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 .
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park et al. (WO 2020/226298), where Park et al. (US 2022/0238811) (hereafter “Park”) is used as the English equivalent.
Regarding claims 1-5 and 7-9, Park teaches an electroluminescent device comprising an anode, a hole injection layer, a hole transporting layer, an emission auxiliary layer (applicant’s electron blocking layer), an emission layer, an electron transporting layer, and a cathode (paragraphs [0156]-[0164]) (claims 7-9). Park teaches that the hole transporting layer or the emission auxiliary layer (applicant’s electron blocking layer) can comprise the following compound,
PNG
media_image1.png
195
269
media_image1.png
Greyscale
(paragraphs [0051], [0053], [0092], [0120], and [0156]-[0164]) (claims 1-5 and 7-9).
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (WO 2020/231197), where Lee et al. (US 2022/0199911) (hereafter “Lee”) is used as the English equivalent.
Regarding claims 1-5 and 7, Lee teaches an electroluminescent device comprising an anode, a hole injection layer, a hole transporting layer, an emission auxiliary layer (applicant’s electron blocking layer), an emission layer, an electron transporting layer, and a cathode (paragraphs [0196]-[0198]) (claims 7-9). Lee teaches that the hole transporting layer or the emission auxiliary layer (applicant’s electron blocking layer) can comprise the following compound,
PNG
media_image2.png
253
177
media_image2.png
Greyscale
(paragraphs [0084] and [0115]) (claims 1-5 and 7-9).
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.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (WO 2020/231197), where Lee et al. (US 2022/0199911) (hereafter “Lee”) is used as the English equivalent, as applied to claims 1-5 and 7-9 above.
Regarding claim 6, Lee teaches that the arylamine group attached to the fused heterocyclic group can have the following structure,
PNG
media_image3.png
96
224
media_image3.png
Greyscale
,
PNG
media_image4.png
65
130
media_image4.png
Greyscale
, and
PNG
media_image5.png
215
150
media_image5.png
Greyscale
are a few examples (paragraph [0084]). Lee also teaches the that the fused ring system can have the following structure,
PNG
media_image6.png
58
119
media_image6.png
Greyscale
and
PNG
media_image7.png
131
97
media_image7.png
Greyscale
(paragraph [0084]).
Lee does not specifically teach a compound that meets the applicant’s claimed compounds.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the arylamine group in
PNG
media_image2.png
253
177
media_image2.png
Greyscale
, with one of the group taught by Lee, such as
PNG
media_image3.png
96
224
media_image3.png
Greyscale
,
PNG
media_image4.png
65
130
media_image4.png
Greyscale
, or
PNG
media_image5.png
215
150
media_image5.png
Greyscale
, and/or substitute the fused ring group with
PNG
media_image6.png
58
119
media_image6.png
Greyscale
and
PNG
media_image7.png
131
97
media_image7.png
Greyscale
. The substitutions would have been preferred groups for other preferred groups and one of ordinary skill in the art would expect the compound to act in a similar manner as the other compounds taught by Lee. The substitutions would lead to applicant’s claimed compounds, such as 33, 42, 48, 129, 138, 144, 193, 202, and 208.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Park et al. (US 2018/0026187), Oh et al. (US 2019/0131526), and Lee et al. (US 2019/0259947) teach benzofluorene groups that are similar to the applicant’s claimed formula 1, but none of the compounds or formulas read on the applicant’s claimed formula.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW K BOHATY whose telephone number is (571)270-1148. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-4pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Curtis Mayes can be reached at (571)272-1234. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANDREW K BOHATY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
Prosecution Insights