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 .
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 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.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-9 in the reply filed on December 31, 2025 is acknowledged. Claim 10 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office Action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fan et al. (US20240021435).
Regarding claim 1, Fan discloses an etching method of etching a metal on a substrate (abstract), the etching method comprising: (a) modifying a surface layer of the metal into a halide-containing surface layer by exposing the metal to a halogen-containing gas (claim 1); (b) removing the halide-containing surface layer by exposing the halide-containing surface layer to a gas containing carbon (C) and oxygen (O) (CO, claims 1 and 3); and (c) repeating the step of (a) and the step of (b) in this order (claim 7).
Regarding claims 2-3, Fan discloses wherein the metal is Fe (paragraph 0031).
Regarding claims 4-5, Fan discloses wherein the halogen-containing gas includes Cl2 (claim 5).
Regarding claim 6, Fan discloses wherein the gas containing C and O includes CO (claim 3).
Regarding claim 7, Fan discloses wherein in the step of (b), the halide-containing surface layer is carbonylated and removed by the gas containing C and O (paragraph 0046).
Regarding claim 8, Fan discloses wherein in the step of (a) and the step of (b), a temperature of a stage on which the substrate is placed is controlled so that a temperature of the substrate ranges from 60 degrees C to 200 degrees C (paragraphs 0029 and 0032).
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 of this title, 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 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Fan et al. (US20240021435) as applied to claim 8 above.
Regarding claim 9, Fan discloses wherein in the step of (a) and the step of (b), the temperature of the stage is controlled so that the temperature of the substrate ranges from 60 degrees C to 200 degrees C (paragraphs 0029 and 0032), which overlaps with the range recited in the instant claim. In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990). MPEP 2144.05(I).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIONG-PING LU whose telephone number is (571) 270-1135. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 9:00am – 5:00pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua L Allen, can be reached at telephone number (571)270-3176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JIONG-PING LU/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713