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 .
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 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.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 June 20, 2025 has been entered.
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the communication filed on June 20, 2025.
Claim 1 has been amended and are hereby entered.
Claim 3 has been cancelled.
Claims 1, 2, and 4 – 20 are currently pending and have been examined.
Response to Amendments
Applicant’s amendments to the claims, filed June 20, 2025, caused the withdrawal of the rejection of claims 1 – 19 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo in view of Mori as set forth in the office action filed April 22, 2025. Claim 3 has been cancelled.
Applicant’s amendments to the claims, filed June 20, 2025, caused the withdrawal of the rejection of claim 20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo in view of Mori and further in view of Jang as set forth in the office action filed April 22, 2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 20, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the Office fails to articulate a motivation for modifying the electrode of Yoo to have the claimed ratio of In/Sn. Examiner respectfully disagrees. As noted in the office action, the doping ratio of Sn to Indium oxide affects the crystallization starting temperature and that when Sn is provided in too high an amount (such as 7 mass% Sn), the crystallization starting temperature becomes too high for the electrode to be easily manufactured. This is seen as motivation for modifying the Indium Tin Oxide of Yoo to contain a ratio within the claimed range.
Regarding Applicant's arguments that the recited range of tin oxide provides unexpected and desirable results, Examiner notes that the data shown in Tables 1 and 2 of the specification is not commensurate in scope with the claimed invention for at least the reasons that a single invention is provided with a single ratio of Indium Oxide and Tin Oxide (95:5), a single metal halide in the hole transport region (CuI), both of which are more narrow than the claimed ratios and claimed metal halide formulas. Furthermore, the claim does not require any of the materials in the remaining of the layers, and as only one device data has been shown, it is not clear that the results are independent of the compounds in the remainder of the layers in the OLED.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
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.
Claims 1 – 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo (US20190058132A1) in view of Mori (US20200043672A1).
As per claims 1, 2, and 4 – 8, and 12 – 14 Yoo teaches:
A light emitting device comprising a first electrode, a second electrode facing the first electrode, and an interlayer comprising an emission layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein the interlayer further comprises a hole transport region located between the first electrode and the emission layer (Abstract: “An organic light-emitting device includes: a first electrode, a second electrode facing the first electrode; an organic layer between the first electrode and the second electrode, the organic layer including an emission layer; and a hole transport region between the first electrode and the emission layer.”)
The hole transport region comprises a compound represented by CuF, CuCl, CuBr, CuI, AgF, AgCl, AgBr, or AgI ([0075 – 0077]: “In one embodiment, the hole transport region may further include a metal halide… the metal halide may include at least one selected from CuI, AgI….”)
Yoo teaches that the first electrode may be a transmissive electrode where the material for forming the electrode is selected from indium tin oxide ([0260]). Yoo does not teach:
The first electrode comprises tin oxide in an amount greater than about 1 wt% and equal to or less than about 7 wt% with respect to 100 wt% of the first electrode
Wherein the first electrode further comprises indium oxide, indium zinc oxide, zinc oxide, or any combination thereof
Mori teaches photoelectric conversion devices, including light-emitting devices ([0003]). Mori teaches that a transparent ITO electrode is formed on a substrate ([0121]). Mori further teaches that the crystallization starting temperature of ITO can be controlled by adjusting the doping ratio of Sn to In2O3 and that if the doping ratio is a large value, impurities are contained in a large amount and consequently the crystallization starting temperature becomes high ([0124]). Mori teaches that a ratio of In/Sn of 24 or more (In:Sn = 96 mass%: 4 mass%)has a crystallization starting temperature of 140 to 150°C, compared to a ratio of In/Sn of 13 or more (In:Sn = 93 mass%: 7 mass%), which has a crystallization starting temperature of around 180°C ([0124]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the ITO electrode of Yoo with the claimed amount of tin oxide motivated by the desire to predictably produce an electrode with lower crystallization starting temperature as taught by Mori ([0124]).
