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 Interpretation
The term “p-type charge generation layer” has a scope as defined in paragraph [0050] of the specification. It is not the same as the hole injection layer. It is a p-type charge generation layer (p-CGL) as commonly understood in the art: the p-CGL in the pair of p-CGL/n-CGL disposed between two adjacent light-emitting units in a tandem OLED.
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 1-14 are 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. Claim 1 recites the compound of formula 1 wherein the metes and bounds of the moieties Re and L are arbitrary. Each of Re and L can be anything as long as they have a certain chemical group. It is unclear if they can be polymeric, heavy metal-containing or coordinate compound-containing. The scope of claim 1 is therefore unclear. Claims 11 and 13 are indefinite for the same reason, and the other claims are indefinite by dependency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-14 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The claimed device is not disclosed or suggested by the prior art of record. As the claimed device has a green light-emitting unit comprising, from the side of the first electrode, i.e., the anode, a p-CGL, a HTL and an EML, in that order, the presence of another emitting unit between the anode and the green light-emitting unit is implied. Now, whereas an OLED having the configuration of anode/HIL/HTL/EML/ETL/cathode, wherein the EML may contain a green phosphorescent dopant and a host material similar to the compound of formula 1 in claim 1, is known (see, for example, US 2021/0367178 A1 to Moon et al. and US 2020/0168810 A1 to Parham et al.), and the use of a tandem OLED having a CGL is also well known, there is not an obvious reason for a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the prior art OLED so that it has the partial structure of anode/…/p-CGL/HTL/EML/…/cathode wherein the EML is as defined in claim 1.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VU ANH NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5454. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM-5:00 PM.
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/VU A NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1762