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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A-F in the reply filed on 22 June 2026 is acknowledged. Claims 10-12 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority based on
applications filed in JP on September 24 2020. It is noted, however, that the
foreign priority date is the effective filing date of the claimed invention if
a. The foreign application supports the claimed invention under 112(a), and
b. The applicant has perfected the right of priority by providing
i. A certified copy of the priority application, and
ii. A translation of the priority application (if not in English).
In the instant case, the applicant has submitted a certified copy of the priority application, but it is not in English, and the examiner cannot determine if it
supports the claimed invention. The effective filing date of the application is considered to be March 3, 2023, which is the actual filing date of instant application 18/024,692.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: the specification includes pixelated and hard to read atom labels including but not limited to chemical formulas 23-25 and 53-55. Screenshots are provided below.
Appropriate correction is required.
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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 1-9 and 13-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sasada et al. (WO2018062277, hereinafter Sasada). Note that a machine-generated English translation is relied upon and provided with this office action.
In the pertinent art of organic light-emitting devices, Sasada teaches: a light-emitting element having an anode and a cathode; a first and a second organic layer between the anode and cathode; the first organic layer contains a compound represented by formula T; the second organic layer contains a compound a crosslinked product of a crosslinking material, wherein the compound of formula T may be the compound T1, shown below (abstract, ¶[0007]).
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Sasada teaches an organic light-emitting device Example D1 containing the following structure:
ITO film anode and ND-3202 as a hole injection material [0431];
Polymer compound HTL-3 as the second organic layer composed of the compounds M1, M5, and M2 [0428], [0432]
Compound T1 and E1 as the first organic layer [0433];
Aluminum cathode [0434].
Compound T1 is a compound of instant formula B in instant claim 1 wherein:
nB1 is 2;
ArB1 is an aromatic heterocyclic ring “triazine;”
ArB2 is D-A wherein;
ArDA1 is arylene group;
mDA1 is 1;
GDA is an aromatic hydrocarbon group “phenylene;”
mDA2 and mDA3 is 0;
TDA is an aryl group.
The compound HTL-3 is a crosslinked body of a compound having a cross-linkable group consisting of the monomers M3, M4, and M5 (see claim 1, [0426] – [0432]).
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The device composition above teaches a polymeric material in the second organic layer. However, the specific Example above does not teach a further component in the second organic layer wherein the further compound is a compound of T1. Sasada teaches that the second organic layer is usually a hole transport layer, a second light-emitting layer, or an electron transport layer (¶ [0368]). Sasada teaches that the light-emitting device containing the structure of Sasada has excellent luminous efficiency (¶ [0005]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further include the compound T1 of Sasada in the second organic layer of the light-emitting device of Sasada, based on the teachings of Sasada. The motivation for doing so would have been to obtain a device with excellent luminous efficiency as taught by Sasada (¶ [0005]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the compound T1 of Sasada in the second organic layer of the light emitting device of Sasada because it would have been a choice from a finite number of identified, predictable solutions of a compound useful as the second light-emitting layer in the second organic layer of the light-emitting device of Sasada and possessing the benefits taught by Sasada. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to produce additional devices comprising compound T1 in the second organic layer having the benefits of excellent luminous efficiency taught by Sasada (¶ [0005]) in order to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp with a reasonable expectation of success. See MPEP 2143.I.(E).
The resulting Modified Device D1 of Sasada reads on instant claims 1-9, 13, 20-25. In claim 2, compound T1 contains GDA is an unsubstituted hydrocarbon. In claim 3, compound T1 contains GDA as a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon wherein three hydrogen atoms are removed. In claim 4, compound T1 contains GDA as a benzene wherein three hydrogen atoms are removed. In claim 5, compound T1 contains ArDA1 as a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon where two hydrogen atoms are removed. In claim 6, compound T1 contains ArDA1 as an arylene group. In claim 7, compound T1 contains ArDA1 as a phenylene group. In claim 8, compound T1 contains a substituted triazine group which reads on ArB1 as a group from a monocyclic heterocyclic compound. In claim 9, compound T1 contains a substituted triazine group which reads on ArB1 as a monocyclic heterocyclic compound. In claim 13, the polymer HTL3 reads on the cross-linkable group containing a constitutional unit having a cross-linkable group.
Regarding claim 14, the Modified Device D1 of Sasada teaches HTL-3 contains the monomer M4, as described above, which is shown below along with the instant formula Z of instant claim 14.
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HTL3 contains a structure that reads on the constitutional unit represented by formula (Z) wherein:
n is 2;
nA is 4;
LA is an alkylene group;
Ar3 represents a hydrocarbon group (phenyl);
X is represented by cross-linkable group (XL-1 in instant claim 17).
Regarding claim 15, the Modified Device D1 of Sasada teaches compound HTL-3 contains the monomer M5, as described above, which is shown below along with the instant formula X of instant claim 15.
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Therefore, the compound HTL-3 reads on the constitutional unit represented by formula (Z) wherein:
aX1 is 1, aX2 is 0;
ArX1 and ArX3 are each an arylene group (phenyl);
ArX2 is an arylene group (fluorene) substituted with two alkyl groups;
RX1 and Rx2 are each an aryl group (phenyl) substituted with an alkyl group (methyl).
Additionally, the compound HTL-3 contains the monomer M4, shown above, that reads on the constitutional unit represented by formula Y wherein:
ArY1 is represented by an arylene group (phenyl) substituted by two alkyl groups.
Regarding instant claim 17, M3 consists of XL-17 and M4 consists of XL-1 as described above.
Regarding claim 18, the Modified Device D1 of Sasada contains two or more compounds of T1 in the first layer which reads on the two or more of the compounds B-1 in instant claim 18. Note that the claim 18 does not require that the two compounds of B-1 need to be different.
Regarding claim 19, the Modified Device D1 of Sasada contains the monomer M5 that reads on formula X and monomer Mr that reads on formula Y as described above.
Regarding claim 16, the Modified Device D1 of Sasada teaches the above; however, it is silent on the compound having a cross-linkable group represented by the formula Z”. Sasada teaches other organic light-emitting devices such as the Example D3 wherein the fabrication was the same except the polymer compound HTL-3 was replaced with the polymer compound HTL-M1 (¶ [0416] – [0418], [0437]). Therefore, the polymer compound HTL-M1 is a known and acceptable compound in the hole transport layer in the organic light-emitting device of Sasada.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further include the polymer compound HTL-M1 of Sasada in the Modified Device D1 of Sasada, based on the teachings of Sasada. The motivation for doing so would have been to obtain a device with excellent luminous efficiency taught by Sasada (¶ [0005]).
The resulting Modified Device D1 of Sasada Number 2 that includes the polymer compound HTL-M1 reads on the compound having a cross-linkable group and is represented by the formula Z” wherein the two structures of instant formula Z” and HTL-M1 are shown below:
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mB1 is 1 or 0, mB2 is 1, mB3 is 0;
Ar7 is a hydrocarbon group (biphenyl);
LB1 is an arylene group (phenylene);
X” is either a cross-linkable group (Xl-1) or an aryl group (naphthyl).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUCAS Q NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1199. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30 am - 5:00 pm Fridays 7:45 am to 12:00 pm.
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/L.Q.N./Examiner, Art Unit 1786
/JENNA N CHANDHOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1789
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