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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hatakeyama et al. (WO2020137921). Translation provided by Applicant.
Hatakeyama et al. teaches an actinic light sensitive or radiation sensitive resin composition in Example 53 comprising: 70.12 mass% of resin A-33, 170 ppm (claims 1 and 2) of compound AE-17, 10.00 mass% of acid generator C-2, 1.20 mass% of acid diffusion control agent D-1, 0.18 mass% surfactant E-2, 3.0 and 12.0 mass% cross-linking agents G-3 and G-2 respectively, and solvents S-1 and S-2 [WO 0464] wherein resin A-33 is the following:
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[WO 0410] wherein the repeating unit on the left is equivalent to a polymeric compound (A1) having a constitutional unit (a10) represented by General Formula (a10-1) of instant claim 1 when R is a hydrogen atom, Yax1 is a single bond, Wax1 is an aromatic hydrocarbon group, and nax1 is 1; AE-17 is the following:
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[WO 0433] having a molecular weight of 262.4 [0433] (claim 3) which is equivalent to a polyether compound (Z) of instant claim 1; and cross-linking agent G-3 is the following:
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[0427] which is equivalent to a glycoluril-based crosslinking agent (C) of instant claim 1.
With regard to claim 5, Hatakeyama et al. teaches the resist compositions shown in Tables 3 and 4 were applied on a 6-inch wafer using a spin coater Mark 8 manufactured by Tokyo Electron Co. Ltd. and baked (PB) on a hot plate at 110°C for 90 seconds to obtain a resist film having a film thickness of 80 nm. The resist film was subjected to pattern irradiation using an electron beam lithography apparatus (manufactured by ERONIX Co. Ltd. ELS -7500, acceleration voltage: 50 KeV). As the reticle, a mask having a line size of 100 nm and a line:space = 1:1 was used. After irradiation, baking (PEB) was performed on a hot plate at 110°C for 90 seconds, immersed in 2.38% by mass of a tetramethylammonium hydroxide aqueous solution as a developer for 60 seconds, rinsed with pure water for 30 seconds, and dried to obtain a line-and-space pattern having a pitch of 200 nm and a line width of 100 nm (space width: 100 nm) [0458].
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 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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hatakeyama et al. (WO2020137921).
With regard to claim 4, Hatakeyama et al. teaches in Example 53, the following acid generator C-2:
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[WO 0415].
Hatakeyama et al. does not teach an acid generator (B) including an acid generator (B0) represented by General Formula (b0-1).
However, Hatakeyama et al. teaches the photoacid generator is a compound that generates an acid upon irradiation with actinic rays or radiation. The photoacid generator is preferably a compound that generates an organic acid upon irradiation with actinic rays or radiation. Examples thereof include sulfonium salt compounds, iodonium salt compounds, diazonium salt compounds, phosphonium salt compounds, imide sulfonate compounds, oxime sulfonate compounds, diazodisulfone compounds, disulfone compounds, and o-nitrobenzyl sulfonate compounds [0268] such as the following compound (C-29):
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[WO 0418] which is equivalent to an acid generator (B) including an acid generator (B0) represented by General Formula (b0-1) of instant claim 4 when Rb1 is an organic group and Rb2 is a group represented by General Formula (b0-r-1) when Rb201 and Rb202 are each organic groups. Hatakeyama et al. also teaches embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples. Materials, usage amounts, proportions, processing contents, processing procedures, and the like shown in the following examples can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the specific examples described [0405]. Hatakeyama et al. also teaches an object of the present invention is to provide an actinic ray-sensitive or radiation-sensitive resin composition that achieves both excellent rectangularity of the obtained pattern cross-sectional shape and excellent temporal stability at a high level [0007].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the specific teachings of Hatakeyama et al. to include additional compositions comprising other acid generators such as C-29 and arrive at the instant claims through routine experimentation of substituting equally suitable components for the sought invention in order to achieve optimum rectangularity of the obtained pattern cross-sectional shape and temporal stability at a high level.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. 2005/0042541, U.S. 2016/0223905, and U.S. 2018/0299777.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNA E MALLOY whose telephone number is (571)270-5849. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-4:30 EST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mark Huff can be reached at 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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/Anna Malloy/Examiner, Art Unit 1737
/MARK F. HUFF/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1737