DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
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 8-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Uno et al. (JP 2013-177551 A).
Examiner’s Note: The Office has relied on the Machine English translation of foreign document publication JP 2013-177551 A (herein referred to as “Uno et al.”) as then English equivalent. Unless otherwise noted, all figure, page, and paragraph numbers referenced herein refer to numbers found in the Machine English translation.
Uno et al. discloses the following dye “excellent instability” (Abstract):
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(page 53 of Uno et al.) such that CY1 = Applicant’s Formula 2 (with X11-12 = F, R13 = substituted C6 carbocyclic group (4-t-butylphenyl), and R11-12 = cyano), CY2 = Applicant’s Formula 3 (with X21-22 = F, R23 = substituted C6 carbocyclic group (4-t-butylphenyl), and R21-22 = cyano), a3-5 = 0, and CY3-5 = C6 carbocyclic group (benzene) of Applicant’s Formulae 1, 2-1, and 3-1; R41-42 = hydrogen of Applicant’s Formula 4-1. Uno et al. discloses its dyes absorb in the near-IR and be used in a variety of electronic applications ([0051]).
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Tyan et al. (US 2005/0037232 A1) in view of Uno et al. (JP 2013-177551 A).
Examiner’s Note: The Office has relied on the Machine English translation of foreign document publication JP 2013-177551 A (herein referred to as “Uno et al.”) as then English equivalent. Unless otherwise noted, all figure, page, and paragraph numbers referenced herein refer to numbers found in the Machine English translation.
Tyan et al. discloses an organic electroluminescent (EL) device (opto-electronic device) for the construction of displays comprising the following layers: substrate (10), anode (12R), conductive layer (20), hole-transporting layer (14b), light-emitting layer (14c) (which can be divided into sublayers), electron-transporting layer (14d), and cathode (16T) (Fig. 4a; [0002]); the light-emitting layer comprises a dopant (emitting) material which can be chosen from fluorescent dyes which is embedded in host material ([0099]-[0100]). Tyan et al. discloses such dyes include compounds from a variety classes, including boron-based materials (Claim 1). Tyan et al. discloses that the device is applied to thin-film-transistors (TFT) (which would inherently be connected to any one of the electrodes) ([0120]). A microcavity effect (wherein certain wavelengths are suppressed) is utilized to improve color purity ([0005], [0021]). However, Tyan et al. does not explicitly disclose a compound of Applicant’s Formula 1.
Uno et al. discloses the following dye “excellent instability” (Abstract):
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(page 53 of Uno et al.) such that CY1 = Applicant’s Formula 2 (with X11-12 = F, R13 = substituted C6 carbocyclic group (4-t-butylphenyl), and R11-12 = cyano), CY2 = Applicant’s Formula 3 (with X21-22 = F, R23 = substituted C6 carbocyclic group (4-t-butylphenyl), and R21-22 = cyano), a3-5 = 0, and CY3-5 = C6 carbocyclic group (benzene) of Applicant’s Formula 1. Uno et al. discloses its dyes absorb in the near-IR and be used in a variety of electronic applications ([0051]). It would have been obvious to incorporate the compound as disclosed by Uno et al. (above) into the light-emitting layer of the organic EL device as disclosed by Tyan et al. (as dopant material). The motivation is provided by the disclosure of Uno et al. which teaches a dye with excellent stability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Examiner’s Note: The Office has relied on the Machine English translation of foreign document publication JP 2013-177551 A (herein referred to as “Uno et al.”) as then English equivalent. Unless otherwise noted, all figure, page, and paragraph numbers referenced herein refer to numbers found in the Machine English translation.
The closet prior art is provided by Uno et al. (JP 2013-177551 A), which discloses compounds of the following forms:
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(page 6 of Uno et al.) where R1-28 = independent hydrogen or substituent, with one of R1-14 and one of R15-28 = electron-withdrawing group ([0019]). An embodiment is disclosed:
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(page 53 of Uno et al.). However, it is the position of the Office that neither Uno et al. singly nor in further combination with any other prior art discloses any of the compounds as recited in the claim, particularly in regards to the natures of the substituents attached to the core boron-containing condensed heterocyclic group.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAY L YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1137. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 6am-3pm.
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/JAY YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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