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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over the claims of Patent No. US 12,340,045 B2. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims in the instant application and the publication are substantially identical in structural and functional characteristics. The only difference between instant independent claim 1 and independent claim 1 of the ‘045 patent is instant claim 1 recites “the second type recess comprises at least two sub-recesses spaced from each other at intervals”; whereas claim 1 of the ‘045 patent recites “the second type recess comprises at least one sub-recess not overlapping the touch wirings”. It would be obvious that sub-recesses are spaced apart from each other.
In regards to instant claims 2-20, all limitations of these claims are contained in the claims of the ‘045 patent as follows:
Instant Application
Patent No. US 12,340,045 B2
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
10
10
11
11
12
12
13
13
14
14
15
15
16
17
17
19
18
1
19
1
20
20
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 are allowable over the prior art.
Examiner’s Statement of Reasons for Allowance
Claims 1-20 are allowed based on the specific detail included within independent claim 1 (and similarly independent claim 18). The closest prior art, Chung (US 2019/0148467 A1), does teach a number of limitations of claim 1 (and similarly claim 18) as follows:
Instant Claim 1: A display panel, (“In some embodiments, the display device DD may include a display panel,” (Chung, paragraph 69) Referring to fig 3A of Chung, the entire display device DD corresponds to the display panel of the claim.)
wherein the display panel comprises a display region and a non-display region located on at least one side of the display region; (“As shown in FIG. 2, the display surface DD-IS may include a display region DD-DA, which is used to display the image IM, and a non-display region DD-NDA, which is provided adjacent to the display region DD-DA.” (Chung, paragraph 66))
the display panel further comprises: a substrate; (“The protection member PF (fig 3A) may be configured to support the display panel DP and to protect the display panel DP from an external impact.” (Chung, paragraph 74) The protection member PF of Chung corresponds to the substrate of the claim.)
a light emitting layer disposed on a side of the substrate, wherein the light emitting layer comprises a plurality of light emitting pixels disposed in the display region; (“The display element layer DP-OLED
(fig 7) may include a pixel definition layer PDL and an organic light emitting diode OLED.” (Chung, paragraph 120) The display element layer DP-OLED of Chung corresponds to the light emitting layer of the claim.)
a touch layer disposed on a side of the light emitting layer away from the substrate, (“the input-sensing layer ISL may be configured to obtain coordinate information regarding an external input (e.g., a touch event)” (Chung, paragraph 74) The input-sensing layer ISL of Chung corresponds to the touch layer of the claim.)
wherein the touch layer comprises touch electrodes disposed in the display region and touch wirings electrically connected to the touch electrodes, (“FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating an input sensing unit according to some example embodiments.” (Chung, paragraph 38)
“The first signal lines SL1-1 to SL1-4 (fig 9) may be connected to ends of the first sensing electrodes IE1-1 to IE1-4, respectively.” (Chung, paragraph 144) The first sensing electrodes IE1-1 to IE1-4 and first signal lines SL1-1 to SL1-4 of Chung correspond to the touch electrodes and touch wirings of the claim, respectively.)
and the touch wirings extend from the display region to the non-display region; (Referring to fig 9 of Chung, the first signal lines SL1-1 to SL1-4 extend from the display region DD-DA to the non-display region DD-NDA.)
a first refractive index layer disposed on a side of the touch layer away from the substrate, (“As shown in FIG. 11A, the optical control unit LCU may include a first layer group IRL-G1, a second layer group IRL-G2, and a third layer group IRL-G3, which are provided on a base layer LCU-BS. … The first layer group IRL-G1 may include n first refractive index layers IRL1-1 to IRL1-n.” (Chung, paragraphs 156-157))
a second refractive index layer disposed on a side of the first refractive index layer away from the substrate, (“The second layer group IRL-G2 (fig 11A) may include a plurality of second refractive index layers IRL2-1 to IRL2-(n-1), each of which is provided between a corresponding pair of the first refractive index layers IRL1-1 to IRL1-n.” (Chung, paragraph 157))
Chung does not teach other limitations of claim 1 (and similarly claim 18). For instance:
wherein the first refractive index layer comprises a plurality of first apertures distributed in the display region and corresponding to the light emitting pixels; a second refractive index layer disposed on a side of the first refractive index layer away from the substrate, filled in the first apertures, and a refractive index of the second refractive index layer is greater than a refractive index of the first refractive index layer; wherein the first refractive index layer further comprises a plurality of barrier notches distributed in the non-display region and extending along a first direction, the barrier notches comprise a first type recess and a second type recess, the first type recess is disposed to cover the touch wirings, and the second type recess comprises at least two sub-recesses spaced from each other at intervals.
Each of the dependent claims further limits allowable independent claim 1 (or similar independent claim 18), and thus, is also allowable over the prior art of record by virtue of its dependency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Yaron Cohen whose telephone number is (571)270-7995. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Temesghen Ghebretinsae can be reached on 571-272-3017. 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 https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. 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.
/Yaron Cohen/Examiner, Art Unit 2626