DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This office action is responsive to the amendment received April 24, 2026. Claims 1, 2, 10, and 14 were amended. Claims 1-15 are pending.
The declaration under 37 CFR 1.132 filed April 24, 2026 is insufficient to overcome the rejection of the claims based upon KR 101890719 B1 as set forth in the last Office action because: The “inventive” examples are not commensurate in scope with the breadth of defined, claimed compounds. Claimed compounds may have as few as one deuterium present whereas tested compounds have many more than one deuterium present.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KR 101890719 B1 (hereinafter “KR ‘719”) (Note: A Google Patents machine translation is provided with this office communication).
Regarding independent claim 1, KR ‘719 teaches compounds according to general Formula (1) (see translation copy page 1):
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.
In the formula (1), Ar1 and Ar2 are independently aryl groups that may be substituted, R1 and R2 may be a substituent, and integers m and n are independently 0 to 8 (see translation copy page 1). Note that “at least one hydrogen” in the compound of formula (1) “may be substituted with deuterium” (see bottom portion of translation copy page 1) and the office considers “at least one” to include up to a maximum number of deuteriums present within the formula (1) compounds. With respect to instant group Q, the formula (1) compounds comprise a corresponding linking naphthalene group in the formula core structure. The Ar1 and Ar2 groups of KR ‘719 may be at least phenyl and naphthyl groups per instant groups Ar1 and Ar2 (see bottom portion of translation copy page 1). Note that each of instant subscripts n1 to n4 may be zero and accordingly, instant groups L1 to L4 are not required to be present.
Regarding claims 2 and 10, the specifically bonded naphthalene group in the middle linking portion of KR ‘719 formula 1 is the same as instant claim 2 Q group “2j”:
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(see formula 1 on page 1 of translation copy).
Regarding claims 3, 4, and 10, KR ‘719 shows corresponding independent Ar1 and Ar2 aryl groups may be phenyl, 1-naphthyl, or 2-naphthyl (see Chemical Formula 5 specific formula 1 compounds beginning at page 5 of translation copy). Note that “at least one hydrogen” in the compound of formula (1) “may be substituted with deuterium” (see bottom portion of translation copy page 1) and the office considers “at least one” to include up to a maximum number of deuteriums present within the formula (1) compounds.
Regarding claims 5, 10, and 12, instant L1 and L2 are not required to be present when instant n1 and n2 are zero. Compounds of KR ‘719 meet the claim limitations for groups of instant formula 1 (see Chemical Formula 5 specific formula 1 compounds beginning at page 5 of translation copy).
Regarding claims 6 and 10, KR ‘719 shows corresponding linking groups that are phenylene (see Chemical Formula 5 specific formula 1 compounds beginning at page 5 of translation copy). Note that “at least one hydrogen” in the compound of formula (1) “may be substituted with deuterium” (see bottom portion of translation copy page 1) and the office considers “at least one” to include up to a maximum number of deuteriums present within the formula (1) compounds.
Regarding claims 7 and 10, compounds of KR ‘719 meet values of linking groups corresponding to integer values as claimed (see Chemical Formula 5 specific formula 1 compounds beginning at page 5 of translation copy).
Regarding claims 8-10, note that “at least one hydrogen” in the compound of formula (1) “may be substituted with deuterium” (see bottom portion of translation copy page 1) and the office considers “at least one” to include up to a maximum number of deuteriums (i.e., 100% deuterium substitution rate) present within the formula (1) compounds.
Regarding claim 11, at least KR ‘719 compound (1-10) of formula (1) shows corresponding groups where both Ar1 and Ar2 are 1-naphthyl (see Chemical Formula 5 specific formula 1 compounds beginning at page 5 of translation copy). Regarding claim 13, compound (1-10) of formula (1) shows corresponding groups to instant L3 and L4 groups where both are para-phenylene (see Chemical Formula 5 specific formula 1 compounds beginning at page 5 of translation copy).
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Regarding claim 14, the core structure of specific compound (1-33) of formula 1 is the same as instant Formula J2 (see Chemical Formula 5 specific formula 1 compounds beginning at page 5 of translation copy):
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Further note, that “at least one hydrogen” in a compound of formula (1) “may be substituted with deuterium” (see bottom portion of translation copy page 1).
Regarding claim 15, KR ‘719 teaches the formula 1 compounds are for a light emitting layer of a light emitting device structure (see page 2 of translation copy).
While KR ‘719 does not appear to exemplify a formula 1 compound with at least one deuterium, KR ‘719 clearly teaches “at least one hydrogen” in the compound of formula (1) “may be substituted with deuterium” (see bottom portion of translation copy page 1) as discussed above. 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 form deuterated compounds of formula 1 where resultant compounds would also meet the limitations of the instant claims. One would expect to achieve an operational light emitting devices with formula 1 compounds within the disclosure of KR ‘719 with a predictable result and a reasonable expectation of success.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed April 24, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
As noted above, the declaration under 37 CFR 1.132 filed April 24, 2026 is insufficient to overcome the rejection of the claims based upon KR 101890719 B1 as set forth in the last Office action because: The “inventive” examples are not commensurate in scope with the breadth of defined, claimed compounds. Claimed compounds may have as few as one deuterium present whereas tested compounds have many more than one deuterium present.
Applicant appears to argue on page 26 specific positions and numbers of deuterium provide an unexpectedly improved result. In response, the office submits the compounds only require one deuterium be present upon one of the two anthracene groups of the derivatives. The compounds specifically mentioned by applicant have more deuterium atoms. The comparative X8 has an additional tert-butyl group and is not considered directly comparable to other discussed compounds. Applicant discusses J2 versus 1-22, but the bonding position of the outer two naphthyl groups differ between the compounds. Also, J2 as described in the specification has many deuterium atoms present (page 113 of instant specification “a+b+c+d+e=34-36”) whereas the claim language only requires one deuterium be present (claim 1: “provided that a + b is 1 one or more”) on one of two anthracene groups of a defined Formula 1 compound.
It is further noted the examples are directed to specifically constructed devices with specific dopant material to arrive at lifetime values. Only instant claim 15 is directed to a device and no dopant is claimed. The broad instant claims are not commensurate in scope with specifically structured devices of the discussed examples.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dawn Garrett whose telephone number is (571)272-1523. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday (Eastern Time).
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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/DAWN L GARRETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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