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 .
Claims 1-3 and 5-16 are pending
Claims 12-16 are withdrawn
Claim 1 has been amended
Claim 4 has been canceled
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5-22-26 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 5-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Du et al. US 2012/0048295 (US’295).
Regarding claim 1, US’295 teaches a cleaning liquid for removing an etching residue containing a titanium component (a cleaning composition for removing plasma etch residues formed on semiconductor substrates after plasma etching of metal layers or dielectric material layers, The present disclosure is directed to a non-corrosive cleaning composition that is useful primarily for removing residues including a range of relatively insoluble mixtures of organic compounds like residual photoresist, organometallic compounds, metal oxides which are formed as reaction by-products from exposed metals such as titanium, metal nitrides such as titanium nitride, and other materials, para. 3 and 11),
the cleaning liquid comprising: a compound (A) represented by General Formula (a1),
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105
242
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Greyscale
(the cleaning composition includes: (c) at least one hydrazinocarboxylic acid ester, suitable hydrazinocarboxylic acid esters include, but are not limited to, methyl carbazate, ethyl carbazate, tert-butyl carbazate para. 18 and 42, methyl carbazate, ethyl carbazate, tert-butyl carbazate are examples compound (A) represented by General Formula (a1) wherein R represents an organic group, see further applicants’ specification para. 110-116)
wherein the cleaning liquid has a pH of 6 or greater which is measured at 23°C (the pH of the composition is between about 6 and about 10, the pH measurements were taken at ambient temperature after all components were fully dissolved, unless otherwise noted, ambient temperature is defined to be between about 16 and about 27 degrees Celsius, para. 12, 14 and 94-95),
wherein R represents an organic group (as discussed above, methyl carbazate, ethyl carbazate, tert-butyl carbazate are example components), and
wherein the cleaning liquid does not contain an alcohol other than an alkanolamine (the cleaning composition of this disclosure includes: (a) at least one alpha amino carboxylic acid containing at least one additional functional group capable of chelating metals with the proviso that the alpha amino carboxylic acid does not contain an additional carboxyl group; (b) at least one hydroxycarboxylic acid containing at least two carboxyl groups and at least one hydroxyl group; (c) optionally, at least one hydrazinocarboxylic acid ester including methyl carbazate, ethyl carbazate, tert-butyl carbazate; (d) at least one alkanolamine, and (e) water, as discussed above and in para. 12, example compositions include those shown in table 1 which contain examples of components (a)-(d) which do not include alcohols other than an alkanolamine, para. 73-74).
Regarding claim 2, US’295 teaches the cleaning liquid composition of claim 1. US’295 further teaches wherein the cleaning liquid has a pH of 7 to 13, which is measured at 23°C (most preferably the pH is between about 7 and about 9 or between about 7 and about 8, the pH measurements were taken at ambient temperature after all components were fully dissolved, unless otherwise noted, ambient temperature is defined to be between about 16 and about 27 degrees Celsius, para. 12, 14, 53 and 94-95)
Regarding claims 3 and 5, US’295 teaches the cleaning liquid composition of claim 1. US’295 further teaches further comprising a base, with regard to claim 3 and wherein the base is at least one selected from the group consisting of alkanolamine, with regard to claim 5 (the cleaning composition of this disclosure includes: (d) at least one alkanolamine, para. 46-54).
Regarding claim 6, US’295 teaches the cleaning liquid composition of claim 1. US’295 further teaches wherein a content of the compound (A) is in a range of 0.01% to 30% by mass with respect to a total mass of the cleaning liquid (in the cleaning composition of the present disclosure, the optional hydrazinocarboxylic acid ester can be present in the range between about 0.01% and about 10%. Preferably the hydrazinocarboxylic acid ester is employed in the range of about 0.1% and about 7.5%. A more preferred range of the hydrazinocarboxylic acid ester concentration in the cleaning composition is about 0.5% to about 5% and the most preferred range is between about 1% to about 4%, all percentages expressed should be understood to be percentages by weight to the total weight of the cleaning composition para. 14 and 43).
Regarding claim 7, US’295 teaches the cleaning liquid composition of claim 3. US’295 further teaches a carboxylic acid other than a component corresponding to the compound (A) (the cleaning composition of this disclosure includes: (a) at least one alpha amino carboxylic acid containing at least one additional functional group capable of chelating metals with the proviso that the alpha amino carboxylic acid does not contain an additional carboxyl group; (b) at least one hydroxycarboxylic acid containing at least two carboxyl groups and at least one hydroxyl group, as discussed above, which are different from the (c) component of methyl carbazate, ethyl carbazate or tert-butyl carbazate).
Regarding claims 8-9, US’295 teaches the cleaning liquid composition of claim 7. US’295 further teaches wherein the carboxylic acid is at least one selected from the group consisting of a dicarboxylic acid and hydroxy acid with regard to claim 8 and wherein the carboxylic acid is at least one selected from the group consisting of tartaric acid and citric acid, with regard to claim 9 (see table 1, para. 73).
Regarding claim 10, US’295 teaches the cleaning liquid composition of claim 3. US’295 further teaches wherein the cleaning liquid is used for cleaning a substrate that includes a titanium component-containing layer and has been subjected to dry etching (a cleaning composition for removing plasma etch residues formed on semiconductor substrates after plasma etching of metal layers or dielectric material layers, The present disclosure is directed to a non-corrosive cleaning composition that is useful primarily for removing residues including a range of relatively insoluble mixtures of organic compounds like residual photoresist, organometallic compounds, metal oxides which are formed as reaction by-products from exposed metals such as titanium, metal nitrides such as titanium nitride, and other materials, para. 3 and 11)
Regarding claim 11, US’295 teaches the cleaning liquid composition of claim 10. US’295 does not explicitly teach wherein the cleaning liquid is used for cleaning the substrate that has been subjected to dry etching using a titanium component-containing hard mask by a wiring process. However, it is noted that the applicant claimed configuration of the "cleaning liquid" recites the intended use of the composition. And a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. The composition of US'295 teaches a composition for treating an etched substrate including metal layers including all the compositional components recited in claim 1, as discussed above, and therefore would be capable of being used for cleaning the substrate that has been subjected to dry etching using a titanium component-containing hard mask by a wiring process to the same degree as the cleaning liquid recited in claim 1. Claim 11 do not further limit the composition ingredients and therefore does not structurally change the composition of claim 1. As a result, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made would have known that the structural limitations of the composition taught by the prior art and the composition claimed would have been the same and since the claim is directed towards a composition, the composition is independent of the intended use.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments to independent claim 1 to limit R to an organic group has changed the scope of claim 1, and as a result, the 102 rejection of claim 1 as anticipated by US’970 as stated in the final office action mailed 2-27-26 is withdrawn. Upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made under 102 as anticipated by US’295.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see page 4, filed 5-22-26, with respect to the rejection of claim 1, regarding the amendments made to claim 1 and the teachings of US’970 have been fully considered but are moot, due to the new rejection applied in the above office action not relying on the teachings of US’970.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIN FLANAGAN BERGNER whose telephone number is (571)270-1133. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joshua Allen can be reached at 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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/ERIN F BERGNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
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