DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This Office action is in response to the RCE received February 25, 2026.
The rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention is withdrawn in view of the amendment to claim 1.
The rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention is withdrawn in view of the amendment to claim 1.
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, 4, 5, 7-10, 13, 14, 18, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HORIGUCHI et al (2009/0311624) and SIM et al (2017/0283651) and LEE et al (2018/0364575).
The claimed invention now recites the following:
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HORIGUCHI et al report an underlayer coating comprising a resin (A), a liquid additive and a solvent (C) (para. [0043]) wherein the resin (A) used in the prior art contains a compound having structural units containing carboxyl groups, protected carboxyl groups and a compound reactable with a carboxyl group, such as a group represented by Formula (5) as reported in para. [0049] and para. [0110] see below:
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The group that represents Formula (5) are disclosed in para. [0054] shown below:
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And more specifically in para. [0094] for N-methoxymethyl methacrylamide and others meeting the first structural unit in the first polymer, see below:
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So, the comonomers of Formula (5) meet the first polymer and first structural unit.
The second structural unit in the first polymer to a heterocyclic group is met by any of those copolymers reported on page 10-12 with [1-15] having a heterocyclic group:
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With respect to the second polymer having the structures derived from Formula (4), (5) and combinations thereof in claim 1, applicants are directed to para. [0136] which discloses a light absorbing compound (D) wherein compound [4-4] is shown below being an isocyanurate compound derivative:
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New claim 11 is met by the disclosed in page 10-12 such as [1-10] below:
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SIM et al discloses a coating composition for underlayer wherein the composition comprises a thermal acid generator (para. [0097]-[0098]) , a first resin meeting the claimed second polymer derived from a structure unit of formula (4), see pages 4-15 wherein the general structure is defined to be formula (8) seen below:
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With respect to the first polymer comprising a N-(alkoxymethyl) (meth)acrylic amide monomer, applicants are directed to page 26, para. [0094] for the disclosed use of a crosslinker like an amine-based crosslinker which is prepared by copolymerization of N-alkoxymethyl acrylamide or methacrylamide with other suitable monomers.
LEE et al to the same assignee, likewise disclose a composition comprising a thermal acid generator (para. [0053]-[0054]) which may further comprise a polymer having isocyanurate units, see page 4 para. [0029] and page 8, para. [0039], respectively. These polymers may be defined as Polymers 1-5 seen in page 8 , with Polymer 1 cited below for reference:
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Applicants are further directed to page 9, para.[0051] wherein a N-(alkoxymethyl) (meth)acrylic amide monomer can be copolymerized with suitable monomers to form the crosslinking resins.
Claim 4 and 5 are met by the para. [0094] of SIM et al.
Claims 7-10 are met by the coated substrate and method on page 36, para. [0154] in SIM et al.
Claims 13, 14, 18 and 19 are taught above in para. [0094] in SIM et al and para. [0051] in LEE et al.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of underlayer compositions to use add a crosslinker resin made from N-(alkoxymethyl) (meth)acrylic amide monomer as reported in LEE et al and SIM et al with specific monomers as disclosed in HORIGUCHI et al and is formulated with a resin having isocyanurate units such as Polymer 1 seen in both SIM et al and LEE et al and reasonably expect an underlayer that provides increased resolution of an image pattern and exhibit fast dry etch rates.
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.
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/John S. Chu/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737
J. Chu
March 16, 2026