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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 14-18 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 5/8/26.
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 1-10 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Publication 2016/0056054 to Takahashi et al.
Regarding Claim 1, Takahashi et al. teaches an etching composition, comprising: at least one first acid or a salt thereof, the at least one first acid comprising a fluorine-containing inorganic acid (Paragraph 261-265); at least one second acid (Paragraph 266) different from the at least one first acid, the at least one second acid having a pKa of at most about 3; at least one organic solvent (Paragraphs 278-284) having a ClogP of from about -0.3 to about 1.6; and water.
Regarding Claim 2, Takahashi et al. teaches (Paragraph 265) the at least one first acid or a salt thereof comprises HF, NH4F, NH4F･HF, TMAF, H2SiF6, HPF6, or HBF4.
Regarding Claim 3, Takahashi et al. teaches (Paragraphs 76, 263) the at least one first acid or a salt thereof is in an amount of from about 0.1 wt% to about 5 wt% of the composition.
Regarding Claim 4, Takahashi et al. teaches (Paragraph 268) the at least one second acid comprises hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid, nitric acid, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, or a sulfonic acid.
Regarding Claim 5, Takahashi et al. teaches (Paragraph 275) the at least one second acid is in an amount of from about 0.01 wt% to about 1 wt% of the composition.
Regarding Claim 6, Takahashi et al. teaches (Paragraphs 278-284) the at least one organic solvent (implicit) has a ClogP of from about 0.2 to about 0.8.
Regarding Claim 7, Takahashi et al. teaches (Paragraph 284) the at least one organic solvent comprises ethanol, isopropanol, tetrahydrofuran, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, 3-methoxy-3-methyl-1-butanol, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, 4-methyl-2-pentanol, or cyclohexanone.
Regarding Claim 8, Takahashi et al. teaches (Paragraph 303) the at least one organic solvent is in an amount of from about 80 wt% to about 99 wt% of the composition.
Regarding Claim 9, Takahashi et al. teaches (Paragraph 321-323) the water is in an amount of from about 0.01 wt% to about 10 wt% of the composition.
Regarding Claim 10, Takahashi et al. teaches (Paragraph 259) the composition has a pH of from about 0 to about 2.
Regarding Claim 11, Takahashi et al. teaches the composition is substantially free of an oxidizing agent, a complexing agent, a surfactant, or an amine as broadly recited.
Regarding Claim 13, Takahashi et al. teaches an etching composition, comprising: at least one first acid or a salt thereof, the at least one first acid comprising a fluorine-containing inorganic acid; at least one organic solvent having a ClogP of from about -0.3 to about 1.6; and water.
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.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over US Publication 2016/0056054 to Takahashi et al.
Regarding Claim 12, Takahashi et al. teaches the composition consists of the at least one first acid, at least one second acid, at least one organic solvent, and water. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a composition consisting of the recited acids, solvent and water in order to provide a suitable etching composition that may be mixed with additives as recited by Takahashi et al. (Paragraphs 327-330) with predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Patent 7,491,650 to Fucsko et al. teaches an etching composition, comprising: at least one first acid or a salt thereof, the at least one first acid comprising a fluorine-containing inorganic acid; at least one second acid different from the at least one first acid, the at least one second acid having a pKa of at most about 3; at least one organic solvent having a ClogP of from about -0.3 to about 1.6; and water.
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/ROBERTS P CULBERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1716
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