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 .
Response to Amendment
In the response filed 03/05/2026, the claims were amended.
These amendments are hereby entered.
Claim 10 has been amended.
Claims 1, 4-9, and 11-20 are allowed.
Claims 1 and 4-20 are pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the rejections over Fleetham et al. (US 2021/0066616 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fleetham et al. (US 2021/0066616 A1).
With respect to claim 10, Fleetham discloses the compound below (page 27).
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This compound is derived from the Fleetham formula below (page 5).
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Fleetham also teaches that Y3 is a sulfur atom (paragraph 0069, lines 4-5), RC is a substituent (paragraph 0053), such as the substituent defined as R96 (page 15), which is pictured below, and that Y1 is NR (paragraph 0052) and R is a substituent (paragraph 0053), such as the substituent defined as R20 (page 16), which is pictured below.
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Such a modification produces the compound below which is found in row two, column two of page 9 of the instant claims.
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Fleetham includes each element claimed, with the only difference between the claimed invention and Fleetham being a lack of the aforementioned combination being explicitly stated. Absent a showing of unexpected results, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to select any known substituent from each of the finite lists of possible combinations to arrive at the compound of the instant claim since the combination of elements would have yielded the predictable result of a composition for boron-containing organic molecules which can lead to improved photophysical properties and improved OLED device performance (paragraph 0006), commensurate in scope with the claimed invention. See Section 2143 of the MPEP, rationales (A) and (E).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 4-9, and 11-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to independent claim 1, the claim is drawn to a compound of Chemical Formula 1, which is pictured below.
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In this formula, ring A1 is represented by one of Chemical Formula A1-2 and Chemical Formula A1-4, which are pictured below.
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In these formulae, Y3 and Y4 are selected from oxygen and sulfur.
A search of the prior art did not identify the claimed invention.
The closest identified prior art is Fleetham et al. (US 2021/0066616 A1).
With respect to independent claim 1, Fleetham discloses a boron-containing compound according to Formula I, which is pictured below (abstract).
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However, while Fleetham teaches that rings A and B may be selected a furan or thiophene (paragraph 0061), Fleetham does not teach nor fairly suggest that rings A and B may be selected as their partially hydrogenated derivatives, 2,3-dihydrofuran and 2,3-dihydrothiophene, respectively.
Additionally, there existed no teaching nor motivation to make such a modification in the broader prior art as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 4-9 and 11-20 are allowed by virtue of dependency.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated any 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 SIMBANA whose telephone number is (571)272-2657. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 A.M. - 4:30 P.M..
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 Boyd can be reached at 571-272-7783. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RACHEL SIMBANA/Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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