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 .
This is the initial office action for US Patent Application No. 18/568131 by Maruyama et al.
Claims 1-14 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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)(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.
Claims 1, 4, 5, 7-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hirano et al. (WO 2021/079679 A1), herein referred to as Hirano. Hirano et al. (US 2022/0382157 A1) is used as an English equivalent of the WO reference. The WO and US references are provided in Applicant’s IDS filed 12/7/2023.
Regarding claim 1, Hirano teaches [0007-0011, 0025, 0046, Examples 1-1, 1-2, 1-5, 1-6 and 1-9 to 1-11] a photosensitive resin composition comprising a silphenylene skeleton (silicone resin) and a fluorine skeleton, a photoacid generator and a benzotriazole compound. Hirano further teaches [0053-0060] the photoacid generator includes onium salts, such as sulfonium salts having sulfonium cations and sulfonate anions, which include sulfonium cation compounds [0055] such as triphenylsulfonium and 2-naphthyldiphenylsulfonium, thereby satisfying the limitations of chemical formula (B) recited in claim 1.
Regarding claim 4, Hirano teaches [0053] the photoacid generator includes sulfur because Hirano teaches sulfonium salts being utilized. Hirano also teaches triarylsulfonium salts being utilized for the photoacid generator, which would satisfy the condition of n=2 because the sulfonium cation would therefore have 3 substituent groups.
Regarding claim 5, Hirano teaches [0089] a crosslinker may further be included in the photosensitive resin composition.
Regarding claim 7, Hirano teaches [0025] the photosensitive resin composition may further include a solvent.
Regarding claim 8, Hirano teaches (Claim 2) a photosensitive resin coating obtained from the photosensitive resin composition.
Regarding claim 9, Hirano teaches [0099] a photosensitive dry film comprising a support film and the photosensitive resin coating obtained from the photosensitive resin composition.
Regarding claim 10, Hirano teaches [0091] a pattern forming process using the photosensitive resin composition, the process comprising the steps of (a) applying the photosensitive resin composition onto a substrate to form a photosensitive resin coating thereon, (b) exposing the photosensitive resin coating to radiation, and (c) developing the exposed resin coating in an organic solvent.
Regarding claim 11, Hirano teaches [0107] a pattern forming process comprising the steps of (a′) using the photosensitive dry film to form the photosensitive resin coating on a substrate, (b) exposing the photosensitive resin coating to radiation, and (c) developing the exposed resin coating in an organic solvent.
Regarding claim 12, Hirano teaches [0131] a post exposure baking step is performed following the developing step. The post exposure baking step may be performed at 100 degrees Celsius.
Regarding claims 13 and 14, Hirano teaches [0133-0135] the photosensitive resin composition can be utilized as a protective film for electrical components or an adhesive film for bonding substrates together.
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 2 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirano et al. (WO 2021/079679 A1), herein referred to as Hirano, in view of Takemura et al. (US 2013/0149493 A1), herein referred to as Takemura.
Hirano does not appear to explicitly teach the limitations of claim 2 directed to the specified composition of the silicone resin utilized or the limitations of claim 6 directed to the specified crosslinker compositions utilized. However, from the same field of technology, Takemura recites the formation of a chemically amplified negative resist composition and a photo-curable dry film utilizing the resist composition.
In view of claim 2, Takemura teaches [0018-0024] a chemically amplified negative resist composition comprising a silicone structure-bearing polymer. The silicone structure-bearing polymer includes structural units [0024, Chemical Formulas (1) to (3)] that satisfy the chemical structural limitations recited in claim 2.
In view of claim 6, Takemura teaches [0194, Chemical Formulas XL-1 to XL-3] crosslinker compositions that satisfy the chemical compound limitations recited in claim 6.
At the time of the effective filing date of the present application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the photosensitive resin composition taught by Hirano, to include the silicone resin and crosslinker compositions taught by Takemura, in order to devise a photosensitive composition that has improved fine pattern forming characteristics during a photolithographic exposure process and also has enhanced film properties, such as better adhesive, heat resistance and electrical properties, when the photosensitive composition is utilized in dry photosensitive film applications.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 3 is considered to be allowable because the prior art references of record in combination, Hirano and Takemura, do not teach or suggest the chemical structures of the recurring units for the silicone resin recited in claim 3.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ichioka (US 2019/0294045 A1) teaches a photosensitive resin composition comprising a polyimide silicon resin, a crosslinker, a photoacid generator, a polyfunctional epoxy compound and an additive that may include a photo-absorbing compound such as a benzotriazole compound.
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/STEWART A FRASER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724
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