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 § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gogte et al., US PGPUB 20220382416 hereinafter referenced as Gogte in view of Chae et al., US PGPUB 20140048315 hereinafter referenced as Chae.
As to claim 1, Gogte discloses an electronic device, comprising: a substrate (substrate 509, fig. 5A);
a first conductive layer disposed on the substrate and having a first electrode unit and a second electrode unit adjacent to the first electrode unit, wherein the second electrode unit is separated from the first electrode unit along a first direction (e.g., metal mesh 516, fig. 5A, wherein the conductors of metal mesh layer can be patterned so that conceptually flattening the metal mesh layer); and
a second conductive layer disposed on the substrate and having a first conductive portion, a second conductive portion and a third conductive portion, wherein the first conductive portion is electrically connected to the second conductive portion and the first electrode unit (e.g., metal mesh 506, fig. 5A),
the second conductive portion is electrically connected to the second electrode unit, and the third conductive portion is electrically insulated from the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion ([0050] As described herein with respect to FIGS. 5A-5C, in some examples, row electrodes 602 and column electrodes 604 can be formed of metal mesh. In some examples, the touch electrodes 602′ and 604′ forming row electrodes 602 and column electrodes 604 can be disposed in a first metal mesh layer (e.g., corresponding to metal mesh layer 506) and bridging conductors 604″ can be formed of metal mesh in a second metal mesh layer (e.g., corresponding to metal mesh layer 516), and can be coupled to the touch electrodes 604′ in the first metal mesh layer),
wherein in a top view of the electrode device, the third conductive portion is disposed between the first conductive portion and the second conductive portion ([0059] In some examples, the routing traces 914C and 914D can be separated by a width of one metal mesh wire path (and associated pitch distance)).
Gogte does not specifically disclose the arrangement of first, second and third conductive portions.
However, in the same endeavor, Chae discloses the arrangement of first, second and third conductive portions (e.g., first, second and third conductive parts, fig. 5).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Gogte to further include Chae’s arrangement of multiple conductive parts, in order to improve the manufacturing yield.
As to claim 2, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 1. The combination further discloses the first conductive portion extends along a second direction, the second conductive portion extends along a third direction, and at least two of the first direction, the second direction and the third direction are different (Chae, [0066] The first line 411 of the first conductive part 410 and the first line 421 of the second conductive part 420 are formed oppositely to each other in a length direction thereof and may continue to the non-active area 102 of the transparent substrate 100).
As to claim 3, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 2. The combination further discloses the third conductive portion extends along the second direction (Chae, [0067] Meanwhile, the present preferred embodiment exemplifies a case where the first lines 411 and 421 positioned at one sides of the first and second conductive parts 410 and 420 are used as the wirings 410b and 420b, but is not limited to this case).
As to claim 4, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 2. The combination further discloses the second direction is perpendicular to the third direction ([0030] The cutting portion may be formed in the wavy lines along a direction orthogonal to the length direction of the wavy lines).
As to claim 5, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 1. The combination further discloses in the top view of the electronic device, the first electrode unit has a mesh-like structure (Gogte, e.g., the top view shows metal mesh 520 (e.g., a portion of metal mesh layer 506) together with LEDs 508 of touch screen 500).
As to claim 6, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 1. The combination further discloses a light emitting unit disposed between the substrate and the first conductive layer (Gogte, e.g., the top view shows metal mesh 520 (e.g., a portion of metal mesh layer 506) together with LEDs 508 of touch screen 500).
As to claim 7, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 6. The combination further discloses the light emitting unit is a diode (Gogte, e.g., the top view shows metal mesh 520 (e.g., a portion of metal mesh layer 506) together with LEDs 508 of touch screen 500).
As to claim 8, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 7. The combination further discloses the light emitting unit is an organic light emitting diode (Gogte, e.g., the top view shows metal mesh 520 (e.g., a portion of metal mesh layer 506) together with LEDs 508 of touch screen 500).
As to claim 9, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 1. The combination further discloses the first conductive portion is electrically connected to the first electrode unit via a connection element, and a material of the first conductive portion is the same as a material of the connection element (Gogte, [0050] For example, touch electrodes 602′ of a respective row electrode 602 can be connected via conductors 602″ (e.g., conductive segments) and touch electrodes 604′ of a respective column electrode 604 can be connected via conductors 604″ (e.g., bridges)).
As to claim 10, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 9. The combination further discloses an insulating layer disposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer, wherein the connection element is in the insulating layer ([0045] Additionally, the passivation layers can provide electrical isolation (e.g., between metal mesh layers and between the LEDs and a metal mesh layer).
As to claim 11, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 9. The combination further discloses in the top view of the electronic device, the first conductive portion, the connection element and the first electrode unit are overlapped (Gogte, [0046] n some examples, the metal mesh wires in the metal mesh layer may overlap (at least partially) some of the LEDs 508, but may be thin enough or sparse enough to not obstruct a human's view of the LEDs).
As to claim 12, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 1. The combination further discloses in the top view of the electronic device, the third conductive portion has a bow profile (Gogte, [0048] For example, FIG. 5C illustrates a top view of a portion of touch screen 500 in a diamond pattern according to examples of the disclosure).
As to claim 13, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 1. The combination further discloses in the top view of the electronic device, the first conductive layer has a fourth conductive portion and a fifth conductive portion disposed between the first electrode unit and the second electrode unit, and the fourth conductive portion and the fifth conductive portion are parallel to each other (Chae, [0033] The touch panel may further include: a third conductive part formed in the same form as the wavy line on the transparent substrate, the third conductive part being disposed at one side of the conductive patterns such that the third conductive part is disposed in parallel with a first line of the wavy lines constituting the conductive patterns).
As to claim 14, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 13. The combination further discloses in the top view of the electronic device, the third conductive portion partially overlaps the fourth conductive portion and the fifth conductive portion (Gogte, [0046] n some examples, the metal mesh wires in the metal mesh layer may overlap (at least partially) some of the LEDs 508, but may be thin enough or sparse enough to not obstruct a human's view of the LEDs).
As to claim 15, the combination of Gogte and Chae discloses the electronic device as claimed in claim 13. The combination further discloses a thickness of the fourth conductive portion is greater than a thickness of the third conductive portion (Gogte, [0038] It should be noted that the term “lines” is sometimes used herein to mean simply conductive pathways, as one skilled in the art will readily understand, and is not limited to elements that are strictly linear, but includes pathways that change direction, and includes pathways of different size, shape, materials, etc.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure
Hata et al., US PGPUB 20150253809 discloses a touch panel (2) includes: a glass substrate (4); X-direction electrodes and Y-direction electrodes (14) provided above the glass substrate (4); lines (15) provided above the glass substrate (4) and electrically connected with the X- and Y-direction electrodes (14); an insulating resin layer (12) covering the X- and Y-direction electrodes (14) and lines (15); and a conductive layer (23) provided above the insulating resin layer (12) to allow static electricity entering the panel from the outside to flow therethrough.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAHLU OKEBATO whose telephone number is (571)270-3375. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:00 - 5:00.
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, WILLIAM BODDIE can be reached at 571-272-0666. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAHLU OKEBATO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625 5/6/2026
Prosecution Insights