DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-5, 7, 9-15, 17-19, and 21-23 are pending. Claims 1, 11, and 17 have been amended and claims 6, 8, 16, and 20 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 19, 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 1-5, 7, 9-15, 17, 19, and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kaitz et al. (U.S. 2019/0204741).
Kaitz et al. teaches the topcoat compositions of the invention comprise a matrix polymer (additive) and typically include one or more additional additive polymers (photosensitive resin). The matrix polymer is aqueous base soluble. The aqueous base soluble polymer comprises as polymerized units a monomer of the following general formula (I) [0019] and exemplary suitable monomers for forming polymerized units of general formula (I) include the following [0021]:
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[0021] wherein p is an integer from 1 to 50 [0021] e.g. when p is 3 as seen in the following polymer:
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[page 8] which is equivalent to the second repeating unit represented by Chemical formula 2 of instant claims 1, 5, 11, and 17, specifically the right repeating unit of Structural Formula 1-3 of instant claims 21 and 23. Kaitz et al. also teaches the matrix polymer typically further comprises additional types of polymerized units to further impart desired properties to the matrix polymer, for example, to formulation and developer solubility. Suitable unit types include, for example, one or more repeat units of general formula (II) and/or of general formula (III) [0022] in which formula (II) is the following:
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[0022] wherein: R3 represents H, a halogen atom, C1-C3 alkyl, C1-C3 haloalkyl, typically H or methyl, and R4 represents optionally substituted linear, branched, cyclic or acyclic C1-C20 alkyl, typically C1-C12 alkyl [0022] and exemplary suitable monomers for forming units of general formula (II) include the following [0025]:
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[0025] in which the left is equivalent to the monomeric form of a first repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 1-1 of instant claims 1-3, 7, and 17, specifically Chemical Formula 1-2 of instant claims 4, 11, and 15 when R1 is an unsubstituted methyl group and Rf2 is an unsubstituted perfluoroalkyl group which does not include an aromatic hydrocarbon group; and the right is the monomeric form of a structurally similar repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 1-2 of instant claims 13, 15, and 19 when Rf2 is an unsubstituted fluorinated hydrocarbon group including 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-hydroxy-2-propyl group as a substituent except R1 is fluorine instead of an unsubstituted methyl group, specifically structurally similar to the left repeating unit of Structural Formula 1-3 of instant claims 21 and 23 except the backbone has a fluorine atom instead of a methyl group. However, Kaitz et al. teaches in general formula (II), R3 represents H, a halogen atom, C1-C3 alkyl, C1-C3 haloalkyl, typically H or methyl [0022] as seen in the following polymer:
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[page 8]. Further, when general formula (II) is defined as R3 is H or methyl and R4 is a substituted C6-12 alkyl it is equivalent to a first repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 1-1 of instant claims 11, 14, and 15 when R1 is a hydrogen atom or an unsubstituted methyl group and Rf2 is an unsubstituted chain perfluoroalkyl group having carbon atom number of 6 to 12 which does not include an aromatic hydrocarbon group. Kaitz et al. further teaches units of general formula (I) are typically present in the matrix polymer in an amount of from 1 to 90 mol %, typically from 10 to 70 mol %, from 15 to 60 mol % or from 20 to 50 mol %, based on total polymerized units of the matrix polymer [0020] and units of general formula (II) are typically present in the matrix polymer in an amount of from 1 to 90 mol %, more typically from 20 to 60 mol % or from 35 to 50 mol %, based on total polymerized units of the matrix polymer [0024] which overlaps a molar ration of 5:5 (claims 1, 12, and 17). Kaitz et al. also teaches the weight average molecular weight Mw of the matrix polymer is typically less than 400,000 Da, for example, from 1000 to 50,000 Da or from 2000 to 25,000 Da [0031] (claims 9 and 22). Kaitz et al. also teaches topcoat compositions of the invention can further comprise a surface active polymer. The surface active polymer typically has a lower surface energy than that of the matrix polymer and other polymers in the composition [0032] which is equivalent to a photosensitive resin of instant claim 17. Kaitz et al. further teaches it may be beneficial to include an acid generator compound such as a photoacid generator (PAG) and/or a thermal acid generator (TAG) compound in the topcoat compositions [0050] (claim 17). Kaitz et al. also teaches the following non-limiting examples are illustrative of the invention [0075] and preferable topcoat compositions of the invention that are applied above a photoresist layer can minimize or prevent migration of components of the photoresist layer into an immersion fluid employed in an immersion lithography process [0011].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the specific teachings of Kaitz et al. to include the above components and arrive at the instant claims through routine experimentation of substituting equally suitable components for the sought invention in order to minimize or prevent migration of components of the photoresist layer into an immersion fluid. The above defined polymer of Kaitz et al. is the same as instantly claimed and is therefore expected to have a dispersity of molecular weight to be 1.5 or less, absent any evidence to the contrary (claim 10).
