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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/17/2025 has been entered.
Summary of Claims
Claims 1 and 12 are amended, claims 2-3 are cancelled, and claims 17-18 are new due to Applicant's amendment dated 11/10/2025. Claims 1, 4 and 6-18 are pending.
Response to Amendment
The objection to the drawings as set forth in the previous Office Action is overcome due to the Applicant's amendment dated 11/10/2025.
The objection to claims 1 and 16 as set forth in the previous Office Action is overcome due to the Applicant's amendment dated 11/10/2025.
The rejection of claims 2-3 as set forth in the previous Office Action is moot because claims 2-3 are cancelled due to the Applicant's amendment dated 11/10/2026.
The rejection of claim 12 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention as set forth in the previous Office Action is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 11/10/2025. The rejection is withdrawn.
The rejection of claims 1, 4, 6-7, 10, and 13-16 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoll (English translation of DE 102013103984 obtained from Global Dossier) in view of Keawsongsaeng (Keawsongsaeng, Wittawat, et al. "Systematic investigation of porphyrin‐thiophene conjugates for ternary bulk heterojunction solar cells." Advanced Energy Materials 6.20 (2016): 1600957.) is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 11/10/2025. The rejection is withdrawn.
The rejection of claim 8 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoll in view of Keawsongsaeng, Stefan (US 2021/0367111 A1), and Whittmann is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 11/10/2025. The rejection is withdrawn.
The rejection of claim 9 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoll in view of Keawsongsaeng, Stefan, and Whittmann (US 2013/0099266 A1) is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 11/10/2025. The rejection is withdrawn.
The rejection of claim 11 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoll in view of Keawsongsaeng, Huang (US 2011/0254038 A1), and Whittmann is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 11/10/2025. The rejection is withdrawn.
The rejection of claim 12 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stoll in view of Keawsongsaeng, and Koizumi (US 2011/0204400 A1) is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 11/10/2025. The rejection is withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments on pages 8-11 of the reply dated 11/10/2025 with respect to the rejections as set forth in the previous Office Action have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the new grounds of rejection set forth below.
Claim Objections
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 16 contains two commas between the first two formulae. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the central metal" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16 recites the porphyrin derivative may be selected from the following formulae:
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However, claim 1 (of which claim 16 is dependent upon) recites the porphyrin derivative comprises one of the general formulae wherein each R is selected from groups that do not include hydrogen.
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As the formulae in claim 16 read on the formulae in claim 1 wherein multiple R groups are required to be selected as hydrogen, it is unclear how the formulae in claim 16 read on the formulae of claim 1. For purposes of examination, the formulae
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and
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of claim 16 will be interpreted as not present.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
As discussed above with respect to the 112(b) rejection of claim 16, the formulae
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and
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do not properly depend from the formulae recited in claim 1. If the above formulae are selected, they do not satisfy all the requirements of formulae in claim 1. Thus claim 16 does not properly depend from claim 1.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 4, 6-14, and 17-18 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claim 1, the prior art does not teach or suggest an optoelectronic component with at least one radiation-emitting semiconductor chip which emits electromagnetic radiation of a first wavelength range, and an absorber that is transmissive to the emitted electromagnetic radiation of the first wavelength range, wherein the first wavelength range is in the electromagnetic spectrum between 610 nm and 640 nm; wherein the absorber comprises an absorbing material which further comprises a porphyrin derivative of one of the general formulae
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, in combination with the remainder of claim 1.
With respect to claim 17, the prior art does not teach or suggest an optoelectronic component with at least one radiation-emitting semiconductor chip which emits electromagnetic radiation of a first wavelength range, and an absorber that is transmissive to the emitted electromagnetic radiation of the first wavelength range; wherein the absorber comprises an absorbing material which further comprises a porphyrin derivative of the general formula
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, in combination with the remainder of claim 17.
With respect to claim 18, the prior art does not teach or suggest an optoelectronic component with at least one radiation-emitting semiconductor chip which emits electromagnetic radiation of a first wavelength range, and an absorber that is transmissive to the emitted electromagnetic radiation of the first wavelength range; wherein the absorber comprises an absorbing material which further comprises a porphyrin derivative of the general formula
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, in combination with the remainder of claim 18.
Stoll (English translation of DE 102013103984 obtained from Global Dossier), cited in the previous rejection dated 09/10/2025, is considered the closest prior art of record. Stoll teaches a lighting device (2) (optoelectronic component) comprising a semiconductor body (5) (semiconductor chip) which during operation emits electromagnetic radiation having a first spectrum comprising a first peak (¶ [0001], [0023], and [0074]). The lighting device comprises a conversion element which partially converts the electromagnetic radiation having the first spectrum into electromagnetic radiation having a second spectrum comprising a second peak and further converts another portion of the electromagnetic radiation having the first spectrum into electromagnetic radiation having a third spectrum comprising a third peak (¶ [0023]). Stoll teaches examples of such devices including the device of Fig. 2.
