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 .
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.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The silyl group structures from lines 3-7 on pg. 13, the structural formula on pg. 18 o line 13, the subscripts of Chemical Formula 2-3 on line 14 on pg. 27-28, the heterocyclic compounds embodying the general structure of Chemical Formula 1 and their labels {pg. 36-54}, and figures showing compounds A to I used in Tables 8 and 9 on pg. 104 are difficult to discern due to low resolution in the figures.
On pg. 19, line 20, a C1-C60 aryl group is mentioned. It is unclear what aryl groups can have fewer than 6 carbon atoms.
L1 of Chemical Formula 1 is mentioned on pg. 28, line 20 and pg. 29, line 17. It is unclear what L1 refers to because there is no L1 in Chemical Formula 1.
The caption is separated from the structure for Chemical Formulas 2-1 to 2-4 {pg. 27-28}, for Chemical Formulas 3-1 to 3-4 {pg. 29-30}, and for Chemical Formula 3-2-2 {pg. 32}.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-11 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.
Regarding claim 1: The substituent variables R1 and R2 are defined such that they can be C1-C60 aryl groups {pg. 1}. However, it is unclear what groups have fewer than 6 carbon atoms. For the purposes of examination, the claim is being interpreted such that that R1 and R2 can be C6-C60 aryl groups.
Regarding claims 2-11: Claims 2-11 are rejected due to their dependence from claim 1.
Regarding claim 5: The final line of claim 5 refers to a variable “L1 of Chemical Formula 1”. However, none of claim 5, claim 4, or claim 1 recite a variable “L1” in the text of the claims or in any structural formula of the claims. Therefore, it is unclear to what L1 refers. For the purposes of examination, L1 will be interpreted as L in Chemical Formula 1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suh et al. (KR 2018-0136377 A—machine translation relied upon) (hereafter “Suh”).
Regarding claims 1-5 and 7: Suh discloses the compound shown below {p. 18, top row}.
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374
554
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The compound above has the structure of the instant Compound 386.
Regarding claims 4-5: Suh discloses all of the features with respect to claim 1, as outlined above.
The compound of Suh shown above meets the limitations of the current claims 4 and 5 where the instant Z has the structure Chemical Formula 2, which in turn has the structure of the instant Formula 2-1. With respect to the instant Chemical Formula 2, the instant Z11 and Z12 are joined to form a ring, and one of Z11 and Z12 is substituted. With respect to the instant Chemical Formula 2, the instant Z11 and Z12 are joined to form a ring, and one of Z11 and Z12 is substituted. With respect to the instant Chemical Formula 2-1, the instant Z13 and Z14 are joined to form a ring, and one of Z13 and Z14 is substituted.
Claims 1-4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Yao et al. (CN 106928237 B—machine translation relied upon) (hereafter “Yao”).
Regarding claims 1-4 and 6: Yao discloses the compound shown below {Example 159, pg. 18}.
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388
376
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Where the instant Z is a group having the structure of the instant Chemical Formula 3. The instant X12, X13, and X14 are each CR12, CR13, and CR14, respectively. R12 and R14 are each substituted phenyl and R13 is amine, where R12, R13, and R14 are joined to form a ring.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suh et al. (KR 2018-0136377 A—machine translation relied upon) (hereafter “Suh”).
Regarding claims 8-11: Suh teaches all of the features with respect to claim 1, as outlined above.
Suh does not exemplify a specific organic light emitting device comprising the compound of Suh shown above.
However, Suh teaches an organic light emitting device comprising a first electrode, a second electrode, and an organic material layer with one or more layers provided between the first electrode and the second electrode {p. 21, lines 13-26; p. 30, line 13 through p. 31 line 8}. The organic material layer includes a light emitting layer {p. 21, lines 13-26; p. 30, line 13 through p. 31 line 8}. The organic layer further comprises a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer {p. 21, lines 13-26; p. 30, line 13 through p. 31 line 8}.
Suh teaches that the compounds of Suh are useful as host materials for a light emitting dopant of the light emitting layer of an organic light emitting device {p. 30, line 13 through p. 31 line 8}.
Suh teaches that the compounds of the disclosure of Suh when used as materials of an organic light emitting device provide devices having low driving volage, high efficiency, and long lifetime {p. 3, lines l; p. 32, final paragraph}.
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 compound of Suh by incorporating it into the light emitting layer of the device of Suh described above as the host material for a light emitting dopant, based on the teaching of Suh. The modification would have been a combination of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. See MPEP 2143(I)(A). Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to select suitable and beneficial combinations of materials to be used to make an organic light-emitting device in order to produce good performing organic light-emitting devices. In this case, this means producing a device comprising the compound of Suh in order to provide a device having low driving volage, high efficiency, and long lifetime, based on the teaching of Suh.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DYLAN CLAY KERSHNER whose telephone number is (303)297-4257. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9am-5pm (Mountain).
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/DYLAN C KERSHNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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