Claim 17 recites “A photoresist composition for extreme ultraviolet (EUV)” which 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). Therefore, the topcoat composition of Kaitz et al. is the same as the instantly claimed photoresist composition for extreme ultraviolet (EUV).
Claims 1-5, 7, 9-13, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al. (U.S. 2008/0227037).
Hatakeyama et al. teaches the resist lower layer film composition of the present invention comprises: at least the polymer having the repeating unit represented by the following general formula (1) [0035] in which the monomer for obtaining the repeating unit a in the general formula (1) is not particularly limited, and is exemplified as follows [0042]:
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[0042] wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group [0036] which is equivalent to the monomeric form of a first repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 1-1 of instant claims 1-3 and 7, specifically Chemical Formula 1-2 of instant claims 4, 11, 13, and 15 when R1 is an unsubstituted methyl group and Rf2 is an unsubstituted fluorinated hydrocarbon group including 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-hydroxy-2-propyl group as a substituent. Hatakeyama et al. also teaches the resist lower layer film composition of the present invention comprises as a base the polymer indispensably having the repeating unit of (meth)acrylic ester having the hexafluoroalcohol group or the group obtained by substituting its hydroxy group with the acid labile group, represented by the general formula (1), and may have a repeating unit b having epoxy, oxetanyl, hydroxy, carboxyl and the like for enhancing a crosslinking efficiency. The monomer for obtaining this repeating unit b can be specifically exemplified as follows [0059]:
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[0059] which is equivalent to the monomeric form of the second repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 2 of instant claims 1, 5, and 11 when R2 is an unsubstituted methyl group and Rh is
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. Hatakeyama et al. further teaches the specific structures of the monomers a to d are as the above, and ratios of copolymerization are 0<a≤1.0, 0≤b≤0.8, 0≤c≤0.8, 0≤d≤0.8, 0.05≤b+c+d≤0.9, more preferably 0.1≤a≤0.9, 0≤b≤0.7, 0≤c≤0.7, 0≤d≤0.7, 0.1≤b+c+d≤0.9, and still more preferably 0.15≤a≤0.8, 0≤b≤0.6, 0≤c≤0.6, 0≤d≤0.6, 0.2≤b+c+d≤0.8 [0062] which overlaps the molar ratio of 7:3 to 2:8 of instant claims 1 and 12. Hatakeyama et al. also teaches a weight average molecular weight of the polymer according to the present invention, obtained by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) in terms of polystyrene is preferably in the range of 1,500 to 200,000 and more preferably 2,000 to 100,000. A molecular weight distribution is not particularly limited, and it is possible to remove low molecular components and high molecular components by fractionation to reduce a dispersion degree [0067] (claims 9 and 10). Hatakeyama et al. further teaches the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. The embodiments are some examples, and those having the substantially same composition as that described in the appended claims and providing the similar effects are included in the scope of the present invention [0306] and an object of the present invention is to provide a resist lower layer film composition for a monolayer resist process and a multilayer resist process, which can also be used as an antireflection film composition suitably, has a high dry etching speed and thus can shorten an etching time period to prevent a film loss and a transformation of an upper layer resist film, and a patterning process for patterning a substrate by using the resist layer film composition with lithography [0010].
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 Hatakeyama et al. to include the above components and arrive at the instant claims through routine experimentation of substituting equally suitable components for the sought invention in order to achieve optimum dry etching speed.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al. (U.S. 2008/0227037) as applied to claim 14 above, and further in view of Nakamura et al. (U.S. 2013/0084523).
With regard to claim 14, Hatakeyama et al. teaches the above resist lower layer film composition comprising a first repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 1-2 when Rf2 is a substituted fluorinated hydrocarbon group including a perfluoroalkyl group as a substituent.
Hatakeyama et al. does not teach when Rf2 is an unsubstituted chain perfluoroalkyl group having a carbon atom number of 6 to 20 or a substituted or unsubstituted fluorinated hydrocarbon group including a chain perfluoroalkyl group having carbon atom number of 6 to 20.
