Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: The verb for “Y, Y1” should be changed from “is” to “are”.
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 applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 12-2 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 12 is indefinite for a number of reasons. First, in the description of R, it is unclear if the phrase “or an aromatic or heteroaromatic rings system which has 5 to 60 aromatic ring atoms” is a divalent option for replacing “one or more nonadjacent CH2 groups”, or a monovalent constituent in the list of options for R. The same ambiguity is found in the description of R1. Second, the scope of the aromatic or heteroaromatic rings system in the description of R is ambiguous as it may have 5-60 ring atoms but preferably 5-40 ring atoms. It is unclear if the scope of the claim is bound by the broader limitation or the narrower one. The other claims depend on claim 12 but fail to remedy the deficiencies and they are therefore indefinite as well. Additional issues include the following. Claim 16 depends on claim 13 and recites formulae (7), (8), (9) and (10) which lack a proper antecedent basis. Similarly, “the compounds” in claim 20 lack an antecedent basis in claim 12.
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.
Claims 12-17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 03/010230 A1 to Adam et al.
Regarding claim 12, Adam et al. discloses the compound
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(Table 1, page 6). This compound is representative of the claimed compound wherein X = Q = CH, Y1 = O, Y = CR2, the X closest to Y is also CR, and the three R groups are joined to form a ring. Note that in the claimed compound, “two or more R radicals may be joined to one another and may form a ring.” Claim 12 is therefore anticipated. So are claims 13-17. The features of claim 19 are disclosed on pages 3-4, and the examples.
Claims 12-17 and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 9,406,848 B2 to Koenemann et al.
Regarding claim 12, Koenemann et al. discloses a color converter comprising a polymer and an organic fluorescent dye exemplified by the following compound:
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(see compounds in column 45 wherein R1 = H as defined in column 48). This compound is representative of the claimed compound wherein X = Q = CR (one R = Ph and the remaining R = H), Y1 = CH2, Y = CR2, the X closest to Y is also CR, and the three R groups are joined to form a ring. Claims 12-17 and 19-21 are therefore anticipated.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 18 and 22 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Neither Adam et al. nor Koenemann et al. disclose or suggest the method of claim 18 or the OLED of claim 22.
Other Relevant Prior Art of Record
Patent document WO 2011/160757 A1 was cited by the ISA as being relevant to the claimed invention. While this document has a scope that encompasses the claimed compound, it is mainly directed to a compound that resembles the compound of formula 1 without the group of formula 2, and there is not an obvious reason that would have motivated a POSITA to modify the prior art compound in such a way as to arrive at the claimed compound.
Contact Information
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/VU A NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762