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 .
DETAILED ACTION
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17-22, 24, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yoon et al. (US 2020/0308209, cited on Applicants information disclosure statement, cited on 7/27/23.
Claim 1: Yoon et al. teaches organic light-emitting devices and electronic apparatus comprising the same. Example 1 of Yoon et al. is drawn to a light-emitting device which comprises an anode, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an emission layer comprising a host and two dopant materials, an electron transport layer consisting of compound ET1, an electron injection layer consisting of Yb, and a cathode (paragraphs 0528-0531). Compound ET1 of Yoon et al. is taught as having the structure
PNG
media_image1.png
178
194
media_image1.png
Greyscale
(page 68). The electron transport region in device example 1 does not comprise an alkali metal or a metal belonging to Group 13 of the Periodic Table of the Elements which satisfies claim 1. Moreover, compound ET1 satisfies formula (1) of claim 1. As applied to formula (1), compound ET1 has R101 and R103 through R108 equal to hydrogen atoms, n101 equal to 1, L101 equal to p-phenylene, Ar101 equal to a phenyl-substituted benzimidazole, n102 and n103 equal to 1, L102 and L103 equal to single bonds, and Ar102 and Ar103 equal to a naphthyl group. Device example 1 of Yoon et al. therefore anticipates all of the device and structural limitations of claim 1.
Claims 2 and 5: Compound ET1 above also anticipates formula (1-1) of claim 2 and formula (1-11) of claim 5 with all variable assignments being described in claim 1 above.
Claim 6: Compound ET1 above also satisfies formula (2-1) of claim 6 with R202 being equal to a substituted C6-aryl group (a phenyl group which is substituted with a phenyl-substituted benzimidazole group) and the other variables being described in claim 1 above.
Claim 7: While compound ET1 cannot be used to satisfy the limitations of claim 7, claim 7 is drawn to an optional embodiment where the compound is selected from formula (2). Claim 1 allows for the compound to be selected from any one of formulae (1) through (4). That is to say, if claim 7 were amended to be an independent claim, it further limits the optional embodiment where the compound is of formula (2). For this reason, claim 7 may be properly rejected by Yoon et al.
Claims 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17-22, and 24: Each of claims 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17-22, and 24 serve to further limit optional embodiments where the compound of claim 1 is selected from formulae (2), (3), or (4). For the same reasons as claim 7 above, Yoon et al. may be properly relied upon to reject the limitations of claims 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17-22, and 24.
Claim 25: Example 1 of Yoon et al. has a compound which satisfies formula (1) as a first layer of the electron-transporting region, and a rare earth element (Yb) as the second layer, thereby anticipating claim 25.
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 of this title, 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.
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.
Claims 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, 19, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon et al. (US 2020/0308209).
Claims 7 and 9: While Yoon et al. does not exemplify a device where the electron transport layer includes a compound which satisfies formula (2) as recited in claims 7 and 9, the preparation of such a device would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art given the overall teachings of Yoon et al. Specifically, Yoon et al. teaches that preferred electron transport compounds includes compounds ET1 to ET42 (paragraph 0451). As such, one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have employed any one of the explicitly taught electron transport materials, including for example compound ET17. Compound ET17 has the structure
PNG
media_image2.png
308
156
media_image2.png
Greyscale
(page 71). This compound satisfies formula (2) of claim 1 where Ar201 is a substituted benzimidazole group. Additionally, compound ET17 satisfies formula (2-11) of claim 9 with R211 equal to phenyl, L201 equal to p-phenylene, L202 equal to a single bond, and Ar202 equal to naphthyl.
Claim 11: While Yoon et al. does not exemplify a device where the electron transport layer includes a compound which satisfies formula (3-1) as recited in claim 11, the preparation of such a device would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art given the overall teachings of Yoon et al. Specifically, Yoon et al. teaches that preferred electron transport compounds includes compounds ET1 to ET42 (paragraph 0451). As such, one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have employed any one of the explicitly taught electron transport materials, including for example compound ET24. Compound ET24 has the structure
PNG
media_image3.png
158
200
media_image3.png
Greyscale
(page 72). This compound satisfies formula (3-1) of claim 11 with one R302 equal to hydrogen and one R302 equal to a substituted phenyl group (quinoline-substituted phenyl), both L301 equal to a single bond, and both Ar301 equal to a phenanthryl group.
