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 .
Status of Claims
This office action is in response to the amendment received on 5 June 2026. Claims 1, 3, 10, and 14 are amended. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgement is made of Applicant’s certified English language translation of the priority document of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0152569 to perfect the foreign priority claim.
The rejection of claims 1-2 and 10-12 under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being anticipated by Beers et al. (US 2013/0048963A1, hereinafter “Beers”) is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 5 June 2026. The rejection is withdrawn.
The rejection of claim 19 under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Beers et al. (US 2013/0048963A1, hereinafter “Beers”) is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 5 June 2026. The rejection is withdrawn.
The rejection of claims 3-9 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beers et al. (US 2013/0048963A1, hereinafter “Beers”) is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 5 June 2026. The rejection is withdrawn.
The rejection of claims 1, 7, 10-14, 16, 18, and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fleetham et al. (KR20220142398, hereinafter "Fleetham") is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 5 June 2026. The rejection is withdrawn.
The rejection of claims 1 and 10-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US2012/0215001A1, hereinafter "Li"), in view of Beers et al. (US2013/0048963A1, hereinafter "Beers"), and also in view of Chen et al. (US2020/0220090A1, hereinafter "Chen '090") is overcome due to the Applicant’s amendment dated 5 June 2026. The rejection is withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s argument filed 5 May 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. With respect to the Li et al. (US 2012/0215001 A1, hereinafter “Li”), applicant points out that Beers and Chen ‘090 fails to cure the deficiencies of Li in teaching a group represented by Formulae CYN(1)-CYN(21), nor does Chen provide any teaching or motivation that would lead one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Li in the manner required by the amended claims. New rejections based on Li rely on a different embodiment or a reinterpretation of the reference. As shown in the rejection below, Li still renders obvious the claimed invention.
Applicant’s argument filed 5 May 2026 with respect to Beers, Fleetham, and Chen ‘090 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any of the above reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 1-20 rejected 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.
Claims 1 and 10 define a chemical Formula 1-1 and 1-2 wherein the “dashed bond symbol”
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found between Y1-Y2, Y3-Y4, Y5-Y6, and Y7-Y8 represents a single bond or a double bond. The “dashed bond symbol,” when single bond or double bond, is represented by any one of chemical Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21) where chemical Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21) are all groups that feature the “dashed bond symbol” as a double bond. It is unclear how, when the “dashed bond symbol” is a single bond, the “dashed bond symbol” can be represented by Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21) as the claimed Formulae are all double bonds. There is no definition provided by Applicant to reinterpret Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21) as groups with single bonds at the designated locations Y1-Y2, Y3-Y4, Y5-Y6, and Y7-Y8. Therefore, claims 1 and 10 are indefinite. For the purposes of examination, the examiner chooses to interpret the claim as when the “dashed bond symbol” is only double bond, then the “dashed bond symbol” is represented by any one of chemical Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21).
Claims 1 and 10 define a chemical Formula 1-1 and 1-2 wherein the pairs of adjacent Z groups are optionally bonded together to form a C3-C60 carbocyclic and heterocyclic groups. The pairs of adjacent Z groups, when forming a C3-C60 carbocyclic and heterocyclic group, is represented by any one of chemical Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21) where chemical Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21) either do not bond together to form a cyclic group or form a cyclic group of a 6 membered ring. It is unclear how, when the pair of adjacent Z group is, for example, a C60 carbocyclic or heterocyclic group, the adjacent Z group can be represented by Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21) as the claimed Formulae are either not cyclic or 6 membered ring. There is no definition provided by Applicant to reinterpret Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21) as groups with a, for example, C60 carbocyclic or heterocyclic group. Therefore, claims 1 and 10 are indefinite. For the purposes of examination, the examiner chooses to interpret the claim as selected only from Formulae CYN(1) to CYN(21).
Claims 2-9 and 11-20 are also rejected as they depend from claim 1 and do not cure the deficiencies of the claims from which they depend.
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 1-7, 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 2012/0215001 A1) in view of Shi et al. (US 2019/0241590 A1).
Li teaches, in the art of organic light-emitting diodes, an organometallic complex with a tetradentate ligand containing a connected ring system of Ar1, Ar2, Ar3, and Ar4 illustrated by the General Formula of Li shown below wherein Ar1 to Ar4 is defined as an aromatic ring or heterocyclic group (pg 1, ¶ [0008], [0043]).
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Li further teaches preferred embodiments of the General Formula of Li, including Compound Pt-001 shown above (¶ [0079]). Compound Pt-001 is a compound of the General Formula of Li where M is Pt, Ar1 is a five-membered ring containing two nitrogen atoms or “pyrazole”, Ar2 is phenyl, Ar3 is phenyl, Ar4 is a pyridine, and Ar2-Ar3 is connected via O. Li does not particularly limit Ar1 and Ar4 to pyrazole and pyridine respectively. Li teaches additional compounds, shown below, wherein Ar1 and Ar4 may be substituted imidazole in different orientations with regards to the attachment points to Pt and the ligand (¶ [0060]).
