DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s Amendment filed 01/26/26.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The rejection of Claims 1, 3, 5, 8, and 9 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cha et al. 2 (KR 10-2016-0086735) as set forth in the Non-Final Rejection filed 10/27/25 is overcome by the Applicant’s amendments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 8, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Goo et al. (KR 10-2013-0140303).
Examiner’s Note: The Office has relied on the Machine English translation of KR 10-2013-0140303 (herein referred to as “Goo et al.”) as the English equivalent. Unless otherwise noted, all figure, page, and paragraph numbers referenced herein refer to numbers found in the Machine English translation.
Goo et al. discloses the following compound:
PNG
media_image1.png
174
188
media_image1.png
Greyscale
(page 16 of Goo et al.) such that L = direct bond, Ar1 = C12 aryl group (biphenyl), and Ar2 = substituted C6 aryl group (9-phenylcarbazolyl-substituted phenyl) of Applicant’s Formula 1-3. Goo et al. discloses the following organic electroluminescent (EL) device:
PNG
media_image2.png
354
358
media_image2.png
Greyscale
(page 24 of Goo et al.); its inventive compounds comprise the hole-transporting (“Hole Transfer”) layer and/or the light-emitting (“Emission Material”) layer (pages 8-9).
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 6, 7, and 17-20 are allowed.
The closest prior art is provided by Cha et al. (WO 2016/204453 A1), which discloses compounds of the following form:
PNG
media_image3.png
462
391
media_image3.png
Greyscale
([0006]) where L1 = direct bond or substituted or unsubstituted arylene group ([0008]); such arylene groups include phenylene and fluorenylene ([0045]-[0047], [0057]); an embodiment is disclosed:
PNG
media_image4.png
349
426
media_image4.png
Greyscale
(page 10). However, it is the position of the Office that neither Cha et al. singly nor in combination with any other prior art discloses any of the compounds as recited in the claims, particularly in regards to the nature of the L group of Formula 1-1.
Response to Arguments
7. Applicant’s arguments on pages 17-19 with respect to the deficiencies of the previously cited prior art have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection as set forth above.
Conclusion
8. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAY L YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1137. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 6am-3pm.
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, Jennifer A Boyd can be reached on 571-272-7783. 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.
/JAY YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786