However, Nakamura et al. teaches a resist composition comprising a component (F) which is preferably a polymer [0771] containing structural unit (f1) and containing no acid decomposable group which exhibits increased polarity by the action of acid [0775] and since a terminal of the structural unit in the polymer (F1) changes from being hydrophobic before to hydrophilic after the development, hydrophilicity of the component (F1) is enhanced in the alkali development. Therefore, the effect of improving development defects becomes excellent. Further, in the immersion exposure, scan tracking ability is enhanced during the immersion exposure and defects or the like after exposure is reduced. Accordingly, the polymer (F1) having the structural unit containing the base dissociable group is useful not only in a resist composition for a dry exposure but also in a resist composition for an immersion exposure. Specific examples of structural units represented by general formulas (f1-11) to (f1-15) are shown below. In the formulas, Rβ represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group [0820-0821]:
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[0821] in which the left structural unit is equivalent to Hatakeyama’s general formula (1) and the left is equivalent to a first repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 1-2 of instant claims 11 and 14 when R1 is a hydrogen atom or an unsubstituted methyl group and Rf2 an unsubstituted chain perfluoroalkyl group having a carbon atom number of 10.
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 Hatakeyama et al. to include the perfluoroalkyl-containing structural unit of Nakamura et al. and arrive at the instant claims through routine experimentation of substituting equally suitable components for the sought invention in order to improve development defects.
Claims 1-5, 7, 9-15, 17-19 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Utsumi et al. (U.S. 2010/0009291) in view of Hatakeyama et al. (U.S. 2008/0227037).
Utsumi et al. teaches a base component (A) (hereinafter, referred to as component (A)) which exhibits changed solubility in an alkali developing solution under action of an acid, and which contains no structural unit (c1) represented by the above general formula (c1-1) (photosensitive resin); an acid generator component (B) (hereinafter, referred to as component (B)) which generates an acid upon exposure; and a fluorine-containing resin component (C) (hereinafter, referred to as component (C)) which contains the structural unit (c1) (additive) [0032] (claim 17) wherein the component (C) is a fluorine-containing resin component which contains the structural unit (c1) represented by the general formula (c1-1) shown below. By including the components (A), (B) and (C), the effects of having hydrophobicity suitable for immersion exposure can be obtained, and also excellent lithography properties can be obtained [0300]:
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[0300] wherein R represents a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group, a halogen atom, or a halogenated lower alkyl group; Rf represents a fluorinated alkyl group; and Y0 represents an alkylene group [0300], R is preferably a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, a lower alkyl group or a fluorinated alkyl group, and more preferably a hydrogen atom or a methyl group in terms of industrial availability [0302], and Rf preferably contains 1 to 10 carbon atoms [0304] which is equivalent to a first repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 1-1 of instant claims 1-3, 7, and 17, specifically Chemical Formula 1-2 of instant claims 4, 11, 14, and 15 when R1 is a hydrogen atom or an unsubstituted methyl group and Rf2 is an unsubstituted perfluoroalkyl group and does not include an aromatic hydrocarbon group. Utsumi et al. also teaches the proportion of the structural unit (c1) is preferably 50 to 100 mol %, more preferably 70 to 100 mol %, and may be 100 mol %, based on the combined total of all structural units constituting the component (C) [0311] (claims 1, 12, and 17). Utsumi et al. further teaches the component (C) may also have a structural unit (hereinafter, referred to as structural unit (c2)) which is different from the structural unit (c1), as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired. There is no particular restriction on the structural unit (c2), as long as it can be copolymerized with the monomer corresponding with the structural unit (c1). Specific examples of the structural unit (c2) include the structural units (a1) to (a4) described above in the explanation of the component (A1) [0312-0313] in which a structural unit (a3) derived from an acrylate ester which has a polar group-containing aliphatic hydrocarbon group [0125]. Utsumi et al. also teaches furthermore, in the component (C), by using a chain transfer agent such as HS--CH2--CH2--CH2--C(CF3)2--OH, a --C(CF3)2--OH group can be introduced at the terminals of the component (C). When a hydroxyalkyl group in which a part of the hydrogen atoms of the alkyl group has been substituted with fluorine atoms is introduced into a copolymer in this manner, the copolymer thus obtained can have an advantageous effect of reducing the levels of developing defects and LER (line edge roughness: non-uniform irregularities within the line side walls) [0315]. Utsumi et al. further teaches the weight average molecular weight (Mw) (the polystyrene equivalent value determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC)) of the component (C) is not particularly restricted, and is preferably within the range of 2,000 to 50,000, more preferably 3,000 to 30,000, and most preferably 5,000 to 20,000 [0316] and the dispersity (Mw/Mn) is preferably within the range of 1.0 to 5.0, more preferably 1.0 to 3.0, and most preferably 1.2 to 2.5 [0317] (claims 9, 10, and 22). Utsumi et al. also teaches in the resist composition for immersion exposure of the present invention, the amount of the component (C) is preferably within the range of 0.1 to 10 parts by weight, more preferably 0.1 to 5 parts by weight, and most preferably 0.5 to 3 parts by weight, relative to 100 parts by weight of the component (A) [0319], and the amount of the component (B) is 0.5 to 30 parts by weight, and preferably 1 to 10 parts by weight, relative to 100 parts by weight of the component (A) [0299]. Utsumi et al. further teaches the resist composition for immersion exposure of the first aspect of the present invention or the positive resist composition for immersion exposure of the second aspect of the present invention can be prepared by dissolving materials in an organic solvent (S) (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as component (S)) [0365] and there is no particular restriction on the quantity of the component (S), and the quantity should be set in accordance with the required coating film thickness within a concentration that enables favorable application of the solution to a substrate or the like. Typically, the quantity is set so that the solid fraction concentration within the resist composition falls within the range of 2 to 20% by weight, and still more preferably 5 to 15% by weight [0373] which overlaps the instantly claimed range of 1% by weight to 10% by weight with respect to total weight of a solid content (claim 18).
