DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This Office action is in response to the application received June 22, 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KONOSHIMA et al (2019/0265592) and CLARK (2022/00382159) in view of YANAGISAWA et al (2015/0315153).
The claimed invention recites the following:
PNG
media_image1.png
268
504
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
280
538
media_image2.png
Greyscale
KONOSHIMA et al report a positive metal containing composition comprising an organometallic compound, a photoacid and other ingredients.
On page 4, para. [0033] a metal chelate compound is reported which contains a central metal and ligands coordinated to the central metal, see below for the specific metal elements and the ligand:
PNG
media_image3.png
464
380
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Applicants are directed to para. [0054], page 6 for the disclosed photoacid generator which include the following halogen element:
PNG
media_image4.png
86
368
media_image4.png
Greyscale
The disclosure in KONOSHIMA et al meet the claimed photoresist composition of claim 1 for the first ligand bonded to the central metal and the second ligand not bonded with the central metal.
CLARK discloses a metalorganic film comprising a tin compound precursors comprising ligands having halogen element as seen on page 4, para. [0037] below:
PNG
media_image5.png
280
380
media_image5.png
Greyscale
CLARK further disclose the formulation with a photoacid generator as seen on page 5, para. [0046] and [0047] to include PAG’s with halogen elements, see below:
PNG
media_image6.png
292
374
media_image6.png
Greyscale
The PAG can be seen as a ligand which is not bonded to the central metal in the metal chelate compound reported as the organic tin compound above.
Claim 2 is addressed above for the halogen element in para. [0047] of CLARK.
Claim 3 is met by the fluoro alkoxide moieties in para. [0047] of CLARK.
Claim 4 is met by the photoacids having no having a halogen element as seen in KONOSHIMA, para. [0054] for toluene sulfonic acid salt which is generated by exposure to UV radiation.
Claims 5 and 6 are met by the disclosure in YANAGISAWA et al on page 4, para. [0047] for a toluene sulfonate naphthalimide which is a heteroatom containing compound with a fused ring.
Claims 7-12 are met by the metal ligands disclosed above in CLARK and KONOSHIMA et al for the first ligand containing a halogen element, see para [0037] in CLARK. With respect claim 8, the first ligand to the halogen element, ((CH3 )2 N)3 SnMe) meets the aliphatic amine compound.
Claims 9-11 are met by the disclose metal chelate of para. [0036] seen here:
PNG
media_image7.png
406
368
media_image7.png
Greyscale
Claims 12-14 are met by the ligands in para. [0037] of CLARK such as having an aliphatic amine.
Claim 15 report the central metals in each of NONOSHIMA et al and CLARK above.
Claim 16 is met by the disclosure in KONOSHIMA et al para. [0039] for the content of the metal chelate being 0.05 to 5% by mass to the total solid content.
Claims 17 is met by CLARK above in para. [0037] and [0047] having a first ligand and a second ligand each with a halogen element.
Claims 18 is met by the disclose in para. [0037] for a ligand compound with a halogen element and a ligand without a halogen element, such a trimethyl tin chloride.
Claim 19 is met by the disclosure in KONOSHIMA et al wherein the use of the photoacids singly or in combination is a known feature of the art to optimize the properties.
Claim 20 is met by the method disclosed in CLARK on page 4, para. [0034] wherein the exposure source is found in YANAGISAWA et al page 9, para. [0063].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art of photosensitive metalorganic films to select known combination of the ligands and a second ligand not bonded to the central metal such as a photoacid generator having halogen elements with the reasonable expectation of same or similar results for high fine conductive pattern having good appearance and high reliability.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
ZI et al (2019/0384171) is cited to disclose photoresist having metal oxide particles and ligands) and additional components to include photoacid generators and photobase generators.
LEE et al (2021/0166937) report photoresist comprising metal particles with ligands and additional ingredients to include photoacids, coloring agents, adhesion additives and surface leveling agents on page 10.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the 2examiner 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
January 7, 2026