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 .
Claims 11-20 are pending. Claims 1-10 have been canceled.
The foreign priority application No.2020-216910 filed on December 25, 2020 in Japan has been received and it is acknowledged.
The examiner would like to make of record that the foreign priority application has been made of record with the pages out of order.
Claim Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities: the limitation “the component (III) is an ester compound obtained by reacting a polyol compound having two or more hydroxy groups with two or more (meth)acrylic acid” should be amended to read “the component (III) comprises ester compounds obtained by reacting polyol compounds having two or more hydroxy groups with two or more (meth)acrylic acid molecules”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 102 that forms 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 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Misumi et al. (WO 2017/140409 A1).
With regard to claim 11, Misumi et al. teach a negative type photosensitive composition comprising:
-a polysiloxane;
- alkali-soluble resins A and A’;
-acrylic monomers A, B, and C; and
-radical generator A (Example 10 in Table 4 in par.0122).
The alkali-soluble resin A comprises repeating units of methacrylic acid (MAA), g-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (KBM503), g-methacryloxypropyl methyldimethoxysilane (KBM502), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), 2-hydroxyethylacrylate (HEA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA), and styrene (Sty) (seeTable 1 in par.0118).
The alkali-soluble resin A’ comprises repeating units of methacrylic acid (MAA), g-methacryloxypropy ltrimethoxysilane (KBM503), 2-hydroxyethylacrylate (HEA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), and butyl acrylate (BA) (seeTable 1 in par.0118).
Therefore, the alkali-soluble resins A and A’ meet the limitations for an “acrylic polymer (II)” in claim 11.
The acrylic monomers A, B, and C are represented by the formulas:
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236
254
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134
250
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126
224
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80
238
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, and they meet the limitations for “a compound (III) containing two or more acryloyloxy groups, wherein the component (III) is a combination of two or more kinds”.
The acrylic monomers A, B, and C are included in an amount of 21 mass% based on the total mass of polysiloxane and alkali-soluble resins A and A’ (see Example 10 in Table 4 in par.0122). This amount is within the claimed range.
The radical generator A is a polymerization initiator (par.0007).
The composition of Example 10 also comprises propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA) (par.0120), which is the “solvent” in claim 11.
Therefore, the negative type photosensitive in Example 10 of Misumi et al. anticipates the negative type photosensitive composition in claim 11 of the instant application.
With regard to claims 12 and 13, the synthesis of the polysiloxane is in par.0117.The synthesis produces a polysiloxane comprising the repeating units:
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128
396
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, as evidenced in par.00175 and par.0182 of Yoshida et al. (KR 10-2020-0103772A, with citations from the English equivalent US 2021/0055657).
The first and second repeating units are repeating units of formula (Ia) in claim 12, wherein R1a is a linear unsubstituted C1 aliphatic hydrocarbon or an unsubstituted aromatic hydrocarbon.
The third repeating unit is a repeating unit of formula (Ic) in claim 13.
With regard to claim 14, the polysiloxane represents 30 mass% based on the total mass of polysiloxane and alkali-soluble resins A and A’ (see Example 10 in Table 4 in par.0122). This amount is within the claimed range.
With regard to claim 15, the acrylic monomers B, and C are ester compounds obtained by reacting a polyol with two hydroxyl groups with two acrylic acid molecules.
The acrylic monomer A is an ester compound obtained by reacting a polyol with three hydroxyl groups with three acrylic acid molecules.
With regard to claim 16, the acrylic monomers A, B, and C meet the limitation for “the component (III) is a combination of three kinds”.
With regard to claims 17, 18, and 20, Misumi et al. teach a process comprising the steps of:
-coating the composition to a silicon wafer and prebaking to form a film;
-exposing the resist film;
-developing the exposed resist film; and
-baking the developed film to obtain a cured film (par.0121).
Misumi et al. further teach devices comprising the cured film (par.0001).
With regard to claim 19, the components of the negative type photosensitive in Example 10 of Misumi et al. are similar to the components (I)-(V) in the par. 0020, par.0035-0039, par.0043-0046, par.0054-0055 of the specification of the instant application.
The process of obtaining a cured film of Misumi et al. has the steps taught in par.0070-0073, par.0076-0077 of the specification of the instant application.
The specification of the instant application teaches that the cured film has a taper angle of 15 to 80o (par.0078).
Absent a record to the contrary, it would be expected that the cured film in Example 10 of Misumi et al. has a taper angle of 15 to 80o.
"[T]he discovery of a previously unappreciated property of a prior art composition, or of a scientific explanation for the prior art’s functioning, does not render the old composition patentably new to the discoverer." Atlas Powder Co. v. IRECO Inc., 190 F.3d 1342, 1347, 51 USPQ2d 1943, 1947 (Fed. Cir. 1999). Thus the claiming of a new use, new function or unknown property which is inherently present in the prior art does not necessarily make the claim patentable. In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1254, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977) (MPEP 2112. I. SOMETHING WHICH IS OLD DOES NOT BECOME PATENTABLE UPON THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW PROPERTY)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Misumi et al. (WO 2017/167690 A1) teach a negative type photosensitive composition comprising an alkali-soluble resin, a polysiloxane, a compound having two or more (meth)acryloyloxy group, a polymerization initiator, and a solvent (abstract). The alkali-soluble resin is a (meth)acrylic resin (par.0013-0027). The compounds having two or more (meth)acryloyloxy group may be used in combination of two or more thereof so as to control the shape of the formed pattern (par.0064).
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/ANCA EOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722