DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicant’s Amendment filed 07/31/26.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The objection to the drawings and the disclosure as set forth in the Non-Final Rejection filed 05/01/26 is overcome by the Applicant’s amendments.
The rejection of Claims 1-12 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 as set forth in the Non-Final Rejection filed 05/01/26 is overcome by the Applicant’s amendments.
The rejection of Claims 1-12 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kato et al. (US 2011/0253995 A1) as set forth in the Non-Final Rejection filed 05/01/26 is overcome by the Applicant’s amendments.
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 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park et al. (WO 2010/131855 A2).
Examiner’s Note: The Office has relied on national phase publication US 2012/0080670 A1 as the English equivalent of WIPO publication WO 2010/131855 A2 (herein referred to as “Park et al.”).
Park et al. discloses the following compound:
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(page 12) such that Ar1 = non-substituted aromatic hydrocarbon group having 10 carbon atoms (naphthyl) and ring A = Applicant’s formula (1a) (with X = S) of Applicant’s formula (1). Park et al. discloses an organic electroluminescent (EL) device for the construction of displays and the like comprising the following layers: substrate, anode, hole-injecting layer, hole-transporting layer, light-emitting layer, electron-transporting layer, electron-injecting layer, and cathode (Fig. 1); there further exists other layers, including an electron-blocking layer ([0038]). Its inventive compounds comprise any one of the hole-injecting, hole-transporting, light-emitting (photoelectric conversion layer) (as dopant or host material), electron-transporting, and electron-blocking layers ([0010], [0012], [0038]). The layers are formed via solvent methods such as spin coating ([0041]).
It is also the position of the Office that compound 4-2 as disclosed by Park et al. would inherently possess the properties as recited in the claims (in regards to charge and energy) as the compound is nearly identical to the Applicant’s preferred inventive embodiment (U106) (i.e., as it is identical electronic valency and thus can be expected to have highly similar chemical and physical properties) (and also fully encompassed by the Applicant’s general formula (1) with X = S).
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant’s arguments on pages 9-11 with respect to the deficiencies of the previously cited prior art have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection as set forth above.
Conclusion
9. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
10. 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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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer A 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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/JAY YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786