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 .
This office action is responsive to the Terminal Disclaimer and Remarks filed 7 July 2026. There being no substantive amendments to the claims, claims 1-8 remain pending and presently under consideration in this application.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment to the specification filed 7 July 2026 satisfactorily addresses the Priority issues noted in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the previous office action on the merits.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 7 July 2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Patent No. 11,616,202 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 7 July 2026 with respect to the alleged allowability of the claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
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.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Lee et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0171340).
Lee et al. discloses a compound, the corresponding use thereof said compound in an organic optoelectronic device comprising an anode and a cathode facing each other, at least one organic layer including a light emitting layer between the anode and the cathode, wherein at least one of said layers includes said compound, as recited in the present claims 2-3, as well as the corresponding use thereof said organic optoelectronic device in a display device, as recited in the present claim 4, characterized in that said compound encompasses the compounds of the present formulae A-51 through A-70 as generally represented therein by
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209
413
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Greyscale
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233
422
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Greyscale
(abstract; [0047+]; claims), wherein ring A1 is represented by Formula 1C
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136
385
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or 1D
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107
402
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Greyscale
, X4 is O or S, X1 is N, X2 is N, X3 is N, R5 and R6 are each an unsubstituted C6 aryl group, a4 is 0, b4 is 1, b5 is 0, and R4 is unsubstituted C6 aryl group.
Although Lee et al. does not expressly illustrate said compound and/or use thereof in an organic optoelectronic device, the Examiner asserts that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the requisite art at the time the invention was filed to make and/or use said compounds inclusive of the present formulae A-51 through A-70, based in the general teachings therein, absent object evidence to the contrary.
The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 are allowed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Geraldina Visconti whose telephone number is (571)272-1334. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony J Zimmer can be reached at (571)270-3591. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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GERALDINA VISCONTI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1737
/GERALDINA VISCONTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737
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