Fig. 2:
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Stoll’s device further comprises an absorber material (12 and 12’), which is incorporated into a matrix material (7) such as a silicone or an epoxy (¶ [0010], [0048], and [0076]; Fig. 2). The spectral range absorbed by the absorber material lies between two directly adjacent peaks of the spectrum of the semiconductor body, wherein the partial range of absorbed radiation is not part of the full width at half maximum of the peaks (¶ [0018]). That is, only a part of the emitted electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by the absorber material, and thus the absorber material is transmissive to at least a part of the emitted electromagnetic radiation of the semiconductor body.
While Stoll teaches organic phosphors including porphyrins and their metal complexes may be used as absorber materials (¶ [0036]-[0037]), Stoll fails to teach an absorber material that reads on the claimed general formulae.
Additionally, Stoll teaches the electromagnetic radiation of the first spectrum is preferably within the blue spectral range, which is outside of the claimed range of 610 to 640 nm. Accordingly, with respect to the limitations of claim 1, Stoll fails to teach the claimed first wavelength range is in the electromagnetic spectrum of 610 to 640 nm.
Keawsongsaeng (Keawsongsaeng, Wittawat, et al. "Systematic investigation of porphyrin‐thiophene conjugates for ternary bulk heterojunction solar cells." Advanced Energy Materials 6.20 (2016): 1600957.), cited in the previous rejection dated 09/10/2025, is relevant to the claimed invention. Keawsongsaeng teaches porphyrins are useful in optoelectronic applications due to their extremely high absorption coefficients in the range of 400-500 nm, high thermal and protectabilities, and tunable electrochemical and photophysical properties (pg. 1, Introduction). Keawsongsaeng teaches a family of porphyrins and benzoporphyrins bearing phenyl, thiophenyl, or bithiophenyl groups at their meso-positions including Zn-TPBP (abstract; Scheme 1). The benzoporphyrins show red-shifted absorption compared to their porphyrin counterparts (see Table 1). In particular, Zn-TPBP shows an absorption maximum (λabs) of 470 nm (Table 1). Additionally, as shown in Figure 2, Zn-TPBP absorbs wavelengths of about 410-500 nm.
Zn-TPBP:
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;
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However, Keawsongsaeng fails to teach a radiation-emitting semiconductor chip emits electromagnetic radiation of a first wavelength range in the electromagnetic spectrum between 610 and 640 nm. Accordingly, Keawsongsaeng fails to remedy the deficiencies of Stoll.
Laha (Laha, Joydev K., et al. "Synthetic chlorins bearing auxochromes at the 3-and 13-positions." The Journal of Organic Chemistry 71.11 (2006): 4092-4102.) is relevant to the claimed invention. Laha teaches synthetic chlorins having the structure below (abstract).
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However, Laha fails to teach the synthetic chlorins may be used in an optoelectronic device, and fails to teach the chlorins may be used as absorbing material. Accordingly, there is no motivation to use Laha’s chlorins in Stoll’s lighting device. Thus, Laha fails to remedy the deficiencies of Stoll.
Thus there is no prior art, either alone or in combination, which teaches or renders obvious an optoelectronic component with at least one radiation-emitting semiconductor chip which emits electromagnetic radiation of a first wavelength range, and an absorber that is transmissive to the emitted electromagnetic radiation of the first wavelength range, wherein the first wavelength range is in the electromagnetic spectrum between 610 nm and 640 nm; wherein the absorber comprises an absorbing material which further comprises a porphyrin derivative of one of the general formulae
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, in combination with the remainder of claim 1.
Thus there is no prior art, either alone or in combination, which teaches or renders obvious an optoelectronic component with at least one radiation-emitting semiconductor chip which emits electromagnetic radiation of a first wavelength range, and an absorber that is transmissive to the emitted electromagnetic radiation of the first wavelength range; wherein the absorber comprises an absorbing material which further comprises a porphyrin derivative of the general formula
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, in combination with the remainder of claim 17.
Thus there is no prior art, either alone or in combination, which teaches or renders obvious an optoelectronic component with at least one radiation-emitting semiconductor chip which emits electromagnetic radiation of a first wavelength range, and an absorber that is transmissive to the emitted electromagnetic radiation of the first wavelength range; wherein the absorber comprises an absorbing material which further comprises a porphyrin derivative of the general formula
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, in combination with the remainder of claim 18.
Claims 4 and 6-14 depend from claim 1 and thus are allowed for the same reasons presented with respect to claim 1 above.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRAELYN R WATSON whose telephone number is (571)272-1822. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-5pm.
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/BRAELYN R WATSON/Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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