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Li teaches the compound of the General Formula of Li are useful in an OLED device containing an anode, an organic layer consisting of an emissive material including an emitter and a host, and a cathode layer (¶ [0069] – [0074]).
Therefore, (1) substituted imidazole is a known and acceptable group for the Ar1 and Ar4 and (2) a phenyl group is a known and acceptable group for the Ar2 and Ar3 linked by an oxygen atom in the General Formula of Li. Li teaches the above; however, Li fails to teach Ar1 and Ar4 as a benzimidazobenzimidazole or “bim” moiety, which is a type of imidazole containing condensed ring structures.
In the relevant art of organic light-emitting devices, Shi teaches an organometallic complex of Formula I-3 featuring any transition metal M (¶ [0004] -[0007]) with a ligand containing a benzoimidazoimidazole moiety “bim” attached to an aryl group Ar1 wherein n is an integer from 1-3 and the auxiliary ligand m is an integer from 0-2 (¶ [0008]).
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Shi teaches the specific compound 117, shown above, which is a compound of Formula I-3 of Shi wherein M is iridium and Ar1 is a phenyl group (pg 9 col I row IV). Shi teaches that an organic light-emitting device containing a compound of the Formula I-3 of Shi improves performance especially the efficiency, the drive voltage, and the service life (¶ [0139]). Shi teaches that the stability of the phosphorescent OLED depends on the structural design where iridium and platinum metal complexes are mostly confined to the five-membered ring ligands because six-membered ring ligands provide less structural stability (¶ [0003]).
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 “bim” moiety of Shi in the Ar1 and Ar4 groups of the General Formula of Li in the light-emitting device of Li, based on the teachings of Shi. The motivation for doing so would have been to select a five-membered ring moiety with improved performance especially the efficiency, the drive voltage, and the service life as taught by Li (¶ [0139]).
The resulting Modified Compound of Li and Shi is shown below; and the corresponding Modified Device of Li and Shi contains an anode, an organic layer with the Modified Compound of Li and Shi, and a cathode.
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Modified Compound of Li and Shi
The Modified Compound of Li and Shi is a compound of instant Formula 1-2 of instant claims 1 and 10 wherein:
M is platinum (Pt);
CY1 is C6 carbocyclic group “phenyl”;
CY1 is represented by Formula CY1(1) wherein;
X1 is C;
CY2 is C6 carbocyclic group “phenyl”;
CY2 is represented by Formula CY2(1) wherein;
X2 is C;
X21 is C;
Y2 to Y8 are C and the dashed bond indicates a double bond;
L1 is single bond;
L2 is O;
L3 is single bond;
Z1 and Z2 is bonded together to form a phenyl;
Z3 and Z4 is bonded together to form a phenyl;
Z5 and Z6 is bonded together to form a phenyl;
Z7 and Z8 is bonded together to form a phenyl;
Formula 1-2 is represented by CYN(21) and;
Y11 to Y18 are C;
B15 and b16 are 0.
Therefore, the Modified Compound of Li and Shi inside of the Modified Device of Li and Shi reads on instant claims 1, 10-12, 14, 16, and 18.
Regarding claim 2, the Modified Device of Li and Shi teaches organic light-emitting device contains an anode, hole transport material layer, an emissive material layer containing the Modified Compound of Li and Shi, an electron transporting material layer and a cathode layer (Li ¶ [0071]).
Regarding claim 3, the Modified Device of Li and Shi teaches organic light-emitting device contains an organic layer with the compounds: Modified Compound of Li and Shi, NPD, TAPC, and mCpy which reads instant claim 3 wherein i) the Modified Compound of Li reads on a first compound and ii) mCpy reads on a combination of a third compound including a pyridine group (¶ [0072]).
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Compound mCpy
Regarding claim 4, the Modified Device of Li and Shi fails to teach a second compound comprising a compound represented by instant Formula 2. Shi teaches that suitable light-emitting materials for the organic light-emitting device of Shi may contain the triazine containing compound shown below (¶ [0085]).
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The pi electron-deficient triazine compound above is a compound of instant claim 4 wherein: L61 to L63 is each a single bond, b61 to b63 is 1, X64-X66 is each N, R61 and R62 is phenyl, and R63 is a C18 heterocyclic group substituted with one R10a that is phenyl. Therefore, the triazine compound of Shi reads on instant claim 4.
Shi teaches an anode, a cathode, and an organic layer and the triazine compound above is in the organic layer as discussed above. It would have been obvious to use the triazine compound in the organic layer with the Modified Device of Li and Shi as Shi demonstrates this device structure was known prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention. The resulting Modified Device 2 of Li and Shi containing the triazine compound reads on instant claim 4.
Regarding claim 5, the compound mCpy reads on the third compound comprising a group represented by instant Formula 3 wherein CY71 and CY71 are pi electron-rich C6 cyclic group “phenyl”, X71 is a single bond, and * indicates a binding site to a neighboring carbon atom.
