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 1-4, 6-10, and 12-20 are pending. Claims 5 and 11 have been canceled.
The foreign priority application No.2022-144800 filed on September 12, 2022 in Japan has been received and it is acknowledged.
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.
Claims 1-4, 6-10, and 12-20 are 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.
Claim 1 has been amended to recite the limitation: “when any two of RL1, RL2, and RL3 are bonded to each other to form a ring, they have one of an aliphatic ring and an aromatic ring structure”. However, this limitation may be interpreted as:
A) “when any two of RL1, RL2, and RL3 are bonded to each other to form a ring, they form one of an aliphatic ring and an aromatic ring structure” (see the groups comprising RL1, RL2, and RL3 in par.0052, and the monomers of formula (A-1) in par.0321 and par.0324 of the specification of the instant application), or
B) “when any two of RL1, RL2, and RL3 are bonded to each other to form a ring, the third of RL1, RL2, and RL3 has one of an aliphatic ring and an aromatic ring structure” (see the groups comprising RL1, RL2, and RL3 in par.0052 of the instant application).
Therefore, it is not clear what is the joint inventor claiming as the invention in claim 1 of the instant application.
Claims 2-4, 6-10, and 12-20 are rejected as being dependent on the rejected claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 and 35 USC § 103
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.
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 1-4, 6-10, and 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Fukushima et al. (US 2021/0096465).
With regard to claim 1, Fukushima et al. teach a polymer comprising:
-recurring units having a multiple bond-containing acid labile group;
-recurring units having a phenolic hydroxyl group; and
-recurring units adapted to generate an acid upon exposure (abstract, par.0015).
The examples of recurring having a multiple bond-containing acid labile group include:
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, wherein RA is hydrogen, fluorine, methyl or trifluoromethyl (par.0042 and par.0059).
The repeating units above are repeating units of formula (A-1) in claim 1, wherein RA is a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, a methyl group, or a trifluoromethyl group, n1=0, n2=1, n3=0, LA and XL are single bonds, RL1, RL2, RL3 are hydrocarbyl groups with 1 to 10 carbon atoms, RL1, RL2, RL3 are not bonded to other to form a ring, and at least one of RL1, RL2, and RL3 is an aromatic ring or an aliphatic ring.
The recurring units adapted to generate an acid upon exposure have the formula (c1), (c2) or (c3):
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, wherein RA is hydrogen, fluorine, methyl or trifluoromethyl, Z1 is a single bond or a phenylene group, Z2 may be -C(=O)-O-Z21-, -C(=O)-NH-Z21-, or -O-Z21-, Z21 is a C1-C6 aliphatic hydrocarbylene group, a phenylene group, or a divalent group obtained from a combination thereof, which may contain a carbonyl moiety, ester bond, ether bond, or hydroxyl group, Z3 is a single bond, phenylene, naphthylene, or (backbone)-C(=O)-O-Z31-, Z31 is a C1-10 aliphatic hydrocarbylene which may contain a hydroxyl moiety, ether bond, ester bond or lactone ring, Z4 is a single bond or -Z41-C(=O)-O-, Z41 is C1-20 hydrocarbylene group optionally having a heteroatom, Z5 is a single bond, methylene group, ethylene group, phenylene, a fluorinated phenylene, -C(=O)-O-Z51, -C(=O)-NH-Z51-, or -O-Z51-, Z51 is a C1-6 aliphatic hydrocarbylene group or a phenylene group, a fluorinated phenylene group, Z51 optionally having a carbonyl group, an ester bond, an ether bond, or a hydroxyl group, R21 and R22 are each independently a C1-20 hydrocarbyl group which may contain a heteroatom, R21 and R22 may bond together to form a ring with the sulfur atom to which they are attached, L1 is a single bond, ether bond, ester bond, carbonyl group, sulfonic acid ester bond, carbonate bond or carbamate bond, Rf1 and Rf2 are each independently hydrogen, fluorine, or a C1-C6 fluoroalkyl group, M- is a counterion, A+ is an onium cation, and k is an integer from 0 to 3 (par.0018).
The recurring units adapted to generate an acid upon exposure of formula (c1), (c2) or (c3) of Fukushima et al. are repeating units of formulas (B-1), (B-2), or (B-4) in claim 1 of the instant application.
Fukushima et al. further teach that the polymer may comprise recurring units of formulas (d1) or (d2):
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, wherein RA is hydrogen, fluorine, methyl or trifluoromethyl, X1 is a single bond, phenylene bond, naphthylene bond, or (backbone)-C(=O)-O-X11-, X11 is a C1-10 aliphatic hydrocarbylene which may contain a hydroxy group, an ether bond, ester bond, lactone ring, Y1 is a single bond or -(backbone)-C(=O)-O-, R41 may be a C1-20 hydrocarbyl group optionally containing a heteroatom, p is an integer from 0 to 4, and AL1 and AL2 are acid labile groups free of multiple bonds (par.0021, par.0016-0017).
The recurring units of formulas (d1) or (d2) of Fukushima et al. are repeating units of formula (a-1) or (a-2) in claim 1.
