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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1, 3, 5-7, 10-12, 14, 15, 17-20, and 22-33 are pending. Claims 2, 4, 8, 9, 13, 16, and 21 have been canceled. Note that, Applicant’s amendment and arguments filed November 14, 2025, have been entered.
Objections/Rejections Withdrawn
The following objections/rejections as set forth in the Office action mailed 8/14/25 have been withdrawn:
The rejection of claims 1, 3, 5-7, 10-12, 14, 15, 17-20, and 22-33 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2013/138278, has been withdrawn.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5-7, 10-12, 14, 15, 17-20, and 22-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2005/043245.
With respect to independent, instant claim 1, ‘245 teaches alkaline compositions for stripping or cleaning semiconductor wafer substrates that contain one or more bases, preferably a metal ion-free base dissolved in water, and one or more metal corrosion inhibiting metal halide compounds. The compositions may, and preferably do, contain other optional components, including but not limited to components such as for example, water, organic solvents and co-solvents, metal chelating or complexing agents, fluoride compounds, silicates, additional metal corrosion inhibitors, surfactants, titanium residue removal enhancing agents, bath stabilizing agents, and the like. The pH of the composition may be from about 9 to about 13. See paras. 19-22. Any suitable base may be used in the compositions of the present invention, generally in an amount of from about 0.1% to about 30%, preferably from about 0.15 to about 10%, and most preferably about 0.1% to about 5%, by weight based on the weight of the composition. The bases are preferably quaternary ammonium hydroxides, such as tetraalkyl ammonium hydroxides (including hydroxyand alkoxy-containing alkyl groups generally of from 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl or alkoxy group) and diamines. See paras. 23-25. The composition is preferably an aqueous solution containing the base, the metal halide corrosion inhibitor compound, and water, preferably high purity de-ionized water, and the optional components, if any. The water may be present in the composition in an amount of from about 0% to about 99%, preferably from about 1% to about 99%, and more preferably from about 25% to about 98%, by weight of the composition. See para. 26. Typical examples of chelating agents are the following organic acids and their isomers and salts: (ethylenedinitrilo)tetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, N,N,N',N'-ethylenediaminetetra(methylenephosphonic) acid (EDTMP), triethylenetetraminehexaacetic acid (TTHA), 1,3-diamino-2-hydroxypropane- N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (DHPTA), 1-hydroxyethylene-1,1-diphosphonic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, gluconic acid, catechol, etc. See para. 30. A metal chelating or complexing agent is used in amounts by weight of about 0.01% to about 10%, generally from about 0.01% to about 2%, by weight of the composition. See paras. 28-30. Note that, the instant specification states that the cleaning agent is characterized in containing at least one chelating agent having the pKa satisfying the relationship of Formula (A), such that when the chelating agent has plural pKa values, it suffices if one of the plural pKa values satisfies the relationship of Formula (A) with respect to the pH of the cleaning liquid, and that a chelating agent satisfying the relationship of Formula (A) and another chelating agent not satisfying the relationship of Formula (A) may be used in combination (See page 7 of the instant specification).
The compositions of the present invention may also contain any suitable water-soluble amphoteric, non-ionic, cationic or anionic surfactant. The addition of a surfactant will reduce the surface tension of the formulation and improve the wetting of the surface to be cleaned and therefore improve the cleaning action of the composition. The surfactant may also be added to reduce aluminum corrosion rates if further aluminum corrosion inhibition is desired. The surfactant will generally be present in the composition in an amount of from about 0 to about 20%, preferably from about 0.1 to 3%, by weight of the composition. Anionic surfactants useful in the compositions of the present invention include carboxylates, N-acylsarcosinates, sulfonates, sulfates, and mono and diesters of orthophosphoric acid such as decyl phosphate. Preferably, the anionic surfactants are metal-free surfactants. See para. 36. The compositions of this invention may also contain other metal corrosion inhibitors, such as for example, benzotriazole, substituted benzotriazoles such as 5-methylbenzotriazole, pyrocatechol, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 4-tertbutylcatechol, aromatic esters such as alkyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoates, alkyl-2,4- dihydroxybenzoates, alkyl 3,5-dihydroxybenzoates, alkyl 2,6-dhfydroxybenzoates and 10 alkyl 2,5-dihydroxybenzoates, alkyl gallates such as methylgallate, ethylgallate, propylgallate and butylgallate, pyrogallol, and gallic acid, may be employed in an amount of from 0 to about 5 wt%, preferably from about 0.1 to 2 wt%. See para. 44.
‘245 does not teach, with sufficient specificity, a composition containing a chelating agent which satisfies a specific relationship between pH and pKa, a corrosion inhibitor such as benzotriazole, and the other requisite components of the composition in the specific amounts as recited by independent, instant claim 1 and the respective dependent claims.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to formulate a composition containing a chelating agent which satisfies a specific relationship between pH and pKa, a corrosion inhibitor such as benzotriazole, and the other requisite components of the composition in the specific amounts as recited by independent, instant claim 1 and the respective dependent claims, with a reasonable expectation of success and similar results with respect to other disclosed components, because the broad teachings of ‘245 suggest a composition containing a chelating agent which satisfies a specific relationship between pH and pKa, a corrosion inhibitor such as benzotriazole, and the other requisite components of the composition in the specific amounts as recited by independent, instant claim 1 and the respective dependent claims.
Response to Arguments
Note that, Applicant’s arguments are moot since all prior art rejection(s) set forth in the Office action mailed November 14, 2025, have been withdrawn and a new ground(s) of rejection has been made, as set forth above, which was necessitated by Applicant’s amendment.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY R DEL COTTO whose telephone number is (571)272-1312. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30am-6:00pm, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew can be reached on (571) 272-2817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY R DELCOTTO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
/G.R.D/January 30, 2025