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 .
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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/12/2026 has been entered.
This office action is in response to the amendment filed 05/12/2026, which amends claims 14, 16, 27, and 36-38. Claims 14-27, 32-33, and 36-40 are pending in the application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/12/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the instant application on 04/26/2021. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
In the response filed 05/12/2026, the claims were amended.
These amendments are hereby entered.
Claims 1-31 were originally filed.
Claims 32-40 have been added.
Claims 1-13, 28-31 and 34-35 are canceled.
Claims 14, 16, 27, and 36-38 are instantly amended.
Claims 14-27, 32-33, and 36-40 are pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the rejections over Jung et al. (US 2017/0222158 A1) and further in view of Male et al. (US 2010/0013377 A1) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s amendments do not overcome the prior art because the prior art still reads on the claimed invention.
A reinterpretation of the prior art is given below to explain how the prior art still reads on the claimed invention.
Claim Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 15 contains partial formula (G2-1). The reason this partial formula is included in the claim is never explained and appears to be superfluous. Please either eliminate this partial formula or add relevant supporting information from the instant specification.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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 14-27, 32-33, and 36-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. (US 2017/0222158 A1) as evidenced by Kim et al. (US 2019/0326520 A1), and further in view of Male et al. (US 2010/0013377 A1).
With respect to claim 14, Jung discloses an organic optoelectronic device (a light emitting device), comprising an anode, a cathode, an organic layer between the electrodes and the organic layer comprises an electron-transporting layer (an auxiliary electron transport layer), which is formed using vacuum deposition (evaporation, paragraphs 0123 and 0248) which includes a compound of chemical formula 1 (abstract), such as compound [A-26] (page 14) which is pictured below.
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This compound is derived from Jung chemical Formula 1-III (page 8) when R5a and R5b are a biphenyl group (paragraph 0092 and Group 1 on the bottom of page 8).
Jung also teaches that R5a and R5b are a C4 alkyl (paragraph 0092, line 2), such as t-butyl (paragraph 0037).
Compound [A-26] may also be derived from Jung Chemical Formula 1 (paragraph 0013), which is pictured below, when -(L2)n2-R2 forms the alkyl-substituted m-phenylene portion of the structure discussed above.
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Jung also teaches that in Chemical Formula 1, n1 to n4 are 0 and R1 through R4 are a C4 alkyl group (paragraph 0078, lines 1-3), such as t-butyl (paragraph 0037).
Such a compound meets the requirements of the instant claim when A represents a six-membered heteroaromatic ring having 3 nitrogen atoms (triazine), R0 represents a substituent represented by Formula (G-1), R2 is a disubstituted phenyl group, R7, R9, R12, and R14 are a C4 alkyl (t-butyl) group, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms. The phenyl group having a substituent has two substituents, and the substituents are two alkyl groups having 4 carbon atoms (t-butyl) and the number of carbon atoms forming an sp3 (24) represents 50% of the total number of carbon atoms in the molecule (48).
However, Jung does not teach nor fairly suggest that the structure should be substituted by t-butyl groups.
In analogous art, Male teaches an alkyl-substituted triazinyl material for use in an organic electroluminescent device (abstract).
Male teaches that some triazine hosts suffer from solubility issues and are not suitable for solution processing (paragraph 0024, lines 9-12), however, this problem can be solved by adding a solubilizing substituent (paragraph 0033), and that preferably the solubilizing substituent is a C4-C20 alkyl group (paragraph 0040).
Male goes on to give 16 preferred embodiments of triazine compounds bearing a solubilizing substituent, of which, 7 of the compounds’ solubilizing substituent is at least one t-butyl group. Further, Examiner notes that structures which use a t-butyl solubilizing group have between two and six t-butyl groups (see pages 4-6).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use two to six t-butyl solubilizing substituents on compound A-26 of Jung in order to form a material for use in an organic electroluminescent device which is suitable for solution processing, as taught by Male.
With respect to claim 15, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, and the organic compound is represented by General Formula (G2) when R0 represents a substituent represented by Formula (G-1), R2 is a disubstituted phenyl group, R7, R9, R12, and R14 are a C4 alkyl (t-butyl) group, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms. The phenyl group having a substituent has two substituents, and the substituents are two alkyl groups having 4 carbon atoms (t-butyl), as discussed above.
