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 .
Claims 1-23 as filed on August 1, 2023 are under consideration.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 14-16, 18, 19, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Montenegro et al. (WO 2021/214348) or under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by family equivalent Montenegro et al. (US 2023/0373941 A1) (citations below are directed to the US English language document).
Montenegro discloses at least the following compound #29 (see US ‘941, page 87):
PNG
media_image1.png
214
382
media_image1.png
Greyscale
.
The compound #29 anticipates instant Formula 1 of instant claim 14 where L is direct linkage. With respect to claim 15, the compound #29 comprises methyl group at corresponding instant R12 and R23 locations. With respect to claim 16, the compound #29 corresponds to instant formula “1-3”.
With respect to claim 14 and more specifically, claim 18 Formula 2, Montenegro also teaches the following compound #33 including the specifically bonded naphthyl group:
PNG
media_image2.png
206
408
media_image2.png
Greyscale
(page 88).
With respect to claim 19, the above compound #33 comprises a hydrogen per instant Ra group of either instant formula 3-1 or 3-2.
With respect to claim 21, the above #29 and #33 both correspond to instant Formula 4-2 with direct linkage to a naphthyl group.
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 1-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Montenegro et al. (WO 2021/214348) or family equivalent Montenegro et al. (US 2023/0373941 A1) (citations below are directed to the US English language document).
Montenegro et al. teaches formula (I) compounds for use in light emitting devices (see abstract). Formula (I) (par. 7):
PNG
media_image3.png
212
296
media_image3.png
Greyscale
.
“A” may be selected as C (par. 10), Z variables may be CR1, n,m,k may be 0 or up to 4, and Ar3 is aromatic or heteroaromatic (see par. 7-30). In the immediately above rejection it is noted that specific compounds #29 and #33 are taught (pages 87-88), but the teachings of Montenegro et al. are not limited to only these example embodiment compounds. The definitions provided for a Formula (I) compounds also encompass further compounds of instant claims 1-23.
With respect to claims 1 and 14, R1 variables may be alkyl of 1 carbon atom (methyl) (see par. 23) per instant at least one “substituted or unsubstituted methyl group” and each of Z3 may be carbon per the naphthyl group shown within instant Formula 1 (see par. 22 and 24).
With further respect to a device of claim 1, the compound of the reference is used as hole transport material (see par. 6) and the layers of a device are disclosed (see US ‘941, claim 37 on page 232).
With respect to claim 2 and to claim 15, Zs as CR1 may include at least one R1 as 1 carbon methyl alkyl group (see par. 23).
With respect to claims 3, 4, 16, and 17, any one of Zs as CR1 may include a R1 as 1 carbon methyl alkyl group (see par. 23), which would encompass the claimed formulas. Regarding claims 5 and 18, the naphthyl group of Formula (I) may bond at the designated location (see par. 7, 22, 24, 67-68) and per claims 6-8 and 19-21, the naphthyl group can comprise a phenyl substituent group per instant Ra at a designated location (see par. 68). Further regarding claims 8 and 21 and regarding claims 9 and 22, a phenyl Ar1 linking group may be provided in a Formula (I) (see par. 12, 67-68, and par. 68 especially “Naph-28”).
With respect to claim 10, the formula (I) compounds are monoamines (see par. 7).
With respect to claim 11, a device structure may include the recited layers (see par. 204).
With respect to claim 12, a light emitting layer of a device may have blue emission (see par. 122).
With respect to claims 13 and 23, Formula (I) (par. 7) derivatives as defined encompasses specific instant compounds of the claims. For instance, with respect to at least instant compound 1 of claims 13 and 23, Zs may be CR1 (par. 20) where a R1 is selected as methyl corresponding to the methyl shown in instant compound 1 (see par. 23), the naphthyl group may be “Naph-5” of par. 68, and Ar3 can be selected as biphenyl aromatic group (see par. 14 “Ar3-7”, par. 15, and par. 24).
PNG
media_image4.png
120
108
media_image4.png
Greyscale
[Instant compound 1].
While Montenegro et al. does not exemplify all compounds of Formula I meeting the instant claims and does not exemplify an example device where the Formula I compound of a hole transport layer was selected the same as claimed, given the teachings of the reference, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have formed derivatives of Montenegro et al. Formula (I) for use in a light emitting device layered structure as described above wherein the resultant compound and device would also meet the limitations of the instant claims. One would expect to achieve a functional light emitting device within the disclosure of Montenegro et al. with a predictable result and a reasonable expectation of success.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Qu, Y. K., Zheng, Q., Fan, J., Liao, L. S., & Jiang, Z. Q. (2021). Spiro compounds for organic light-emitting diodes. Accounts of Materials Research, 2(12), 1261-1271.
The reference discusses compounds including spiro-type structures. The reference is considered relevant to the state of the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Dawn Garrett whose telephone number is (571)272-1523. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday (Eastern Time).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Boyd can be reached at 571-272-7783. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DAWN L GARRETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
Prosecution Insights