PTAB

IPR2025-01413

BOE Technology Group Co Ltd v. 138 East LCD Advancements Ltd

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Petition
petition

1. Case Identification

2. Patent Overview

  • Title: Flexible Substrate with Integrated Circuit and Inspection Electrode
  • Brief Description: The ’512 patent discloses a flexible substrate assembly for driving a liquid-crystal panel. The assembly features an integrated circuit (IC) and an "inspection electrode" (test pad) arranged on the substrate to allow for monitoring electrical signals processed by the IC.

3. Grounds for Unpatentability

Ground 1: Claims 1-4, 6 and 8-11 are obvious over Saito and Her.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Saito (Patent 6,300,997), Her (Application # 2004/0183563).
  • Core Argument for this Ground:
    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner argued that Saito taught the foundational structure of the claimed invention, including a flexible substrate with a mounted IC, conductive lines, connection terminals, and test pads (the "inspection electrode") for checking signal connectivity. However, Petitioner asserted Saito’s test pads lack a mechanism for selective activation. Her allegedly supplied this missing element by disclosing an IC with a "channel shifter" that functions as a switching section. This channel shifter selectively activates a dedicated test pin to output a composite test signal only when a "test mode" is engaged, otherwise remaining off during normal operation.
    • Motivation to Combine: A Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art (POSITA) would combine Her's switching functionality with Saito's architecture to gain significant, predictable benefits. Incorporating a switch would improve inspection efficiency, reduce potential signal conflicts, eliminate parasitic capacitance from an always-on test pad that could degrade signal integrity, and conserve power. Both references address the analogous problem of testing ICs on flexible substrates for display panels.
    • Expectation of Success: Petitioner contended that a POSITA would have a reasonable expectation of success, as the combination involved incorporating a known type of switching circuit into a conventional flexible substrate layout to achieve well-understood improvements in testability and performance.

Ground 2: Claims 1-6 and 8 are obvious over Taguchi and Her.

  • Prior Art Relied Upon: Taguchi (Application # 2004/0183985), Her (Application # 2004/0183563).

  • Core Argument for this Ground:

    • Prior Art Mapping: Petitioner presented a parallel argument using Taguchi as the primary reference. Taguchi, like Saito, disclosed a conventional arrangement of a driver IC mounted on a flexible insulation film substrate connected to an LCD panel. Taguchi also explicitly taught using a "test pad" on a patterned wire for external probe testing. Petitioner again relied on Her to provide the "switching section" limitation, arguing that Her's channel shifter circuit could be integrated with Taguchi’s driver IC. Dependent claim 5, which requires the inspection electrode to be wider than the lines, was also allegedly taught by Taguchi’s disclosure of forming a widened test pad to facilitate easier contact with a test probe.
    • Motivation to Combine: A POSITA would be motivated to integrate Her's sophisticated test-mode switching into Taguchi's basic architecture to address the well-known industry problem of testing increasingly complex, high-pin-count driver ICs. Her's method of creating a composite test signal for a single test pin dramatically simplifies the testing process, a clear improvement over the simple, always-on test pad in Taguchi.
    • Expectation of Success: Petitioner argued success would be predictable because both references operate in the same field, use compatible technologies (ICs on flexible substrates for LCDs), and the combination addresses a known need with a known solution.

  • Additional Grounds: Petitioner asserted additional obviousness challenges against various claims by adding references to the primary combinations. These grounds argued that Taguchi or Saito explicitly taught a widened inspection electrode to improve probe reliability (for claim 5); and that Kim (Application # 2002/0139567) explicitly disclosed test signals not routed through main output terminals (for claims 2, 7, and 12) and confirmed the use of such display assemblies in various common "electronic devices" (for claims 7 and 12).

4. Relief Requested

  • Petitioner requests institution of an inter partes review (IPR) and cancellation of claims 1-12 of Patent 8,319,512 as unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. §103.