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 1-15 are pending.
The foreign priority application No. 2022-165997 filed on October 17, 2022 in Japan has been received and it is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because a single drawing used to illustrate the claimed invention must not be numbered, and the abbreviation “FIG.” must not appear (see 37 CFR 1.84 (u) Numbering of views). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 application claims priority benefit from the foreign priority application No. 2022-165997 filed on October 17, 2022 in Japan.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: “FIG.1” in par.0039 should be amended to recite “The FIGURE”. Appropriate correction is required.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1 and 4-15 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 and 4-14 of copending Application No. 18/380,475 (US 2024/0168379) in view of Fukushima et al. (US 2020/0223796).
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 claims a positive resist material comprising a compound having two or more urethane groups and having two or more carboxy groups that are each substituted with an acid labile group and are bonded to the urethane groups via a linking group (claim 1).
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 does not claim that the positive resist material comprises the compound in claim 1 of the instant application.
Fukushima et al. teach an onium salt of formula (I) included in a resist composition wherein the base comprises acid labile groups (a positive resist composition) (abstract, par.0024, par.0034). The resist composition has high sensitivity, is reduced in acid diffusion, improved in many lithography performance factors including exposure latitude (EL), mask error factor (MEF), line width roughness (LWR) and thus is best suited for precise micropatterning (par.0026).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to include the onium salt of formula (I) of Fukushima et al. in the positive resist material of the copending Application No. 18/380,475 in order to improve the sensitivity, exposure latitude (EL), mask error factor (MEF), line width roughness (LWR), and reduce the acid diffusion in the resist material.
Fukushima et al. teach the onium salt of formula (I):
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, wherein RAL is an acid labile group, La1 and La2 may be carbamate bonds, Q+ is an onium cation (par.0027), and the onium cation may be a sulfonium cation or an iodonium cation (par.0031).
A carbamate bond is a urethane bond, as evidenced in par.0017 of Tang (US 2003/0152533).
Such onium salt is a compound having two or more carbamate (urethane) groups, a sulfonium or iodonium salt of a sulfonic acid, a carboxy group substituted with an acid-labile group and bonded to a first carbamate (urethane) group, and the sulfonium or iodonium salt bonded to a second carbamate (urethane) group directly or via a linking group in claim 1.
Therefore, the resist material in claim 1 of the copending Application No. 18/380,475 modified by Fukushima is equivalent to the positive resist material in claims 1 and 4 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the positive resist material further comprises a base polymer (claim 4), same as in claim 5 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the base polymer comprises: a repeating unit having an acid-labile group substituting a hydrogen atom of a carboxy group; and/or a repeating unit having an acid-labile group substituting a hydrogen atom of a phenolic hydroxy group (claim 5), same as in claim 6 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the repeating unit having an acid-labile group substituting a hydrogen atom of a carboxy group and the repeating unit having an acid-labile group substituting a hydrogen atom of a phenolic hydroxy group are respectively a repeating unit represented by the following formula (a1) or (a2):
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wherein each RA independently represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group; X1 represents a single bond or a linking group having 1 to 14 carbon atoms and containing a phenylene group, a naphthylene group, an ester band, an ether bond, or a lactone ring; X2 represents a single bond, an ester bond, or an amide bond; X3 represents a single bond, an ether bond, or an ester bond, R11 and R12 represent acid labile groups, R13 represents a fluorine atom, a trifluoromethyl group, a cyano group, or a saturated hydrocarbyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms; R14 represents a single bond or a saturated hydrocarbylene group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, part of the carbon atoms optionally being substituted with an ether bond or an ester bond; and "a" represents 1 or 2 and "b" represents an integer of 0 to 4, provided that a+b are between 1 and 5 (claim 6), same as in claim 7 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the base polymer further comprises a repeating unit (b) having an adhesive group selected from a hydroxy group, a carboxy group, a lactone ring, a carbonate group, a thiocarbonate group, a carbonyl group, a cyclic acetal group, an ether bond, an ester bond, a sulfonic acid ester bond, a cyano group, an amide bond, -O-C(=O)-S-, and -O-C(=O)-NH- (claim 7), same as in claim 8 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the base polymer further comprises a repeating unit (c) represented by one or more of the following formulae (c1) to (c3):
