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 Status
Claims 1-15 are pending. Claims 1-11 and 13-15 are rejected. Claim 12 is objected to.
Priority
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-6, and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WO2024039095A1 by Lee et al.
The prior art discloses compound 453 which reads on instant claims 1-6, and 10-11 (page 44):
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Regarding instant claims 1-6, the compound is embraced by general formula G1 where each of R1 to R7 is hydrogen, X is an oxygen atom, Ar1 is g1-1, each of R23 to R30 is hydrogen, both R31 and R32 are an unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 carbon atom, each of R8 to R15 is hydrogen, n is 1, R18 is an unsubstituted naphthyl group, and each of R16 to R17 and R19 to R22 is hydrogen. Instant claim 3 provides a conditional limitation for situations when n is greater than or equal to 2, however the claim does not require that n be greater than or equal to 2 therefore the prior art compound is anticipatory.
Regarding instant claims 10-11, the compound is embraced by general formula G5 where X is an oxygen atom, both R31 and R32 are an unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 carbon atom, and each of R1 to R11, R16 to R17, R20 to R28, R30, and R49 to R55 are hydrogen.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8, 10-11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2024039095A1 by Lee et al.
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. (See MPEP § 2141.01)
The prior art discloses compound 453 which reads on instant claims 1-6, and 10-11 (page 44):
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Regarding instant claims 1-6, the compound is embraced by general formula G1 where each of R1 to R7 is hydrogen, X is an oxygen atom, Ar1 is g1-1, each of R23 to R30 is hydrogen, both R31 and R32 are an unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 carbon atom, each of R8 to R15 is hydrogen, n is 1, R18 is an unsubstituted naphthyl group, and each of R16 to R17 and R19 to R22 is hydrogen. Instant claim 3 provides a conditional limitation for situations when n is greater than or equal to 2, however the claim does not require that n be greater than or equal to 2 therefore the prior art compound is embraced.
Regarding instant claims 10-11, the compound is embraced by general formula G5 where X is an oxygen atom, both R31 and R32 are an unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 carbon atom, and each of R1 to R11, R16 to R17, R20 to R28, R30, and R49 to R55 are hydrogen.
Lee et al. disclose a light emitting device comprising the compound as required by instant claims 8 and 14 (page 3 of translation).
Ascertainment of the differences between the prior art and the claims. (See MPEP § 2141.02)
The prior art compound reads on instant claims 1-6 and 10-11. Regarding instant claims 8 and 14, Lee et al. teach a light emitting device comprising the compound however Lee et al. do not disclose an embodiment where the device was produced with the compound above.
Finding of prima facie obviousness --- rationale and motivation (See MPEP § 2142-2143)
A person of ordinary skill seeking to use the prior art compound in the disclosed utility would have been motivated to prepare a light emitting device comprising compound 453 as suggested by Lee et al.
Claim(s) 7, 9, 13 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2024039095A1 by Lee et al. as applied to claims 1-6, 8, 10-11 and 14 above, and further in view of CN 115141108 A by Kubota et al.
Lee et al. suggest that the prior art compound may function in organic electronic devices but do not discuss semiconductor devices (page 34 of translation).
Kubota et al. teach light emitting devices and compounds analogous to the compound of Lee et al. The following compound of Kubota et al. is an example of an analogous compound corresponding to general formulas G1 and G5, where the compound has a nitrogen bound to a fluorophene ring, phenyl substituted by an additional aryl group, and a second three-ring condensed cycle (page 17):
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Regarding instant claims 7, 13, and the use of the prior art compounds, Kubota et al. teach (pages 13 and 21):
One embodiment of the present invention can provide a novel organic compound having carrier transport properties. One embodiment of the present invention can provide a novel organic compound having hole transport properties. (page 13)
An organic semiconductor device with easy hole injection and low driving voltage can be realized by adopting a structure in which the organic semiconductor device includes at least two layers (a first hole transport layer, a second hole transport layer) stacked in contact with each other, When holes flow from the first hole transport layer side to the second hole transport layer side, the GSP (GSP1) of the organic compound constituting the first hole transport layer and the organic compound constituting the second hole transport layer are The difference between GSP(GSP2), ΔGSP(GSP2-GSP1), is a positive value. Therefore, in this case, the organic compound of one embodiment of the present invention can be appropriately used for the first hole transport layer. (page 21)
The prior art further teaches “displays and lighting devices using light-emitting devices are suitable for use in various electronic devices” wherein Kubota et al. provide an embodiment for a light-emitting device and a light-receiving device that can be used in a display device (page 7; page 56, Embodiment 8). Kubota et al. teach that the active layer of the light-receiving device contains an organic semiconductor device in accordance with instant claims 9 and 15 (page 57).
Accordingly, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to produce electronic devices such as one containing the semiconductor of Kubota et al. and would be motivated to test the device with the analogous compound of Lee et al. in the hole transport layer to optimize performance of the device.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 12 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.
Conclusion
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/A.A.C./Examiner, Art Unit 1626
/MATTHEW P COUGHLIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1626
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