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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/21/2023 and 12/28/2023 have each been considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement filed 08/21/2025 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein which has been crossed out has not been considered. The information that has not been crossed out has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 3, 5, 7, 10-12, 15, and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities:
in claims 3, 5, 7, 10-12, 15, and 19, it is suggested that each instance of "defined as in connection with" be replaced with "defined the same as" or "defined the same way as" for ease of reading.
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 14-20 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 14, the claim recites "wherein the emission layer further comprises a third compound, a fourth compound, or any combination thereof." From this it is unclear what is mean from "any combination thereof", that is, since there are only two items in the list (the third compound and the fourth compound) what combination other than the third compound and the fourth compound is available? Or does "any combination" include combinations with the first and second compounds?
For purposes of examination, the claimed will be interpreted consistent with paragraph [0091] of the specification which recites: the emission layer may include i) the first compound, the second compound, and the third compound, ii) the first compound, the second compound, and the fourth compound, or iii) the first compound, the second compound, the third compound, and the fourth compound.
Claims 15-20 are rejected as being dependent on indefinite claim 14.
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, 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.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Choi et al. US-20210119168-A1 (hereinafter "Choi").
It is noted that Choi et al. US-20210119168-A1 is cited on the IDS of 12/21/2023.
Regarding claims 1-20, Choi teaches an organic electroluminescence device including an emission layer disposed between a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein the emission layer includes a host, a first dopant, and a second dopant (¶ [0007]), wherein the host includes a first host and a second host (¶ [0011]). Choi teaches wherein the first host is represented by Formula H-1 (¶ [0012]), and teaches exemplary compounds of Formula H-1 (¶ [0145]) including HT-10, HT-11, HT-12
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, and HT-13 (page 15). Choi teaches wherein the second host is represented by Formula H-2 (¶ [0146]), and teaches exemplary compounds of Formula H-2 in paragraph [0146] including compound ET1-6
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(page 17). Choi teaches wherein the first dopant is represented by Formula D-1 (¶ [0017]) and teaches exemplary compounds in paragraph [0147], which comprise a transition metal. Choi teaches wherein the second dopant is represented by D-2a (¶ [0019]) and teaches exemplary compounds in paragraph [0149] including D-01
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(page 27). Choi teaches the device comprising the first host, the second host, the first dopant, and the second dopant obtains the beneficial properties of excellent lifetime characteristics and excellent emission efficiency (¶ [0006] and ¶ [0097]).
Choi does not specifically exemplify a first host compound of Formula H-1 that meets the claimed Formula 1. For example, the compound HT-12 differs from the claimed compound in that the dibenzofuran group or dibenzothiophene group at the position corresponding to Ar1 in Choi's Formula H-1 is unsubstituted instead of substituted with at least one C6-C60 aryl group. However, Choi teaches that Ar1 may be a substituted or unsubstituted dibenzofuran group, a substituted or unsubstituted dibenzothiophene group, among others (¶ [0088]), and teaches that the term substituted includes substitution with an aryl group (¶ [0062]), which includes a phenyl group (¶ [0070]). Further, Choi teaches exemplary compounds wherein Ar1 is substituted with a phenyl group, see for example HT-15 (page 15) and HT-17 (page 16).
Therefore, given the general formula and teachings of Choi, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the Ar1 dibenzofuran group or dibenzothiophene group in compounds HT-10 to HT-13 with a phenyl group, because Choi teaches the variable may suitably be selected as such and teaches exemplary compounds wherein the variable is selected as such. The substitution would have been one known element for another and one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art would reasonably expect the predictable result that the modified compound would be useful as a host in the emission layer of the device of Choi and possess the beneficial properties of excellent lifetime characteristics and excellent emission efficiency taught by Choi. See MPEP § 2143.I.(B).
The modified first host compounds HT-10 to HT-13 of Choi meet the claimed Formula 1 and one of the modified compounds of HT-12 corresponds to the claimed compound H13.
The second host compound HT1-6 of Choi meets claimed Formula 2 and corresponds to claimed compound E4.
The second dopant compound D-01 of Choi meets claimed Formula 4 and corresponds to claimed compound D1.
Therefore, the modified device of Choi meets claims 1-20.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: EP-3800683-A1, which is cited on the IDS and has family member US-20210098714-A1, recites a light emitting device comprising a host comprising a first host of a Formula H-1 and a second host of Formula H-2 (¶ [0006] and [0010]-[0014]), and EP-3940805-A1, cited on the IDS of 12/21/2023, recites an organic light emitting device of Example 2 (Table 7, page 106) comprising host compounds ETH65 and HTH41.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Elizabeth M. Dahlburg whose telephone number is 571-272-6424. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET, and alternate Fridays.
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.
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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/ELIZABETH M. DAHLBURG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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