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. 18/586593 by Miyoshi et al.
Claims 1-16 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 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Nemoto et al. (US 2020/0393755 A1), herein referred to as Nemoto, provided in Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement filed 5/13/2024.
Regarding claims 1, 6-8, 12 and 14-16, Nemoto teaches [0041, 0043, 0064] a radiation-sensitive resin composition comprising a polymer (resin) that is decomposed by the action of an acid and thereby increased in polarity and a compound that generates an acid upon irradiation with actinic rays or radiation. The polymer can have a chemical formula (structure P-5) represented by:
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230
318
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The polymer taught by Nemoto satisfies the chemical structure limitations of resin (A) recited in claim 1.
Nemoto further teaches [0041, 0135, 0147] a compound that generates acid that can have chemical formulas (I-1 through I-18) that satisfy the chemical structure limitations of compound (C) recited in claim 1. Chemical formula (I-6) shown below as an example:
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Regarding claims 2 and 13, Nemoto teaches chemical formula (I-8) that satisfies the limitations of claim 2:
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290
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Regarding claim 3, Nemoto teaches [0041, 0086, 0088] an acid generator that generates an acid stronger than the acid generated from compound (C).
Regarding claim 4, Nemoto teaches chemical formula (P-6) the polymer can be configured to have a repeating unit having a group that is decomposed to generate an acid upon irradiation with actinic rays or radiation.
Regarding claim 5, Nemoto teaches [0261] chemical formulas (B-1 to B-6) compounds with repeating units that satisfy formula (S-1) recited in claim 5.
Regarding claims 9-11, Nemoto teaches [0007, 0037-0040, 0223] a resist pattern-forming method includes applying the radiation-sensitive resin composition directly or indirectly on a substrate to form a resist film. The resist film is then subsequently exposed and developed. The resist pattern-forming method is utilized to form a semiconductor device (electronic device).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEWART A FRASER whose telephone number is (571)270-5126. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7am-4pm, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Miriam Stagg can be reached at 571-270-5256. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/STEWART A FRASER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724
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