Utsumi et al. does not explicitly teach a second repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 2 of instant claims 1, 11, and 17.
However, Hatakeyama et al. teaches a known fluorine-containing polymer having the repeating unit represented by the following general formula (1) [0035] in which the monomer for obtaining the repeating unit a in the general formula (1) is not particularly limited, and is exemplified as follows [0042]:
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[0042] wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group [0036] which is equivalent to the monomeric form of a first repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 1-1 of instant claims 1-3 and 7, specifically Chemical Formula 1-2 of instant claims 4, 11, 13, and 15 when R1 is an unsubstituted methyl group and Rf2 is an unsubstituted fluorinated hydrocarbon group including 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-hydroxy-2-propyl group as a substituent. Hatakeyama et al. also teaches the resist lower layer film composition of the present invention comprises as a base the polymer indispensably having the repeating unit of (meth)acrylic ester having the hexafluoroalcohol group or the group obtained by substituting its hydroxy group with the acid labile group, represented by the general formula (1), and may have a repeating unit b having epoxy, oxetanyl, hydroxy, carboxyl and the like for enhancing a crosslinking efficiency. The monomer for obtaining this repeating unit b can be specifically exemplified as follows [0059]:
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[0059] which is equivalent to the monomeric form of the second repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 2 of instant claims 1, 5, and 11 when R2 is an unsubstituted methyl group and Rh is
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. Hatakeyama et al. further teaches the specific structures of the monomers a to d are as the above, and ratios of copolymerization are 0<a≤1.0, 0≤b≤0.8, 0≤c≤0.8, 0≤d≤0.8, 0.05≤b+c+d≤0.9, more preferably 0.1≤a≤0.9, 0≤b≤0.7, 0≤c≤0.7, 0≤d≤0.7, 0.1≤b+c+d≤0.9, and still more preferably 0.15≤a≤0.8, 0≤b≤0.6, 0≤c≤0.6, 0≤d≤0.6, 0.2≤b+c+d≤0.8 [0062] which overlaps the molar ratio of 7:3 to 2:8 of instant claims 1 and 12. Hatakeyama et al. also teaches a weight average molecular weight of the polymer according to the present invention, obtained by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) in terms of polystyrene is preferably in the range of 1,500 to 200,000 and more preferably 2,000 to 100,000. A molecular weight distribution is not particularly limited, and it is possible to remove low molecular components and high molecular components by fractionation to reduce a dispersion degree [0067] (claims 9 and 10).
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 Utsumi et al. to include a specific fluorine-containing polymer as taught by Hatakeyama et al. and arrive at the instant claims through routine experimentation of substituting equally suitable components for the sought invention in order to enhance crosslinking efficiency.
Response to Arguments
Due to the amendment filed February 19, 2026 of instant claims 1, 11, and 17, the 102(a)(1) rejection over Takemura and the 103 rejection over Iizuka have been withdrawn. Applicant’s arguments with regard to these rejections have been considered but are moot due to the amendment of instant claims 1, 11, and 17.
Further, the previous indication of allowable subject matter for dependent claims 21 and 23 have been withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference Kaitz et al. (U.S. 2019/0204741) seen above.
Conclusion
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