DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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) 1-7, 9-11, 13-16, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0186503 (hereinafter referred to as Nishiyama).
Nishiyama, in [0002], [0014]-[0015], [0023], and [0027] discloses the producing of a semiconductor device, the process including using a resist composition to form a resist film on a substrate, exposing and developing the resist film to form a pattern (exposed selectively), wherein the resist composition includes a polymer that decomposes upon exposure due to the acid generated during exposure (claimed photo cleaving promoters), and Nishiyama, in [0141], discloses that the resist composition includes an photoacid generator, and includes nitrogen-containing basic compound such as benzophenone ([0222], [0234]), and bulky organic groups ([0227], piperidine derivatives), and solvent ([0021]), and Nishiyama, in [0036], [0044], [0047], discloses the various repeating units with pendant terminal groups that are substituted with halogens (fluorine, Br, etc.) is the same as the claimed chain transfer agents and/or electron withdrawing groups (see [0051]-[0056]) (claims 1-5, 9, 13-15). Nishiyama, in [0033], and [0043], [0044], discloses that the photodecomposable groups (photocleaving promoter) tert-butyl groups as the terminating group and discloses that the carbon is substituted with halogens (claims 6-7, 10-11, 16).
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.
Claim(s) 8, 17-20, are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0186503 (hereinafter referred to as Nishiyama) in view of U. S. Patent No. 5,439790 (hereinafter referred to as Muthyala).
Nishiyama is discussed in paragraph no. 3, above.
Nishiyama, in [0018]-[0019], [0021], [0036]-[0048], discloses the composition that comprises the resist polymer includes repeating units of a phenol group, and in [0091]-0092], Nishiyama discloses that the resin includes repeat units with pendant lactone group (see [0091], structure [II-31]), and repeat units with t-butyl groups and constitute the claimed monomer units, and solvent. Nishiyama, in [0020], [0141], discloses the use of photoactive compound in the composition (photoacid generator). Nishiyama, in [0222]-[0232], discloses the use of phthalimide derivatives in the polymer composition (claims 8, 17-20).
The difference between the claims and Nishiyama is that Nishiyama does not disclose that the phthalimide is the claimed acyloxy phthalimide as recited.
Muthyala, in col 4,lines 44-55, discloses using N-acyloxyphthalimide in photosensitive composition as pendant groups.
Therefore, it would be obvious to a skilled artisan to modify Nishiyama by using the claimed phthalimide as taught by Muthyala, because Nishiyama teaches using phthalimide derivatives in the resist composition as the nitrogen-containing compound , and Muthyala teaches the use of the phthalimide as that are photosensitive and cleave upon exposure to light.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0186503 (hereinafter referred to as Nishiyama) in view of U. S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0179319 (hereinafter referred to as Lewis).
Nishiyama is discussed in paragraph no. 3, above.
The difference between the claim and Nishiyama is that Nishiyama does not disclose the developing is negative tone.
Lewis, in [0006], discloses that the photoresist can be negative tone i.e., use negative tone developing or the photoresist can be positive tone.
Therefore, it would be obvious to a skilled artisan to modify Nishiyama by using a negative tone developing as taught by Lewis, because Nishiyama does not prohibit negative tone developing and Lewis teaches that the photoresist can be made to be positive tone or negative tone and that both are appropriate for IC fabrication.
Conclusion
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/DABORAH CHACKO-DAVIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1737 January 10, 2026.