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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (drawn to an organic thin film, an organic electroluminescence material, an organic thin film solar cell material, a photoelectric transducer material, a thin film transistor material, and a coating composition each comprising a hexahydropyrimidopyrimidine compound having a structure of a formula (1)) and Species A (an organic electroluminescence device material) in the reply filed on 12/30/2025 is acknowledged.
The elected group and species are encompassed by claims 1-16 and 23-24.
Claims 17-22 and 25-27 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention and/or species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/20/2025.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/25/2022, 07/17/2023, 03/18/2024, and 03/04/2026 were each considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 11, 14-16, and 23-24 are objected to because of the following informalities:
in claims 11, 15-16, and 23-24, it is suggested to delete the comma that appears before "comprising" in the preamble, for ease of reading;
in claim 14 it is suggested to delete "accord to claim 11" on line 8, for ease of reading;
in claims 15-16 it suggested to delete colon after "comprising" in the preamble, for ease of reading; and
in claims 1, 11, and 23-24, it is suggested to delete "[Chem #]", wherein # is 1, 2, 6, and 7, respectively, for ease of reading.
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 4-10 and 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.
Regarding claims 4-10 and 15-16, claim 4 recites "at least one selected from the group consisting of the organic thin film according to claim 1 and a laminate film between the cathode and the emitting layer." It is unclear from this recitation if the laminate film recited in the claim is referring to the "laminate film including a film containing the first material and a film containing the second material" recited in claim 1 or if this is referring to an additional laminate film.
Claims 5-10 and 15-16 are rejected as being dependent on indefinite claim 4.
For purposes of examination, claim 4 will be interpreted such that "a laminate film" is referring to the laminate film according to claim 1 so that lines 5-8 of the claim read as "the organic thin film according to claim 1 between the cathode and the emitting layer" (which refers to both the single film and laminate film) or "at least one selected from the group consisting of the single film or the laminate film according to claim 1 between the cathode and the emitting layer".
Claims 6-9 each recite the limitations "the film containing the first material and the second material" and "the film containing the second material". However, there is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claims. Claim 4, from which claim 6 depends, only appears to recite "the organic thin film according to claim 1" and "a laminate film" and claim 1, from which claim 4 depends, only appears to recite "a single film containing a first material", "a film containing the first material" and "a film containing the second material". It is unclear to what "the film containing the first material and the second material" is referring and it is unclear if the recitation of "the film containing the second material" in claim 6 is referring to the "film containing the second material" in the laminate film in claim 1, or an additional film containing the second material.
Claims 7-8 are rejected as being dependent on indefinite claim 6.
For purposes of examination, claims 6-9 will be interpreted such that "the film containing the first material and the second material" is read as ""the single film containing the first material and the second material" and "the film containing the second material" is an additional layer containing the second material required by claim 6. Put another way, the claim will be interpreted such that the organic electroluminescent device includes between the cathode and the emitting layer: (1) the single film containing the first material and the second material (according to claim 1); and (2) a film containing the second material.
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.
Claims 1-16 and 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukagawa et al. WO-2016181705-A1( and see the English language equivalent US-20190081239-A1 cited herein as "Fukagawa") in view of Schwamm et al. J. Org. Chem. 2016, 81, 7612−7625 (hereinafter "Schwamm").
It is noted that WO-2016181705-A1, US-20190081239-A1, and Schwamm et al. J. Org. Chem. 2016, 81, 7612−7625 are each cited on the IDS of 05/25/2022.
Regarding 1-16 and 23-24, Fukagawa teaches an organic thin film at least including a first material which is an organic material having an acid dissociation constant pKa of 1 or greater and a second material which transports an electron (¶ [0022]-[0024]), wherein the first material is selected from a guanidine compound, among others (¶ [0025]). Fukagawa teaches a laminate film including an oxide layer; and the organic thin film (¶ [0030]-[0032]). Fukagawa teaches an organic electroluminescence device including: a cathode; an anode; an emitting layer between the electrodes; and the organic thin film or the laminate film according between the cathode and the emitting layer (¶ [0033]-[0037]), and further including an inorganic oxide layer between the cathode and the organic thin film (¶ [0040]). Fukagawa teaches wherein the first material and the second material are separately formed into layers and laminating the layers, and wherein the second material layer may constitute a layer other than an electron injection layer in the device including an electron transport layer or an emitting layer (¶ [0362]). Fukagawa teaches a display device and lighting system including the organic electroluminescence device (¶ [0041]-[0042]). Fukagawa teaches a coating composition that at least contains the first material and the second material (¶ [0047]-[0049]). Finally, Fukagawa discloses examples of the organic electroluminescence device including Device 15 (see paragraphs [0431] to [0455] and TABLE 1) comprising the organic thing film wherein the first compound MTBD, which is a guanidine compound having the structure
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(page 7).
Fukagawa does not exemplify an organic thin film as discussed above wherein the first material is a compound that meets the claimed formula (1). For example, the compound MTBD differs from the claimed compound of formula (1) in that the position corresponding to R1 is CH3 instead of an optionally substituted aromatic hydrocarbon group, an optionally substituted aromatic heterocyclic group, an optionally substituted arylalkylene group, an optionally substituted divalent to tetravalent acyclic or cyclic hydrocarbon group, a group of a combination of two or more of these groups, or a group of a combination of one or more of these groups and a nitrogen atom. However, as noted above, Fukagawa teaches generally that the first material has an acid dissociation constant pKa of 1 or greater and may be a guanidine compound.
Schwamm teaches pyridine-supported bicyclic guanidine superbases including
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(Figure 13) having a pKa of 25 (Table 5), which is greater than 1.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the device of Fukagawa by forming the first material out of the pyridine-supported bicyclic guanidine compound 2c, as taught by Schwamm. One would have been motivated to do so because Fukagawa teaches that the first material has an acid dissociation constant pKa of 1 or greater and may be a guanidine compound and Schwamm teaches a guanidine compound with an acid dissociation constant pKa greater than 1. The selection of a known material, which is based upon its suitability for the intended use, is within the ambit of one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. See MPEP § 2144.07.
The modified organic thin film of Fukagawa in view of Schwamm comprises as the first material the compound
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which is a hexahydropyrimidopyrimidine compound having a structure of the claimed formula (1) wherein: n is 2 and R1 is an unsubstituted aromatic heterocyclic group (a pyridine group).
Thus, modified organic thing film and device of Fukagawa in view of Schwamm meets claims 1-16 and 23-24.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Fukagawa et al.WO-2021045020-A1 teaches a charge generation layer comprising guanidine compounds, among others (Abstract), and discloses guanidine compounds including Py-hpp2
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(page 18).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Elizabeth M. Dahlburg whose telephone number is 571-272-6424. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET, and alternate Fridays.
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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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/ELIZABETH M. DAHLBURG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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