Prosecution Insights
Last updated: September 26, 2026
Application No. 18/090,313

COMPOUND, RESIST UNDERLAYER FILM COMPOSITION INCLUDING SAME, AND RESIST UNDERLAYER FILM

Final Rejection §102§112
Filed
Dec 28, 2022
Priority
Dec 30, 2021 — RE 10-2021-0193544
Examiner
CHU, JOHN S Y
Art Unit
1737
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Dongjin Semichem Co., Ltd.
OA Round
4 (Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
82%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
751 granted / 979 resolved
+11.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +5% lift
Without
With
+5.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
55 currently pending
Career history
1044
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§103
55.5%
+15.5% vs TC avg
§102
20.6%
-19.4% vs TC avg
§112
14.1%
-25.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 979 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §112
DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE This Office action is in response to the amendment received May 4, 2026. Bolded text is new to the Office action. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a): (a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112: The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Claims 1, 2, 4, 9 and 11-18 are rejected 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. The amended formula 1 has no support in the originally filed application for the variable “a” bracketing R1. Correction by deleting the amendment or demonstrating where the specification supports the amendment is necessary . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1, 2, 4-9, are 11-18 are rejected 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. Claim 1 continues to be indefinite with respect to R1 which claims 2 or 3 substituents which are meta-substituted and para-substituted around the carbon(*) however R1 is shown to be connected to the benzene ring by a single bond according to [Formula 1], so it is indefinite with respect to having 2 or 3 substituents which are meta-substituted and para-substituted around the carbon(*). Correction to clarify the scope of the protection sought is necessary. 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. Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by LEE et al (2010/0190994). The claimed invention recites the following: PNG media_image1.png 540 682 media_image1.png Greyscale LEE et al disclose an intermediate compound which anticipates the claimed structure of [Formula 1] on page 17 para. [0029] shown below: PNG media_image2.png 164 218 media_image2.png Greyscale The reaction of an anthracene-9,10-dione with a dibromo benzene results in an intermediate structure above defined in Reaction Scheme 2 of page 17. The rejection is repeated wherein the claims continue to be indefinite. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. 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). 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action. 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 on M-F, IFP-Flex. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Hendricks, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-1401. 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 Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to the USPTO patent electronic filing system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/InterviewPractice. /John S. Chu/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 J. Chu July 10, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 2 earlier events
Sep 29, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 22, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §102, §112
Dec 19, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 22, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 27, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §112
May 04, 2026
Response Filed
Jul 15, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12736882
POLYMER CROSSLINK DE-CROSSLINK PROCESSES FOR RESIST PATTERNING
4y 4m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12736876
COMPOUND, BINDER RESIN, NEGATIVE-TYPE PHOTOSENSITIVE RESIN COMPOSITION, AND DISPLAY DEVICE COMPRISING BLACK BANK FORMED USING SAME
4y 5m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12730375
RESIST COMPOSITION AND METHOD FOR USING RESIST COMPOSITION
4y 0m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12717229
METHODS AND MATERIALS FOR METALLIC PHOTORESIST
3y 7m to grant Granted Aug 25, 2026
Patent 12704781
SALT, ACID GENERATOR, RESIST COMPOSITION AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING RESIST PATTERN
3y 1m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
77%
Grant Probability
82%
With Interview (+5.3%)
2y 11m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 979 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month