DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Restriction/Election Requirement
The Office acknowledges the Applicant’s election of Group I (drawn to device) in the Response filed 07/24/26 to the Requirement for Restriction/Election filed 06/09/26.
The election reads on Claims 16-28 and 31.
Claims 16-31 are pending. Claims 29 and 30 have been withdrawn from consideration.
Claim Objections
Claims 16-28 and 31 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 16, which the other claims are dependent upon, recite the limitation “. . . and being to emit light with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of less than or equal to 0.25 eV” (page 3). The limitation should be replaced by the following: “. . . and being able to emit light with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of less than or equal to 0.25 eV” or the like for grammatical clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
Claims 16-28 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. (US 2020/0136059 A1) in view of Zhang et al. (CN 110407859 A).
Examiner’s Note: The Office has relied on the Machine English translation of foreign document publication CN 110407859 A (herein referred to as “Zhang et al.”) as the English equivalent. Unless otherwise noted, all figure, page, and paragraph numbers referenced herein refer to numbers found in the Machine English translation.
Hong et al. discloses the following organic electroluminescent (EL) device:
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(Fig. 6) comprising anode (410), hole-injecting layer (440), hole-transporting layer (450), electron-blocking layer (455), first light-emitting layer (462), second light-emitting layer (464), third light-emitting layer (466) (comprising a light-emitting layer (460)), hole-blocking layer (475), electron-transporting layer (470), electron-injecting layer (480), and cathode (420). The first light-emitting layer comprises a first compound and second compound, the second light-emitting layer comprises a third compound and a fourth compound, and the third light-emitting layer comprises a fifth compound and a sixth compound; the first and third compounds are host materials, the second compound is a fluorescent or phosphorescent (dopant) material, and the fourth compound is a delayed fluorescent (TADF) material ([0060], [0165]). Hong et al. discloses that the fifth compound is a host material, and the sixth compound is a fluorescent or phosphorescent (dopant) material ([0166]). Phosphorescent materials include the following:
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(page 27) (phosphorescence material) such that M = Ir, n = 3, and X2-Y1 = independently a bidentate mono-anionic ligand of Applicant’s Formula PB-I; delayed fluorescent materials include the following:
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(page 28) (TADF material). The electron-blocking layer includes mCP as shown below:
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(page 22) ([0155], [0194]) such that RI = hydrogen or binding site of a single bond linking the first chemical moiety to a second chemical moiety of Applicant’s Formula HP-I; Z1 = direct bond and RII = hydrogen of Applicant’s Formula HP-XI. Notice that that the layer comprising first light-emitting layer (462) and some portion of the electron-blocking layer (455) (of arbitrary thickness) is itself inherently a light-emitting layer (bilayer) comprising a large excess of mCP (host material) which is present in a nonuniform concentration of that bilayer. Hong et al. discloses that the first and fifth compounds are present at about 70-99 wt% (preferably 90-99 wt%), the second and sixth compounds are present at about 1-30 wt% (preferably 1-10 wt%), the third compound is present at about 50-95 wt% (preferably 60-80 wt%), and the fourth compound is present at about 5-50 wt% (preferably 20-40 wt%) ([0145]-[0146], [0187]). However, Hong et al. does not explicitly disclose the FWHM emitter as recited in Claim 1.
Zhang et al. discloses delayed fluorescent materials such as the following:
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(page 12 of Zhang et al.) (small FWHM emitter) as dopant materials (in combination with host material) in the light-emitting layer of an organic EL device, the use of which results in a device with low start-up voltage and high luminous efficiency ([0039]-[0040], [0136]). Its inventive compounds emit generally in the green ([0180]). It would have been obvious to incorporate the compound as disclosed by Zhang et al. (above) into the light-emitting layer of the organic EL device as disclosed by Hong et al. as (fluorescent) dopant material. The motivation is provided by the disclosure of Zhang et al., which teaches that the use of its inventive compounds in such a manner results in a device with low start-up voltage and high luminous efficiency.
It is further the position of the Office that the photophysical limitations as recited in Claim 1 (as well as in subsequent dependent claims) would inherently be met by the compounds as disclosed by Hong et al. in view of Zhang et al. (above). Evidence is provided by the fact that compound PD-3, compound TD-2, and mCP as disclosed by Hong et al. are exactly identical to the phosphorescent, TADF, and (p-)host material embodiments, respectively, as preferred by the Applicant (see pages 98, 62, and 22 of the present national phase publication), while C-197 as disclosed by Zhang et al. is exactly identical to the Applicant’s preferred small FWHM emitter (as shown on page 126 of the present national phase publication).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAY L YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1137. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 6am-3pm.
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/JAY YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
