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 November 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 November 21, 2023, which is the actual filing date of instant application 18/516,845.
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 1-21 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.
Claim 1 recites an organic compound AA that has a fused polycyclic structure A and is represented by the following Formula (2) wherein each of the fused polycyclic structures A optionally has a substituent. The confusion lies wherein:
The organic compound AA represented by Formula (2) contains each A optionally having the same substituent OR
The organic compound AA represented by Formula (2) contains each, independently, A optionally having the same or different substituents.
For the purposes of examination, the examiner will interpret claim 1 as both (A) and (B). Claims 2-21 are also rejected as they depend from claim 1 and do not cure the deficiencies of the claims from which they depend.
Additionally, claim 1 recites an organic compound AB represented by formula (1) and an organic compound AA represented by formula (2); however, it is unclear whether:
The fused polycyclic structure A in formula (1) and the fused polycyclic structure A is formula (2) is the same OR
The fused polycyclic structure A in formula (1) and the fused polycyclic structure A is formula (2) is the same or different
For the purposes of examination, the examiner will interpret claim 1 as both (A) and (B).
Additionally, claim 1 recites a fused polycyclic structure B different from the fused polycyclic structure A in formula (1); however, it is unclear whether:
The fused polycyclic structure B may not be substituted OR
The fused polycyclic structure B may be substituted
For the purposes of examination, the examiner will interpret claim 1 as both (A) and (B).
Additionally, claim 1 recites the organic compound AA represented by the formula (2) wherein n represents the number of fused polycyclic structures A; however, claim 1 does not define a numeric range for the variable n. For the purposes of examination, the examiner will interpret n in claim 1 to be any integer including 0.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-8 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ohrui et al. (US 20200131103 A1, hereinafter "Ohrui").
In the pertinent art of organic light-emitting devices, teaches composition 4, shown below (Table 1, pg 23) that includes (1) an organic compound AB wherein A has a fused polycyclic structure with two or more rings or “substituted pyrene,” and B has a different structure from the fused polycyclic structure A or “substituted anthracene” wherein the substituent is an aryl group “phenylene”; and (2) an organic compound AA wherein A has a fused polycyclic structure with two or more rings or “substituted pyrene,” and n is the integer 1 that represents the number of fused polycyclic structure A wherein the substituent is an aryl group “pyrene” wherein the substituent is an aryl group “phenylene”. Therefore, the composition 4 anticipates claim 1.
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Composition 4 of Ohrui
Regarding claim 2, the Composition 4 of Ohrui contains a fused polycyclic structure A which is a fused polycyclic structure with four rings.
Regarding claim 3, the Composition 4 of Ohrui is the composition according to claim 2 wherein the fused polycyclic structure A is selected from:
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Regarding claim 4, the Composition 4 of Ohrui contains A as pyrene.
Regarding claim 5, the Composition 4 of Ohrui contains A wherein an element is selected from hydrogen atom.
Regarding claim 6, the Composition 4 of Ohrui contains B as aryl group “anthracene” which has three rings.
Regarding claim 7, the Composition 4 of Ohrui contains the Anthracene Compound B and the Anthracene Compound C wherein ring B is a heteroaryl group, containing S and O respectively, with three rings.
Regarding claim 8, the Composition 4 of Ohrui contains the Anthracene Compound A wherein instant ring structure B can be reinterpreted as a substituted phenyl group.
Regarding claim 10, the Composition 4 of Ohrui contains compound AA wherein n is 1.
Regarding claims 11-12, Ohrui discloses an organic light-emitting device Example 7 containing the following structure: ITO electrode, hole injection layer, hole transport layer, electron blocking layer, first light emitting layer containing the composition 4, second light-emitting layer containing the composition 4, hole blocking layer, electron transport layer, electron injection layer, and cathode (¶ [0145] – [0151]).
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 9 and 13-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ohrui et al. (US 20200131103 A1, hereinafter "Ohrui") as applied to claims 1-8 and 10-12 described above.
Ohrui teaches the composition 4, described above, that contains the organic compound and the anthracene compounds A, B, and C that reads on claims 1-8 and 10. Ohrui does not necessarily limit the anthracene compounds to the anthracene compounds shown in composition 4 that are compounds of Formula (1) of Ohrui wherein R5 is substituted aryl or “phenylene”. Ohrui defines that the anthracene compound of Formula (1) may be substituted with an aryl group having 6-24 carbon atoms with specific examples including a phenyl group and an anthryl group (¶ [0028]). Ohrui teaches that the organic light-emitting device including the anthracene-containing composition has a long driving lifetime (¶ [0001]).
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 further include the R5 as anthryl in the Anthracene Compound A in Composition 4 of Ohrui, based on the teachings of Ohrui. The motivation for doing so would have been to obtain a device with long driving lifetime, as taught by Ohrui (¶ [0001]).
The resulting Modified Composition 4 is shown below.
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Modified Composition 4 of Ohrui
Therefore, the Modified Composition 4 of Ohrui reads on claim 1 wherein the organic compound containing pyrene reads on the comound AB and the anthracene compound reads on the compound AA of claim 1.
