DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This Office action is in response to the amendment received March 16, 2026.
Any bold text is new language in the office action.
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 1-5, 8, and 10-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HATAKEYAMA et al (2017/0075218).
The claimed invention now recites the following:
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596
684
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674
654
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648
668
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152
628
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HATAKEYAMA et al report a positive photosensitive resin composition comprising a sulfonium salt comprising the following anion which anticipates the claimed quencher:
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192
350
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The resin reported as Polymer 4 meets the resin (B1):
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774
378
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Example 1-4 on page 56 report the following composition as seen below:
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362
777
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HATAKEYAMA et al lack a working example comprising having a resin with the structure (B1), however equivalent polymers 1-6, such as Polymer 4 above.
Claims 3-6 and 10 are met by the disclosure in HATAKEYAMA et al ‘218 on pages 29, 31 and 32 for the repeating units are suitable units in the base resin.
Claims 7-9 are met by Table 1 on page 56 for the PAG-1 above and found in para. [0148].
Claims 12-16 are met by para. [0151] to [0152] and para. [0133] for a mask.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of photosensitive composition substituting Polymer 4 in for Polymer 1 of with the PAG-1 in Example 1-4 with the reasonable expectation of same or similar results for high sensitivity and dissolution contrast as well as reducing line edge roughness (LWR).
The amendment to claim 1 for the polymer is met by Polymer 5 wherein the hydroxystyrene is in an amount of 0.60 in the polymer, see below:
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238
448
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232
128
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With respect to amendment for components to (C ) a photoacid generator and a quencher (A) is present in a weight ration of less than 6/1. Applicants are directed to Example 1-4 wherein the ratio of 8.0/4.50 which is less than 6/1.
With respect to the acid labile group now recited, applicants are directed to para [0023] below wherein the tert-pentyl group for R1 is the same as the tert-pentyl oxycarbonyl group for R1 in HATAKEYAMA et al ‘218, see below:
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394
434
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426
428
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Accordingly, the rejection is repeated and made final.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 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
April 4, 2026
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