Ex Parte Jeong et al

Patent Trial and Appeal BoardJun 24, 2016

12977853 (P.T.A.B. Jun. 24, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE 12/977,853 12/23/2010 58027 7590 06/28/2016 RC PARK & ASSOCIATES, PLC 1894 PRESTON WHITE DRIVE RESTON, VA 20191 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR Ki-Hun JEONG UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www .uspto.gov ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. P3967USOO 1116 EXAMINER LI,MEIYA ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2811 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 06/28/2016 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address( es): PATENT@PARK-LAW.COM PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte KI-HUN JEONG, DO-HYUN KIM, DONG-HOON LEE, KAP-SOO YOON, JAE-HO CHOI, SUNG-HOON YANG, PIL-SANG YUN, and SEUNG-MI SEO Appeal2014-005228 1 Application 12/977,853 Technology Center 2800 Before CARLA M. KRIVAK, JASON V. MORGAN, and JOHN A. EVANS, Administrative Patent Judges. EV ANS, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL 1 The record includes a transcript of the oral hearing held April 14, 2016. Appeal2014-005228 Application 12/977,853 STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellants2 seek our review under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 134(a) of the Examiner's Final Rejection of Claims 1-22, which constitute all the claims pending in this application. App. Br. 3. Claims 23-26 have been withdrawn. Id. at 22. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 6(b). We AFFIRM-IN-PART. 3 STATEMENT OF THE CASE The claims relate to a thin film transistor (TFT) and a display substrate comprising the TFT. App. Br. 3. Claims 1 and 11 are independent. An understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading of exemplary Claim 1, which is reproduced below with some formatting added: 1. A thin film transistor (TFT), comprising: an oxide semiconductor layer; a protective layer disposed on the oxide semiconductor layer and overlapping a channel region of the oxide semiconductor layer, the protective layer being an electrical insulator; 2 The Appeal Brief identifies Samsung Display Co., LTD., as the real party in interest. App. Br. 3. 3 Rather than reiterate the arguments of Appellants and the Examiner, we refer to the Appeal Brief (filed September 17, 2013, "App. Br."), the Reply Brief (filed March 12, 2014, Reply Br."), the Examiner's Answer (mailed January 31, 2014, "Ans."), the Final Action (mailed April 9, 2013, "Final Act."), and the Specification (filed December 23, 2010, "Spec.") for their respective details. 2 Appeal2014-005228 Application 12/977,853 an opaque layer disposed between the oxide semiconductor layer and the protective layer; a source electrode disposed on a first side of the oxide semiconductor layer; a drain electrode disposed on a second side of the oxide semiconductor layer and facing the source electrode with the channel region disposed between the drain electrode and the source electrode; a gate electrode configured to apply an electric field to the oxide semiconductor layer; and a gate insulating layer disposed between the gate electrode and the oxide semiconductor layer. Reference and Rejections The Examiner relies upon the prior art as follows4 Yoon et al. ("Yoon") US 2009/0180045 Al The claims stand rejected as follows: July 16, 2009 1. Claim 21 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 112 second paragraph as indefinite. 5 2. Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 11-13, 15, 16, 18, and 22, stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 102(b) as anticipated by Yoon. Final Act. 3--4. 4 The Examiner further cites to German et al. (US 2009/0047466 Al; Feb. 19, 2009), Mitchell (US 2010/0200045 Al; Aug. 12, 2010), and Kim (US 2010/0314645 Al; Dec. 16, 2010) as support for the Examiner's finding that ZnSnO, InZnO, and GaZnO are electrical insulators. Ans. 5-6. However, these references are not used in the rejection itself. Final Act. 3-7. 5 The Examiner has withdrawn the indefiniteness rejection of Claims 1-20 and 22. Ans. 3. 3 Appeal2014-005228 Application 12/977,853 3. Claims 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, 17, and 19-21, stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 103(a) as obvious over Yoon. Final Act. 5-7. ANALYSIS We consider Appellants' arguments seriatim, as they are presented in the Appeal Brief, pages 7-17. CLAIM 21: INDEFINITENESS The Examiner finds the recitation "the other protective layer" (claim 21, 1. 5) lacks sufficient antecedent basis. Final Act. 3. Appellants contend Claim 21 recites "another protective layer disposed between the TFT and the pixel electrode." Appellants argue the term "another" is a contraction of the words "an" and "other." Thus, according to Appellants, the recitation "the another protective layer" is a grammatically correct equivalent of reciting "the an other protective layer." App. Br. 11. We agree with the Examiner because our review of the claims found Appellants' wording somewhat difficult to parse and ultimately ambiguous in meaning. 