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 (electron-transport composition comprising a metal oxide and a photoacid generator, a light-emitting element comprising an electron transport region comprising a metal oxide and an acid and a conjugate base of the acid which are generated by decomposition of a photoacid generator) and Species A (a photoacid generator represented by Formula 1) in the reply filed on 01/14/2026 is acknowledged.
The elected invention and species is encompassed by claims 1-6 and 17-20.
Claims 7-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 01/14/2026.
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 03/17/2022, 12/09/2024, 06/30/2025, 07/09/2025, and 02/18/2026 have each been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 2 and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
in claims 2 and 20, it is suggested that the colon at the end of "X is a halogen atom:" be changed to a comma or semicolon for ease of reading.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Mei et al. WO-2021238515-A1 (and see English language equivalent US-20230145503-A1 referred to hereinafter as "Mei").
Regarding claims 1 and 3, Mei discloses a material of an electron transport layer comprising a metallic oxide mixed with an acid generator (¶ [0004] and ¶ [0009]), wherein the metallic oxide is zinc oxide (¶ [0010]), and wherein the acid generator is
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(¶ [0016]), or 2-chloro-4,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-triazine (¶ [0060]), which are each a halogenated triazine-based compound.
Additionally, Mei discloses a display comprising: a first electrode, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a quantum dot light emitting layer, the electron transport layer, and a second electrode (¶ [0044], FIG. 1), wherein the material of the electron transport layer is the metallic oxide mixed with the acid generator (¶ [0043]). Mei discloses wherein there is acid generated by the acid generator under preset light irradiation (¶ [0043]), implicitly disclosing that also the conjugate base of the acid is present, which in the case of the above compound would be the halogen.
Claims 1, 3, and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fujimori et al. WO-20140653520-A1, see machine translation referred to herein as "Fujimori-MT".
Regarding claims 1, 3, and 5, Fujimori discloses a photosensitive resin composition comprising (Component A) a polymer containing a structural unit having a group in which an acid group is protected by an acid-decomposable group, (Component B) a compound having no aromatic ether bond and phenol group and having an epoxy group and / or oxetanyl group, (Component C) metal oxide particles, (Component D) a photoacid generator, (Component E) a solvent (Fujimori-MT, page 2 of 72, lines 28-33), and (Component I) a sensitizer which has effects such as electron transfer (Fujimori-MT, page 46 of 72, lines 31-35), which makes the composition an electron transport composition.
Fujimori discloses wherein the photoacid generator may be a trichloromethyl-s-triazine (Fujimori-MT, page 25 of 77, line 5), which is a halogenated triazine-based compound. Fujimori discloses wherein the metal oxide is preferably titanium oxide, zinc oxide, zirconium oxide, among others (Fujimori-MT, page 23 of 72, lines 24-28).
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 1-3, 5, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steiger et al. WO-2018219757-A1, see English language equivalent US-20220376180-A1 cited herein as "Steiger", in view of Shimoyama et al. KR-2013020631-A (hereinafter "Shimoyama-KR"), see machine translation referred to herein as "Shimoyama-MT".
It is noted that Steiger et al.WO-2018219757-A1 and US-20220376180-A1, are in the same family as KR-2020014823-A, cited on the IDS of 03/17/2022.
It is noted that Shimoyama et al. KR-2013020631-A is cited on the IDS of 12/09/2024.
Regarding claims 1-3, 5, and 17-20, Steiger teaches preparing a device preparing a device by forming a charge transport layer, over a first electrode, the layer comprising a metal oxide formed from a liquid phase composition for producing metal oxide-containing layers, wherein the composition is containing at least one metal oxide precursor, preferably comprising at least one metal atom from the group consisting of In, Zn, Ga, Y, Sn, Ge, Sc, Ti, Zr, Al, W, Mo, Ni, Cr, Fe, Hf, Ta, Nb and Cu (¶ [0049]), at least one photo acid generator, preferably an photo acid generator which upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation releases at least one acid molecule (¶ [0050]), and at least one solvent (¶ [0051]).
