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 action is responsive to applicants’ amendment received April 30, 2026. Claims 1, 4, 7-8, 13, 21-24, 31-37, 43, 50, 63, 66, and 73 are currently pending.
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.
All rejections set forth in the previous action under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 are withdrawn in view of applicants’ amendment and response.
Claims 1, 4, 7, 8, 22, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Brent et al, US 5,753,316.
Brent et al teach a coating for metal surfaces comprising dimethylethanolamine, benzoguanamine, water, and triethanolamine (col. 21, example 9). As this reference meets all material limitations of the claims at hand, the reference is anticipatory.
Claims 1, 4, 7, 8, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Ikeda, US 5,952,447.
Ikeda teaches a phenol resin composition comprising phenol, benzoguanamine, water, and sodium hydroxide (col. 11, comparative example 1). The examiner acknowledges this is a reaction mixture but before the ingredients are reacted, it is a composition precisely as claimed. As this reference meets all material limitations of the claims at hand, the reference is anticipatory.
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, 4, 7-8, 13, 21-24, and 73 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Du et al, US 2016/0186106.
Du et al teach a stripping composition for removing photoresists from semiconductors (see title) comprising 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, hexanol, benzyltrimethylammonium hydroxide, water, and triazine copper etch inhibitor (example FE-67) wherein the composition is applied to a semiconductor to remove photoresist, then rinsed and dried (claims 24-26). A preferred triazine copper etch inhibitor of the invention is benzoguanamine (example FE-68), and so it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use benzoguanamine as the copper etch inhibitor in example FE-67 with confidence of forming an effective photoresist remover as copper etch inhibitors are an essential component of the invention of Du et al and benzoguanamine is a preferred copper etch inhibitor. The examiner acknowledges DMSO, NMP, and sulfolane are preferred solvents of this invention, but the reference contemplates at least one different solvent as well.
With respect to claim 13, TMAH is a preferred quat hydroxide of the reference (example FE-65).
With respect to claim 21, the reference teaches solvents including propylene glycol, TEGME, and DEGME (¶42-44).
Claims 1, 4, 7-8, 13, 21-24, 31, and 73 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Du et al, US 2016/0186106 in view of Ikemoto et al, US 2003/0181344.
Du et al are relied upon as set forth above. Du et al do not teach BZT as a corrosion inhibitor.
Ikemoto et al teach photoresist stripping compositions (see title) including anti-corrosion agents which may be sugar alcohols (sorbitol) and benzotriazole (¶39 and 41). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to add typical corrosion inhibitors to the photoresist stripping composition of Du et al as such corrosion inhibitors are taught by Ikemoto et al as typical for use in photoresist stripping compositions.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 43, 50, 63, and 66 are allowed.
Claims 32-37 are 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. Though all of the components are known for use in photoresist stripping compositions, the prior art does not teach the precise combination of components in the precise proportions claimed, and so the present claims are allowable.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES I BOYER whose telephone number is (571)272-1311. The examiner can normally be reached M-S 10-430.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Angela Brown-Pettigrew can be reached at 5712722817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLES I BOYER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
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