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. CN202110695964.2, filed on June 23, 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 08/14/2023 and 05/27/2026 were filed after the mailing date of the instant application on 02/27/2023. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
In a requirement for restriction dated 05/12/2026, Applicant was required to choose from
Group I, drawn to a blue-light emitting device and a manufacturing method thereof, wherein the device comprises an electron blocking layer wherein two different electron blocking materials are mixed then formed into a single electron blocking layer, and
Group II, drawn to a blue-light emitting device and a manufacturing method thereof, wherein the device comprises two distinct electron blocking layers which each comprise an electron blocking material and the electron blocking materials of the first and second electron blocking layers are different from each other.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II in the reply filed on 07/09/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 2, 4-6, 9-10, and 17-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Group II, drawn to claims 1, 3, 7-8, and 11-16, is examined herein.
Response to Amendment
In the response filed 07/09/2026, the claims and specification were amended for clarity.
These amendments are hereby entered.
In light of Applicant’s amendments to the claims and specification, the objections to claims 11 and 14 and to the specification are withdrawn by the Office.
Claims 1-19 were originally filed.
Claims 11 and 14 are instantly amended for clarity.
Claims 1-19 are pending in the application,
of which claims 2, 4-6, 9-10, and 17-19 are withdrawn.
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, 3, 7-8, and 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 110504375 A, herein after referred to as Li 2019), Li et al. (CN 112490377 A, herein after referred to as Li 2021), and Suh et al. (US 2021/0399223 A1).
With respect to claims 1, 3, 8, and 11-14, Li 2019 discloses a blue-light emitting device (paragraph 0140) comprising a hole transport layer, an electron blocking layer, and a light emitting layer in stack (paragraph 0032), wherein the electron blocking layer comprises a first and second organic material (paragraph 0017), and wherein the first organic material may be HTI-86 (paragraph 0086 and page 37 of the original document), and the second organic material may be HTII-67 (paragraph 0093 and page 42 of the original document), which are pictured below.
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Li 2019 teaches that when one of each of the first and second organic materials are used in a hole transport layer, the HOMO energy levels of the first and second organic materials and the material of the electron blocking layer is < 0.4 eV (paragraph 0292), which allows holes to be easily injected into the electron blocking layer via the hole transport layer, improving hole injection efficiency, reducing driving voltage of the device, improving stability and lifespan of the device, and reducing the charge accumulation at the interface contact. Additionally, the hole transport layer has improved heat resistance and higher glass transition temperature (paragraph 0082).
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 first and second organic materials of Li 2019 as the materials of a hole transport layer in an organic electroluminescent device in order to obtain improved hole injection efficiency, reduced driving voltage of the device, improved stability and lifespan of the device, and reduced charge accumulation at the interface contact, as taught by Li 2019.
It should be noted that Examiner is interpreting the hole transporting layer of Li 2019, comprising a first and second organic material, as the instantly claimed first electron blocking layer. A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention (“electron blocking”) must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
Compound HTI-86 meets the requirements of the instant hole transport compound when Ar1 is an aryl with 13 carbon atoms (fluorenyl) and Ar2 is an aryl with 12 carbon atoms (biphenyl).
However, Li 2019 does not teach nor fairly suggest the instantly claimed two distinct electron blocking layers and hole transport layer.
In analogous art, Li 2021 teaches an organic electroluminescent device comprising a hole transport region wherein the hole transport region includes an anode interface buffer layer, a hole transport layer, and an electron blocking layer, wherein the anode interface buffer layer comprises a first and second hole transport host material and a p-type doped material (paragraph 0013), and the hole transport layer comprises the first and second hole transport host material of the anode interface buffer layer (paragraph 0014).
Li 2021 teaches that the anode interface buffer layer comprises a first and second hole transport host material and a p-type doped material with a deep LUMO energy level. The interaction between the first and second hole transport host materials and p-type dopant material creates a better ohmic contact between the anode and the anode interface buffer layer. Simultaneously, it allows for more complete formation of CT complexes with the p-type dopant material, facilitating hole injection. After forming CT complexes with the p-type dopant material, they create a stepped HOMO level distribution which helps reduce the injection barrier between the anode interface buffer layer and hole transport layer, suppressing carrier accumulation at the interface and improving device efficiency and stability (paragraph 0040).
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 incorporate an anode interface buffer layer into the device of Li 2019 in order to facilitate the formation of more complete CT complexes, facilitating hole injection, and creating a stepped HOMO level distribution to help reduce the injection barrier between the anode interface buffer layer and hole transport layer, suppressing carrier accumulation at the interface and improving device efficiency and stability, as taught by Li 2021.