With respect to claim 16, Jung discloses an organic optoelectronic device (a light emitting device), comprising an anode, a cathode, an organic layer between the electrodes and the organic layer comprises an electron-transporting layer (an auxiliary electron transport layer), which is formed using vacuum deposition (evaporation, paragraphs 0123 and 0248) which includes a compound of chemical formula 1 (abstract), such as compound [A-26] (page 14) which is pictured below.
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This compound is derived from Jung chemical Formula 1-III (page 8) when R5a and R5b are a biphenyl group (paragraph 0092 and Group 1 on the bottom of page 8).
Jung also teaches that R5a and R5b are a C4 alkyl (paragraph 0092, line 2), such as t-butyl (paragraph 0037).
Compound [A-26] may also be derived from Jung Chemical Formula 1 (paragraph 0013), which is pictured below, when -(L2)n2-R2 forms the alkyl-substituted m-phenylene portion of the structure discussed above.
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Jung also teaches that in Chemical Formula 1, n1 to n4 are 0 and R1 through R4 are a C4 alkyl group (paragraph 0078, lines 1-3), such as t-butyl (paragraph 0037).
Such a compound meets the requirements of the instant claim when Q1 to Q3 represent nitrogen atoms, R2 is a phenyl group having a substituent, R7, R9, R12, and R14 are a C4 alkyl (t-butyl) group, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms. The phenyl group having a substituent has two substituents, and the substituents are two alkyl groups having 4 carbon atoms (t-butyl) and the number of carbon atoms forming an sp3 (24) represents 50% of the total number of carbon atoms in the molecule (48).
However, Jung does not teach nor fairly suggest that the structure should be substituted by t-butyl groups.
In analogous art, Male teaches a substituted triazinyl material for use in an organic electroluminescent device (abstract).
Male teaches that some triazine hosts suffer from solubility issues and are not suitable for solution processing (paragraph 0024, lines 9-12), however, this problem can be solved by adding a solubilizing substituent (paragraph 0033), and that preferably the solubilizing substituent is a C4-C20 alkyl group (paragraph 0040).
Male goes on to give 16 preferred embodiments of triazine compounds bearing a solubilizing substituent, of which, 7 of the compounds’ solubilizing substituent is at least one t-butyl group. Further, Examiner notes that structures which use a t-butyl solubilizing group have between two and six t-butyl groups (see pages 4-6).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use two to six t-butyl solubilizing substituents on compound A-26 of Jung in order to form a material for use in an organic electroluminescent device which is suitable for solution processing, as taught by Male.
With respect to claim 17, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, and the phenyl group having a substituent is represented by Formula (G1-2) when α is phenylene group, R20 is an alkyl group having 4 carbon atoms, m is 1 and n is 2, as described above.
With respect to claim 18, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 17, and the phenyl group having a substituent is found at R2 only, as pictured above.
With respect to claim 19, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, and the phenyl group having a substituent is represented by Formula (G1-3) when n is 0, R22 is represented by Formula (G1-3-1), and R23 and R24 are an alkyl group having 4 carbon atoms.
With respect to claim 20, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 19, and the phenyl group having a substituent is used at R2 only, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 21, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, and the substituent of the phenyl group having a substituent is an alkyl group having 4 carbon atoms, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 22, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, and the aromatic hydrocarbon group having 6 carbon atoms in a ring is a phenyl group, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 23, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, and the aromatic hydrocarbon group having 6 carbon atoms in a ring is represented by instant formula (ra-5), as discussed above.
With respect to claim 24, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, as discussed above.
In the description of R1-R15, variable R2 is a phenyl group having a substituent, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms.
Examiner notes that the limitations of a substituted or unsubstituted pyridyl is referred to in the alternative only in parent claim 14 in the definition of R1-R15. As Jung in view of Male teaches a compound wherein variable R2 is a phenyl group having a substituent, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms, the limitations of a substituted or unsubstituted pyridyl is alternative to the primary species, and thus the features of a substituted or unsubstituted pyridyl is not required by the parent claim, nor the instant claim, and therefore, Jung and Male reads on the claim.
However, for the sake of compact prosecution, Applicant’s attention is drawn to the structures of Jung of paragraph [0088] wherein Z1 to Z12 may be a nitrogen or carbon atom and form a pyridyl group (paragraph 0076).
With respect to claim 25, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, as discussed above.
In the description of R1-R15, variables R2 is a phenyl group having a substituent, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms.
