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 .
Claims 1-21 are currently pending and prosecuted.
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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 26 June 2025 has been entered.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 7-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sung et al., USPN 10,541,380, hereinafter Sung, in view of Kang et al., US PG-Pub 2020/0083475, hereinafter Kang.
Regarding Claim 1, Sung teaches a display panel (display panel 10), comprising:
an opening area (first area OA), wherein the opening area is provided with an opening (opening 10H);
an active area (display area DA), wherein the active area at least partially surrounds the opening area (Fig. 3, and corresponding descriptions, showing the display area DA surrounds the first area OA); and
a first anti-crack area (planarization layer 610), wherein the first anti-crack area at least partially surrounds the opening area (Col. 20, ll. 6-9, “the planarization layer 610 between the opening area OA and the display area DA is a ring-shaped area that surrounding the opening area OA in plan view as shown in FIG. 16”);
wherein the display panel in the first anti-crack area further comprises:
a substrate (substrate 100), an anti-crack dam (partition wall 500) on the substrate (Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the partition wall is on the planarization layer),
an encapsulation layer first inorganic encapsulation layer 310) located on the anti-crack dam (Fig, 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the first inorganic encapsulation layer 310 is located on the substrate 100), and
at least one circle of anti-crack protective layer (second inorganic encapsulation layer 330) located on the encapsulation layer (Fig, 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the second inorganic encapsulation layer 330 is located on the first inorganic encapsulation layer 310);
the active area comprises at least one touch electrode layer that is located on the encapsulation layer (first sensing electrodes SP1 and second sensing electrodes SP2); and
the anti-crack protective layer and at least one of the at least one touch electrode layer are with a same material (Col. 13, ll. 35-40 and ll. 14-24, noting the second inorganic encapsulation layer and the electrodes may be zinc oxide).
However, Sung does not explicitly teach the anti-crack protective layer and at least one of the at least one touch electrode layer are arranged in a same layer.
Kang teaches the anti-crack protective layer and at least one of the at least one touch electrode layer are arranged in a same layer (Kang: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the second inorganic planarization layer and the electrode layer are in the same layer for a portion of the design).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the placement of the elements taught by Kang into the device taught by Sung in order to allow the display to be closer to the opening area (Kang: [0122]), thereby providing the user a larger display area for use.
Regarding Claim 2, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 1, wherein the anti-crack protective layer comprises at least one layer of metal (Sung: Col. 13, ll. 35-40), and the touch electrode layer comprises a touch metal layer (Sung: Col. 13, ll. 14-24).
Regarding Claim 3, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 2, wherein the substrate and the encapsulation layer extend to the active area (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the substrate and encapsulation layer extend into the active area); and
the touch metal layer is located on a side of the encapsulation layer away from the substrate (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the input sensing layer 400 is located on the side of the planarization layer away from the substrate).
Regarding Claim 7, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 1, wherein the anti-crack protective layer comprises a single-layer or tandem structure of metal or metal oxide (Sung: Col. 13, ll. 25-34).
Regarding Claim 8, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 7, wherein the metal comprises titanium-aluminum-titanium (Sung: Col. 13, ll. 35-44, noting how a titanium and aluminum oxides may be used within the layers).
Regarding Claim 9, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 1, wherein the first anti-crack area further comprises at least one circle of first anti-crack dam (Sung: partition wall 500) located under the encapsulation layer (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the partition wall is under the planarization layer); and the first anti-crack dam and the anti-crack protective layer are distributed on two sides of the encapsulation layer (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the layers are on two sides).
Regarding Claim 10, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 9, wherein the first anti-crack dam and the anti-crack protective layer are stacked on two sides of the encapsulation layer (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the layers are stacked on two sides), and an orthographic projection of the anti-crack protective layer on the substrate at least partially covers an orthographic projection of the first anti-crack dam on the substrate (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the orthographic projections overlap).
Regarding Claim 11, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 9, wherein the first anti-crack dam and the anti-crack protective layer are dislocated on two sides of the encapsulation layer (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the layers are separated on two sides), and an orthographic projection of the anti-crack protective layer on the substrate is located between orthographic projections of two adjacent first anti-crack dams on the substrate (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the orthographic projections overlap).
Regarding Claim 12, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 1, wherein the display panel further comprises:
a stop zone surrounding the first anti-crack area (Sung: second sub-non-display area SNDA2); and
the substrate and the encapsulation layer extend to the stop zone (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the layers extend into the stop zone), and a stop dam (Sung: partition wall 500) is provided between the encapsulation layer and the substrate that are located in the stop zone (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the partition wall is under the planarization layer).
