Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/896,508

ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT MATERIALS AND ORGANIC ELECTROLUMINESCENT DEVICE COMPRISING THE SAME

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Aug 26, 2022
Examiner
NGUYEN, VU ANH
Art Unit
1762
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Rohm And Haas Electronic Materials Korea Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 6m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allow Rate
1247 granted / 1498 resolved
+18.2% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+15.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
1529
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
37.8%
-2.2% vs TC avg
§102
29.2%
-10.8% vs TC avg
§112
27.3%
-12.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1498 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election without traverse of FILLIN "Enter claim indentification information" \* MERGEFORMAT group I, claims 1-8, in the reply filed on FILLIN "Enter mail date of the reply." \* MERGEFORMAT 11/17/2025 is acknowledged. Claim FILLIN "Enter claim identification information" \* MERGEFORMAT s 9-12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected FILLIN "Enter the appropriate information" \* MERGEFORMAT invention , there being no allowable generic or linking claim. 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 appl icant regards as his invention. Claims 1-8 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. Claim 1 requires many substituted groups whose scopes are ill-defined. The term “substituted” is described in the specification as being selected from a group that includes, for example, a substituted heteroaryl group wherein the substituent of this substituted heteroaryl is a substituted carbazolyl (see page 10). The cyclic argument does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the term, rendering claim 1 indefinite. The other claims depend on claim 1 but fail to remedy the deficiency and they are indefinite as well. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 10 3 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 . Claim s 1- 5 and 7- 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0389456 A1 to Cho et al . Regarding claim 1, Cho et al. discloses an OLED having the configuration of anode/HIL/HTL/EBL/EML/HBL/ETL/EIL/cathode (p. 191) wherein the EML comprises dopant PhGD (7 wt %) and a combination of host compound 1-38 and host compound 2-B-30 in a weight ratio of 4:6, . Compounds 2-B-30 and 1-38 are representative of the claimed compounds for formulae 1 and 2 , respectively , but compound PhGD is different from the claimed compound of formula 3. Nevertheless, since Cho et al. teaches that one of the ligands can be replaced by , where R 300 - R 302 are similar to the R 9 – R 11 of the claimed compound (p. 154), it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time the instant invention was filed to modify the prior art device by replacing the PhGD with one of its equivalents, such as an iridium complex having one equivalent of acac and 2 equivalents of , and expect the same result. Claim 1 is therefore unpatentable for being obvious. See MPEP § 2143(I)(A)&(B). So are claims 2 -5 and 7-8. Claim s 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 2015/0116776 A to (= US 2017/0117488 A1) to Ahn et al. in view of US 2024/0389456 A1 to Cho et al . Regarding claim 1, Ahn et al. discloses an OLED wherein the EML comprises a phosphorescent dopant and 2 host materials having the following respective structures, and , and exemplified by and . The phosphorescent dopant is typically an iridium complex such as the following . The three compounds correspond to the claimed compounds. While Ahn et al. discloses that the first host compound can be deuterated (see [0012]), it fails to provide an example that is representative of the claimed compound of formula 2. However, Cho et al. (see above) teaches that the deuteration of the biscarbazole host material lowers the energy of the ground state and weakens the intermolecular interaction, and thereby enables the formation of amorphous thin film, which in turn improves heat resistance, efficiency and lifespan and reduces the driving voltage (see [0063]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a POSITA to modify the device disclosed by Ahn et al. by replacing the non-deuterated biscarbazoles with the heavily deuterated versions suggested by Cho et al. to achieve higher efficiency and lifespan at a reduced driving voltage. Claim 1 is accordingly unpatentable for being obvious. See MPEP § 2143 (I)(D). So are claims 2-3 , 5 and 7 -8 . The features of claim 4 are disclosed by Ahn et al. on pages 211 + . So are the compounds of claim 6. For example, compound H1-68 is met by compound H2-487 disclosed by Ahn et al. on page 156. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT VU ANH NGUYEN whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-5454 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 8:00 AM-5:00 PM . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT ROBERT JONES can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 270-7733 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /VU A NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 26, 2022
Application Filed
Dec 17, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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Patent 12598907
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Patent 12583843
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2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
83%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+15.9%)
2y 6m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1498 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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