DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This Office action is in response to the application received May 9, 2023.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being clearly anticipated by CHO et al (KR-2016109645).
The claimed invention recites the following:
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The abstract anticipates the claimed invention in claim 1 by disclosing a compound (II) such as tetramethylammonium bifluoride, meeting Chemical Formula (I), a methane sulfonic acid and a polar protic solvent.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHO et al (KR-2016109645).
The claimed invention has been recited above is included by reference.
CHO et al report a cleaning solution comprising an organic solvent, an organic sulfonic acid and a polar protic solvent, see the abstract.
The bifluoride compound (II) is selected from a group of compound and includes a tetramethylammonium bifluoride which meets Chemical Formula 1. The organic sulfonic as disclosed in the abstract include methane sulfonic acid meeting the sulfonic acid of claim 3. And the polar protic solvent meets claim 4 is met by the disclose polar protic solvent, which can be alcohol
The abstract discloses a 1-20% of singly or a mixture of compound (I) or (II).
Claims 1-6 are met by the abstract.
Claims 7-15 are met wherein the disclosed cleaning solution is used on to remove a photoresist.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of cleaning compositions to select the compound (II) such as tetramethylammonium bifluoride and a polar protic solvent such as methanol with a sulfonic acid and reasonable expectation to have nonaqueous cleaning solution to remove photoresists.
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
November 1, 2025