3-4) surrounds at least one of the plurality of light-emitting elements (224; see at least figure 3-4).
Regarding claim 7, Chang et al. further teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a light guide plate (210; see at least figure 2 and 3 and paragraph [0034]) disposed on the circuit board (222; see at least figures 2 and 3).
Claim(s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. (US 2012/0086889 A1) in view Chan et al. (US 2019/0113208 A1) and Yu et al. (US 2015/0168629 A1) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Bogner et al. (US 2006/0007553 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. further teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1, but Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. does not explicitly teach wherein a shape of the second reflective element is a grid shape.
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Bogner et al. teaches a shape of a reflective element (grid reflector 5) is a grid shape (see grid reflector 5 in figure 1).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify Chang et al. to include a grid shaped reflector as taught by Bogner et al. to effect uniform light distribution of the light emitting device (see paragraph [0021] of Bogner et al.).
Claim(s) 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. (US 2012/0086889 A1) in view Chan et al. (US 2019/0113208 A1) and Yu et al. (US 2015/0168629 A1) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Jang et al. (US 2012/0134139 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1, but Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the first reflective element has a first reflectivity R1, the second reflective element has a second reflectivity R2, and the first reflectivity R1 is greater than the second reflectivity R2.
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Jang et al. a backlight unit and display apparatus comprising a first and second reflective member (490a, 490b, respectively in figure 12B) having a first and second reflectivity where the first reflectivity is greater than the second reflectivity (see at least paragraph [0206] and [0207]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the device of Chang et al. modified by Chan and Yu et al. to include reflective elements having a first reflectivity greater than a second reflectivity as taught by Jang et al. to reflect light emitted from the light source to a more distant region from the light source to achieve a desired illumination output (see paragraph [0208] of Jang et al.)
Regarding claim 5, Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1, but Chang et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the first reflective element has a first reflectivity R1, the second reflective element has a second reflectivity R2, and the first reflectivity R1 and the second reflectivity R2 satisfy the following formula: 0 ≤ |(R1 — R2)|/Max(R1, R2) < 20%.
Jang et al. a backlight unit and display apparatus comprising a first and second reflective member (490a, 490b, respectively) having a first and second reflectivity where the first reflectivity is greater than the second reflectivity (see at least paragraph [0206] and [0207]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the device of Chang et al. modified by Chan and Yu et al. to include reflective elements having a first reflectivity greater than a second reflectivity as taught by Jang et al. to reflect light emitted from the light source to a more distant region from the light source to achieve a desired illumination output (see paragraph [0208] of Jang et al.).
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. (US 2012/0086889 A1) in view of Chan et al. (US 2019/0113208 A1) and Yu et al. (US 2015/0168629 A1) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Kakkar et al. (US 2019/0146142 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1, but Chang et al. modified by Yu et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the first reflective element comprises a first white material, and the second reflective element comprises a second white material.
Kakkar et al. teach a light guide 43 comprising a reflective layer 42 wherein the reflective layer 42 may be white to diffuse the light (see at least paragraph [0037]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the reflective elements of Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. to comprise a white material as taught by Kakkar et al. to diffuse the light and achieve a desired illumination output from the light emitting device (see paragraph [0037] of Kakkar et al.).
Claim(s) 8, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. (US 2012/0086889 A1) in view of Chan et al. (US 2019/0113208 A1) and Yu et al. (US 2015/0168629 A1) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view Komano et al. (US 2016/0077270 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 1, but Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the circuit board comprises a first part and a second part connected with the first part, the first part extends along a first direction, the second part extends along a second direction, and the first direction is different from the second direction.
Komano et al. teaches a circuit board (see at least figure 5) comprising a first part and second part, the first part extending horizontally (see 18a1 in at least figure 5), portion comprising light sources (17) and the second part extending perpendicularly from the first part (see 18a2 in at least figure 5).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the circuit board of Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. as taught by Komano et al. to reduce the overall thickness of the display device (see paragraph [0044] of Komano et al.)..
Regarding claim 9, Chang et al. modified by Chan et al., Yu et al. and Komano et al. teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 8, but Chang et al. does not explicitly teach wherein the plurality of light- emitting elements are disposed on the first part.
Komano et al. teaches wherein the plurality of light-emitting elements (17) are disposed on the first part (18a1). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the circuit board of Chang et al. modified by Chan et al. and Yu et al. to include the plurality of light emitting elements on the first part as taught by Komano et al. to reduce the overall thickness of the display device (see paragraph [0044] of Komano et al.).
Regarding claim 10, Chang et al. modified by Chan et al., Yu et al. and Komano et al. teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 8, but Chang et al. does not explicitly teach wherein a portion of the second part is a connector.
Komano et al. further teach wherein a portion of the second part (18a2) is a connector (see 14b in at least figure 5). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify the circuit board of Chang et al. to include a second part that is a connector as taught by Komano et al. . to reduce the overall thickness of the display device (see paragraph [0044] of Komano et al.).
Claim(s) 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang et al. (US 2012/0086889 A1) in view of Chan et al. (US 2019/0113208 A1), Yu et al. (US 2015/0168629 A1) and Komano et al. (US 2016/0077270 A1) as applied to claim 10 above and further in view Bu et al. (US 2015/0338570 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Chang et al. modified by Chan et al., Yu et al. and Komano et al. teaches the light-emitting device as claimed in claim 10, but Chang et al. does not explicitly teach wherein a plurality of external signals transmit to the plurality of light-emitting elements through the connector.
Bu et al. (US 2015/0338570 A1) teaches wherein a plurality of external signals transmit (see paragraph [0027]) to the plurality of light-emitting elements (light emitters 2) through the connector (4; paragraph [0027]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the effective filing date of the invention to modify Chang et al. modified by Chan et al., Yu et al. and Komano et al. to include a plurality of external signals transmitted to the plurality of light emitting elements through the connector as taught by Bu et al.so that the driving signal may be transmitted to the circuit of the substrate via the connector, so as to drive the light emitters to emit light (see paragraph [0027] of Bu et al.).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-11 have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection necessitated by applicant’s amendment of independent claim 1 and further consideration of applicant’s arguments. A new reference, Chan et al., teaches the limitations, inter alia, “the plurality of apertures overlapping the circuit board along a normal direction of the circuit board and exposing the first reflective element”..
Claims 2-11 remain rejected based on dependency on a rejected base claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSICA MCMILLAN APENTENG whose telephone number is (571)272-5510. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pm.
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/JESSICA M APENTENG/ Examiner, Art Unit 2875
/EVAN P DZIERZYNSKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2875
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