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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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(s) 1-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masuyama et al (JP 2021-187844 and its machine translation).
Masuyama et al disclose a resist composition comprising a salt having a structure similar to that of the instant formula (1) as an acid generator (instant claims 5 and 6), a resin, and a method of forming a pattern.
The composition comprises the salt, the resin, a solvent, a quencher (C) (instant claim 10; [0235]), an acid generator (B) ([0042]), and an additive including a surfactant (F).
The salt has the following general structure:
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In the formula, each of Q1 and Q2 (instant R1 and R2) are trifluoroalkyyl or fluorine, z (instant z) is 0 or 1, R1 and R2 when present when z is 2 are H, fluorine, perfluoroalkyl ([0009]), wherein instant X1-L1-aryl-X2-L2 is a combination equating to reference X1-aryl- ([0009]), L1 may be a linking group including ether, ester, etc, and comprises an ester group or ether bond ([0010], [0013]), instant n1 is 0, R3 may be halogen (instant I), R4 is fluorinated alkyl (R4),with an -OH group with m5 is preferably 1 is 1. Z is an onium cation.
X1-L1 is a group such as those having an alkyl, cycloalkyl, or aryl with a group such as -O-, -CO- or combination thereof, with examples including those below, meeting the limitations of the instant formula (I), with the exception of a cycloalkyl group, however given the teachings of the reference, X1-L1 may include a cycloalkyl or aryl, and one of skill in the art would have been motivated to replace the cycloalkyl group below, with an equivalent group, such as a phenyl ring.
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In the examples, m4 is 1 and R4 is alkoxy (not limited thereto), Q1 and Q2 are F or H, z may be 1-3, with R1 and R2 F or H, X1 is -COO-, -O-, -OCO-, instant L1 is alkyl or a single bond, instant X2 is -COO-, -OCO-, and instant L2 is a single bond (may be a linking group), and wherein the aromatic group may be substituted, and the structures would meet the limitations of the instant claims 1, 3, and 4. With respect to the instant claim 2, the linking group may be placed in any ring position as desired by one of skill in the art, including in the ortho position to the chain with the anion. The reference further teaches that aryl of cycloalkyl groups may comprise a halogen substituent, including iodine and fluorine, wherein the newly claimed instant claim 12, wherein when the ring is substituted, the instant m3 would be at least 1 ([0010]-[0013]).
As seen in the reference formula the iodine-containing substituent m2 is 1 to 3 (abstract), therefore, despite the examples cited by the office having the ring group in the chain in addition to the aryl end group, other exemplified compounds include more than one iodine group ([0016], [0017]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to prepare the compound of the reference, choosing to include m2 groups of 1-3 on the ring as taught by the reference, which would meet the limitations of the instant claims for having at least two iodine atoms.
The resist polymer includes a (meth)acrylate unit having an acid-labile group. Such units includes preferred units such as (a1-0) to (a1-2) and (a1-4) ([0099]-[0117]; instant claim 7), and (a2-A) of the instant claim 8, wherein Aa50 is a single bond, mb is 0.
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The acid-labile groups of the formulas (a1-0) to (a1-2) and (a1-4) are those as instantly described.
Broader formulas ((for (a2-A) see (a2-A, [0123]), wherein the instant Aa50 may be ester, and mb may be 2 or more with instant Ra51 (reference Ra51) being halogen, hydroxy, alkoxy, alkyl.
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The reference teaches additional units having groups as set forth by the instant (a3-1) to (a3-4) (also same as instant formulas in the instant claim 9), including lactone and sultone rings ([0135]-[0142], [0192]-[0205])
The reference further teaches that the method of patterning includes the steps as claimed, wherein the resist is applied to a substrate, baked/ dried to remove solvent and form a film, exposed to light, post-exposure baked, and developed ([0240], examples; instant claim 11). The radiation used in the exposure step is preferably ebeam or EUV.
Given the teachings of the reference, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant invention to prepare the resist compositon and perform the method of patterning, wherein the PAG salt of formula (I), wherein the salt comprises groups as dicscussed above, specifially wherein the linking groups include a pehnyl ring in the place of the cycloalkyl group as described above which also fall within the scope of the instant formula (1). The resultant salt, material, and method would also meet the limitations of the instant claims 1-12.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/7/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant has amended the claims to require that one or more of R4 is an iodine atom, and wherein R4 must be present with m4 being 1 to 3, broadly, requiring that the ring simply contains at least two iodine atoms (that of R4 and the iodine atom in the formula).
Applicant has argued that the reference compound does not include more than 1 iodine atom in the examples includes in the office correspondence, however, as discussed above, the reference clearly suggests to one of ordinary skill in the art to prepare a compound including at least two iodine atoms as suggested by the definition for m2 and examples, wherein when reference m2 is 2, the compound would include two iodine atoms on the aryl end group and meet the limitations of the instant formula as amended wherein a -OH group and the I are present as well as an additional iodine, meeting the limitations of R4 being iodine and m4 being 1.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMANDA C WALKE whose telephone number is (571)272-1337. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 5:30am to 4pm.
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/AMANDA C. WALKE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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