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 .
Status of Application
Claims 1, 3, 6 and 7 are pending and presented for examination.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 8/7/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3, 6 and 7 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant’s previous arguments with respect to unexpected results is not persuasive as the evidence is not commensurate in scope with the claims. In particular, Applicant’s evidence does not provide support for unexpected results for the entire scope of thiols that are encompassed by the formula (S-1). Therefore, the rejections over Hashemi in view of Abys are maintained as presented below.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
1. Claim(s) 1, 3, 6 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hashemi et al. (“A New Resist for Area Selective Atomic and Molecular Layer Deposition on Metal-Dielectric Patterns”) in view of Abys et al. (U.S. PGPUB No. 2010/0151263).
Regarding claims 1-7, Hashemi teaches a method for treating a surface (abstract) comprising: exposing the surface to a treatment agent comprising solvent and octadecylphosphonic acid, see Experimental Methods section, page 10958. Hashemi teaches the surface comprising two or more adjacent areas which are different from each other and one surface is copper and the other silica (see Figure 5, showing adjacent areas of copper and silica), and the adjacent areas have different contact angles based on reaction with the compound in the surface treatment agent (1st paragraph of Results and Discussion section). Hashemi further teaches the octadecylphosphonic acid present in the treatment agent in the range as claimed in claim 7 (Experimental Methods section, page 10958, and note that a 1 mM solution in t-butanol is 0.043 wt%). Hashemi fails to teach the surface treatment agent additionally comprising a thiol compound (S) as claimed.
However, Abys teaches a surface treatment agent for a copper surface (abstract) that comprises a phosphorous oxide compound, such as a phosphonic acid (abstract) and including a thiol having the formula (S-1) (0071), such as 1-octanethiol (0072, and note this has a R group which is a linear alkyl having 8 carbon atoms). Further, Abys teaches the thiol compound present in the treatment agent composition in an amount of 0.1-1 wt% (0077). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hashemi’s process by including a thiol compound, such as 1-octanethiol, in an amount of 0.1-1 wt% in Hashemi’s treatment composition including a phosphonic acid. One would have been motivated to make this modification as Abys teaches the inclusion of the thiol compound enhances the effectiveness of the protective film of the phosphorous compound by making it more hydrophobic and more capable of repelling water and environmental humidity (0070).
Conclusion
Claims 1, 3, 6 and 7 are pending.
Claims 1, 3, 6 and 7 are rejected.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT S WALTERS JR whose telephone number is (571)270-5351. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8-5.
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/ROBERT S WALTERS JR/
August 20, 2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1717
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