The recurring units having a phenolic hydroxyl group are represented by the formula (b):
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, wherein RA is hydrogen, fluorine, methyl or trifluoromethyl, Y1 is a single bond or -(backbone)-C(=O)-O-, R11 is halogen, cyano, a C1-20 hydrocarbyl group which may contain a heteroatom, C1-20 hydrocarbyloxy group which may contain a heteroatom, a C2-20 hydrocarbylcarbonyloxy which may contain a heteroatom, a C2-20 hydrocarbyloxycarbonyl group which may contain a heteroatom, n is an integer from 1 to 4, m is an integer from 0 to 4 (par.0017).
The recurring units having a phenolic hydroxyl group represented by the formula (b) of Fukushima et al. are repeating units of formula (C-1) in claim 1 of the instant application.
Therefore, the polymer of Fukushima et al. anticipates the polymer in claim 1 of the instant application.
In the alternative, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to obtain the polymer in claim 1 of the instant application based on Fukushima’s teachings regarding the polymer and the examples of recurring units forming the polymer.
With regard to claim 2, the repeating units of formula (a) above are recurring units of formula (A-2) wherein RA is a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, a methyl group, or a trifluoromethyl group n2=1, n3=0, LA and XL are single bonds, RL1, RL2, RL3 are hydrocarbyl groups with 1 to 7 carbon atoms, and at least one of RL1, RL2, and RL3 has a double bond (multiple bond) or is an aromatic group.
With regard to claim 3, the repeating units of formula (a) above are recurring units of formula (A-3) wherein RA is a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, a methyl group, or a trifluoromethyl group n2=1, n3=0, RL1, RL2, RL3 are hydrocarbyl groups with 1 to 7 carbon atoms, and at least one of RL1, RL2, and RL3 has a double bond (multiple bond) or it is an aromatic group.
With regard to claim 4, Fukushima et al. teach that the onium cation A+ may be represented by the formulas (c4) or (c5):
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, wherein R31, R32, and R33 are independently a C1-20 hydrocarbyl group which may comprise a heteroatom, R31 and R32 may bond together to form a ring with the sulfur atom to which they are attached, R35 and R36 are each independently a C1-20 hydrocarbyl group which may contain a heteroatom (par.0019-0020).
With regard to claim 6, Fukushima et al. teach that the polymer may further comprise recurring units of formula (e):
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, wherein RA is hydrogen, fluorine, methyl or trifluoromethyl, X1 is a single bond, phenylene bond, naphthylene bond, or (backbone)-C(=O)-O-X11-, X11 is a C1-10 aliphatic hydrocarbylene which may contain a hydroxy group, an ether bond, ester bond, lactone ring, AP is a hydrogen group or a polar group containing at least one selected from hydroxy, cyano, carbonyl, carboxyl, ether bond, ester bond, sulfonic acid ester bond, carbonate bond, lactone ring, sultone ring, and carboxylic anhydride (par.0022).
With regard to claims 7-10 and 12, Fukushima et al. teach a chemically amplified resist composition comprising the polymer (par.0112).
With regard to claims 13-16, Fukushima et al. teach that the chemically amplified resist composition further comprises an organic solvent (B), a photoacid generator (C), a quencher (D), and a surfactant (E) that is insoluble or substantially insoluble in water and soluble in an alkali developer and/or a surfactant which is insoluble or substantially insoluble in water and an alkaline developer (par.0112).
With regard to claim 17, Fukushima et al. teach a process comprising the steps of:
-applying the resist composition onto a substrate and prebaking for form a resist film;
-exposing the resist film to radiation; and
-developing the exposed the resist film with a developer (par.0193-0194, par.0198).
With regard to claim 18, Fukushima et al. teach that the exposure may be performed with i-line beam, KrF or ArF excimer laser, or EUV wavelength of 13.5 nm (par.0194).
With regard to claims 19 and 20, Fukushima et al. teach that the developer may be an aqueous alkaline solution (par.0198), or an organic solvent which dissolves the unexposed regions of the resist film (par.0201).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on August 06, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The examiner would like to note that:
-the objection to the abstract is withdrawn after the filing of an amended abstract; and
-the rejection of claims 1-4, 7-10, 13-15, and 17-19 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arai et al. (US 2019/0384175) in view of Hatakeyama et al. (US 2019/0113846) is withdrawn after the applicant’s amendment to claim 1.
On page 11 of the Remarks the applicant argues that the repeating unit of formula (A-1) does not include a multiple bond in an acid labile group, so claim 1 is distinguishable from Fukushima et al.
The examiner would like to point out that claim 1 does not exclude a multiple bond. Claim 1 allows for RL1, RL2, and RL3 to be a hydrocarbyl group, and par.0061 of the specification allows for a hydrocarbyl group to be an unsaturated group.
Additionally, the examples of the recurring having a multiple bond-containing acid labile group of Fukushima et al. include:
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, wherein RA is hydrogen, fluorine, methyl or trifluoromethyl (par.0042 and par.0059).
These repeating units (a) above are repeating units of formula (A-1) in the amended claim 1, wherein RA is a hydrogen atom, a fluorine atom, a methyl group, or a trifluoromethyl group, n1=0, n2=1, n3=0, LA and XL are single bonds, RL1, RL2, RL3 are hydrocarbyl groups with 1 to 10 carbon atoms, RL1, RL2, RL3 are not bonded to other to form a ring, and at least one of RL1, RL2, and RL3 is an aromatic ring or an aliphatic ring.
Therefore, the rejection over Fukushima et al. (US 2021/0096465) is maintained.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new grounds of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/ANCA EOFF/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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