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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3, 4, and 6 recite the limitation "the formulas (4) to (5)" in the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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 1-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US 2015/0236262) (Cho) in view of Kato et al (US 2014/0008633) (Kato).
In reference to claims 1-7, 9-11, 17-19 and 21 to 23, Cho teaches an organic ligh-emitting device comprising a first compound of formula (1) that includes bis-carbazole compounds as shown below and a second compound of formula 10B for example a compound 136 as shown below as a mixed host for a light emitting layer that further comprises a dopant material (Cho abstract [0009]; p 47; [0337]).
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Cho does not expressly exemplify a compound of formula (1) that reads on the instantly claimed compounds of formula 1.
With respect to the difference, Kato, teaches in analogous art, bis-carbazole compounds for use in the light emitting layer of organic electroluminescent devices including the compound shown below and that it results in a device with long lifetime and low driving voltage (Kato [0001] [0018] [0073] [0074] [0186]).
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In light of the motivation of using the bis-carbazole compound of Kato as a bis-carbazole of Tada as described above, it would therefore have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to use the compound above as described by Kato in order to provide a device with long lifetime and low driving voltage and thereby arrive at the claimed invention.
For Claim 1: Reads on a device as claimed and wherein the compound 136 reads on a compound of formula (2) wherein each of X is N, each of Ar3 is phenyl, L is a bond, Ar4 is phenyl and e, f and I are each 0 and the compound of Kato reads on formula (1) wherein n is 0, Ar2 is phenyl, m is 1, Ar1 is phenyl and a, b, c, and d are each 0.
For Claim 2: Reads on formula (5).
For Claim 3. Reads on n is 0.
For Claim 4: Reads on phenyl.
For Claim 5: Reads on phenyl.
For Claim 6: Reads on a to d is 0.
For Claim 7: Reads on formula (6).
For Claim 9: Reads on all of X are N.
For Claim 10: Reads on phenyl.
For Claim 11: Reads on formula (2).
For Claim 17: Reads on phenyl.
For Claim 18. Reads on a to d are 0.
For Claim 19: Reads on formula (6).
For Claim 21: Reads on all of X are N.
For Claim 22: Reads on phenyl.
For Claim 23: Reads on formula (2).
In reference to claims 8 and 20, the claim further limits the compounds of formula (3), which are optional embodiments of claim 1 (i.e. a second host selected from a compound represented by the following general formula (2) or general formula (3)) and therefore not required. As such, claim 8 is rejected based on similar reasons to claim 1 or 2.
In reference to claims 12 and 24, Cho in view of Kato teaches the device as described above for claims 1 and 2. Cho further teaches that the light emitting dopant can be selected from a phosphorescent light emitting dopant such as an organometallic complex containing at least one metal selected from iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt), osmium (Os), titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), halfnium (Hf), europium (Eu), terbium (Tb), and thulium (Tm) (Cho [00380]).
While Cho in view of Kato does not exemplify a device with the exact combination of host and dopants as instantly claimed, Cho and Kato clearly teach that such an option is a preferred configuration and that the selection of these dopants is within the scope of the described devices. It would have been obvious to the ordinarily skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the instant application to have selected a light emitting dopant from among those disclosed by Cho for use in the devices of Cho with host materials taught by Cho and Kato and thereby have arrived at the instantly claimed devices.
Claims 13-16 and 25-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al (US 2015/0236262) (Cho) in view of Kato et al (US 2014/0008633) (Kato) and further in view of Tada et al (US 2018/0138420) (Tada).
In reference to claims 13 and 25, Cho in view of Kato teaches the device as described above for claim 1 and 2 that includes a dopant. Cho does not expressly teach that the dopant can be a thermally activated delayed fluorescent dopant.
With respect to the difference, Tada teaches, in analogous art, very similar devices including mixtures of host materials that include biscarbazoles and fused indolocarbazole compounds overlapping with the scope of those devices taught by Cho and Kato and further teaches that the dopant can be selected as a thermally activated delayed fluorescent dopant (Cho [0031]) and further teaches that the use of this method gives rise to high efficiency (Cho [0005] to [0006]).
In light of the motivation of using the thermally activated delayed fluorescent dopant as described above, it would therefore have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to use the thermally activated delayed fluorescent dopant as described by Cho in order to provide a device with high efficiency and thereby arrive at the claimed invention.
In reference to claims 14-16 and 26, Cho and Kato teaches the device as described above for claims 1 and 2. While Cho teaches the use of typical deposition methods, Cho does not expressly teach that the deposition is done from a premixture or what the differences are in weight reduction temperature.
With respect to the difference, Tada teaches, in analogous art, very similar devices including mixtures of host materials that include bis-carbazoles and fused indolocarbazole compounds overlapping with the scope of those devices taught by Cho and Kato and further teaches that the first host and second host are preferably used after having been preliminarily mixed before vapor deposition and that it is preferred that a difference in 50% weight reduction temperature (T50) between the first host and the second host be 20 C or less (Tada [0030]). This teaching implies that the layer is formed using a method that requires vapor deposition of a premixture formed of the layers and that such mixture is selected to have the claimed properties and that such a selection is within the ambit of the ordinarily skilled artisan. It would have been obvious to have used the methods described by Tada to have prepared the device of Tada.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sean M DeGuire whose telephone number is (571)270-1027. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/Sean M DeGuire/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786