Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/231,540

PHOTORESIST COMPOSITION AND METHOD OF FORMING PHOTORESIST PATTERN

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Aug 08, 2023
Priority
May 21, 2020 — provisional 63/028,500 +1 more
Examiner
LEE, ALEXANDER N
Art Unit
1737
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
OA Round
4 (Non-Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
4-5
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
89 granted / 116 resolved
+11.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+11.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 4m
Avg Prosecution
41 currently pending
Career history
143
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
57.8%
+17.8% vs TC avg
§102
21.5%
-18.5% vs TC avg
§112
17.6%
-22.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 116 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claim Status Claims 1-20 are under examination. Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/29/2026 has been entered. Upon further search and consideration, the following 112(b) rejections are made to claims 10-15. 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 10-15 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 10 discloses a polymer with the following formula. it is unclear if the polymer has a formula represented by both the left and right formulae, or if the polymer only comprises of one of the two formulae. If the polymer comprises of both, it is further unclear if x and y are the same value for each formula. If the polymer comprises of only one, it is further unclear how the claim limitation of “0 < z/(x+y+z) < 1” may be true if using only the right formula, where there is no repeating unit z. PNG media_image1.png 253 549 media_image1.png Greyscale Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-9 and 16-20 are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims 1-9 and 16-20 are allowed for the reasons indicated in the office action filed 03/10/2026. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alexander Lee whose telephone number is (571)272-2261. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30-5:30 EST. 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. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Walker can be reached at (571) 272-3458. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Alexander N. Lee/Examiner, Art Unit 1737
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 4 earlier events
Jun 09, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 25, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Jun 28, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Sep 02, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Dec 02, 2025
Response Filed
May 29, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jun 01, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Sep 25, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12743019
RESIST UNDERLAYER FILM-FORMING COMPOSITION CONTAINING TERMINAL-BLOCKED REACTION PRODUCT
3y 6m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12693597
LITHOGRAPHY STITCHING
3y 3m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12674058
COMPOUND, PHOTOSENSITIVE RESIN COMPOSITION COMPRISING SAME, PHOTOSENSITIVE RESIN FILM, COLOR FILTER AND CMOS IMAGE SENSOR
3y 2m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12663718
RESIST UNDERLAYER FILM-FORMING COMPOSITION
5y 5m to grant Granted Jun 23, 2026
Patent 12656682
PHOTORESIST COMPOSITION AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE
5y 2m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

4-5
Expected OA Rounds
77%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (+11.9%)
3y 4m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 116 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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