DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This Office Action is responsive to the amendment filed on 11/24/2025.
3. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1-13 are under examination on the merits. Claims 1-8, 14-20 are amended. Claims 14-20 are withdrawn to a non-elected invention from further consideration.
4. The objections and rejections not addressed below are deemed withdrawn.
5. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-13 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Saito et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0181568 A1, hereinafter “’568”) in view of Hans-Rudolf Meyer (US Pat. No. 3,872,094, hereinafter “’094”).
Regarding claim 1: ‘568 teaches a photoelectric conversion element (Page 1, [0001]) comprising, in the following order: a conductive film, a photoelectric conversion film, and a transparent conductive film (Page 3, [0049]). The photoelectric conversion element 21 has a configuration in which a first electrode 41 (i.e., a conductive film), a charge storage electrode 42, an insulating layer 43, a semiconductor layer 44, a hole blocking layer 45, a photoelectric conversion layer 46 (i.e., a photoelectric conversion film), a work function adjustment layer 47, and a second electrode 48 (i.e., a transparent conductive film) are stacked as illustrated in Fig. 4 (Page 3, [0040],
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420
450
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wherein the photoelectric conversion film contains a compound represented by Formula Chemical Formula (34) to Chemical Formula (37) (Pages 17-18, Chem.34 to Chem.37)
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444
796
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494
804
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‘568 does not expressly teach in the Formula (3), X31 represents a sulfur atom, an oxygen atom, or a selenium atom, Y31 to Y34 each independently represent a nitrogen atom or -CR=, one of Y31, Y32,Y33 to Y34 is a nitrogen atom, and R represents a hydrogen atom or a substituent,
However, ’094 teaches bis-aroxazolyl compound of the formula 52 (Col. 21, lines 1-24, Example 4) as optical brightness for organic materials (Col. 1, lines 4-7), wherein the optically brightening substances are distinguished by particularly good heat resistance, fastness to light, and resistance to migration (Col. 15, lines 63-65).
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122
370
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In an analogous art of the photoelectric conversion element, and in the light of such benefit before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Ar12 and Ar13 substituents of the compound represented by Formula (1) by ‘212, so as to include bis-aroxazolyl compound of the formula 52 as taught by ‘094, and would have been motivated to do so with reasonable expectation that this would result in providing bis-aroxazolyl compounds as optical brightness for organic materials (Col. 1, lines 4-7), wherein the optically brightening substances are distinguished by particularly good heat resistance, fastness to light, and resistance to migration as suggested by ‘094 (Col. 15, lines 63-65).
It is submitted that the recited compound of ‘094 falls within the scope of the recited instant compounds of claims 14, 18, and 20. Thus, the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, since the substitution of equivalents (i.e., falling within the scope of the recited compounds of claims 14, 18, and 20) requires no express motivation as long as the prior art recognizes the equivalency. In re Fount USPQ 532 (CCPA 1982); In re Siebentritt, 152 USPQ 618 (CCPA 1967); Graver Tank & Mfg. Co. Inc. v Linde Air Products Co., 85 USPQ 328 (USSC).
Regarding claims 2-3: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches a photoelectric conversion element (Page 1, [0001]), wherein in Formula (1), a group represented by Ar11 is groups represented by Formula (A5), wherein in Formula (A5), one of Z53 or Z54 represents an oxygen atom, and the other of Z53 or Z54 represents -CR= as shown in Chemical Formula (34) to Chemical Formula (37) (Pages 17-18, Chem.34 to Chem.37).
Regarding claim 4: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches a photoelectric conversion element (Page 1, [0001]), wherein in Formula (1), n11 is 1, and Ar11 is a group represented by Formula (A5) as shown in Chemical Formula (34) to Chemical Formula (37) (Pages 17-18, Chem.34 to Chem.37).
Regarding claims 5-6: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches a photoelectric conversion element (Page 1, [0001]), wherein in Formula (2), X21 and X22 each independently represent a sulfur atom, and Ar12 and Ar13 each independently represent by group represented by Formula (7) as shown in Chemical Formula (34) to Chemical Formula (37) (Pages 17-18, Chem.34 to Chem.37).
Regarding claim 7: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches a photoelectric conversion element, wherein the compound represented by Formula (1) has a molecular weight of 550 to 1200 as shown in Chemical Formula (34) to Chemical Formula (37) (Pages 17-18, Chem.34 to Chem.37).
‘094 teaches bis-aroxazolyl compound of the formula 52 (Col. 21, lines 1-24, Example 4), wherein the compound has a molecular weight of 570 Col. 21, lines 20-23, Example 4).
Regarding claim 8: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches a photoelectric conversion element, wherein the photoelectric conversion film further contains a coloring agent, and the photoelectric conversion film is a mixture layer formed in a state in which the compound represented by Formula (1) and the coloring agent are mixed (Page 4, [0055]-[0056]).
Regarding claim 9: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches a photoelectric conversion element, wherein the photoelectric conversion film further contains a n-type semiconductor material (Page 4, [0058]).
Regarding claim 10: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches a photoelectric conversion element, wherein the wherein the n-type semiconductor material includes fullerenes selected from the group consisting of a fullerene and a derivative thereof (Page 4, [0058]).
Regarding claim 11: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches a photoelectric conversion element, further comprising one or more interlayers between the conductive film and the transparent conductive film, in addition to the photoelectric conversion film (Page 3, [0049, Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 12: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches an imaging element comprising the photoelectric conversion element (Page 5, [0063]).
Regarding claim 13: The disclosure of ‘568 in view of ‘094 is adequately set forth in paragraph above and is incorporated herein by reference. ‘568 teaches an optical sensor comprising the photoelectric conversion element (Page 21, [02226]; Page 23, [0270])
Response to Arguments
8. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-13 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
9. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Examiner Information
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bijan Ahvazi, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571) 270-3449. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9.00 A.M. -7 P.M..
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Del Sole can be reached on 571-272-1130. 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 the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Bijan Ahvazi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
12/15/2025
bijan.ahvazi@uspto.gov