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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 12/28/2022 has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: the resolution of the chemical structure formula of DABNA is of such poor resolution that is it unclear what the letters in the structure represent.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 10-11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
in claim 1, it is suggested that "An organic electroluminescent device, comprising…" be changed to " An organic electroluminescent device[[,]] comprising…" for ease of reading.
In claim 1 it is suggested that "an anode and a cathode, arrange in opposite" be replaced with "an anode and a cathode, arranged opposite to the anode" for ease of reading;
in claim 10, it is suggested that "A display panel, comprising…" be changed to "A display panel[[,]] comprising…" for ease of reading; and
in claim 11, it is suggested that "A display apparatus, comprising…" be changed to "A display apparatus[[,]] comprising…" 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 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wu et al. CN-112151687-A (hereinafter "Wu-CN" and see English language machine translation referred to herein as "Wu-MT").
It is noted that CN-112151687-A is cited on the IDS of 12/28/2022.
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
Applicant may rely on the exception under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(A) to overcome this rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) by a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application, and is therefore not prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1). Alternatively, applicant may rely on the exception under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(B) by providing evidence of a prior public disclosure via an affidavit or declaration under 37 CFR 1.130(b).
Regarding claims 1-19, Wu discloses an organic electroluminescent device comprising: an anode and a cathode opposite to each other; a light emitting layer located between the anode and the cathode; a first auxiliary function layer located between the light emitting layer and the anode; and a second auxiliary function layer located between the light emitting layer and the cathode; wherein, the light emitting layer comprises a first compound, a second compound and a third compound, wherein the Stokes displacement between the absorption spectrum and the emission spectrum of the second compound is less than 70nm, the doping mass ratio of the second compound in the light emitting layer is less than 50wt% (Wu-CN, page 1 of 8, lines 23-29). Wu discloses that the overlap area between the absorption spectrum of the second compound and the emission spectrum of the first compound is greater than 30 % (Wu-CN, page 1 of 8, lines 30-32). Wu discloses that the overlap area between the emission spectrum of the second compound and the absorption spectrum of the third compound is greater than 20 % (Wu-CN, page 1 of 8, lines 33-35). Wu discloses that the peak range of the emission spectrum of the first compound is 400nm-550nm, peak value of emission spectrum of the second compound is greater than peak value of emission spectrum of the first compound and difference value of the two is 30nm-100nm, the peak value of emission spectrum of the third compound is greater than peak value of emission spectrum of the second compound and difference value of the two is 30nm-100nm, the peak value range of the absorption spectrum of the second compound is 200nm-500nm, and the peak value range of the absorption spectrum of the third compound is 430nm-600nm (Wu-CN, page 1 of 8, line36 to page 2 of 8, line 5). Wu discloses that the triplet state energy level of the second compound is higher than the triplet state energy level of the third compound (Wu-CN, page 2 of 8, lines 6-8). Wu discloses that the triplet state energy level of the first compound is higher than the triplet state energy level of the third compound (Wu-CN, page 2 of 8, lines 9-10). Wu discloses that the triplet energy level of the first compound is less than the triplet state energy level of the first auxiliary functional layer in the contact film layer and the triplet state energy level of the first compound is less than the triplet state energy level of the phase contact film layer in the second auxiliary function layer (Wu-CN, page 2 of 8, lines 12-15). Wu discloses that the first auxiliary functional layer comprises at least one of the following: a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron blocking layer and the second auxiliary functional layer comprises at least one of the following: an electron injection layer, an electron transport layer, a hole blocking layer (Wu-CN, page 2 of 8, lines 16-20). Wu discloses that the second compound has the characteristic of emitting delayed fluorescence (Wu-CN, page 2 of 8, lines 21-22). Wu further discloses a display panel comprising a plurality of the organic electroluminescent device (Wu-CN, page 2 of 8, lines 23-24) and a display device comprising the display panel (Wu-CN, page 2 of 8, lines 23-25).
Thus, Wu's organic electroluminescent device, display panel comprising the organic electroluminescent device, and display device comprising the display panel meet claims 1-19.
Claims 1, 6, 8, 10-11, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Baek et al. US-20200048199-A1 (hereinafter "Baek").
