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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR10-2022-0002464, filed on 01/07/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 12/05/2022 and 12/26/2025 were filed after the mailing date of the instant application on 12/05/2022. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The letters, numbers, and/or bonds in several of the chemical structures given in paragraphs [00191], [00205], [00264], [00275], and [00377] are illegible. Please correct these structures so all letters, numbers, and/or bonds are clearly visible. See the example below.
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Please note that this example is non-limiting and there may be other structures that require correction. Please check all formulae to make sure they are not unclear. Applicant may wish to make these structures clearer by increasing font size, making the font bold, and/or making the lines thicker.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2020/0235303 A1, herein after referred to as Kim 2020) and further in view of Min et al. (WO 2022/078429 A1, using US 2023/0299242 A1 as an official translation and for references) and Kim et al. (US 2022/0093878 A1, herein after referred to as Kim 2022).
With respect to claim 1, Kim 2020 discloses a light emitting element comprising a first electrode (an anode), a second electrode (a cathode), and an organic layer (a functional layer) between the electrodes (paragraph 0219) comprising a first, second and third compound (paragraph 0218).
The first compound may be represented by compound 101, which is pictured below (paragraph 0199).
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This compound is analogous to the instant second compound and meets the requirements of instant Formula HT-1 when R14 is a substituted aryl group having 6 ring forming carbon atoms, and n5 is 0 so that R15 is not present.
Kim 2020 also teaches the second compound may be represented by compound 2-1 (paragraph 0200), which is pictured below.
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This compound is analogous to the instant third compound and meets the requirements of instant Formula ET-1 when b1 is 1 and L1 is a substituted arylene having 6 ring-forming carbon atoms, b2 is 0 and L2 is not present and b3 is 0 and L3 is not present, Ar1 is a aryl group with 14 ring-forming carbon atoms and Ar2 and Ar3 are an aryl having 6 ring forming carbon atoms and Y1 through Y3 are nitrogen atoms.
Kim 2020 also teaches that the third compound is a boron-containing compound such as compound 3-15 (page 36), which is pictured below.
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This compound is analogous to the instant first compound.
This compound is derived from Kim 2020 formula 3 (page 4), which is pictured below.
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Kim also teaches that X31 is boron, X32 and X33 are N(R34) (paragraph 0106, and that R34 may be triphenylene (paragraph 0192, lines 2-3).
Such a modification produces a compound that meets the requirements of instant Formula 1 when X1 and X2 are each N(R10), R3 and R8 are an unsubstituted heteroaryl group of 12 ring-forming carbon atoms (9-carbazolyl), both of R10 are represented by Formula 2, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms. In Formula 2, n2-n4 are 0 and R11-R13 are not present.
Kim 2020 includes each element claimed, with the only difference between the claimed invention and Kim 2020 being a lack of the aforementioned combination being explicitly stated. Absent a showing of unexpected results, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to select any known substituent from each of the finite lists of possible combinations to arrive at the compound of the instant claim since the combination of elements would have yielded the predictable result of a composition which, when used in an organic light emitting device, results in improved efficiency and lifespan (paragraph 0217), commensurate in scope with the claimed invention. See Section 2143 of the MPEP, rationales (A) and (E).
However, Kim 2020 does not teach nor fairly suggest selection of a triphenylene group at a position analogous to instant R10.
In analogous art, Min teaches a boron-containing polycyclic compound for use in an organic light emitting device (paragraph 0024 and chemical formula (1))
Min teaches that in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a position analogous to instant R10 is substituted by a triphenylene group (paragraph 0049 and page 6).
Min teaches that the compounds of the invention possess a narrow emission peak, thereby providing high color purity (paragraphs 0024 and 0003)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to preferentially select a triphenylene substituent for the compound of Kim 2020 in order to obtain a compound with a narrow emission peak, thereby providing high color purity, as taught by Min.
However, neither Kim 2020 nor Min teach a fourth compound represented by Formula M-b.
In analogous art, Kim 2022 teaches an organic light emitting device with an emission layer comprising a host, an emitter, and a sensitizer.
Kim 2022 teaches that when a sensitizer is used in the emission layer, triplet excitons formed at a host are transferred to a sensitizer through Dexter energy transfer, and energy of singlet excitons formed at the host are transferred to singlet and triplet of the sensitizer, wherein the singlet undergoes intersystem crossing into a triplet, and then the triplet energy of the sensitizer is transferred to an emitter through Förster energy transfer. Accordingly, all the singlet excitons and the triplet excitons generated in the emission layer are transferred to an emitter, and an organic light emitting device having improved efficiency and improved lifespan characteristics is obtained (paragraph 0036).
Kim 2022 gives an example of a suitable sensitizer in the compounds below (page 462).
