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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority based on
applications filed in JP on October 28, 2022. It is noted, however, that the
foreign priority date is the effective filing date of the claimed invention if
a. The foreign application supports the claimed invention under 112(a), and
b. The applicant has perfected the right of priority by providing
i. A certified copy of the priority application, and
ii. A translation of the priority application (if not in English).
In the instant case, the applicant has submitted a certified copy of the priority application, but it is not in English, and the examiner cannot determine if it
supports the claimed invention. The effective filing date of the application is considered to be October 23, 2023, which is the actual filing date of instant application 18/362,851.
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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the amine" in “wherein in the case where R21 to R29 and R1 to R16 except for being bonded to nitrogen of the amine represent hydrogen”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear as to which amine “the amine” refers to. For the purposes of examination, the examiner will interpret “the amine” to refer to any amine.
Claims 1-15 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. Claims 1-5 and 8 recites “hydrogen in the organic compound…includes deuterium.” It is unclear how a hydrogen atom may include a deuterium atom. Therefore, the claim is indefinite. For the purposes of examination, the examiner will interpret claim 1 wherein the definition of hydrogen in the organic compound represented by General Formula G1 and General Formula G1-1 includes deuterium.
Claims 6-7 and 9-15 are also rejected as they depend from claim 1 and do not cure the deficiencies of the claims from which they depend.
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, 6, 8, and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhou et al. (CN 108947902A, hereinafter "Zhou"). Note that a machine-generated English translation is relied upon and provided with this office action.
In the pertinent art of organic light-emitting devices, Zhou teaches a heterocyclic compound HT2-133, shown below (Description, pg 7).
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Compound HT2-133 of Zhou is a compound of instant General Formula (G1) of instant claim 1 wherein:
X is O;
R21 to R29 are H;
Ar2 is represented by G1-1;
R1 bonded to an amine in G1;
R14 is unsubstituted aryl group having 6 carbons “phenyl”;
R2 to R13 and R15 to R16 are H;
And in the case where R14 is “phenyl” Ar1 represents an unsubstituted aryl group having 12 carbon atoms;
Represented by G2-1 in claim 2;
Ar1 represents an unsubstituted biphenyl-yl group in claim 6.
Represented by G3-1 in claim 8;
Wherein R14 is phenyl and Ar1 is biphenyl-yl;
Therefore, the compound HT2-129 of Zhou anticipates claims 1-2, 6, and 8.
Regarding claims 10-13, Zhou discloses the organic light-emitting and electronic device, Example 28, that includes compound HT2-133 (Table 1, Description pg 24).
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.
Claims 3-5, 7, 9, and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (CN 108947902A, hereinafter "Zhou"), that reads on claims 1-2, 6, 8, and 10-13 described above. Note that a machine-generated English translation is relied upon and provided with this office action.
Zhou teaches the compound HT2-133, described above, that reads on claims 1-2, 6, 8, and 10-13. Regarding claim 3, Zhou teaches compound HT2-92 which is a heterocyclic compound shown below (Description pg 7 col II row I).
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The compound HT2-92 of Zhou teaches that a heterocyclic compound with the “fused tetracyclic core” may be substituted with a diarylamine moiety wherein the two aryl groups are both spiro-bifluorene attached at positions corresponding to the R2 and R3 positions.
Zhou teaches that the heterocyclic aromatic amine compounds containing spirodifluorene have a low HOMO value and high T1 values that results in a light-emitting device with higher color purity, efficiency, and life-span (Description pg 2-3).
Therefore, 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 compound HT2-133 of Zhou with a diarylamine of two spiro-bifluorene groups attached at positions corresponding to the R2 and R3 positions, similar to the compound HT2-92 of Zhou, in the light-emitting device of Zhou, based on the teachings of Zhou. The motivation for doing so would have been to obtain a device with light-emitting device with higher color purity, efficiency, and life-span as taught by Zhou (Description pg 2-3).
The resulting Modified Compound HT2-133 is shown below.
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Modified Compound HT2-133
The Modified Compound HT2-133 of Zhou is a compound of instant claim 3 wherein:
Represented by G2-2 in claim 3;
X is O;
R1, R3-R16, and R21-R29 are H;
Ar1 represents an unsubstituted aryl group having 25 C;
Represented by G2-3 in claim 4;
R1-R2, R4-R16, and R21-R29 are H;
Ar1 represents an unsubstituted aryl group having 25 C;
Ar1 is unsubstituted 9,9’-spirobi[9H-fluoren]-yl in claim 7;
Represented by G3-3 in claim 9;
R6, R11, R14, and R26 are H;
Ar1 is unsubstituted 9,9’-spirobi[9H-fluoren]-yl.
Therefore, the Modified Compound HT2-133 of Zhou reads on instant claims 3-4, 7, and 9; and the modified organic light-emitting, electronic device containing the Modified Compound HT2-133 of Zhou reads on instant claims 14-15.
Regarding claim 5, Zhou teaches the compound HT2-13, shown below, that is a heterocycle with a fused tetracyclic core wherein the diarylamine is substituted with a spiro-bifluorene attached at a position corresponding to the R4 position (Description pg 5).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Modified Compound HT2-133 with a diarylamine wherein the spiro-bifluorene group is attached at the R4 position, similar to the compound HT2-13 of Zhou, in the light-emitting device of Zhou, based on the teachings of Zhou. The motivation for doing so would have been to obtain a device with light-emitting device with higher color purity, efficiency, and life-span as taught by Zhou (Description pg 2-3).
The resulting Modified Compound II HT2-133 is shown below.
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Modified Compound II HT2-133
The Modified Compound HT2-133 of Zhou is a compound of instant claim 5 wherein:
Represented by G2-4;
X is O;
R1-R3, R5-R16, and R21-R29 are H;
Ar1 represents an unsubstituted aryl group having 25 C;
Therefore, the Modified Compound II HT2-133 of Zhou reads on instant claims 5.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUCAS Q NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-1199. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30 am - 5:00 pm Fridays 7:45 am to 12:00 pm.
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/L.Q.N./Examiner, Art Unit 1786
/JENNIFER A BOYD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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