Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Radu et al (KR 2016 0131947).
Radu discloses a copolymer having Formula I wherein A is a monomer unit containing at least one triarylamine group; B is a monomer unit having at least three attachment points in the copolymer; C ′ is an aromatic monomer unit or a deuterated analog thereof; and E is each independently H, an alkyl group, an aryl group, or the like; and a, b, and c are the same or different, and a + b + c = 1, and an and b are not 0. See claims 1 and 15-18, and the copolymer includes copolymer 17 and the like (see paragraphs [0328]-[0381]). Copolymer 17 of Radu is A in Chemical Formula 1 of claims 1 and 2 is an arylene group (biphenylene group) in which Ar1, Ar2, L1, and L2 in Formula 2 are unsubstituted; R1, R3 is an unsubstituted alkyl group (methyl group); R2 is an unsubstituted alkyl group (hexyl group); n1 and n3 are 1; and n2 is 2; B is a polymer of Chemical Formula 3 [m is 3; Z is a trivalent unsubstituted aryl group (a trivalent phenylene group); and Y is a direct bond ]; E1 and E2 are unsubstituted aryl groups (phenyl groups); a + b is 1; and c is 0.
In Chemical Formula 2, Ar2, L1, and L2 are unsubstituted arylene groups (biphenylene groups); R1 and R3 are unsubstituted alkyl groups (methyl groups); R2 is an unsubstituted alkyl group (hexyl group); n1 and n3 are 1; and n2 is 2, and in Formula 5, E is an unsubstituted aryl group (phenyl group), m in Chemical Formula 3 in claim 4 is 3; Z is a trivalent unsubstituted aryl group (a trivalent phenylene group); and Y is a direct bond.
In Chemical Formula 2-1, Ar1 and Ar2 are unsubstituted arylene groups (biphenylene groups); R1 and R3 are unsubstituted alkyl groups (methyl groups); R2 is an unsubstituted alkyl group (hexyl group); R4 and R5 are hydrogen; n1 and n3 are 1; n2 is 2; n4, n5 is 4; and m1 and m2 are 2, and the polymer including Chemical Formula 3-4 corresponds to the polymer of Chemical Formula 3-4.
Radu discloses C1 () and the like as C ′ in Formula 1 (see paragraphs [0271]-[0287]). Radu discloses that the copolymer has a Mw of 20,000-100,000 (see paragraph [0091]). In addition, the molecular weight is a matter that could be optimized by a person skilled in the art through repeated experiments. As described in paragraph 1, the polymer of claims 1-5 could be easily derived from Radu. In addition, Radu further discloses an organic electronic device including an anode, a cathode, and at least one organic active layer between the anode and the cathode, the organic active layer includes a hole transport copolymer (see claims 1 and 15-18), a person skilled in the art could easily derive the oled from Radu, and the effects thereof could also be sufficiently predicted by a person skilled in the art.
The claims differ from Radu in that the repeating unit of Chemical Formula 2 or Chemical Formula 2-1 includes a t-butyl group as a substituent. However, since Radu discloses a structure in which, as A in Chemical Formula 1, Chemical Formula III-b ( Ar2 is an alkyl group, etc. p is 0-4) and R9 is a t-butyl group as A (see claims 1-4 and paragraphs [0179]-[0194] and [0223]-[0225]), a person skilled in the art could easily derive the difference by appropriately changing the type of R9, the binding position, and the number of p. In addition, the effects resulting from the difference could also be sufficiently predicted by a person skilled in the art from Radu.
Conclusion
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JAMES D. SELLS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1745
/JAMES D SELLS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1745
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