Examiner notes that the limitations of an alicyclic group is referred to in the alternative only in parent claim 14 in the definition of R1-R15. As Male teaches a compound wherein variable R2 is a phenyl group having a substituent, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms, the limitations of an alicyclic group is alternative to the primary species, and thus the features of an alicyclic group is not required by the parent claim, nor the instant claim, and therefore, Jung and Male reads on the claim.
However, for the sake of compact prosecution, Applicant’s attention is drawn to the structures of Male of paragraph [0045], of which many comprise an alicyclic substituent. Clearly Male also envisaged an alicyclic group as a solubilizing group.
With respect to claim 26, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, and the alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms is a branched alkyl group having 4 carbon atoms (t-butyl), as discussed above.
With respect to claim 27, Jung discloses an organic optoelectronic device (a light emitting device), comprising an anode, a cathode, an organic layer between the electrodes and the organic layer comprises an electron-transporting layer (an auxiliary electron transport layer), which is formed using vacuum deposition (evaporation, paragraphs 0123 and 0248) which includes a compound of chemical formula 1 (abstract), such as compound [A-26] (page 14) which is pictured below.
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This compound is derived from Jung chemical Formula 1-III (page 8) when R5a and R5b are a biphenyl group (paragraph 0092 and Group 1 on the bottom of page 8).
Jung also teaches that R5a and R5b are a C4 alkyl (paragraph 0092, line 2), such as t-butyl (paragraph 0037).
Compound [A-26] may also be derived from Jung Chemical Formula 1 (paragraph 0013), which is pictured below, when -(L2)n2-R2 forms the alkyl-substituted m-phenylene portion of the structure discussed above.
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Jung also teaches that in Chemical Formula 1, n1 to n4 are 0 and R1 through R4 are a C4 alkyl group (paragraph 0078, lines 1-3), such as t-butyl (paragraph 0037).
Such a modification produces instant Structural Formula (100).
However, Jung does not teach nor fairly suggest that the structure should be substituted by t-butyl groups.
In analogous art, Male teaches a substituted triazinyl material for use in an organic electroluminescent device (abstract).
Male teaches that some triazine hosts suffer from solubility issues and are not suitable for solution processing (paragraph 0024, lines 9-12), however, this problem can be solved by adding a solubilizing substituent (paragraph 0033), and that preferably the solubilizing substituent is a C4-C20 alkyl group (paragraph 0040).
Male goes on to give 16 preferred embodiments of triazine compounds bearing a solubilizing substituent, of which, 7 of the compounds’ solubilizing substituent is at least one t-butyl group. Further, Examiner notes that structures which use a t-butyl solubilizing group have between two and six t-butyl groups (see pages 4-6).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use two to six t-butyl solubilizing substituents on compound A-26 of Jung in order to form a material for use in an organic electroluminescent device which is suitable for solution processing, as taught by Male.
With respect to claims 32 and 33, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14 and of claim 16, and the compound has a molecular weight between 500 and 2,000 (Da).
With respect to claims 36 through 38, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14, and Jung also teaches that the electron transport layer comprises an alkali metal compound (lithium, Liq, paragraph 0248).
With respect to claims 39 and 40, Jung and Male teach the device of claim 14 and of claim 16, as discussed above.
Examiner is interpreting this composition to meet the requirements of the instant claims through its use as a preferred embodiment of the claimed invention, as given on pages 20 (Compound 100) and 115 (Liq) of the instant specification. Products of identical chemical composition cannot have mutually exclusive properties, and it has been held that when the prior art teaches the identical chemical structure, the properties applicant discloses and/or claims are necessarily present (See MPEP 2112.01(II)), and the compounds of Jung in view of Male read on the claims.
Jung and Male are silent to the ordinary refractive index of the compounds with respect to light with a wavelength in a range from 455 nm to 465 nm being higher than or equal to 1.5 and lower than or equal to 1.75. However, this is considered to be a property of the composition. Support for this presumption comes from the use of like materials and like processes when the compounds are used as materials in the organic layer of an electroluminescent device, which would result in the claimed property described in the instant claims. Therefore, the claims are considered to be obvious over Jung and Male, and the burden shifts to applicant to show that there is an unobvious difference between the claimed composition and the composition in the prior art. See MPEP 2112 (V). In addition, the presently claimed properties are considered to be present once the work of Jung and Male was first provided. See MPEP 2112.01 (II).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL SIMBANA whose telephone number is (571)272-2657. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 A.M. - 4:30 P.M..
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/RACHEL SIMBANA/Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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