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, wherein each RA independently represents a hydrogen atom or methyl group, Y1 represents a single bond, a phenylene group, a naphthylene group, -O-Y11-, -C(=O)-O-Y11-, or -C(=O)-NH-Y11-, Y11 represents an aliphatic hydrocarbylene group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a phenylene group, a naphthylene group, or a group having 7 to 18 carbon atoms derived from a combination of these groups, Y'1 optionally containing a carbonyl group, an ester bond, an ether bond, or a hydroxy group; Y2 represents a single bond or an ester bond; Y3 represents a single bond, -Y31-C (=O)-O-, -Y31-O-,or -Y31-O-C(=O) -; Y31 represents a hydrocarbylene group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, a phenylene group, or a group having 7 to 18 carbon atoms derived from a combination of these groups, Y31 optionally containing a carbonyl group, an ester bond, an ether bond, an iodine atom, or a bromine atom; Y4 represents a single bond, a methylene group, or a 2,2,2-trifluoro-l,1-ethanediyl group; Y5 represents a single bond, a methylene group, an ethylene group, a phenylene group, a fluorinated phenylene group, -O-Y51-, -C(=O)-O-Y51-, or C(=O)-NH-Y51-, Y51 represents an aliphatic hydrocarbylene group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, a phenylene group, or a group having 7 to 18 carbon atoms derived from a combination of these groups, Y51 optionally containing a carbonyl group, an ester bond, an ether bond, or a hydroxy group; Rf1 and Rf2 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, or a trifluoromethyl group, provided that at least one of Rf1 and Rf2 is a fluorine atom; R21 to R28 each independently represent a hydrocarbyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms and optionally containing a fluorine atom, a chlorine atom, a bromine atom, an iodine atom, or a heteroatom; R23 and R24 or R26 and R27 are optionally bonded with each other to form a ring together with a sulfur atom bonded to R23 and R24or R26 and R27; and M- represents a non-nucleophilic counter ion (claim 8), same as in claim 9 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the positive resist material further comprises an acid generator (claim 9), same as in claim 10 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the positive resist material further comprises an organic solvent (claim 10), same as in claim 11 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the positive resist material further comprises a quencher (claim 11), same as in claim 12 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the positive resist material further comprises a surfactant (claim 12), same as in claim 13 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims a patterning process comprising the steps of: forming a resist film on a substrate by using the positive resist material according, exposing the resist film to a high-energy beam, and developing the exposed resist film by using a developer (claim 13), same as in claim 14 of the instant application.
The copending Application No. 18/380,475 further claims that the high-energy beam is an i-line beam, a KrF excimer laser beam, an ArF excimer laser beam, an electron beam, or an extreme ultraviolet ray having a wavelength of 3 to 15 nm (claim 14), same as in claim 15 of the instant application.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection.
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.
Claims 1-3 and 5-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukushima et al. (US 2020/0223796).
With regard to claim 1, Fukushima et al. teach the onium salt of formula (I):
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, wherein RAL is an acid labile group, La1 and La2 may be carbamate bonds, Q+ is an onium cation (par.0027), and the onium cation may be a sulfonium cation or an iodonium cation (par.0031).
Fukushima et al. do not specifically teach an onium salt of formula (I) wherein RAL is an acid labile group, La1 and La2 are carbamate bonds, and Q+ is sulfonium cation or an iodonium cation.
However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to obtain an onium salt of formula (I) wherein RAL is an acid labile group, La1 and La2 are carbamate bonds, and Q+ is sulfonium cation or an iodonium cation, because Fukushima et al. teach the onium salt of formula (I) and teach the groups RAL, La1, La2, and Q+.
A carbamate bond is a urethane bond, as evidenced in par.0017 of Tang (US 2003/0152533).
Such onium salt is a compound having two or more carbamate (urethane) groups, a sulfonium or iodonium salt of a sulfonic acid, a carboxy group substituted with an acid-labile group and bonded to a first carbamate (urethane) group, and the sulfonium or iodonium salt bonded to a second carbamate (urethane) group directly or via a linking group in claim 1.
The onium salt is included in a resist composition wherein the base comprises acid labile groups (a positive resist composition) (abstract, par.0024, par.0034).
With regard to claim 2, a carbamate (urethane) bond is represented by the formula -O-C(=O)-NH- or by the formula -NH-C(=O)-O-, as evidenced in par.0037 of Brooks (US 2011/0117660).
