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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2020-0098672, filed on 08/06/2020.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/14/2022 was filed after the mailing date of the instant invention on 11/14/2022. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
New corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in this application because where only a single view is used in an application to illustrate the claimed invention, it must not be numbered and the abbreviation "FIG." must not appear (See MPEP 1.84(u)). Applicant is advised to employ the services of a competent patent draftsperson outside the Office, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office no longer prepares new drawings. The corrected drawings are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The requirement for corrected drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Please correct the references to “FIG.1” in the instant specification as well.
Response to Amendment
In the response filed 11/14/2022, the abstract, claims, and specification were amended.
These amendments are hereby entered.
Claims 1, 2, 6, 7, and 10-16 have been amended.
Claims 1-16 are pending in the application.
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 1-16 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.
With respect to independent claim 1, in Chemical Formulae 1 and 3, the definitions of A and B include the language that “(A/B) is a benzene ring condensed with two adjacent pentagonal rings”. This is confusing because it could be interpreted in at least two ways. The first way is that the ring is condensed with the two adjacent pyrrole rings. The second way is that the ring is condensed with the two adjacent pyrrole rings and two additional 5-membered rings. This interpretation is complicated by the fact that rings A and B appear to already be condensed with two adjacent pyrrole rings.
In continuing examination, the claims will be interpreted as “(A/B is a benzene ring [[condensed with two adjacent pentagonal rings]];”.
Claims 2-16 are rejected by virtue of dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Numata et al. (US 2020/0212314 A1).
With respect to independent claim 1, Numata discloses an organic light emitting device comprising an anode, a cathode, a light emitting layer, and an electron blocking layer between the anode and the light emitting layer and a hole transport layer between the electron blocking layer and the anode (paragraph 0201) (paragraph 0196 and paragraphs 0198 and 0225), and the light emitting layer comprises a first compound which is an electron transport compound (paragraph 0146) and two second compounds which is a hole transport compound (paragraph 0156).
Numata gives an example of the first compound (page 80), which is pictured below.
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This compound is analogous to the instant third compound of Chemical Formula 3 when B is a benzene ring, X1 to X3 are nitrogen atoms, Ar5 and Ar6 are both a C6 aryl (phenyl) group, Y is NAr7 and Ar7 is an unsubstituted C18 aryl (terphenyl), d is 8 and R4 is a hydrogen atom.
Numata gives examples of the two second compounds, HT-Host-A and HT-Host-D (pages 97 and 98, respectively), which are pictured below.
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HT-Host-A is analogous to the instant second compound represented by Chemical Formula 2 when Ar3 and Ar4 are both a C12 aryl (biphenyl) group, b and c are both 7 and R2 and R3 are both hydrogen atoms.
HT-Host-D is analogous to the instant first compound represented by Chemical Formula 1 when A is a benzene ring, Ar1 and Ar2 are both a C18 aryl (terphenyl) group, a is 8 and R1 is a hydrogen atom.
Numata teaches that when the compounds of the invention are used in the emission layer of an organic light-emitting device, the organic light-emitting device shows improved efficiency and lifespan characteristics (paragraph 0294).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the compounds of Numata in the emission layer of an organic light-emitting device in order to obtain and organic light-emitting device with improved efficiency and lifespan characteristics, as taught by Numata.
With respect to claim 2, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and Chemical Formula 1 is represented by Chemical Formula Chemical Formula 1-4, as pictured above.
With respect to claim 3, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and Ar1 is terphenyl, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 4, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and Ar2 is terphenyl, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 5, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and R1 is hydrogen, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 6, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, as discussed above.
HT-Host-D, pictured and discussed above is derived from Numata Formula 2-4 (paragraph 0056), which is pictured below.
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Numata also teaches L16 can be a single bond (paragraph 0019), which forms the embodiment on page 21 of the instant claims.
Numata includes each element claimed, with the only difference between the claimed invention and Numata being a lack of the aforementioned combination being explicitly stated. Absent a showing of unexpected results, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to select any known linking group from each of the finite lists of possible linking groups to arrive at the compound of the instant claim since the combination of elements would have yielded the predictable result of a compound which, when used in the emission layer of an organic light-emitting device, result in an organic light-emitting device with improved efficiency and lifespan characteristics (paragraph 0294), commensurate in scope with the claimed invention. See Section 2143 of the MPEP, rationales (A) and (E).
With respect to claim 7, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and Chemical Formula 2 is represented by Chemical Formula 2-1, as pictured above.
With respect to claim 8, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and Ar3 and Ar4 are both biphenyl, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 9, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and R2and R3 are hydrogen atoms, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 10, Numata teaches the device of claim 9, as discussed above.
Numata also teaches that the second compound can be the compound below (page 99).
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This compound meets the requirements of the instant claim when one of R2 is phenyl and the other is hydrogen.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use any combination of the compounds of Numata in the emission layer of an organic light-emitting device in order to obtain and organic light-emitting device with improved efficiency and lifespan characteristics, as taught by Numata.
With respect to claim 11, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and the compound of Chemical Formula 2 is pictured on page 29 of the instant claims.
With respect to claim 12, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and the compound of Chemical Formula 3 is represented by Chemical Formula 3-1.
With respect to claim 13, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and Ar5 and Ar6 are phenyl, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 14, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and Ar7 is terphenyl, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 15, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and R4 is hydrogen, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 16, Numata teaches the device of claim 1, and the compound of Chemical Formula 3 is pictured on page 41 of the instant claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Oh et al. (US 2017/0098778 A1) – teaches relevant compositions.
Tada et al. (US 2018/0138420 A1) – teaches relevant compositions.
Lee et al. (US 2023/0020540 A1) -teaches relevant compositions.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL SIMBANA whose telephone number is (571)272-2657. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 A.M. - 4:30 P.M..
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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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/RACHEL SIMBANA/Examiner, Art Unit 1786