DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-3 and 10-225 are pending. Claim 1 has been amended and claims 4-9 were previously canceled.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on February 12, 2026 has been entered.
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 § 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 1-3 and 10-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nagami et al. (WO2021070232) in view of Tsuchiya et al. (U.S. 2021/0116809). U.S. 2024/0092973 is being used as the English translation.
Nagami et al teaches a polyimide precursor having a structural unit represented by formula (1) [0034]:
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[0034] wherein X1 is a tetravalent group having one or more aromatic groups; and when X1 is a group represented by the following formula (11), Z3 is a divalent group other than a carbonyl group [0035]:
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[0035] wherein Y1 is a divalent group obtained by linking one or more kinds of groups selected from the group consisting of divalent groups represented by each of the following formulas (21) to (24) [0036]:
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[0036] wherein in the formula (21), R11 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon group including 1 to 4 carbon atoms, or a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon group including 1 to 4 carbon atoms; and n is an integer of 0 to 4; [0038] in the formula (22), R12 and R13 are independently a hydrogen atom, an aliphatic hydrocarbon group including 1 to 4 carbon atoms, or a halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon group including 1 to 4 carbon atoms; [0039] in the formula (23), Cy is a cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbon group including 3 to 10 carbon atoms; [0040] in the formula (24), X11 is an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom; [0041] when in Y1, the number of divalent group represented by the formula (21) contained in Y1 is e, the number of divalent group represented by the formula (22) is f, the number of divalent group represented by the formula (23) is g, and the number of divalent group represented by the formula (24) is h, e≥1 (e is 1 or more), f≥0 (f is 0 or more), g≥0 (g is 0 is more), and h≥0 (h is 0 or more), and e+f+g+h≥4 (the sum of e, f, g and h is 4 or more); [0042] R1 and R2 are independently a hydrogen atom, a group represented by the following formula (2), or an aliphatic hydrocarbon group including 1 to 4 carbon atoms [0037-0042]:
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[0042] wherein in the formula (2), R3 to R5 are independently a hydrogen atom or an aliphatic hydrocarbon group including 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and m is an integer of 1 to 10; and [0044] a —COOR1 group and a —CO— group are in ortho-position to each other, and a —COOR2 group and a CONH— group are in ortho-position to each other [0043-0044] in which The polyimide precursor having a structural unit represented by the formula (1) is, for example, a polyamic acid obtained by reacting a tetracarboxylic dianhydride represented by the following formula (22) with a diamino compound represented by the following formula (23) in an organic solvent such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (hereinafter referred to as “NMP”). Further, it can be a whole or partially esterified polyamic acid obtained by adding a compound represented by the following formula (24) to such a polyamic acid, followed by reaction in an organic solvent to introduce an ester group corresponding to the formula (2) [0082]:
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[0082] wherein In the formula (22), X1 is as defined in the formula (1); in the formula (23), Y1 is as defined in the formula (1); in the formula (24), R3 to R5 and m are as defined in the formula (2) [0083] and specific examples of the tetracarboxylic dianhydride and diamino compounds include the following seen in the examples:
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[0183] which is equivalent to a resin including an aromatic polyester imide structure represented by Formula (1) of instant claim 1 when m is 1-100, Ar is a divalent group having an aromatic skeleton which is a residue except for a diol of hydroquinone, R is a divalent group having an aromatic skeleton with 6 or 14 carbon atoms and 4 or 6 hydrogen atoms respectively which are diamine residue except for amino groups of an aromatic diamine compound p-phenylendiamine and/or 4,4’-diamino-2,2’-dimethylbiphenyl, each of -COOR1 and -COOR2 are positioned in an ortho position with an adjacent -CONH-, and each R1, R2, and R’ are a hydrogen atom or a group represented by Formula (2) when n is 1 to 10, and R3-R5 are hydrogen atoms or an aliphatic hydrocarbon group with 1 to 3 carbon atoms. Nagami et al. also teaches the invention is not limited to the following Examples [0171] and although only some exemplary embodiments and/or examples of this invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments and/or examples without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention [0224]. Nagami et al. further teaches it is an object of the invention to provide a polyimide precursor capable of providing a material having low transmission loss even in a high frequency band [0006].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the specific teachings of Nagami et al. to include additional polyimides such as those described above and arrive at the instant claims through routine experimentation of substituting equally suitable groups for the sought invention in order to obtain minimal low transmission loss.
