DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This Office action is in response to the election received January 15, 2026.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-17 and 23-25 in the reply filed on January 15, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 18-22 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on January 15, 2026.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 1-8, 10-17 and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KIM et al (2009/0275770) in view of MEYERS et al (2017/0102612).
The claimed invention recites the following:
PNG
media_image1.png
500
696
media_image1.png
Greyscale
KIM et al report a novel tin (II) compound specifically tin-amino-alkoxide complexes of the following structure:
PNG
media_image2.png
254
416
media_image2.png
Greyscale
The two ligands meet the claimed definition for L1 and L2
Applicants are directed to page 2, para. [0018] for the disclosure of forming thin films with the tin nano materials by MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor deposition).
MEYERS et al is cited to disclose the use of organotin precursor compounds and their use in thin films. The compositions are disclosed to be use of precursor compositions in photoresist films page 16, para. [0130] to [0135] in photoresist coatings.
Claims 2-5 are met by the method of exposure to EUV is reported in MEYERS et al in Example 5, on page 16, while the ligands are reported in the Formula 1 above in KIM et al
Claim 6 and7 are met by the recited organometal compound as the co-reagent in KIM et al at Example 1 which uses lithium bistrimethylsilylamide.
Claims 8-11 are further defining the co-reagents which were listed in the alternative in claim 6. For the organometal compound defined in claims 10 and 11, the co-reagent to lithium bistrimethylsilylamide in Example 1 of KIM et al meeting the formulae (III) and (III-A).
Claims 12 and 13 are more specific definitions to the compounds listed in the alternative in claim 6 and is rejected based on claim 6.
Claim 14 to water is found in MEYERS et al, para. [0031] for the water vapor in the air which can hydrolyze the ligands of KIM et al.
Claims 15-17 and 23-25 for the method of forming a pattern is met by the disclosed method in MEYERS et al, Example 5 as stated above and wherein the post application bake temperature is 100o C, see para. [0131], below.
PNG
media_image3.png
258
368
media_image3.png
Greyscale
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
of photosensitive organotin compositions to use the thin film composition of KIM et al in the photoresist patterning method of MEYERS et al as reported in Example 5 with the reasonable expectation of same or similar results for improved image formation and performance.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
LEE et al (2022/0334474) disclose photoresist composition comprising tin (II) and tin (IV) precursors formulated with photoacid , basic quencher and solvents with a publication date after the filing of the current application.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN S CHU whose telephone number is (571)272-1329. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, IFP-Flex.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Huff, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-1385. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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).
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.
/John S. Chu/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737
J. Chu
May 9, 2026
Prosecution Insights