Claim 14: While Yoon et al. does not exemplify a device where the electron transport layer includes a compound which satisfies formula (3-2) as recited in claim 14, the preparation of such a device would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art given the overall teachings of Yoon et al. Specifically, Yoon et al. teaches that preferred electron transport compounds includes compounds ET1 to ET42 (paragraph 0451). As such, one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have employed any one of the explicitly taught electron transport materials, including for example compound ET25. Compound ET25 has the structure
PNG
media_image4.png
156
212
media_image4.png
Greyscale
(page 73). This compound satisfies formula (3-2) of claim 14 with R302 equal to a substituted phenyl group (quinoline-substituted phenyl), both L301 equal to a single bond, and both Ar301 equal to a phenanthryl group.
Claim 15: While Yoon et al. does not exemplify a device where the electron transport layer includes a compound which satisfies formula (3-21) as recited in claim 15 the preparation of such a device would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art given the overall teachings of Yoon et al. Specifically, Yoon et al. teaches that preferred electron transport compounds includes compounds ET1 to ET42 (paragraph 0451). As such, one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have employed any one of the explicitly taught electron transport materials, including for example compound ET40. Compound ET40 has the structure
PNG
media_image5.png
154
164
media_image5.png
Greyscale
(page 75). This compound satisfies formula (3-21) of claim 15 with R302 equal to phenyl, both L301 groups equal to a single bond, Ar301 equal to phenyl, X311 equal to N-Ph, R313 being bonded to L301, R311, R312, and R314 through R318 equal to hydrogen atoms.
Claim 19: While Yoon et al. does not exemplify a device where the electron transport layer includes a compound which satisfies formulae (4-1) or (4-1) as recited in claim 19, the preparation of such a device would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art given the overall teachings of Yoon et al. Specifically, Yoon et al. teaches that preferred electron transport compounds includes compounds ET1 to ET42 (paragraph 0451). As such, one having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to have employed any one of the explicitly taught electron transport materials, including for example compound ET36. Compound ET36 has the structure
PNG
media_image6.png
108
174
media_image6.png
Greyscale
(page 74). As applied to formula (4-2) compound ET26 has R421-R427 equal to hydrogen atoms, L401 equal to a naphthyl group, and Ar401 equal to a C12 heteroaryl group.
Claim 26: While Example 1 of Yoon et al. teaches that the electron transport region comprises an electron transport layer and an electron injection layer, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have prepared a device where the electron transport region further comprises one or more of a hole blocking layer (which would be in direct contact with the emission layer), as this is a specific device embodiment taught by Yoon et al. (paragraphs 0414 and 0479). The employment of a thin hole blocking layer is a known device improvement which acts as a hole barrier, trapping said holes in the emissive layer so that they may recombine with incoming electrons before being wasted.
Claims 1, 2, 5-7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17-22, and 24-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al. (US 2020/0235343).
Claim 1: Shin et al. teaches organic light-emitting devices. The device examples are taught to be comprised of an anode, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron blocking layer, an emission layer comprising a host and a dopant, a hole blocking layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection layer, and a cathode. In all of the device examples, the electron injection layer consists of the rare earth metal Yb. While the device examples do not teach that the material in the electron transport layer is one which satisfies formulae (1)-(4) of claim 1, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to have employed an electron transporting material which does satisfy one of formulae (1)-(4) given the overall teachings of Shin et al. Specifically, Shin et al. teaches that the electron transport region may include one of compounds ET1 to ET36. The employment of any one of at least compounds ET1 through ET30, ET30, and ET36 satisfies the compound limitations of formulae (1)-(4). As one example, the employment of compound ET1 satisfies formula (1). As applied to formula (1), compound ET1 has R101 and R103 through R108 equal to hydrogen atoms, n101 equal to 1, L101 equal to p-phenylene, Ar101 equal to a phenyl-substituted benzimidazole, n102 and n103 equal to 1, L102 and L103 equal to single bonds, and Ar102 and Ar103 equal to a naphthyl group. A device example prepared according to the device examples which employs compound ET1 would satisfy all of the device and structural limitations of claim 1.
