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 .
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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on August 17, 2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 12-22 are pending, claims 2, 5-8 and 11 having been cancelled on the and claims 16-22 having been withdrawn.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 12-15 will be examined on the merits.
Claim Listing
It is noted that no claim text shall be presented for any claim in the claim listing with the status of “canceled” (see MPEP 714). Applicant is requested to remove the claim text in any cancelled claims, including claims 6-8, in future claim listings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2012/0048295 to Du et al. in view of U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2022/0056373 to Jung et al. and U.S. Patent App. 2016/0075971 to Liu et al.
As to claim 1, Du discloses a composition comprising: at least one pH adjuster (see Du paragraph [0059] disclosing one or more pH adjusting agents, such as tetramethylammonium hydroxide and tetraethylammonium hydroxide); at least one chelating agent present in the amount in the range between about 0.01% and about 15% and preferably from about 0.01% and about 8% and wherein the chelating agent is an amino acid (see Du paragraphs [0020]-[0028] disclosing agents such as tyrosine [0021], arginine and histidine [0025]; see MPEP 2144.05(I) where in the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art,” a prima facie case of obviousness exists); at least one anionic surfactant (see Du paragraph [0064]); at least one nitrogen containing heterocycle (see Du paragraphs [0061]-[0063] disclosing benzotriazole and imidazole); at least one alkylamine compound (see Du paragraph [0059] disclosing that the composition can include one or more pH adjusting agents including hexylamine and octylamine); and water (read as an aqueous solvent (see Du paragraph [0018]); wherein the composition has a pH of from about 6 to 10 (see Du paragraph [0053]) (see MPEP 2144.05(I) where in the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art,” a prima facie case of obviousness exists).
Du discloses that the composition can include one or more pH adjusting agents including alkylamines, such as hexylamine and octylamine) (see Du paragraph [0059]). Du further discloses that the examples of the pH adjusting agents include but are not limited to the listed agents (see Du paragraph [0059]). Jung discloses a that pH adjusting agents in cleaning compositions can include alkylamines, such as methylamine, ethylamine, octylamine, dodecylamine (a 12 carbon alkyl group) and hexadecylamine (a 16 carbon alkyl group) (see Jung paragraph [0060]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to use dodecylamine or hexadecylamine as a pH adjusting agent since Du discloses the use of alkylamines as pH adjusting agents and Jung discloses that dodecylamine and hexadecylamine are known alkylamine, pH-adjusting agents (see MPEP 2143(I)(B) where simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results is prima facie obvious).
The combination of Du and Jung does not explicitly disclose that the at least one anionic surfactant comprises one or more phosphate groups and one or more of the following: a six to twenty four carbon alkyl chain, zero to eighteen ethylene oxide groups, or a combination of a six to twenty four carbon alkyl chain and multiple ethylene oxide groups. Liu discloses a similar composition where the surfactant can be dodecyl phosphate or phosphate polyether ester (see Liu paragraph [0049]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to select the surfactant to be dodecyl phosphate or phosphate polyether ester as disclosed by Liu since Liu discloses the benefits of said surfactants in the cleaning (see Liu paragraph [0049]). Regarding the recitation that the at least one anionic surfactant is present in an amount of from about 0.0005% to about 0.5% by weight of the composition,” the combination of Du, Jung and Liu discloses that the anionic surfactant can be present up to about 0.5 wt% (see Du paragraph [0064]).
As to claim 3, the combination of Du, Jung and Liu discloses that the optional pH adjuster, such as tetramethylammonium hydroxide or tetraethylammonium hydroxide, can be added together with alkanolamine in sufficient amount to adjust the cleaning formulation to the desired pH and that the concentration of the alkanolamine can be between about 0.1 and 15% (see Du paragraphs [0054] and [0060]; see MPEP 2144.05(II) where routine optimization is prima facie obvious and in this case, optimization of the pH adjuster would be obvious since the claimed pH ranges overlap).
As to claim 4, the combination of Du, Jung and Liu discloses that the chelating agent can be tyrosine, arginine or histidine (see Du paragraphs [0021] and [0025]).
As to claims 9 and 10, the combination of Du, Jung and Liu discloses that the at least one nitrogen containing heterocycle can be benzotriazole or imidazole (see Du paragraph [0062]) in an amount of from about 0.001% to about 10% (see Du paragraph [0063]).
As to claims 12 and 13, the combination of Du, Jung and Liu discloses that the optional pH adjuster can be an alkylamine compound and can be selected from dodecylamine and hexadecylamine (see Du paragraph [0059] disclosing that alkylamines and Jung paragraph [0060] disclosing dodecylamine and hexadecylamine as discussed in the rejection to claim 1 above). Du discloses that the optional pH adjuster, such as tetramethylammonium hydroxide or tetraethylammonium hydroxide, can be added together with alkanolamine in sufficient amount to adjust the cleaning formulation to the desired pH and that the concentration of the alkanolamine can be between about 0.1 and 15% (see Du paragraphs [0054] and [0060]; see MPEP 2144.05(II) where routine optimization is prima facie obvious and in this case, optimization of the pH adjuster would be obvious since the claimed pH ranges overlap).
As to claims 14 and 15, the combination of Du, Jung and Liu discloses that the composition is substantially free of abrasive particles, which would be below the 0.2% of abrasive particles (see Du paragraph [0068]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed August 17, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
As discussed in the rejection to claim 1 above, the cited prior art discloses that the at least one chelating agent can be present in an amount from between about 0.01% and about 15% and preferably from about 0.01% and about 8% and wherein the chelating agent is an amino acid (see Du paragraphs [0020]-[0028] disclosing agents such as tyrosine [0021], arginine and histidine [0025]; see MPEP 2144.05(I) where in the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art,” a prima facie case of obviousness exists).
Furthermore, as discussed in the rejection of claim 1 above, the cited prior art discloses at least one anionic surfactant present in an amount up to about 0.5 wt.% (see Du paragraph [0064]). Liu discloses a similar composition where the surfactant can be dodecyl phosphate or phosphate polyether ester (see Liu paragraph [0049]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to select the surfactant to be dodecyl phosphate or phosphate polyether ester as disclosed by Liu since Liu discloses the benefits of said surfactants in the cleaning (see Liu paragraph [0049]).
Applicant’s arguments directed to the cobalt oxide dissolution is not persuasive. First, as discussed in the rejection above, the cited prior art discloses the recited amino acid and anionic surfactants within the recited ranges. Furthermore, it is noted that the claims are directed to a composition and not to a method of cleaning a cobalt substrate.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOUGLAS LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-3296. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4:30pm.
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/DOUGLAS LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1714
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