Regarding claims 1, 6, 8, 10-11, and 16-18, Baek discloses an organic light-emitting diode that comprises a first emitting material layer between a first and second electrode, wherein the first emitting material layer comprises an organic compound (¶ [0019]). Baek discloses the first emitting material layer includes a first host (claimed first compound), a first dopant (claimed third compound), and the organic compound used as a second dopant (claimed second compound) (¶ [0020]) wherein the excited state triplet energy level of the first host (first compound) is higher than the excited state triplet energy level of the first dopant (third compound) (¶ [0022]). Baek discloses wherein the organic light-emitting diode is applied to an organic light-emitting display device (¶ [0072]).
Baek discloses a specific example of the organic light-emitting diode in Example 1 with layer structure: an anode (ITO, 500 Å); a hole injection layer (HIL) (HAT-CN; 50 Å); a hole transport layer (HTL) (NPB, 500 Å); an electron blocking layer (EBL) (2,8-bis(9-phenyl-9H-carbazol-3-yl)dibenzo[b,d]thiophene; 100 Å); an emitting material layer (EML) (DPEPO (host): Cz2BP (delayed fluorescent dopant): Compound 1 (fluorescent dopant)=69:30:1 by weight ratio); 300 Å); a hole blocking layer (HBL) (DPEPO; 100 Å); an electron transport layer (ETL) (TPBi; 250 Å); an electron injection layer (EIL) (LiF; 50 Å); and a cathode (Al; 1000 Å).
The layers HIL / HTL / EBL correspond to the claimed first auxiliary layer and the layers HBL / ETL / EIL correspond to the claimed second auxiliary layer. The host DPEPO corresponds to the claimed first compound, the fluorescent dopant Compound 1 corresponds to the claimed second compound, and the delayed fluorescent dopant Cz2BP corresponds to the claimed third compound.
Compound 1 has a Stokes shift of 12 nm (Table 1, page 26) which falls within the claimed range of smaller than 70 nm and is present in the EML in a doping mass ratio of 1 wt%, which falls within the claimed range of smaller than 50 wt%.
Therefore, Baek's device meets claims 1, 6, 8, 10-11, and 16-18.
Claims 1, 8-11, and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yoon et al. US-20210257575-A1 (hereinafter "Yoon").
Regarding claims 1, 8-11, and 17-19, Yoon discloses a light-emitting device including an interlayer arranged between a first electrode and a second electrode and including an emission layer, wherein the emission layer includes a host, a first dopant, and a second dopant, and wherein a Stokes shift of the second dopant is less than or equal to 15 nm (¶ [0006]-[0013]). Yoon discloses wherein the second dopant emits delayed fluorescence (¶ [0278]). Yoon discloses an electronic apparatus including the light-emitting device (¶ [0023]), which may be a display (¶ [0400]).
Yoon teaches and example of the light-emitting device in Example 1 having the layer structure: anode (ITO) / hole injection layer (HIL) (2-TNATA; 600 Å) / hole transport layer (HTL) (HAT-CN; 300 Å) / emission layer (mCBP host, first dopant D1-1, and second dopant D2-1 at a weight ratio of 90:5:5; 300 Å) / electron transport layer (ETL) (ET1; 300 Å) / electron injection layer (EIL) (Yb; 10 Å) / cathode (Al; 1,000 Å).
The layers HIL / HTL correspond to the claimed first auxiliary layer and the layers ETL / EIL correspond to the claimed second auxiliary layer. The host mCBP corresponds to the claimed first compound, the fluorescent dopant D1-1 corresponds to the claimed third compound, and the delayed fluorescent second dopant D2-1 corresponds to the claimed second compound.
Compound D2-1 has a Stokes shift of 14 nm (TABLE 2, page 81) which falls within the claimed range of smaller than 70 nm and is present in the emission layer in a doping mass ratio of 5 wt%, which falls within the claimed range of smaller than 50 wt%.
Therefore, Yoon's device meets claims 1, 8-11, and 17-19.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US-20200194683-A1, cited on the IDS of 12/28/2022, teaches a heterocyclic compound represented by Formula 1 (¶ [0006]-[0007]) with a small Stokes shift (¶ [0431]); and CN-111471449-A, cited on the IDS of 12/28/2022, teaches a boron-containing organic compound of a formula (1) with a small Stokes shift (Abstract).
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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/ELIZABETH M. DAHLBURG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786