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 in response to the Requirement for Restriction/Election filed 01/28/26.
The election reads on Claims 1-20.
Claims 1-20 are pending. No claims have been withdrawn from consideration.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: The Specification filed 12/21/22 recites the structures on the following pages: 19-21, 27-41, 53, 61-64, 71, and 81-84 which are all graphically unclear due to their low resolutions; they have faded lines containing atoms which are barely legible. They need to be replaced by structures which are clearly legible, with all bonds and atoms that are clearly drawn (with solid lines).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 6 and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites structures which are all graphically unclear due to their low resolutions; they have faded lines containing atoms which are barely legible. They need to be replaced by structures which are clearly legible, with all bonds and atoms that are clearly drawn (with solid lines).
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-5 and 13-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (CN 112645968 A).
Examiner’s Note: The Office has relied on the Machine English translation of foreign patent publication CN 112645968 A (herein referred to as “Wang 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.
Regarding Claims 1-5 and 15-18, Wang et al. discloses the following compound:
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(page 141 of Wang et al.) such that Ar11-14 = aromatic hydrocarbon ring having 6 ring-forming atoms (benzene), Ar15 = benzene ring, X11 = -O-, Y11 = -O-, Y12 = -Se-, and m11-15 = 0 of Applicant’s Formulae 1 and 2. Wang et al. discloses an organic electroluminescent (EL) device comprising the following layers: anode, hole-injecting layer, hole-transporting layer, light-emitting layer, hole-blocking layer, electron-transporting layer, electron-injecting layer, and cathode ([0002]); its inventive compounds serve as TADF emissive materials in the light-emitting layer ([0006], [0017]). The light-emitting layer comprises any of its inventive compounds of formula (I) and/or formula (II) (hence there exists a plurality of TADF materials) ([0114]). Wang et all. further discloses the existence of host material ([0651]).
Regarding Claims 13 and 14, it is the position of the Office that the compound as disclosed by Wang et al. (above) would inherently possess the properties as recited in the claims. Evidence is provided by the fact that it is fully encompassed by Applicant’s inventive Formulae 1 and 2; the compound also has rather close structural similarity to that of Applicant’s inventive compound 1-1 (as recited in Claim 6), differing only in the nature of the Y12 group as it contains selenium (Se) which has an identical valency to that of oxygen (O) and belongs to the same periodic group as the latter, and thus can be expected to have highly similar chemical and physical properties.
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 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (CN 112645968 A) as applied above and in further view of Lin et al. (US 2006/0008670 A1).
Examiner’s Note: The Office has relied on the Machine English translation of foreign patent publication CN 112645968 A (herein referred to as “Wang 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.
Wang et al. discloses the organic electroluminescent (EL) device of Claim 16 as shown above. Wang et al. discloses that its inventive compounds serve as TADF (fluorescent) emissive materials in the light-emitting layer ([0006], [0017]); benefits include narrower half-peak spectral characteristics, which leads to increased efficiencies ([0004]-[0006]). However, Wang et al. does not explicitly disclose the additional presence of a phosphorescent material.
Lin et al. discloses an organic EL device comprising the following layers: substrate (110), anode (115), hole-injecting layer (120), hole-transporting layer (125), electron-blocking layer (130), light-emitting layer (135), hole-blocking layer (140), electron-transporting layer (145), electron-injecting layer (150), protective layer (155), and cathode (160) (Fig. 1; [0033]). The light-emitting layer comprises “dopants that tune the emission” including “a plurality of emissive materials capable of, in combination, emitting a desired spectrum of light”; emissive materials include phosphorescent and fluorescent materials ([0037]). The former includes platinum complexes ([0063], [0077], [0080]). It would have been obvious to further incorporate any of the inventive compounds as disclosed by Wang et al. into the light-emitting layer of the organic EL device as disclosed by Lin et al. (as fluorescent emissive materials). The motivation is provided by the disclosure of Wang et al., which teaches its inventive compounds as fluorescent emissive materials with TADF half-peak spectral characteristics, which leads to increased efficiencies of the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-12 are currently objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Examiner’s Note: The Office has relied on the Machine English translation of foreign patent publication CN 112645968 A (herein referred to as “Wang 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.
The closest prior art is provided by Wang et al. (CN 112645968 A), which discloses TADF (emissive) compounds of the following forms:
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([0021] of Wang et al.) where X1-2 = O, S, Se, or Te (only), Y1 = S, Se, or Te (only), and Y2 = Se or Te (only) ([0009]). An embodiment is disclosed:
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(page 141 of Wang et al.). However, it is the position of the Office that neither Wang et al. singly nor in further combination with any other prior art discloses any of the compounds as recited in the claims, particularly in regards to the nature of Y11-12 or the nature of Ar11-14 of Applicant’s Formula 1.
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