DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an
application filed in Korea on March 30, 2021.
3. Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C.
119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the
foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and
41.202(e).
4. Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded
for the non-English application.
Information Disclosure Statement
5. The references provided in the Information Disclosure Statement filed on June
16, 2023; April 1, 2024; and September 17, 2024 have been considered. Signed copies of the corresponding 1449 forms have been included with this office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hyun et al. (KR 2020-0100972 A, English machine translation obtained from Global Dossier).
11. Regarding claims 1-8, Hyun teaches compounds represented by Chemical
Formula 1 (Hyun) (¶ [0016]-[0040], see structure below) wherein:
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Z can be selected as a nitrogen atom (¶ [0019]); and
L1-L3 can be selected as a single bond, a substituted or unsubstituted C6-C30 arylene group, or a substituted or unsubstituted C3-C30 heteroarylene group
(¶ [0020]); and
O, P, and Q can be selected as integers between zero and three (¶ [0021]);
and
A1-A3 can be selected as hydrogen, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group,
or a substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl group (¶ [0022]), with at least one
of A1-A3 selected as Structural Formula 7 (see structure below, (¶ [0036]-
[0037]), wherein
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X1 can be selected as an oxygen atom and X2 can be selected as a sulfur atom (¶ [0039]).
12. The specific structures disclosed in Hyun are structural isomers of those in the instant application.
13. Hyun discloses Compound 72 (¶ [0062]; see below) which reads on all of the
limitations of Chemical Formula 1 per claim 1 except for the presence of the group A2 (represented by Chemical Formulae 1-b or 1-c in the instant application) on the dibenzothiophenyl scaffold.
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14. Hyun teaches that compounds represented by Chemical Formula 1 (Hyun), such
Compound 72 (Hyun), are useful as host materials in the light emitting layer of organic
light emitting devices (¶ [0194]; see Table 2) and improve the emission efficiency of the
organic light emitting devices (¶ [0205]).
15. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the positional isomer of Compound 72 (Hyun) wherein the biphenyl-phenylnaphthyl amino group is transposed onto the dibenzothiophenyl scaffold. One of ordinary skill in the pertinent art would have been motivated to produce additional compounds represented by the positional isomers of the compound represented by Compound 72 (Hyun) in order to pursue the known options within his or her technical grasp and would expect the isomeric compounds to be useful as host materials in the light emitting layer of the organic light emitting device of Hyun and possess the properties taught by Hyun (improved emission efficiency, ¶ [0205]). A prima facie case of obviousness exists when chemical compounds have very close structural similarity and similar utilities. See MPEP 2144.09 I. When compounds which are position isomers or homologs are of sufficiently close structural similarity, there is an expectation that such compounds possess similar properties. See MPEP 2144.09 II.
16. The resulting positional isomer of Compound 72 (Hyun) is depicted below.
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17. Per claim 1, Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) reads on all of the limitations of Chemical Formula 1 of the instant application wherein:
A1 is represented by Chemical Formula 1-a; and
X is an oxygen atom; and
Ar1 is an unsubstituted C6 aryl group; and
A2 is a substituent represented by Chemical Formula 1-c; and
L2 to L4 are single bonds; and
Ar4 is an unsubstituted C12 aryl group and Ar5 is an unsubstituted C16 aryl group; and
n is an integer equal to zero.
18. Per claim 2, Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) reads on all of the limitations of Chemical Formula 1-3 of the instant application wherein:
X, Ar1, L2 to L4, Ar4, Ar5 are all the same as previously defined.
19. Per claim 3, Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) reads on the limitation wherein L2 is a single bond.
20. Per claim 4, Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) reads on the limitation wherein Ar1 is a phenyl group.
21. Per claim 5, as per claim 1, Ar2 and Ar3 are not required to be present and thus the limitations of claims 5 are met.
22. Per claim 6, Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) reads on the limitation wherein L3 and L4 are single bonds.
23. Per claim 7, Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) reads on all of the limitations wherein:
Ar4 is a biphenyl group; and
Ar5 is a phenylnaphthyl group.
24. Per claim 8, Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) reads on the limitation wherein it is identical to compound
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shown on pg. 29 of the instant claims.
25. Regarding claims 9-10, Hyun teaches an organic light emitting device
comprising:
a first electrode (ITO, ¶ [0195]); and
a second electrode (Al, ¶ [0195]); and
one or more organic material layers provided between the first and second
electrodes, wherein at least one of the organic material layers comprises at
least one compound represented by Chemical Formula 1 of the instant application (¶ [0197]); and
wherein the organic material layer is a light emitting layer (¶ [0197]).
26. While Hyun does not teach Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) in an organic
light emitting device, Hyun does generally teach uses of compounds represented by Chemical Formula 1 (Hyun) in organic light emitting devices of claim 9. At the time the invention was effectively filed, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the organic light emitting devices of Hyun by using the Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) as the host material of the light emitting layer, based on the teaching of Hyun. The modification would have been a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results and one of ordinary skill in the art would reasonably expect the modified organic light emitting devices to possess the benefits taught by Hyun (improved emission efficiency, ¶ [0205]). See MPEP 2143(I)(A).
27. Per claims 9-10, the modified organic light emitting device of Hyun comprising Compound 72 (Hyun, isomer) as a host material in the light emitting layer reads on all of the limitations therein.
Conclusion
28. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Brandon J. Cooper whose telephone number is (571)272-0005. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
29. 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.
30. 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.
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/B.J.C./Examiner, Art Unit 1786
/JENNIFER A BOYD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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