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This compound is analogous to the instant fourth compound and meets the requirements of instant Formula M-b when Q1, Q3 and Q4 are carbon atoms and Q2 is a nitrogen atom, C1 is a substituted heteroaryl group having 5 ring-forming carbon atoms, C2 and C3 are a hydrocarbon ring group having 6 ring-forming carbon atoms, C4 is a heteroaryl group having 5 ring-forming carbon atoms, e1 is 1 and L21 is a direct linkage, e2 is 1 and L22 is an oxygen atom, e3 is 1 and L23 is N(R37), e4 is 0 and L24 is not present, d1 is 3 and two R31 are joined to form a fused ring and one R31 is a aryl group having 6 ring-forming carbon atoms, d2 is 0 and R32 is not present, d3 is 0 and R33 is not present, R37 is an aryl group having 6-ring forming carbon atoms that is fused with ring C3 to form a carbazole moiety, d4 I 1 and R34 is a alkyl group having 4 carbon atoms.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the sensitizer of Kim 2022 in the emission layer of Kim 2020 in order to obtain an organic light emitting device having improved efficiency and improved lifespan characteristics, as taught by Kim 2022.
With respect to claim 2, Kim 2020, Min and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and Kim 2020 teaches that the organic layer comprises an emission layer, a hole transport layer between the first electrode and the emission layer and an electron transport layer between the second electrode and the emission layer (paragraph 0219) and the emission layer comprises the composition (paragraph 0218). Similarly, Kim 2022 teaches the sensitizer is for use in the emission layer (abstract).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the composition of Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 in the emission layer of a device with the claimed structure, as taught by Kim 2020 and Kim 2022.
With respect to claim 3, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and the first compound is represented by Formula 1-2, as pictured and discussed above.
With respect to claim 4, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 3, and the compound of Formula 1-1 is represented by Formula 1-1a, as pictured and discussed above.
With respect to claim 5, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 3, as discussed above.
However, neither Kim 2020 nor Min teach the first compound is represented by instant Formula 1-2a to 1-2e.
Kim 2022 teaches an emitter which is a boron compound which is analogous to the boron compound of Kim 2020 and Min in Formula 1-1 (paragraph 0196), which is pictured below.
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Kim teaches that the emitter compound may also be represented by Formula 1-2 (paragraph 196), which is pictured below.
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Kim 2022 teaches that the emitter compounds of the invention demonstrate an increased horizontal orientation ratio which results in an improvement in lifespan and efficiency of an organic light-emitting device (paragraph 0357-0358).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the boron emitter of Kim 2022 into the device of Kim 2020 and Min in order to obtain a compound with improved horizontal orientation ratio and a device with improved lifespan and efficiency, as taught by Kim 2022. It would similarly have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the compound of Kim 2022 in the same manner taught by Min in order to obtain a compound with a narrow emission peak, thereby providing high color purity, as taught by Min.
Such a compound meets the requirements of instant Formula 1-2a.
With respect to claim 6, Kim 2020, Min and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and the first compound represented by Formula 1 is represented by Formula 1-3, as pictured and discussed above.
With respect to claim 7, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and the group represented by Formula 2 is represented by Formula 2-1, as pictured above.
With respect to claim 8, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teaches the light emitting element of claim 1, and R1 is a hydrogen atom, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 9, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and R2, R5, R6, and R9 are each hydrogen atoms, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 10, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and R4 and R7 are each hydrogen atoms, and R3 and R8 are an unsubstituted heteroaryl group of 12 ring-forming carbon atoms (9-carbazolyl) as discussed above.
With respect to claim 11, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and each R10 is a triphenylenyl group, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 12, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and R11, R12, and R13 are not present, as discussed above.
With respect to claim 13, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and Kim 2020 teaches that the emission layer comprises the composition (paragraph 0218).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the first, second, and third compounds in the emission layer, as taught by Kim 2020.
With respect to claim 14, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1 and Kim 2020 teaches that the emission layer comprises the composition (paragraph 0218). Similarly, Kim 2022 teaches the sensitizer is for use in the emission layer (abstract).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the composition in the emission layer as taught by Kim 2020 and Kim 2022.
With respect to claim 15, Kim 2020, Min, and Kim 2022 teach the light emitting element of claim 1, and the first compound is identical to instant compound 4, as discussed above.
Claims 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2022/0093878 A1) and further in view of Min et al. (WO 2022/078429 A1, using US 2023/0299242 A1 as an official translation and for references).
With respect to claim 16, Kim discloses a light emitting element comprising a first electrode (an anode) a second electrode (a cathode), and an emission layer between the electrodes (paragraph 0004) comprising a emitter of Formula 1 (paragraph 0170), which may be represented by Formula 1-1 (paragraph 0205), which is pictured below.
