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 and 4-10 are pending. Claims 2, 3, and 11-20 have been canceled.
The foreign priority application No. 2021-040544 filed on March 12, 2021 in Japan has been received and it is acknowledged.
The current Office Action introduces new grounds of rejection for claim 4, which recites the same limitations as the canceled claim 12. The canceled claim 12 has been objected to as being dependent on a rejected claim, but allowable if rewritten in independent form (see paragraph 12 of the previous Office Action).
Therefore, the Office Action is made non-final. The examiner apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.
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 and 4-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mertesdorf et al. (EP 0 707 015) in view of Toba (JP H09-328506A, with attached machine translation).
With regard to claims 1 and 4, Mertesdorf et al. teach a radiation-sensitive composition comprising a polymer (A) and a compound (B) generating an acid by exposure (par.0031). The polymer (A) may be poly(4-(1-methoxy-1-methylethoxy)styrene/4-(1-methoxy-1-methylethocy)vinylcyclohexane/4-hydroxystyrene/4-vinylcyclohexanol) (par.0067).
The 4-(1-methoxy-1-methylethoxy)styrene repeating unit comprises a group of formula -C(CH3)2-O-CH3 which is a group decomposed by an action of an acid to generate a polar group in claim 1 (see par.0111 of the specification of the instant application).
The 4-hydroxystyrene repeating unit is a repeating unit of General Formula (A2) in claim 1, wherein R101-R103 are hydrogen atoms, LA is a single bond, ArA is a divalent aromatic group, and k=1.
Mertesdorf et al. teach that the compound (B) generating an acid by exposure may be a sulfonium salt (par.0033), but fail to teach the salt of General Formula (2) in claim 1.
Toba teaches compounds which may generate an acid upon irradiation without a bad odor (abstract, par.0130-0131). The examples of compounds capable of generating an acid include bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(m-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfinylphenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfonylphenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate (par.0045), bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium triflate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(m-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium triflate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfinylphenacyl)sulfonium triflate, and bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfonylphenacyl)sulfonium triflate (par.0057).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to use bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(m-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfinylphenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfonylphenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium triflate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(m-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium triflate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfinylphenacyl)sulfonium triflate, or bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfonylphenacyl)sulfonium triflate as the compound (B) generating an acid by exposure in the radiation-sensitive composition of Mertesdorf et al., in order to avoid bad odors.
Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(m-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium triflate, and bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(m-cyanophenacyl)sulfonium triflate are compounds of formula (2) in claim 1, wherein Z- is an anion, m=1, n=2, R2 is a substituted alkyl group, R3 and R4 are hydrogen atoms. Ar is a divalent aromatic ring, l=1, and R1 is a cyano group.
Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfinylphenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate and bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfinylphenacyl)sulfonium triflate are compounds of formula (2) in claim 1, wherein Z- is an anion, m=1, n=2, R2 is a substituted alkyl group, R3 and R4 are hydrogen atoms, Ar is a divalent aromatic ring, l=1, and R1 is a *-L-R5, L is -SO-, R5 is a methyl group (monovalent substituent).
Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfonylphenacyl)sulfonium tetrafluroborate and bis(2-hydroxyethyl)(p-methylsulfonylphenacyl)sulfonium triflate are compounds of formula (2) in claims 1 and 4, wherein Z- is an anion, m=1, n=2, R2 is a substituted alkyl group, R3 and R4 are hydrogen atoms, Ar is a divalent aromatic ring, l=1, and R1 is a *-L-R5, L is -SO2-, R5 is a methyl group (monovalent substituent).
Therefore, the radiation-sensitive composition of Mertesdorf modified by Toba is equivalent to the radiation-sensitive composition in claims 1 and 4 of the instant application.
With regard to claims 5-7, the 4-(1-methoxy-1-methylethoxy)styrene repeating unit is a repeating unit comprising a group decomposed by an action of an acid to generate a polar group, wherein the polar group is a phenolic hydroxyl group.
The 4-(1-methoxy-1-methylethoxy)styrene repeating unit is a repeating unit of formula (6) in claims 6 and 7, wherein R22-R24 are hydrogen atoms, R25-R27 are alkyl groups with 1 carbon atom.
With regard to claim 8, Mertesdorf et al. teach a resist film formed from the radiation-sensitive composition (par.0057).
With regard to claims 9 and 10, Mertesdorf et al. teach a process comprising the steps of:
-coating the radiation-sensitive composition onto a substrate and drying to form a resist film;
-exposing the resist film to radiation; and
-developing the resist film (par.0053-0061).
The resist pattern may be used for microelectronics, printed circuits (par.0055, par.0065).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 4-10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
The examiner would like to note that:
-the objection to the drawings is withdrawn after the filing of the replacement drawings;
-the objection to the specification is withdrawn after the applicant’s amendment to par.0010 and par.0280;
-the rejection of claims 1, 3-10, 19, and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Miyoshi et al. (WO 2020/045534, with citations from the English equivalent US 2021/0165325) is withdrawn after the applicant’s amendments to claim 1;
-the rejection of claims 1, 3-6, 8-10, 19, and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsubaki et al. (US 2019/0219921) is withdrawn after the applicant’s amendment to claim 1;
-the rejection of claims 1, 2, 5-10, and 13-18 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi et al. (JP 2004-279576A, with machine translation made of record on April 21, 2026) in view of Sooriyakumaran et al. (US 2002/0081520) or Urano et al. (US Patent 5,558,976) is withdrawn after the applicant’s amendment to claim 1; and
-the rejection of claims 1-3, 5-11, 13, 14, and 16-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kodama et al. (US 2005/0019689), as evidenced by Smyj et al. (US 2005/0137401) is withdrawn after the applicant’s amendment to claim 1.
However, new grounds of rejection for claims 1 and 4-10 are shown in paragraphs 5-6 above.
Conclusion
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/ANCA EOFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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