Regarding claim 9, Ohrui teaches that the composition containing the organic compound and the anthracene compound wherein the anthracene compound is at a concentration of 100 ppm (claim 1) which translates to a weight percent of 0.1% that reads on the weight range of more than 0.02% and 10% or less in claim 9.
Regarding claim 13, Ohrui teaches the organic light-emitting device Example 7 as described above. Ohrui teaches the claimed invention above but does not expressly teach the organic compound AB, the organic compound AA, and the light emitting compound are in decreasing order of energy gaps. It is reasonable to presume that the decreasing order of energy gaps is inherent to the Composition 4 and the light-emitting compound. Support for said presumption is found in that Ohrui teaches the LUMO level of the electron-blocking layer can be higher than that of the light-emitting layer to transfer electrons from the light-emitting layer toward the anode side is reduced (¶ [0058]). Ohrui teaches the HOMO level of the hole-blocking layer can be lower than that of the light-emitting layer to transfer holes from the light emitting layer toward the cathode side is reduced (¶ [0058]). Therefore, the composition 4 and the light-emitting compound expected to have the properties of decreasing energy gap of the claimed invention to prevent the transfer of electrons towards the anode side and the holes towards the cathode side.
Regarding claim 14, Ohrui teaches an anode, a cathode, and an organic layer and the Composition 4 is in the organic layer as discussed above. It would have been obvious to use the Modified Composition 4 in the organic layer with the device structure of anode, organic layer, cathode as Ohrui demonstrates this device structure was known prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention. The resulting Modified Device Example 7 wherein the anthracene compound, that reads on instant structure AA, would have a concentration of 70 ppm. The light emitting compound has a weight ratio of 0.5 to the weight of the Modified Composition 4 at 99.5. Therefore, the organic compound AB, AA, and the light emitting compound are in decreasing order of proportions by weight.
Regarding claim 15, the Modified Example 7 contains a second light emitting layer that is different from the first. The Modified Example 7 contains a layer with Modified Composition 4 and another with Composition 4-2 wherein the Composition 4-2 contains the same organic compound, but differs by containing the Anthracene Compound B of Composition 4 (Table 1). The organic compound of Composition 4-2 in the second light-emitting layer is the same as the organic compound of the Modified Composition 4 in the first light-emitting layer; however, the Anthracene Compound B in the Composition 4-2 is different from the anthracene compound of the Modified Composition 4; therefore, the second composition is different from the first composition. The second composition contains the organic compound of Composition 4 that reads on the organic compound CC. The Anthracene compound B in composition 4 reads on the organic compound CD wherein C is the fused polycyclic structure “substituted perylene” and n is 1; and D is the ring structure “substituted anthracene.” Structure C has a substituent selected from an aryl group or “phenylene”.
Regarding claim 16, the Modified Device Example 7 described above contains the Modified Composition 4 and the Composition 4-2 as described above. Ohrui does not necessarily limit Composition 4-2 to the one sulfur-containing anthracene found in the Anthracene B of Composition 4 (Table 1). Ohrui defines that the anthracene compound of Formula (1) may be substituted with an aryl group having 6-24 carbon atoms with specific examples including a phenyl group and an anthryl group (¶ [0028]). Ohrui teaches the Example 6 wherein the Composition 2-1 contains the organic compound and multiple anthracene compounds including Anthracene Compounds A-C of Composition 2 (Table 6)
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 further include the R5 as anthryl in the Anthracene Compound B in Composition 4-2 of Ohrui, based on the teachings of Ohrui and a second Anthracene Compound C in Composition 4 The motivation for doing so would have been to obtain a device with long driving lifetime, as taught by Ohrui (¶ [0001]).
The resulting Modified Composition 4-2 is shown below in the resulting Modified Device II Example 7 wherein the Anthracene compound now reads on Compound CC and the Anthracene Compound C of Composition 4 reads on compound CD.
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Modified Composition 4-2
Regarding claim 16, the concentration of the anthracene compound is 10 ppm and the concentration of the Anthracene Compound C of Composition 4 may be 100 ppm (claims 1-5), which reads on the claimed range of 10%.
Regarding claim 17, Ohrui teaches a display device comprising multiple pixels including the organic light-emitting device of the Modified Device II Example 7 and a transistor coupled (claim 25).
Regarding claim 18, Ohrui teaches a photoelectric conversion apparatus comprising an optical unit including multiple lenses, an image pickup device that receives light passing through the optical unit, and a display unit that displays an image captured by the image pickup device wherein the display unit includes the Modified Device II Example 7 (claim 26).
Regarding claim 19, Ohrui teaches a light source including the Modified Device II Example 7; and a light diffusion unit or an optical film that transmits light emitted from the light source (claim 28).
Regarding claim 20, Ohrui teaches a light source including the Modified Device II Example 7; and a light diffusion unit or an optical film that transmits light emitted from the light source (claim 26).
Regarding claim 21, Ohrui teaches a device including the Modified Device II Example 7; and an optical unit including multiple lenses and an image pickup device that receives light passing through the optical unit and may include a display unit that displays information acquired by the image pickup device (¶ [0111]).
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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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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/JENNIFER A BOYD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1786
/L.Q.N./Examiner, Art Unit 1786
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