Such an anode interface buffer layer would comprise a p-type doped material with a deep LUMO energy level and the same first and second hole transporting host materials as the hole transporting layer of Li 2019, as discussed above.
It should be noted that Examiner is interpreting the anode interface buffer layer of Li 2021 as the instantly claimed hole transporting layer. A recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention (“hole transporting”) must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
Compound HTII-67 meets the requirements of the instant hole transport compound when Ar4 and Ar5 are both an aryl with 12 carbon atoms (biphenyl), and n is 0 so that a direct bond is present.
However, neither Li 2019 nor Li 2021 teach nor fairly suggest a second electron blocking layer comprising a spirobifluorene compound.
In analogous art, Suh teaches an organic light emitting device comprising a hole transport layer and an electron blocking layer, wherein the compounds of the hole transport layer and electron blocking layer are different, but are both represented by Chemical Formula 1 (abstract).
Suh teaches that when compounds with a similar structure are used in a hole transporting layer and electron blocking layer, properties advantageous for hole injection and migration are obtained, particularly when the compounds are positional isomers that differ in the location of the bond between the amine nitrogen and spirobifluorene group. Further, by varying the position of the substitution of the amine group, the properties of the compounds may be controlled to properties proper for each role of the layer (paragraph 0180).
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 a positional isomer of a hole blocking material in the device of Li 2019 as a material for the electron blocking layer in order to obtain properties advantageous for hole injection and migraine as a result of similar structure and positional isomerism. Further, it would have been within the technical grasp of a person having ordinary skill in the art to determine which properties are advantageous for hole injection and migration in an electron blocking layer, and which positional isomer of each hole transporting material produces the most desirable and advantageous properties for use as a material in an electron blocking layer (See MPEP 2144.05 (II)).
It should be noted that Examiner is interpreting HTI-86 as meeting the requirements of the instant material of the hole transport layer, HTII-67 as meeting the requirements of the instant first material, and a positional isomer of HTII-67 as meeting the requirements of the instant second material.
Examiner is interpreting the combination of layers and layer composition discussed above to meet the requirements of the instant claim through the compounds use as preferred embodiments of the claimed invention, as given in paragraphs [0015] (compound HT1-86 of Li 2019) and [0018] (compound HTII-67 of Li 2019 and the positional isomer taught by Suh) of the instant specification. Products of identical chemical composition cannot have mutually exclusive properties, and it has been held that when the prior art teaches the identical chemical structure, the properties applicant discloses and/or claims are necessarily present (See MPEP 2112.01(II)), and the compounds of Li 2019, Li 2021, and Suh read on the claims.
Li 2019, Li 2021, and Suh are silent to the relative hole mobilities and bond energies of each compound. However, these properties are considered to be properties of the composition. Support for this presumption comes from the use of like materials and like processes when each compound is used in each respective layer of an electroluminescent device, which would result in the properties described in the instant claims. Therefore, the claims are considered to be obvious over Li 2019, Li 2021, and Suh, and the burden shifts to applicant to show that there is an unobvious difference between the claimed composition and the composition in the prior art. See MPEP 2112 (V). In addition, the presently claimed properties are considered to be present once the work of Li 2019, Li 2021, and Suh was first provided. See MPEP 2112.01 (II).
With respect to claim 7, Li 2019, Li 2021, and Suh teach the device of claim 1, and Li 2019 also teaches that the first organic material has a HOMO of between -5.2 eV and -5.6 eV (paragraph 0292).
With respect to claim 8, Li 2019, Li 2021, and Suh teach the device of claim 1, and the material of the hole transport layer has a molecular weight greater than or equal to 550.
With respect to claim 15, Li 2019, Li 2021, and Suh teach the device of claim 1, and Li 2019 also teaches that the device comprises a first electrode (an anode, paragraph 0031), the hole transport region discussed above, a light emitting layer, an electron transport region comprising a hole blocking layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer, and a second electrode (a cathode, paragraph 0133) (paragraph 0029 and Figure 1).
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 claimed device structure, as taught by Li 2019.
With respect to claim 16, Li 2019, Li 2021, and Suh teach the device of claim 1, and Li 2019 also teaches a display apparatus comprising the organic electroluminescent device (paragraph 0018).
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 device in a display apparatus, as taught by Li 2019.
Conclusion
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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/RACHEL SIMBANA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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