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 .
The foreign priority application No.2021-061781 filed on March 31, 2021 in Japan has been received and it is acknowledged.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group II (claims 9 and 14-18) in the reply filed on May 28, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground that the prior art revealed by a search of a group would overlap the prior art revealed by a search of other groups. This is not found persuasive because for search for the methods of Groups III-VII does not overlap with the search for the composition in Group I or the method on Group II, and the prior art that reads on the methods of Groups III-VII does not necessarily apply to the composition in Group I or the method on Group II.
Therefore, claims 1-19 are pending, with claims 1-8, 10-13, and 19 withdrawn from consideration as being directed to non-elected inventions.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Specification
The following guidelines illustrate the preferred layout for the specification of a utility application. These guidelines are suggested for the applicant’s use.
Arrangement of the Specification
As provided in 37 CFR 1.77(b), the specification of a utility application should include the following sections in order. Each of the lettered items should appear in upper case, without underlining or bold type, as a section heading. If no text follows the section heading, the phrase “Not Applicable” should follow the section heading:
(a) TITLE OF THE INVENTION.
(b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS.
(c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT.
(d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT.
(e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A READ-ONLY OPTICAL DISC, AS A TEXT FILE OR AN XML FILE VIA THE PATENT ELECTRONIC SYSTEM.
(f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR.
(g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.
(1) Field of the Invention.
(2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.
(h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.
(i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S).
(j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.
(k) CLAIM OR CLAIMS (commencing on a separate sheet).
(l) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE (commencing on a separate sheet).
(m) SEQUENCE LISTING. (See MPEP § 2422.03 and 37 CFR 1.821 - 1.825). A “Sequence Listing” is required on paper if the application discloses a nucleotide or amino acid sequence as defined in 37 CFR 1.821(a) and if the required “Sequence Listing” is not submitted as an electronic document either on read-only optical disc or as a text file via the patent electronic system.
The specification of the instant application should be amended to recite under the heading (b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS that the instant application is a National Phase application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of the international application No. PCT/JP2022/016259 filed on March 30, 2022 which claims benefit of the foreign priority application No.2021/061781 filed on March 31, 2021 in Japan.
Claim Objections
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: the limitation “a is an integer of 0 to 3)” should be corrected to read “a is an integer of 0 to 3”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 16 is 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.
A broad range or limitation together with a narrow range or limitation that falls within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim) may be considered indefinite if the resulting claim does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP § 2173.05(c). In the present instance, claim 16 recites the broad recitation “a substitutable alkyl group, a substitutable aryl group, a substitutable aralkyl group”, and the claim also recites “a substitutable halogenated alkyl group, a substituted halogenated aryl group, a substitutable halogenated aralkyl group, a substitutable alkoxyalkyl group, a substitutable alkoxyaryl group, a substitutable alkoxyaralkyl group” which is the narrower statement of the range/limitation.
A substitutable halogenated alkyl group and a substitutable alkoxyalkyl group are specific examples of substituted alkyl groups, substitutable halogenated aryl group and a substitutable alkoxyaryl group are specific examples of substituted aryl groups, a substitutable halogenated aralkyl group and a substitutable aralkyl group are specific examples of substituted aralkyl groups.
A substituted alkyl group, a substituted aryl group, and a substituted aralkyl group are allowed by the broad limitation “a substitutable alkyl group, a substitutable aryl group, a substitutable aralkyl group”.
The claim is considered indefinite because there is a question or doubt as to whether the feature introduced by such narrower language is (a) merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required, or (b) a required feature of the claims.
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 9, 14-16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US 2013/0273330).
With regard to claims 9 and 15, Wang et al. teach that a substrate (10) is provided (fig.2A, par.0027). An optional intermediate layer (12) may be formed on the substrate (10) (fig.2A, par.0028), a hardmask neutral layer (14) is formed on top of the intermediate layer (12) when present (fig.2A, par.0029), and a self-assembling layer (16) is formed directly on top of the hardmask layer (14)(fig.2A, par.0039).
The self-assembling layer (16) is allowed to self-assemble (fig.2B, par.0041).
The hardmask neutral layer (14) comprises a silicon-containing polymer dissolved or dispersed in a solvent system, wherein the silicon-containing polymer is preferably prepared from the polymerization of precursors such as siloxanes (par.0029, Example 3 in par.0062).
The hardmask neutral layer (14) from a composition comprising a polysiloxane and a solvent of Wang et al. implies “a step of forming on a substrate an underlayer film from a composition for forming a silicon-containing underlayer film” in claim 9.
The composition for the hardmask neutral layer (14) does not comprise a strongly acidic additive, such as a photoacid generator (see Example 4 in par.0064). Therefore, the composition for the hardmask neutral layer (14) of Wang et al. meets the limitations of claims 9 and 15 for “a composition for forming a silicon-containing underlayer film”.
The self-assembled layer (16) of Wang et al. implies “a step of forming a self-assembled film above the underlayer film to thereby form a self-assembled pattern” in claim 9.
Therefore, the substrate in fig.2A and 2B of Wang et al. anticipates the method in claims 9 and 15 of the instant application.
With regard to claim 14, Wang et al. teach directed self-assembly (DSA)(abstract, par.0003).
With regard to claim 16, Wang et al. teach the reaction of forming a polymer for the hardmask neutral layer (14):
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176
532
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(par.0060).
Phenyltriethoxysilane is a hydrolysable silane of Formula (1) in claim 16, wherein a=1, R1 is a phenyleythyl group (an aralkyl), and R2 is an methoxy group (alkoxy group).
Therefore, the polymer for the hardmask neutral layer (14) of Wang et al. is a hydrolysis condensate of a hydrolysable silane containing a hydrolysable silane of formula (1) in claim 16 of the instant application.
With regard to claim 18, Wang et al. teach that the composition for the hardmask neutral layer (14) may comprise a surface energy modifier (par.0033).
A surface energy modifier may be a surfactant, as evidenced in par.0126 of Kodas et al. (US 2006/0001726).
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.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2013/0273330) in view of Zampini et al. (US 2006/0228646).
With regard to claim 17, Wang et al. teach the method of claim 9 (see paragraph 9 above), but fail to teach that the composition for the hardmask neutral layer (14) comprises a pH adjuster.
Zampini et al. teach an antireflective coating composition used with an overocoated photoresist (abstract, par.0011). The antireflective coating composition comprises an amine basic additive to promote elimination of footing or notching of the overcoated photoresist layer (par.0058).
The antireflective coating of Zampini et al. and the hardmask neutral layer (14) of Wang et al. are both underlayers for photoresist layers.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to include an amine basic additive in the hardmask neutral layer (14) of Wang et al.in order to promote elimination of footing or notching of the overcoated photoresist layer.
A basic amine changes/adjusts the pH of the hardmask neutral layer (14).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Shigaki et al. (WO 2025/041813 A1) teach a composition for forming a silicon-containing underlayer film for the formation of a self-assembled pattern, the composition containing (A) a polysiloxane, (B) a strongly acidic additive, and (C) a solvent, wherein the polysiloxane contains a structural unit derived from a hydrolysable2013 silane of formula (A-1):
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78
214
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(abstract).
Shigaki et al. is not available as prior art.
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/ANCA EOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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