Steiger teaches the device comprising the first electrode, the charge transport formed by the deposition of a metal oxide precursor composition that can be directly patterned by means of exposure to electromagnetic radiation to form the patterned metal oxide layer, a layer comprising quantum dots, a hole transport material layer and a second electrode (¶ [0105] and Fig. 4). Steiger teaches wherein the device is a light-emitting device and the layer comprising quantum dots is an emissive layer (¶ [0019]).
Steiger does not specifically exemplify a device formed as described above wherein the photo acid generator is a halogenated triazine-based compound.
Shimoyama teaches photoacid generators that produce acid in response to light (Shimoyama-MT, page 19 of 67, lines 10-11), for use in forming films in light emitting displays (Shimoyama-MT, page 1 of 67, lines 17-18). Shimoyama teaches examples of the photoacid generator include trichloromethyl-s-triazines (Shimoyama-MT, page 19 of 67, line 18), including more specifically 2-(3-chlorophenyl)-bis(4,6-trichloromethyl)-s-triazine, 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-bis(4,6-trichloromethyl)-s-triazine, and 2-(4-methylthiophenyl)-bis(4,6-trichloromethyl)-s-triazine (Shimoyama-MT, page 19 of 67, lines 24-26).
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 Steiger by forming the photo acid generator out of the trichloromethyl-s-triazines taught by Shimoyama. One would have been motivated to do so because Steiger teaches preparing a device by forming a charge transport layer using a composition comprising at least one photo acid generator, which upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation releases at least one acid molecule and Shimoyama teaches photoacid generators that produce acid in response to light suitable for use in forming films in light emitting displays. 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 cited trichloromethyl-s-triazines of Shimoyama meet the claimed Formula 1 wherein R1 and R2 are each CX3 wherein X is halogen (Cl) and R3 is a substituted aryl group having 6 ring-forming carbon atoms.
As noted above, the photo acid generator, upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation, releases at least one acid molecule (see ¶ [0050]), implicitly disclosing that also the conjugate base of the acid is present, which in the case of the above modified device would be the halogen.
Claims 4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fujimori et al. WO-20140653520-A1, see machine translation referred to herein as "Fujimori-MT" as applied to claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 4, Fujimori teaches the composition as described above with respect to claim 1.
Fujimori teaches (Component D) the photoacid generator is preferably used in an amount of 0.1 to 10 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by 34 mass of Component A in the photosensitive resin composition and is more preferable to use 5 to 10 parts by mass (Fujimori-MT, page 20 of 72, lines 33-36) and (Component C) is 5 to 80% by mass, more preferably 10 to 70% by mass, based on the total solid content of the composition (Fujimori-MT, page 24 of 72, lines 4-7). Further, Fujimori teaches specific examples of the composition comprising 187.5 parts metal oxide, which is titanium oxide (Fujimori-MT, page 61 of 72, lines 20-21) and 6 parts photo acid generator, which is compound B-1 (Fujimori-MT, page 63 of 72, lines 1-4).
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 form the composition of 187.5 parts metal oxide and 6 part photo acid generator (which falls within the claimed range of 0.0001:1 and about 0:05:1), because this would have been combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. See MPEP § 2143.I.(A).
Regarding claim 6, Fujimori teaches the composition as described above with respect to claim 1.
Fujimori discloses wherein the photosensitive resin composition comprising (Component M) an acid proliferating agent with a lower limit of pKa of 15 or more (Fujimori-MT, page 50 of 72, lines 3-6 and 11-12), overlaps with the claimed range of having a pKa of about 4.75 or higher. Fujimori discloses the content of the acid proliferating agent in the photosensitive composition is 10 to 1,000 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the photoacid generator (Fujimori-MT, page 50 of 72, lines 22-24), which is expected to overlap with he claimed range of about 0.01:1 to about 100 to 1. A prima facie case of obviousness exists where the claimed ranges overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art. See MPEP § 2144.05.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Mei et al. US-20220320454-A1 teaches an electron transport composition comprising a metal oxide material with a photoacid generator (¶ [0026]-[0027]).
Contact Information
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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