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 .
Response to Arguments
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1. Applicant's arguments, see page 6, line 18, filed 22 January 2026, with respect to the rejection of Claims 1-10 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Hatakeyama et al. (United States Patent Publication No. US 2017/0205709 A1), hereinafter Hatakeyama; have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant repeats many of the same arguments made during the interview dated 19 December 2025 and, similarly, Examiner’s response will be largely the same. Applicant argues that some of the exemplary sulfonium cations of Hatakeyama lack the limitation that the sulfonium has at least three fluorine atoms. Examiner finds this argument not persuasive. Below is one of the exemplary sulfonium cations of Paragraph [0053] of Hatakeyama:
And below is one of the exemplary sulfonium cations of Pargraph [0059] of the present application
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Clearly, the only relevant difference is the fluorinated substituents of the sulfonium cation’s aryl groups. Paragraph [0052] states that the sulfonium cation therein described “may at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent, or R5 and R6 may bond together to form a ring with the sulfur atom to which they are attached.” Thus, as previously stated, Hatakeyama not only teaches a single hydrogen being substituted with a halogen, e.g. fluorine, but also explicitly all hydrogens being substituted with a halogen, e.g. fluorine. Applicant does not address this response made to this previously asserted Applicant’s argument made in the Examiner Interview Summary of 23 December 2025. While Examiner appreciates the claim amendments that add clarity to the claims of the present application, Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive and the rejection of record is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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:
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Hatakeyama et al. (United States Patent Publication No. US 2017/0205709 A1), hereinafter Hatakeyama.
5. Regarding Claims 1-10, Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (the moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) a salt including a sulfonium cation having an aryl group substituted with an acid-decomposable group-containing group and said sulfonium cation having at least three fluorine atoms in the cation overall. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) a resin having a polarity that increases through decomposition by an action of an acid. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the acid-decomposable group-containing group includes a group having a polarity that increases through decomposition by an action of an acid. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the entire acid-decomposable group-containing substituent group includes no fluorine atom. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the sulfonium cation is a triarylsulfonium cation. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the group having a polarity that increases through decomposition by an action of an acid is a group represented by General Formula (a-1) or (a-2) of the present application. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the group having a polarity that increases through decomposition by an action of an acid is the group represented by General Formula (a-1) of the present application. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the sulfonium cation has one group having a polarity that increases through decomposition by an action of an acid. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the sulfonium cation includes an aryl group substituted with at least one selected from the group consisting of a fluorine atom and a fluoroalkyl group. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the salt including the sulfonium cation has two or more cationic moieties and the same number of anionic moieties as the cationic moieties, and at least one of the cationic moieties is the sulfonium cation. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0129-0136]) a resist film formed of the actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0129-0130]) forming a resist film on a substrate, using the actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0131-0132]) exposing the resist film. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0132-0136]) developing the exposed resist film using a developer to form a pattern. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraph [0003]) a method for manufacturing an electronic device comprising the pattern forming method. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the acid-decomposable grou has a structure in which the polar group is protected by a leaving group that leaves by the action of an acid. Hatakeyama teaches (Paragraphs [0050-0053], see particularly the sulfonium cations comprising both acid-decomposable group-containing group and fluorinated alkyl moieties as well as the formula of Paragraphs [0051-0052] which teaches “R5, R6 and R7 (moieties bonded to a sulfur cation) are each independently a C6-C20 aryl group, at least one hydrogen (one or more or even all hydrogen atoms) may be substituted by an ether, ester, carbonyl, carbonate, hydroxyl, carboxyl, halogen, cyano, amide, nitro, sultone, sulfonic acid ester, sulfone moiety or sulfonium salt-containing substituent”) the leaving grou that leaves by the action of an acid is represented by, at minimum, General Formula (S3) of the present application, as explained above.
6. However, Hatakeyama fails to explicitly teach all components of the composition limited by the present application with a single experimental example. That said, all components of the composition are described with sufficient detail by the prior art. Thus, a person of ordinary skill in the art in view of Hatakeyama would have found it obvious to try the combining the prior art elements of Hatakeyama which meet the limitations of the present application above according to known methods to yield predictable results. Herein, Hatakeyama included each element claimed by the present application for the relevant claims, although not necessarily in a single prior art reference, with the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art being the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods taught by Hatakeyama, and that in combination, each element merely performs the same function as it does separately. Furthermore, Hatakeyama teaches one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable given that all of the elements are of the relevant claims of the present application are taught by Hatakeyama and are, even if not taught in a single experimental example, are taught as being functional alternatives to achieve predictable results in Hatakeyama’s stated aim of providing a photosensitive paste composition which achieves a high dissolution contrast and reduced LWR. (See: Hatakeyama Paragraph [0032]).
Conclusion
7. 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).
8. 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to RICHARD D CHAMPION at telephone number (571) 272-0750. The examiner can normally be reached on 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Mon-Fri EST.
10. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MARK F HUFF can be reached at (571) 272-1385. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
11. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal. Should you have questions about access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
12. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
/R.D.C./Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/MARK F. HUFF/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1737
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