Nagami et al. also teaches the resin composition (curable resin composition) of the invention contains the polyamide precursor of the invention described above. The resin composition include a non-photosensitive resin composition and a photosensitive resin composition. The photosensitive resin composition may be any of a positive photosensitive resin composition and a negative photosensitive resin composition. The resin composition of the invention can be suitably used as a material for an electronic component. The photosensitive resin composition of the invention contains the above-described polyamide precursor of the invention, (B) a polymerizable monomer, and (C) a photopolymerization initiator and may also contain the other components [0089-0092] (claim 1) in which examples of the component (B) include, for example, diethylene glycol diacrylate [0094] which is equivalent to an acryloyl compound of instant claims 1 and 3. Nagami et al. further teaches the photosensitive resin composition of the invention may further contain a coupling agent (adhesive aid), a surfactant or a leveling agent, a rust inhibitor, a polymerization inhibitor, and the like [0102] (claim 2). Nagami et al. also teaches the cured product of the invention can be obtained by curing the resin composition of the invention. The cured product of the invention may be used as a patterned cured film or as a pattern-less cured film [0129] and the method for manufacturing a patterned cured film of the invention includes a step of applying the above-mentioned photosensitive resin composition on a substrate, followed by drying to form a photosensitive resin film, a step of subjecting the photosensitive resin film to pattern-exposure to obtain a resin film, a step of developing the resin film having undergone the pattern-exposure using an organic solvent to obtain a patterned resin film, and a step of heat-treating the patterned resin film. Thus, a patterned cured film can be obtained [0130] wherein the heat treatment is performed preferably at a temperature of 250°C or lower, more preferably of 120 to 250°C, and still more preferably of 200°C or lower, or of 140 to 200°C [0154]. Nagami et al. also teaches the cured product of the invention can be used as a passivation film, a buffer coat film, an interlayer insulating film, a cover coat layer, a surface protective film, or the like. With the use of one or more selected from the group consisting of the passivation film, the buffer coat film, the interlayer insulating film, the cover coat layer, the surface protective film, and the like, highly reliable electronic components such as semiconductor devices, multilayer wiring boards, various electronic devices, and laminated devices (such as multi-die fan-out wafer level packages) can be manufactured [0159-0160] (claims 10-19).
Nagami et al. does not teach a thermal radical polymerization initiator.
However, Tsuchiya et al. teaches a photosensitive resin composition comprising (A) a polyimide precursor having a polymerizable unsaturated bond; (B) a polymerizable monomer having an aliphatic cyclic skeleton; (C) a photopolymerization initiator; and (D) a solvent [abstract] and may further comprise (E) a thermal polymerization initiator from the viewpoint of promoting the polymerization reaction [0099] (claim 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Nagami et al. to include additional components such as a thermal polymerization initiator as taught by Tsuchiya et al. and arrive at the instant claims through routine experimentation of combining equally suitable components for the sought invention in order to promote the polymerization reaction.
The composition of Nagami in view of Tsuchiya is the same as instantly claimed. Therefore, the modified composition is expected to have, when cured, a chloride ion content of 5 ppm or less, a breaking elongation from 10% to 200%, a dielectric constant at 10 GHz of 3.2 or less, a dissipation factor at 10 GHz of 0.0100 or less, a weight reduction temperature by 5% is 300°C or more, and a coefficient of moisture absorption after being left in an environment of 130°C and 85% relative humidity for 200 hours of 1% by mass or less, absent any evidence to the contrary (claims 20-25).
Claim 1 recites “used for forming” which is refers to the use of the composition. It has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed composition is intended to be used does not differentiate the claimed composition from a prior art composition satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex Parte Masham, 2, USPQ2d 1647 (1987). This recitation of the composition is drawn to intended use; therefore, this limitation does not add any patentable weight to the claim (MPEP 2106).
Response to Arguments
Due to the amendment filed February 12, 2026 of instant claim 1, the 103 rejection over Endo has been withdrawn. Applicant’s arguments with regard to this rejection have been considered but are moot due to the amendment of instant claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. 2021/0364919, U.S. 2023/0091093, U.S. 2019/0113845, WO2013047873, WO2018025954, and JP2014208793.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNA E MALLOY whose telephone number is (571)270-5849. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-4:30 EST M-F.
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/Anna Malloy/Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/MARK F. HUFF/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1737