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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Specification
The specification is objected to. Specifically, the 5th structure at the top of page 12 of Applicants specification has legibility issues. This can be seen in paragraph 0055 of Applicants pre-grant publication US 2023/0240134 as indicated by the question marks.
Additionally, the quality of some of the specific structures in Applicants specification have legibility issues which have translated into missing chemical bonds. This can be seen in compounds A2-33, A2-43, A2-50, A2-51, B1-34, B1-49, B1-50, B1-52, B1-54, B2-36, B2-41, B3-28, B3-33, B3-39, C1-51, C1-52, C2-29, C2-31, C2-40, and D1-29.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to. Variables a and c are both recited to be an integer of 1 to 3. As such, Applicants should amend “when a is 2 or greater” as found on the third to last line of claim 1 to “when a is 2 or 3”. Additionally, Applicants should amend “when c is 2 or greater” as found on the last line of claim 1 to “when c is 2 or 3” for utmost clarity.
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 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being by Aomori et al. (WO 2012/157474). Copies of the original and a machine translation are included with this Office action.
Claims 1, 2, 4, and 5: Aomori et al. teaches the compound
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on page 20. This compound anticipates Chemical Formula 1 of claim 1. As applied to Chemical Formula 1, variables a and c are equal to 3, variable b is equal to 2, all R1, R2, and R3 are equal to hydrogen atoms, L1, L11, L12, L21, and L22 are equal to a direct bone, R11, R12, R21, and R22 are equal to phenyl, and L2 is equal to an unsubstituted C16 heteroarylene group (benzoxanthyl). The compound above also anticipates Chemical Formula 1-1 with all variable assignments being the same as described in claim 1. The compound above also anticipates claims 4 and 5, as described in claim 1 above.
Claims 7, 8, and 10: Figure 17G of Aomori et al. is directed to an organic light-emitting device comprising a substrate (31), an anode (32), a hole injection layer (34a), a hole transport layer (34b), a light emitting layer (34c), an electron transport layer (34d), an electron injection layer (34e), and a cathode (33). Aomori et al. teaches that the compounds which adhere to formula (1) as taught therein, which includes the compound shown above, are employed as a carrier transport layer, more specifically as a p-type semiconductor, that is, as a material for a hole transport layer (pages 17 and 18 of the machine translation). Aomori et al. explicitly teaches that the hole transport layer (34b) as shown in Figure 17G contains the compound 1 (pages 17-18 of the machine translation). Employing any one of the explicitly taught compounds of Aomori et al., including the compound above, in an organic light emitting layer according to Figure 17G as a hole transport material is therefore at once envisaged, thereby anticipating claims 7, 8, and 10.
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 of this title, 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.
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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2016/0233428, cited on Applicants information disclosure statement filed on 12/16/22).
Claims 1-6: Kim et al. organic light-emitting devices comprising a first electrode, an emission layer, a second electrode, in that order, where the emission layer includes a first compound and a second compound. The first compound satisfies general formula 1 as taught in the abstract. More specifically, Kim et al. teaches that the first compound may be selected from formulae 1A, 1B, and 1C, whose structures are shown on page 18. Additionally, paragraph 0137 of Kim et al teaches specific compounds which are employed as the first compound (compounds 1 to 83).
While none of compounds 1-83 satisfy Chemical Formula 1 of claim 1, it is submitted that one having ordinary skill in the art would have found the preparation of a compound satisfying chemical formula 1 prima facie obvious given the overall teachings of Kim et al. Kim et al. is not limited to embodiments where the two diarylamino groups are bonded at the 2- and 7-positions of the benzo(kl)xanthene (whose structure and numbering are shown below):
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. Chemical Formula 1 of the instant claims is limited to embodiments where one amine group is bonded at positions 8-, 9-, or 10- and the other amine group is bonded at positions 1-, 2-, 3-, or 4-. As stated above, Kim et al. explicitly teaches that compounds which adhere to general formula 1C may serve as the first compound in the emission layer of the devices taught therein. In Formula 1C, the two amine groups are bonded at the 2- and 8- positions of the benzo(kl)xanthene, which falls under the scope of Chemical Formula 1. It is therefore prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have prepared analogs of compounds 1 to 83, in which the two amino groups are bonded according to formula 1C of Kim et al. as such embodiments are readily taught by Kim et al. with the reasonable expectation that they would serve the role as a first compound in the emission layer of said devices. As one example, the 2,7 isomer of compound 1 of Kim et al. has the structure,
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which is identical to compounds B2-1 as recited in claim 6. More generally, the compound shown directly above satisfies Chemical Formula 1 with L1, L2, L11, L12, L21, and L22 equal to a direct bond, variables a and c equal to 3 with all R1 and R3 equal to hydrogen atoms, variable b equal to 2 with both R2 equal to hydrogen atoms, and R11, R12, R21, and R22 equal to an unsubstituted phenyl group. The compound above also satisfies Chemical Formula 1-1 of claim 2 with all variable assignments being described in claim 1 above. The compound above also satisfies claims 3-5 as described in claim 1 above. The motivation to prepare such structural analogs of compound 1 to 83 stems from the explicit teaching that compounds which adhere to Chemical formula 1C may be employed.
Claims 7-10: The compounds taught by Kim et al., which includes the compound shown directly above, are taught to be employed in a hole transport region of an organic electroluminescent device or in the emission layer (paragraph 0142). Moreover, the hole transport region as taught by Kim et al. includes, in some embodiments, a hole transport layer, and an electron blocking layer (paragraph 0148). Given these teachings, one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to prepare an organic light-emitting device which comprises an anode, a hole transport region, an emission layer, an electron transport region, and a cathode wherein the first compounds taught and suggested by Kim et al. are employed in one or more of the hole transport layer, the electron blocking layer, or the emission layer. Such devices satisfy the device limitations of claims 7-9. Any of the layers in the device not comprising the first compound of Kim et al. such as, an electron injection layer, satisfies the limitations of claim 10. Devices which include any of the 2,7-positional isomers of compounds 1-83 where compounds 1-83 are employed as a hole transport material, as an electron blocking material, or as a dopant in an emission layer, is prima facie obvious given the overall teachings of Kim et al. as described above.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT S LOEWE whose telephone number is (571)270-3298. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Robert S Loewe/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766