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. 18/626972.
Claims 1-17 are currently pending and have been fully considered.
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 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP 2015-148652 A, herein referred to as ‘652, provided in Applicant’s IDS filed 5/7/2026.
Regarding claims 1-5 of the present application, paragraphs [0007] to [0011] of ‘652 disclose anions containing a partial structure represented by formula (1) and SO3 - or COO- , and radiation-sensitive onium cations (the definitions of each substituent and symbol are described in the relevant paragraphs of ‘652). Paragraphs [0115] to [0130] of ‘652 disclose specific examples of the compounds, such as formulas (1-1-1) to (1-1-10) (1-1-12) to (1-1-14) (1-1-16) to (1-1-18) , and (1-1-12) (which corresponds to formula (1) of the present application). The difference between ‘652 and the present application is that the anion structure of COO- in formula (1) of the present application is not disclosed. However, paragraphs [0007] to [0011] of the specification of ‘652 disclose an anion containing the partial structure represented by formula (1) and SO3 - or COO-.Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the anion structure disclosed by ‘652 to meet the onium salt formula represented by formula (1) of the present application because substitution of a known element for another to obtain predictable results is considered to be obvious in view of MPEP Chapter 2143, Section I, Part B.
Regarding claims 6-8 and 13-15 of the present application, in addition to the reasons stated for the rejections of claims 1-5, claim 1 of ‘652 discloses a radiation-sensitive resin composition contains a polymer having a structural unit containing an acid-dissociable group, and a first radiation-sensitive acid generator, and the first radiation-sensitive acid generator is a partial structure represented by the following formula (1) and an anion containing SO3- or COO - , and a radiation-sensitive onium cation. Paragraph [0014] of the specification of ‘652 discloses that the radiation-sensitive resin composition contains [A] a polymer and [B] an acid generator, and may contain further a second radiation-sensitive acid generator other than the first radiation-sensitive acid generator, [D] a nitrogen-atom-containing compound, [E] a fluorine-atom-containing polymer, and [F] a solvent. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to adjust the monomer composition of the composition as appropriate because substitution of a known element for another to obtain predictable results is considered to be obvious in view of MPEP Chapter 2143, Section I, Part B.
Regarding claims 9-12 of the present application, in addition to the reasons stated for the rejection of claims 1-5, paragraphs [0014] to [0072] of ‘652 disclose a
radiation-sensitive resin composition containing a polymer [A], wherein the polymer [A]
may have structural units (I) to (III) and other structural units in addition to the structural
units (I) to (III). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to adjust the monomer composition of the composition as appropriate because substitution of a known element for another to obtain predictable results is considered to be obvious in view of MPEP Chapter 2143, Section I, Part B.
Regarding claims 16 and 17 of the present application, in addition to the reasons stated for the rejection of claims 1-5, paragraphs [0217] to [0223] of ‘652 disclose a method for forming a resist pattern comprises a resist film forming step, a resist
film exposing step, and a resist film developing step, and that the resist film is formed from the radiation-sensitive resin composition Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the resist pattern forming steps disclosed by ‘652 because applying a known technique to a known device (Method or Product) ready for improvement to yield predictable results is considered to be obvious in view of MPEP Chapter 2143, Section I, Part C.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Takihana et al. (US 2013/0209937 A1) disclose a polymerizable fluorine-containing sulfonic acid onium salt.
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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/STEWART A FRASER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1724
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