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In this formula, X12 is NR15 (paragraph 0198), X13 is NR16 (paragraph 0199), b13 is 0 and R13 is not present, b11 and b12 are each 1 (paragraph 0203), and R11 and R12 are each a C12 heteroaryl group (paragraph 0202) such as carbazolyl (paragraph 0329), and R15 and R16 are each a C18 aryl group (paragraph 0202).
Such a modification produces a compound that meets the requirements of instant Formula 1 when X1 and X2 are each N(R10), R3 and R8 are an unsubstituted heteroaryl group of 12 ring-forming carbon atoms (9-carbazolyl), both of R10 are represented by Formula 2, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms. In Formula 2, n2-n4 are 0 and R11-R13 are not present.
Kim includes each element claimed, with the only difference between the claimed invention and Kim being a lack of the aforementioned combination being explicitly stated. Absent a showing of unexpected results, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to select any known substituent from each of the finite lists of possible combinations to arrive at the compound of the instant claim since the combination of elements would have yielded the predictable result of a composition which, when used in an organic light emitting device, results in improved efficiency and lifespan (paragraph 0217), commensurate in scope with the claimed invention. See Section 2143 of the MPEP, rationales (A) and (E).
However, Kim does not teach nor fairly suggest selection of a triphenylene group at a position analogous to instant R10.
In analogous art, Min teaches a boron-containing polycyclic compound for use in an organic light emitting device (paragraph 0024 and chemical formula (1))
Min teaches that in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a position analogous to instant R10 is substituted by a triphenylene group (paragraph 0049 and page 6).
Min teaches that the compounds of the invention possess a narrow emission peak, thereby providing high color purity (paragraphs 0024 and 0003)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to preferentially select a triphenylene substituent for the compound of Kim 2020 in order to obtain a compound with a narrow emission peak, thereby providing high color purity, as taught by Min.
With respect to claim 17, Kim and Min teach the light emitting element of claim 16, and the polycyclic compound is represented by Formula 1-1, as pictured and discussed above.
With respect to claim 18, Kim and Min teach the light emitting element of claim 16, and the group represented by Formula 2 is represented by Formula 2-1, as pictured above.
Claims 19-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fleetham et al. (US 2022/0149294 A1).
With respect to claim 19, Fleetham discloses the compound below (page 11).
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This compound is derived from the Fleetham formula below (paragraph 0079).
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Fleetham also teaches that RA and RB are heteroaryl (paragraph 0086) such as carbazole (paragraph 0043, line 20).
Such a modification produces a compound that meets the requirements of instant Formula 1 when X1 and X2 are each N(R10), R3 and R8 are an unsubstituted heteroaryl group of 12 ring-forming carbon atoms (9-carbazolyl), both of R10 are represented by Formula 2, and all other R groups are hydrogen atoms. In Formula 2, n2-n4 are 0 and R11-R13 are not present.
Fleetham includes each element claimed, with the only difference between the claimed invention and Fleetham being a lack of the aforementioned combination being explicitly stated. Absent a showing of unexpected results, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to select any known substituent from each of the finite lists of possible combinations to arrive at the compound of the instant claim since the combination of elements would have yielded the predictable result of a compound capable of functioning as a thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) emitter in an OLED at room temperature (paragraph 0006) commensurate in scope with the claimed invention. See Section 2143 of the MPEP, rationales (A) and (E).
Further, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the compound of Fleetham in an light emitting element with the claimed structure in order to obtain a device with longer device lifetime (paragraph 0178), as taught by Fleetham.
With respect to claim 20, Fleetham teaches the compound of claim 19, and the polycyclic compound is represented by Formula 1-1, as pictured and discussed above.
With respect to claim 21, Fleetham teaches the compound of claim 20 and the compound is represented by Formula 1-1a, as pictured and discussed above.
With respect to claim 22, Fleetham teaches the compound of claim 20, as discussed above.
Fleetham also teaches that the compound may be represented by the formula below (paragraph 0079).
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In this formula, Y1 through Y4 may all be NR (paragraphs 0079 and 0084).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention use either embodiment of the boron emitter of Fleetham in a device of the instant claims in order to obtain a compound capable of functioning as a thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) emitter in an OLED at room temperature (paragraph 0006) and a device with longer device lifetime (paragraph 0178), as taught by Fleetham.
Such a compound meets the requirements of instant Formula 1-2a.
With respect to claim 23, Fleetham teaches the compound of claim 19, and the polycyclic compound is represented by Formula 1-3, as pictured and discussed above.
With respect to claim 24, Fleetham teaches the compound of claim 19, and the group represented by Formula2 is represented by Formula 2-1, as pictured above.
With respect to claim 25, Fleetham teaches the compound of claim 19, and the compound is identical to instant Compound 4, as discussed above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al. (US 2022/0006019 A1) – see the compound on pages 45 and 64
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/RACHEL SIMBANA/Examiner, Art Unit 1786