The onium salt of formula (I) wherein Rf1 and Rf2 are each independently fluorine or C1-C6 fluoroalkyl group, Rf3 and Rf4 are each independently hydrogen, fluorine, or a C1-C6 fluoroalkyl group, RAL is an acid labile group, La1 is a carbamate(urethane) bond of formula -O-CO-NH-, La2 is a carbamate (urethane) bond of formula -NH-CO-O-, XL is a C2-C40 divalent hydrocarbon group, , k is an integer from 1 to 3, and Q+ is sulfonium cation or an iodonium cation of Fukushima et al. is a compound of formula (1) in claim 2, wherein p=1, r=1, q=1, R1 is an acid labile group, R2 is a linking group, R3 is a hydrocarbylene with 2-40 carbon atoms, R4 is a single bond or a linking group, Rf1 to Rf4 are fluorine atoms, and C1-C6 fluoroalkyl groups.
A group R3 comprising 2-40 carbon atoms includes the range of 2 to 33 carbon atoms for R3 in claim 2.
The ranges of C1-C6 fluoroalkyl groups for Rf1 to Rf4 includes the trifluoromethyl group in claim 2.
With regard to claim 3, Fukushima et al. teach that the acid labile group RAL may be a tertiary ester (par.0096)., which meets the composition 1) in claim 3.
With regard to claim 5, Fukushima et al. teach that the resist composition comprises a base resin (par.0034).
With regard to claims 6 and 7, Fukushima et al. teach that the base resin comprises recurring units having the formula (a1) or (a2):
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, wherein RA is each hydrogen, fluorine, methyl or trifluoromethyl, ZA may be a single bond, phenylene, naphthylene, XA and XB are each independently an acid labile group, n=0-4, R21 is a C1-C20 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may comprise a heteroatom (par.0034. par.0124-0125).
The repeating unit of formula (a1) of Fukushima et al. is a repeating unit having an acid labile group substituting a hydrogen from a carboxy group in claim 6, and a repeating unit of formula (a1) in claim 7 of the instant application.
The repeating unit of formula (a2) of Fukushima et al. is a repeating unit having an acid labile group substituting a hydrogen from a phenolic hydroxy group in claim 6, and a repeating unit of formula (a2) in claim 7 of the instant application.
With regard to claim 8, Fukushima et al. teach that the base resin may further comprises a repeating unit of formula (b1):
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, wherein YA may be a polar group selected from hydroxyl, cyano, carboxyl, an ester bond, an ether bond, a sulfonic acid ester bond, a carbonate bond, a lactone ring (par.0156-0157).
With regard to claim 9, Fukushima et al. teach that the base resin may further comprises a repeating unit selected from repeating units of formulas (c1) to (c3):
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, wherein RA is each independently hydrogen, fluorine, methyl, or trifluoromethyl, Z1 is a single bond, phenylene or -O-Z11-, -C(=O)-O-Z11- or -C(=O)-NH-Z11-, Z11 is a C1-C20 alkanediyl group, C2-C20 alkenediyl group or phenylene group which may contain a carbonyl moiety, ester bond, ether bond, or hydroxyl moiety, Z2 is a single bond or -Z21-C(=O)-O-, Z21 is a C1-C20 divalent hydrocarbon group with may contain a heteroatom, Z3 is a single bond, methylene ethylene, phenylene, fluorinated phenylene, -O-Z31-, -C(=O)-O-Z31- or -C(=O)-NH-Z31-, Z31 is a C1-C6 alkanediyl group, C2-C8 alkenediyl group or phenylene group which may contain a carbonyl moiety, ester bond, ether bond, or hydroxyl moiety, R31 and R32 are each independently a C1-C20 monovalent hydrocarbon group which may contain a heteroatom, R31 and R32 may bond together to form a ring with the sulfur atom to which they are attached, M- is a non-nucleophilic counter ion, and A+ may be sulfonium cation (par.0035-0036).
With regard to claims 10-13, Fukushima et al. teach that the resist composition further comprises a photoacid generator (par.0037-0042), an organic solvent (par.0187), an amine compound (par.0042) and a surfactant (par.0043).
An amine acts as a quencher, as defined in par.0273 of the specification of the instant application.
With regard to claims 14 and 15, Fukushima et al. teach a process comprising the steps of:
-applying the resist composition onto a substrate and forming a resist film;
-exposing the resist film; and
-developing the resist film (par.0252).
The exposure may be performed with ArF excimer laser, KrF excimer laser, electron beam (EB), or extreme ultraviolet (EUV)(par.0252).
Conclusion
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/ANCA EOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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