Regarding Claim 13, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 11, wherein the display panel further comprises:
a second anti-crack area surrounding the stop zone (Sung: first sub-non-display area SNDA1);
the display panel in the second anti-crack area further comprises:
the substrate (Sung: substrate 100), and the encapsulation layer (Sung: first inorganic encapsulation layer 310) located on the substrate (Sung: Fig, 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the first inorganic encapsulation layer 310 is located on the substrate 100);
wherein a second anti-crack dam (Sung: partition wall 500) is provided between the encapsulation layer and the substrate located in the second anti-crack area (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the partition wall is located between the two areas).
Regarding Claim 14, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 13, wherein the anti-crack protective layer and an orthographic projection of the first anti-crack dam and/or the second anti-crack dam have at least partially overlapped areas (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the orthographic projections overlap).
Regarding Claim 15, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to any one of claim 1, wherein an area of the encapsulation layer contacted with at least one circle of a first anti-crack dam and/or at least one circle of a second anti-crack dam comprises at least one concave structure (Kang: Figs. 7 and 9B, and corresponding descriptions, showing a dam that is in a concave shape), and the anti-crack protective layer at least covers the concave structure (Kang: Figs. 7 and 9B, and corresponding descriptions, showing the protective layers cover the dam).
Regarding Claim 16, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 1, wherein an area of the encapsulation layer contacted with at least one circle of first anti-crack dam comprises at least one concave structure (Kang: Figs. 7 and 9B, and corresponding descriptions, showing a dam that is in a concave shape), the anti-crack protective layer at least covers the concave structure (Kang: Figs. 7 and 9B, and corresponding descriptions, showing the protective layers cover the dam).
Regarding Claim 17, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 1, wherein the encapsulation layer comprises a first inorganic encapsulation film (Sung: first inorganic encapsulation layer 310), an organic encapsulation film (Sung: planarization layer 610 includes an organic insulating material) and a second inorganic encapsulation film (Sung: second inorganic encapsulation layer 330) stacked in succession (Sung: Fig, 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the second inorganic encapsulation layer 330 is located on the first inorganic encapsulation layer 310); and
the anti-crack protective layer is in contact with a surface of a side of the encapsulation layer away from the substrate (Sung: Fig, 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the layers are in contact with one another).
Regarding Claim 18, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 2, wherein a central position of an orthographic projection of the first anti-crack dam on the substrate coincides with a central position of an orthographic projection of the anti-crack protective layer on the substrate (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the orthographic projections overlap).
Regarding Claim 19, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 1, wherein the display panel in the first anti-crack area further comprises:
at least one layer of metal layers (Sung: Col. 13, ll. 35-40) located between the encapsulation layer and the substrate (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the input sensing layer 400 is located on the side of the planarization layer away from the substrate);
the at least one layer of metal layers includes a first metal layer (Sung: Col. 13, ll. 14-24) and a second metal layer (Sung: Col. 13, ll. 14-24), and the first metal layer is located between the second metal layer and the substrate (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the input sensing layer 400 is located on the side of the planarization layer away from the substrate); and
orthographic projections of the first metal layer and the second metal layer on the substrate and an orthographic projection of the anti-crack protective layer on the substrate at least partially overlap (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the orthographic projections overlap).
Regarding Claim 20, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 1, wherein a concave-convex structure of the first anti-crack dam is a side formed between a titanium layer of a top layer (Sung: Col. 13, ll. 35-44, noting how a titanium oxide may be used) and an aluminum layer of a middle layer (Sung: Col. 13, ll. 35-44, noting how an aluminum oxide may be used) depressed towards an inner side of the aluminum layer (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing how the layers are located to be on a side of one another).
Regarding Claim 21, Sung, as modified by Kang, teaches the display panel according to claim 1, wherein a side surface of the anti-crack protective layer is disposed obliquely relative to a plane direction of the substrate (Sung: Fig. 7, and corresponding descriptions, showing the planarization layer is disposed obliquely relative to a plane direction of the substrate).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 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:
With respect to Claim 4, the prior art of record fails to teach the limitations “wherein the at least one touch electrode layer comprises a first touch metal layer closer to the substrate, a second touch metal layer and a touch medium layer between the first touch metal layer and the second touch metal layer, and the anti-crack protective layer and the first touch metal layer are arranged in a same layer and with a same material; and/or the anti-crack protective layer and the second touch metal layer are arranged in a same layer and with a same material.” Additionally, claims 5-6 are also objected to for being dependent on Claim 4.
Conclusion
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STEPHEN T. REED
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2627
/Stephen T. Reed/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627