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 .
Claim 11 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 01/26/26.
Applicant’s election without traverse of group I in the reply filed on 01/26/26 is acknowledged.
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, 3, 5-7, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shuji Shinonome et al (Japanese Patent: 2021125607, here after 607).
Claim 1 is rejected. 607 teaches a film forming method, comprising:
preparing a substrate (15) having a metal film (11) formed on a surface of a first area and a first insulating film (12) formed on a surface of a second area [fig. 2B, page 4 lines 3-6, page 3 last three paragraphs];
forming a self-assembled monolayer (13) of an organic compound in the first area [fig. 2C, page 4 lines 24-26] by supplying, to a surface of the substrate, a gas containing the organic compound having a chain portion [CH3(CH2) x CH2SH, x = 1 ~ 18, page 4 lines 27-29], a first functional group provided at one end of the chain portion, and a second functional group provided at a remaining end of the chain portion[page 4 last 2 paragraphs];
forming a second insulating film in the second area by supplying a precursor gas and a reaction gas to the surface of the substrate [page 5, paragraphs 2-3, paragraph 5-6]; and
removing the self-assembled monolayer formed in the first area [page 5 paragraph 4].
Claim 3 is rejected. 607 teaches the first functional group includes thiol [page 4 lines 27-29].
Claim 5 is rejected as the second functional group includes from a group consisting of thiol [page 4 lines 27-29].
Claim 6 is rejected. 607 teaches the precursor gas includes trimethyl aluminum, trialkyl aluminum [page 5 paragraph 6].
Claim 7 is rejected. 607 teaches the chain portion is an alkyl chain, and a number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain is less than 30 [page 4 lines 27-29].
Claim 10 is rejected. 607 teaches the processing is performed on a plurality of substrates in parallel to complete the selective film formation processing of a predetermined number of substrates [page 10 lines 13-14], therefor the forming the self-assembled monolayer in the first area, the forming the second insulating film in the second area, and the removing the self-assembled monolayer formed in the first area are repeated.
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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shuji Shinonome et al (Japanese Patent: 2021125607, here after 607).
Claim 8 is rejected for the same reason claim 7 is rejected above. Although 607 does not teach the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain is 10 or less, however teaches the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain is 1-18. Overlapping ranges are prima facie evidence of obviousness. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to have selected the portion of [overlapping range] that corresponds to the claimed range. In re Malagari, 182 USPQ 549 (CCPA 1974). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a method of 607 where the carbon atoms in the alkyl chain is 10 or less, because an ordinary skill in the art can select the portion of overlapping range that corresponds to the claimed range in absence of criticality.
Claims 2, 4, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shuji Shinonome et al (Japanese Patent: 2021125607, here after 607), further in view of Yoshinori Nakano et al (Japanese Patent: 2005053116, here after 116).
Claim 2 is rejected, the first functional group(thiol) is a functional group which selectively adsorbs to the metal film, but 607 does not teach the second functional selectively adsorbs to the precursor gas. 116 teaches a method of depositing self-assembled monolayer on metal surface, where it comprising COOH(CH2) n SH, wherein n is 3-30(organic compound having a chain portion) [abstract]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have a method of 607, where self-assembly layer comprising COOH(CH2) n SH, because it can be substitute as self -assembly monolayer on metal surface for 607 with expectation of success.
Claim 4 is rejected for the same reason claim 2 is rejected above.116 teaches the second functional group includes carboxylic acid.
Claim 9 is rejected for the same reason claim 2 is rejected above. 607 teaches forming the second insulating film in the second area includes repeating (ALD) a cycle including supplying the precursor gas (TMA) to the surface of the substrate such that the precursor gas is adsorbed to a surface of the first insulating film in the second area and supplying the reaction gas to the surface of the substrate such that the reaction gas reacts with the precursor gas [page 5 paragraph 6, page 6 paragraph 7]. 607 and 116 both teach thiol functional group adsorb on surface of metal, and carboxylic acid functional group of 116 as the second function group adsorb on a surface of the self-assembled monolayer in the first area, where adsorb the precursor gas (TMA).
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/TABASSOM TADAYYON ESLAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1718