Regarding the work function of the first electrode in claim 4, and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy level of claim 12, the prior art combination is silent with respect to the claimed values. However, the prior art combination teaches substantially the same compound of Formula 1 and substantially the same composition of anode, therefore, the claimed properties are considered to be inherent (and would be expected to fall within the range in the claim), absent evidence otherwise. Examiner notes that in the instant application as published, CuI is taught to have a EHOMO_HIL of -2.1 eV ([0290]) and an electrode with a mixture of 95% In to 5% Sn is taught to have a work function of -5.20 eV ([290]). Recitation of a newly disclosed property does not distinguish over a reference disclosure of the article or composition claims. When the structure recited in the prior art is substantially identical to that of the claims, claimed properties or functions are presumed to be inherent. Applicant bears responsibility for proving that the reference composition does not possess the characteristics recited in the claims. See MPEP 2112. When the values of the work function and LUMO energy levels are within the range claimed in claims 4 and 12, the relationships claimed in claims 13 and 14 would naturally flow from the values.
As per claim 9, Yoo teaches:
Wherein the hole transport region further comprises a hole transport material ([0014]: “The hole transport region includes a compound represented by Formula 101
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134
458
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.”)
As per claim 10, Yoo teaches:
Wherein the compound represented by Formula 1 is present in an amount from about 0.01 parts by weight to about 49.99 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the hole transport material (In Example 3, CuI is included as a dopant in the hole transport region in an amount of 1 wt% [0435]).
As per claim 11, Yoo teaches:
Wherein the compound represented by Formula 1 comprises a p-dopant ([0436]: “As seen in Examples 2 and 3, when a p-dopant or a metal halide is further included in the hole transport layer, a lower driving voltage and higher external quantum efficiency may be exhibited.” Based on the indefiniteness issues raised above, the metal halide is taught to be a dopant, and Yoo teaches the claimed limitations.)
As per claim 15, Yoo teaches:
Wherein the hole transport region comprises a hole injection layer, the hole injection layer directly contacts the first electrode and comprises the compound ([0076]: “In one or more embodiments, the hole transport region may include a hole injection layer, and the hole injection layer may include a metal halide.” In [0266], Yoo teaches the structure of the hole transport layer from the first electrode may be hole injection layer/hole transport layer, meaning the hole injection layer directly contacts the first electrode as claimed.)
As per claim 16, Yoo teaches:
Wherein the interlayer further comprises an electron transport region between the emission layer and the second electrode, and comprises a hole blocking layer, an electron transport layer, and electron injection layer or any combination thereof ([0263]: “The organic layer 150 may include a hole transport region between the first electrode 110 and the emission layer and an electron transport region between the emission layer and the second electrode 190.” & [0313]: “The electron transport region may include at least one selected from a buffer layer, a hole blocking layer, an electron control layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer…”)
As per claim 17, Yoo teaches:
Wherein at least one of the emission layer and the electron transport region comprises a pyridine-containing compound (In [0354], Yoo teaches that the electron transport region may include at least one compound selected from among compound ET2
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338
300
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, which contains the claimed pyridine compound.)
As per claim 18, Yoo teaches:
An electronic apparatus comprising the light emitting device ([0391]: “The organic light emitting device may be included in various apparatuses.”)
As per claim 19, Yoo teaches:
Further comprising a thin film transistor having a source electrode and a drain electrode, the first electrode of the light-emitting device is electrically connected to at least one of the source electrode and the drain electrode of the thin-film transistor ([0392]: “The light-emitting apparatus may further include, in addition to the organic light-emitting device, a thin film transistor including a source electrode and a drain electrode. One of the source electrode and the drain electrode of the thin film transistor may be electrically connected (e.g., coupled) to one of the first electrode or the second electrode of the organic light-emitting device.)
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo (US20190058132A1) in view of Mori (US20200043672A1) as applied to claims 1 – 19 above, and further in view of Jang (US20150188083A1).
As per claim 20, the prior art combination does not teach:
Further comprising a color filter, a color conversion layer, a touch screen layer, a polarizing layer or any combination thereof
Jang teaches an organic light emitting display device comprising an organic light emitting diode (Abstract). Jang teaches that these devices include sub-pixels that can comprise a conversion layer to convert white light into red, green and blue light ([0009]). Jang also teaches that the structure can comprise color filters in the respective pixel regions of the substrate (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the claimed color filter or color conversion layer on the OLED of the prior art combination because Jang demonstrates that this device structure was known prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
All claims are rejected.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENNA N CHANDHOK whose telephone number is (571)272-5780. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 6:30 - 3:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marla McConnell can be reached on 571-270-7692. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JENNA N CHANDHOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
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