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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (US 2020/0287144) (hereafter “Hwang”) in view of Lee et al. (US 2013/0334521) (hereafter “Lee”).
Regarding claims 1-20, Hwang teaches an electroluminescent device comprising an anode, a hole transporting layer, a light emitting layer, an electron transporting layer, and a cathode (paragraphs [0417]-[0422]). Hwang teaches that the light emitting layer comprises a host and a dopant, where the amount of the host in the layer is greater than the amount of the dopant, and emits green light (paragraphs [0295] and [0419]) (claims 15-19). Hwang teaches that the dopant is a metal complex and can have the following structure,
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,
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,
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, and
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are a few examples (paragraphs [0242] and [0422], Table 2) (claims 1-14). Hwang teaches that the compounds are derived from the following formula for the ligands,
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, where Z1 can be a germanium group (paragraphs [0059] and [0087]). Hwang teaches that the electroluminescent device can be used in an apparatus or electronic device (paragraph [0424]) (claim 20).
Lee teaches metal complexes for use in electroluminescent device (paragraphs [0015]-[0017]). Lee teaches that the metal complex are contain iridium as the metal center and 3 bidentate ligands (paragraphs [0030]-[0045])). Lee teaches that one can increase the efficiency of the metal complex by adding a germanium groups, such as
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or
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, to the ligand (paragraphs [0101]-[0104]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed to modify the metal complexes of Hwang so the complexes contains a germanium group, such as
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or
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, as taught by Lee. Hwang teaches that the groups can be substituted with germanium groups and Lee teaches motivation to added the germanium group can be to increase the efficiency of the metal complexes.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hwang et al. (US 2022/0037599) teaches metal complexes that meet the applicant’s claimed invention, but this reference is within one year of the foreign priority document and is owned by the same assignee.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW K BOHATY whose telephone number is (571)270-1148. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Curtis Mayes can be reached at (571)272-1234. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW K BOHATY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759
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