Claims 2 and 5: Compound ET1 above also satisfies formula (1-1) of claim 2 and formula (1-11) of claim 5 with all variable assignments being described in claim 1 above.
Claim 6: Compound ET1 above also satisfies formula (2-1) of claim 6 with R202 being equal to a substituted C6-aryl group (a phenyl group which is substituted with a phenyl-substituted benzimidazole group) and the other variables being described in claim 1 above.
Claims 7 and 9: While Shin et al. does not exemplify a device where the electron transport layer includes a compound which satisfies formula (2) as recited in claims 7 and 9, the preparation of such a device would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art given the overall teachings of Shin et al. as recited in claim 1. This includes the employment of compound ET17. Compound ET17 has the structure
PNG
media_image2.png
308
156
media_image2.png
Greyscale
(page 43). This compound satisfies formula (2) of claim 1 where Ar201 is a substituted benzimidazole group. Additionally, compound ET17 satisfies formula (2-11) of claim 9 with R211 equal to phenyl, L201 equal to p-phenylene, L202 equal to a single bond, and Ar202 equal to naphthyl.
Claim 11: While Shin et al. does not exemplify a device where the electron transport layer includes a compound which satisfies formula (2) as recited in claim 11, the preparation of such a device would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art given the overall teachings of Shin et al. as recited in claim 1. This includes the employment of compound ET24. Compound ET24 has the structure
PNG
media_image3.png
158
200
media_image3.png
Greyscale
(page 47). This compound satisfies formula (3-1) of claim 11 with one R302 equal to hydrogen and one R302 equal to a substituted phenyl group (quinoline-substituted phenyl), both L301 equal to a single bond, and both Ar301 equal to a phenanthryl group.
Claim 14: While Shin et al. does not exemplify a device where the electron transport layer includes a compound which satisfies formula (2) as recited in claim 14, the preparation of such a device would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art given the overall teachings of Shin et al. as recited in claim 1. This includes the employment of compound ET25. Compound ET25 has the structure
PNG
media_image4.png
156
212
media_image4.png
Greyscale
(page 47). This compound satisfies formula (3-2) of claim 14 with R302 equal to a substituted phenyl group (quinoline-substituted phenyl), both L301 equal to a single bond, and both Ar301 equal to a phenanthryl group.
Claim 19: While Shin et al. does not exemplify a device where the electron transport layer includes a compound which satisfies formula (2) as recited in claim 19, the preparation of such a device would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art given the overall teachings of Shin et al. as recited in claim 1. This includes the employment of compound ET36. Compound ET36 has the structure
PNG
media_image6.png
108
174
media_image6.png
Greyscale
(page 49). As applied to formula (4-2) compound ET26 has R421-R427 equal to hydrogen atoms, L401 equal to a naphthyl group, and Ar401 equal to a C12 heteroaryl group.
Claims 12, 15, 17, 18, and 20-25: While Shin et al. does not explicitly teach compounds which satisfy claims 12, 15, 17, 18, and 20-25, these claims are drawn to optional embodiments and do not actually require that these compounds be present. For this reason, Shin et al. may be properly relied upon to reject claims 12, 15, 17, 18, and 20-25.
Claims 26 and 27: Shin et al. teaches that the electron transport region may be comprised of a hole blocking layer, an electron control layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer or may be comprised of a hole blocking layer, buffer layer, electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer (paragraph 0176). With the knowledge that the electron injection layer is exemplified to be Yb and that the electron transport layer may be any one of the materials ET1 through ET36, Shin et al. renders obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art the preparation of a device where the electron transporting region is comprised of a third layer, a fourth layer, a first layer comprising a compound of formula (1) of claim 1, and a second layer comprising a rare earth element, in that order. Such devices satisfy the layer sequences as recited in claims 26 and 27.
Relevant Art Cited
Additional prior art documents which are relevant to Applicants invention can be found on the attached PTO-892 form.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT S LOEWE whose telephone number is (571)270-3298. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Randy Gulakowski, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-1302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
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) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form.
/Robert S Loewe/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1766
Prosecution Insights