DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The preliminary amendment dated 06/15/2022 is entered. Claims 7 and 14 were amended. Claims 1-17 are pending.
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.
Claims 1-7 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugino et al. (US 2018/0037546 A1).
Sugino et al. teaches aromatic heterocyclic derivatives for organic EL elements (see abstract) according to Formulas 1, 2, 3, and 4 (see par. 14)
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Ar1 and Ar2 may be selected as aryl (see par. 16 and 19). The Y1 to Y3 containing rings are nitrogen-containing rings per instant group “N-Het” (see par. 15). X may be oxygen or sulfur per instant core group containing X (see par. 21). The carbazole groups of the formulas read upon instant Ar1 or Ar2 group and groups Ra and/or Rb may be a substituent per the instant other of Ar1 or Ar2 (see par. 22, 105-109). Regarding bonding locations of claims 1-3, the same bonding locations may be present within formulas 1 to 4. Regarding claim 4, when each Y1 to Y3 is nitrogen at least triazine is present per instant “N-Het” group (see par. 15). Regarding claim 5, the number of substituents on Formulas 1 to 4 may include the number of recited hydrogen (see par. 41). Regarding claim 6, when Formula 2 has each Y1 to Y3 as nitrogen (i.e. triazine, see par. 15), each Ar1 and Ar2 is selected as aryl phenyl (see par. 16, 19, 99), X is oxygen (see par. 21), Rb is phenyl, nb1 is 1, L1 and L2 are single bond (see par. 23, 24, 28, 29) and bonding locations are specifically selected to the core X group, a compound of Formula 2 is the same as at least Compound 41 of instant claim 6:
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Regarding the device structure of claim 7, the derivatives of Formulas 1 to 4 are used in an organic layer between an anode and a cathode (see par. 13-14). Regarding claim 11, the compounds are part of a light emitting layer (see par. 59). Regarding claim 12, the compounds may be host material of a light emitting layer (see par. 60). Regarding claim 13, further functional layers may be included in the device (see par. 171-176).
While Sugino et al. does not appear to exemplify a compound the same as instant Formula 1, given the teachings of the reference, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed compounds according to Sugino et al. Formulas 1 to 4 with selected groups as discussed above wherein the resultant compound for a device would also meet the limitations of the instant claims. One would expect to achieve a functional compound for a device structure within the disclosure of Sugino et al. with a predictable result and a reasonable expectation of success.
Claims 8-10 and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugino et al. (US 2018/0037546 A1) in view of Kim et al. (US 2019/0198790 A1).
Sugino et al. is relied upon as set forth above.
Regarding mixed host material of claims 8 and 14, Sugino et al. compounds of Formulas 1 to 4 may be combined with other host in a layer of a device (see par. 61, 62); however, it is not seen where a specific other host is described the same as instant Formula A in Sugino et al. In analogous art, Kim et al. teaches host compositions for use in a light emitting layer of a light emitting device (see abstract and par. 115) where one host is according to formula 7 used in combination with a triazine derivative (see par. 14):
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More specifically, a Kim et al. formula 7 compound may be the following E-22 (see page 29), which is identical to instant compound 2-1 of instant claim 9:
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have selected a host as taught by Kim et al. to use in mixture with host as taught by Sugino et al., because Sugino et al. teaches using a host with another host and one would expect the Kim et al. compounds of Formula 7 (such as E-22) to be similarly useful as a co-host in a device according to Sugino et al. One would expect to achieve a functional device using a composition of host materials as taught by Sugino et al. and Kim et al. with a predictable result and a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 10, above compound E-22 comprises hydrogen per instant groups Rc and Rd.
Further regarding claim 15, while Sugano et al. teaches a combination of host may be used in the light emitting layer, it is not seen where a specific ratio of the two hosts is taught. In analogous art, Kim et al. teaches a ratio of two host materials in a light emitting layer may be from 10:90 to 90:10 (see Kim et al. par. 99). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have selected a host as taught by Kim et al. to use in mixture with host as taught by Sugino et al. in a ratio of 10:90 to 90:10, because Sugino et al. teaches using a host with another host and one would expect the Kim et al. compounds of Formula 7 to be similarly useful as a co-host in a device according to Sugino et al. in ratios as taught by Kim et al. One would expect to achieve a functional device using a ratio of two host materials as taught by Sugino et al. and Kim et al. with a predictable result and a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding method claims 16 and 17, materials for a light emitting layer may be formed by a vacuum vapor deposition method (see Sugino et al. par. 271-272 and 276); note also par. 181 in Kim et al.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Tao, W. W. et al., (2019). Dibenzofuran/dibenzothiophene as the secondary electron-donors for highly efficient blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 7(15), 4475-4483.
The reference discusses dibenzofuran and dibenzothiophene derivatives for use in light emitting devices, which are considered relevant to the field of the endeavor.
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/DAWN L GARRETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786