DETAILED ACTION
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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/27/2026 has been entered.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The office acknowledges the receipt of applicants’ response to the restriction requirement dated 05/20/2025.
Elected Species
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421
702
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716
750
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292
772
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As not mentioned otherwise, the response is viewed without traverse.
A search of the prior art did not show the elected species. As no claims where specifically drawn to applicants’ elected species in independent form, no claims have been indicated as allowable. Claims written in independent form which require all the limitations of the elected species along with any dependent claims which require all the limitations of the elected species would be allowable. Under MPEP 803.02, the search was again expanded to find an examinable species.
Examinable Species
The examinable species is represented by:
Subspecies A:
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170
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Subspecies B:
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188
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The examinable species reads on claims 1-2, 7, 58-59, 66, 70-71. Claims 3-5, 11-17, 19-54 are withdrawn from further consideration in this office action as not reading on the examinable species.
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.
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2,7, 58-59, 66 and 70-71 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishige (US 2014/0231787 A1).
Regarding Claim 1-2, 7, 58, 59, 66, 70, Ishige teaches an OLED represented by (paragraph 19):
an anode 2 and a cathode 7 are provided on a substrate 1, and a first light-emitting layer 5 and a second light-emitting layer 4 are sandwiched between the anode 2 and the cathode 7 (paragraph 19). Ishige teaches hosts for the light emitting layers (paragraph 42).
The first light-emitting layer 5 host can be H33 (page 9):
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H33 reads on applicants’ first compound wherein R102-R100 = H; R11 = Formula 11; mx =1; L101 = naphthyl; Ar101 is phenanthryl.
Ishige teaches that the second compound can be represented by H38 (page 10):
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H39 reads on applicants’ Formula 2 wherein R201-R208 = H; L201 = phenylene; Ar201 = phenyl; L202 = single bond; Ar202 = naphthyl (per claim 70).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of invention to have light emitting layer materials taught by Ishige which would have included H33 and H39 which reads on the instant limitations, absent unexpected results (per claims 1-2, 7, 58, 59, 66).
Regarding Claim 71, Ishige teaches an OLED represented by (paragraph 19):
an anode 2 and a cathode 7 are provided on a substrate 1, and a first light-emitting layer 5 and a second light-emitting layer 4 are sandwiched between the anode 2 and the cathode 7 (paragraph 19).
The first light-emitting layer 5 and a second light-emitting layer 4 are in direct contact (figure 1) (per claim 71).
Response to Amendments
The applicant’s arguments with respect to the pending claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by the applicant’s amendment.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY D CLARK whose telephone number is (571)270-7087. The examiner can normally be reached on 8AM-4PM M-F.
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 Chriss can be reached on 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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/GREGORY D CLARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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