6 CLAIMS 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 11-13, 15, 16, 18, AND 22: ANTICIPATED BY YOON Appellants argue the patentability of independent Claims 1 and 11, which are argued together, but do not refer to the dependent claims. Therefore, we find independent Claims 1 and 11 are representative of 6 Appellants might consider designating the accused layers respectively as first and second protective layers, or "said another protective layer." 4 Appeal2014-005228 Application 12/977,853 dependent Claims 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, and 22. See 37 C.F.R. Â§ 41.37(c)(l)(iv) (2012). An electrically-insulating protective layer. Independent Claims 1 and 11 recite, inter alia, "a protective layer disposed on the oxide semiconductor layer and overlapping a channel region of the oxide semiconductor layer, the protective layer being an electrical insulator." The Examiner finds Yoon discloses an electrically-insulating, protective layer 44 disposed on an oxide semiconductor layer and overlapping a channel region of the oxide semiconductor layer. Final Act. 3 (citing Yoon i-f 40, 11. 3-6). Appellants contend Yoon discloses that protective layer 44 is formed from an electrically-active, composite oxide of semiconductor. App. Br. 12 (citing Yoon i-f 40). Appellants argue a person having ordinary skill in the arts (PHOSITA) would not consider a semiconductor to be the equivalent of an electrical insulator. Id. The Examiner finds the art teaches that Yoon' s disclosed materials, ZnO, ZnSnO, InZnO, and GaZnO, are insulators. Ans. 5. Appellants contend Yoon's disclosed thin film transistor (TFT) TRI includes a first semiconductor pattern 42 and a second semiconductor pattern 44 as an active layer. Reply Br. 6. With reference to Figure 3B, reproduced below, Yoon discloses a gate electrode 26 is formed on an insulating substrate 10. 5 Appeal2014-005228 Application 12/977,853 ... ... -Â·- FlG.3B Yoon Figure 3 showing detail of electron flow through a transverse section of thin film transistor TFT TR 1. Yoon i-f 3 3. A first semiconductor pattern 42 is formed on gate insulator 30. A second semiconductor pattern 44 is formed on the first semiconductor pattern 42. Id. Data wiring, including source electrode 65 and drain electrode 66 are formed on the first and second semiconductor patterns 42 and 44. Yoon i-f 41. The gate electrode 26, the first semiconductor pattern 42, the second semiconductor pattern 44, the source electrode 65, and the drain electrode 66 collectively form the TFT TRI. Yoon i-f 43. Specifically, Yoon's Figure 3B discloses electrons flow from source electrode 65, through semiconductor pattern 44 to semiconductor pattern 42, having enhanced electron mobility. Yoon i-fi-139, 55, 66. The electrons then travel in the semiconductor pattern 42 and subsequently leave the active area through semiconductor pattern 44 to drain electrode 66. Yoon i-f 42. Thus, electrons leave the active TFT area through Yoon's data wiring, which directly contacts the second semiconductor pattern 44 to form an "ohmic contact." 6 Appeal2014-005228 Application 12/977,853 Yoon i-f 42; see Fig. 3B. An ohmic contact is defined as a region where two materials are in contact forming a low resistance junction that conducts electrical current. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Electrical & Computer Engineering, p. 399, (2004).7 Therefore, the Examiner's finding that Yoon's second semiconductor pattern 44 is an electrical insulator as claimed (Final Act. 3; Ans. 5) is contrary to Yoon's express disclosure that second semiconductor pattern 44 forms-with the source and drain electrode-an "ohmic contact" across which current must flow. Yoon i-f 42; see Fig. 3B. Yoon fails to disclose "a protective layer disposed on the oxide semiconductor layer and overlapping a channel region of the oxide semiconductor layer, the protective layer being an electrical insulator," as recited in independent Claims 1 and 11. Therefore, we decline to sustain the rejection of Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 11-13, 15, 16, 18, and 22, the independent claims and claims dependent therefrom. 8 CLAIMS 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, 17, AND 19-21: OBVIOUSNESS OVERY OON In view of our foregoing discussion, we are unable to sustain the rejection of dependent Claims 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, 17, and 19-21. DECISION 7 An ohmic contact is defined as a purely resistive contact between two surfaces or materials. Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology, p. 1504, Christopher Morris, ed., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, (1992) ("DST"). 8 Because we are persuaded of error with regard to the identified issue, which is dispositive of the rejection over Yoon, we do not reach the additional issues raised by Appellants' arguments. 7 Appeal2014-005228 Application 12/977,853 The rejection of Claim 21under35 U.S.C. Â§ 112 is AFFIRMED. The rejection of Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 11-13, 15, 16, 18, and 22 under 35 U.S.C. Â§ 102 and the rejection of Claims 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, 17, and 19-21 underÂ§ 103(a) are REVERSED. No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. Â§ 1.136(a)(l )(iv). AFFIRMED-IN-PART 8