DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 are pending as amended on 2/11/2026.
Claims 1-6 and 11 stand withdrawn from consideration.
Claim 7 has been amended to overcome the previously set forth rejection over Heo, and claim 20 has been amended to delete the species according to compound 14, which was examined in the previous action mailed on 11/26/2025. Therefore, search and examination has been extended to another species encompassed by the present claims: the species of compounds 17-19 recited in claim 20:
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The new grounds of rejection below were necessitated by Applicant’s amendment. Therefore, this action is properly made final.
Any rejections and/or objections made in the previous Office action and not repeated below are hereby withdrawn. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 7-10 and 12-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (WO 2018221985A1, English language equivalent family member, US 2020/0181096 A1 cited herein).
Yang discloses a compound wherein a binaphthalene group bonded with a cyano group is bonded with a Ar1, represented by Chemical formula 1 [0009]:
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wherein Ar1 is represented by:
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(see also [0039], formula 1-7).
Yang teaches that R3 can be a C6-60 aryl group [0017], and teaches that in the specification, examples of an aryl group include biphenyl and naphthyl groups [0035].
Yang teaches that L1 and L2 are preferably phenylene or biphenylene [0041], and exemplifies a compound wherein L1 and L2 are phenylene, and wherein the phenylene and binaphthalene groups (between the cyano group and the Ar1 moiety) are connected via para-(1,4)-linkages. See example in [0091]:
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Yang discloses that when two functional groups bonded with binaphthalene have different structures, various properties (electron transport capability, band gap, energy level) can be more easily controlled, and electrical and thermal properties can be easily predicted depending on the substitution position of naphthalene [0044]. The compound can be used in an organic material layer capable of simultaneously performing electron injection and electron transport [0116].
Considering Yang’s disclosure that a heterocyclic compound represented by Chemical Formula 1 (having an asymmetric structure based on a binaphthalene skeleton to which a cyano group and a heterocyclic ring are bonded) can be used in an organic material layer capable of simultaneously performing electron injection and electron transport [0116, 0044], the person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to select any named aryl group as the aryl R3 group disclosed by Yang, and any L1-binaphthalene-L2 skeleton from those disclosed by Yang, in order to achieve a desired electron transport capability, band gap and/or energy level, to easily predict electrical and thermal properties.
It would have been obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art, therefore, to have formed a compound according to Yang’s general chemical formula 1 having any binaphthalene skeleton structure exemplified by Yang for linking the cyano group and the heterocyclic Ar1 group, including a para-linked -phenylene-binaphthalene-phenylene- skeleton (as shown in Yang’s example compound 6). It would have been further obvious to the person having ordinary skill in the art to have formed a compound according to Yang’s general chemical formula 1 by selecting any C6-60 aryl group named by Yang in [0035] as the R3 group, including biphenyl or naphthyl, thereby arriving at compounds according to formula 17 (when R3 is biphenyl) or formulas 18-19 (when R3 is naphthyl), as recited in claim 20 (compounds 17-19 are also encompassed by the broader instant generic claims).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/11/2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant argues that the previously set forth rejection over Heo has been overcome. The examiner agrees that Heo no longer discloses or suggests a compound according to the present claims, for the reasons argued by Applicant. However, the claims are not in condition for allowance in view of the new rejection above over Yang.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL KAHN whose telephone number is (571)270-7346. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski can be reached at 571-272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RACHEL KAHN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766