Regarding claim 6, the Modified Device 2 of Li and Shi fails to teach a fourth compound comprising a compound including at least one cyclic group including boron and nitrogen as ring forming atoms. Shi teaches that suitable light-emitting materials for the organic light-emitting device of Shi may contain the boron-nitrogen compound shown below that contains at least one cyclic group including boron and nitrogen as ring forming atoms (¶ [0085]).
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Shi teaches an anode, a cathode, and an organic layer and the triazine compound above is in the organic layer as discussed above. It would have been obvious to use the boron-nitrogen compound above in the organic layer with the Modified Device of Li and Shi as Shi demonstrates this device structure was known prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention. The resulting Modified Device 3 of Li and Shi containing the boron-nitrogen compound reads on instant claim 6.
Regarding claim 7, Li teaches application of the light emitting device including light emitting materials, OLEDs, luminescent devices and displays, and a photovoltaic device which are electronic apparatuses (¶ [0070], claim 17-18).
Regarding claim 13, the Modified Compound of Li and Shi is not a compound of Formula 1-1. Li teaches the compound Pt-001 which is a compound of Li’s General Formula wherein Ar4 is pyridine, shown above.
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 pyridine Ar4 group of Li in the Modified Compound of Li and Shi, based on the teachings of Li. The motivation for doing so would have been to obtain a device with improved performance especially the efficiency, the drive voltage, and the service life as taught by Li (¶ [0139]). The resulting Modified Compound 2 of Li and Shi is shown below and reads on instant Formula 1-1 of instant claim 13 and represented by Formula CY3(1).
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Modified Compound 2 of Li and Shi
Regarding claim 15, claim 15 does not require that b15 of Z15 and b16 of Z16 be an integer other than 0; therefore, the Modified Compound of Li and Shi reads on instant claim 15 wherein b15 and b16 are 0.
Regarding claim 17, claim 15 does not require that a1 of R1, a2 of R2, and a3 of R3 be an integer other than 0; therefore, the Modified Compound of Li and Shi reads on instant claim 17 wherein a1 to a3 are 0.
Regarding claim 19, the Modified Compound of Li and Shi is a compound of claimed invention instant Formula 1-1 above, but does not expressly teach the compound having a triplet metal to ligand charge transfer (3MLCT) value of 10% or more. It is reasonable to presume that the 3MLCT value of 10% is inherent to compound the Modified Compound of Li and Shi. Support for said presumption is found in that the instant specification discloses that embodiments represented by Formula 1-1 may have a 3MLCT value of about 10% or more. Furthermore, the instant specification discloses that calculated values of 3MLCT for instant compounds 51 are above 10% wherein compound 51 is the same as Modified Compound of Li and Shi. Therefore, Modified Compound of Li and Shi is expected to have the same properties of the claimed invention. Applicant bears responsibility for proving that the reference composition does not possess the characteristics recited in the claims.
Regarding claim 20, the Modified Compound of Li and Shi reads on compound 51 because they are the same.
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 2012/0215001 A1) and Shi et al. (US 2019/0241590 A1) as applied to claims 1-7 and 10-20 in view of Liao et al. (US 2003/0170491 A1, hereinafter "Liao").
The Modified Device 2 of Li and Shi reads on the claims 1-7 and 10-20 as described above; however, the Modified Device 2 of Li and Shi fails to teach an electronic apparatus comprising a thin film transistor of claim 8 or any combination of the layers of instant claim 9.
Liao teaches in the relevant art of organic electroluminescent devices, an RGB stacked structure for white light generation with greatly improved efficiency and operation lifetime for use in an OLED device (¶ [0068] – [0085]). Liao teaches that in active-matrix displays, an array of OLED devices (pixels) is formed in contact with thin film transistors such that each pixel is activated and controlled independently (¶ [0069]). Liao teaches the active-matrix array is composed of X and Y-direction signal lines for switching thin-film transistors for current control (¶ [0074]). The structure of the active-matrix array above with the signal lines, thin-film transistors are interpreted as the “source” and “drain” electrodes of the thin-film transistor of the light-emitting device electrically connected to the first electrode. Liao teaches the light-emitting device may contain color filters (¶ [0321] – [0324]). Liao teaches Fig 7 as an example of a white light emitting structure wherein EL unit 220.1, 220.2, and 220.3 represent organic light-emitting devices that may emit different colors such as blue, green, and red respectively (¶ [0072]).
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 substitute one of the light-emitting EL units in the white light-emitting structure of Liao with a light-emitting device of Li and Shi. The motivation for doing so would have been to create a display device that may emit different colors with improved efficiency and operational lifetime as taught by Liao (¶ [0068] – [0085]).
The resulting electronic apparatus reads on instant claims 7-8.
Conclusion
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.
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/L.Q.N./Examiner, Art Unit 1786
/JENNIFER A BOYD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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