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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
With respect to instant claims 1, 3, 4, 9, and 15, it is suggested that Applicant delete “including” or “includes” and insert “comprising” or “comprises”. Note that, instant claims 2, 5-8, 9-14, and 16-20 have also been objected to due to their dependency on claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barr et al (US 8,460,474).
With respect to independent, instant claim 1, Barr et al teach a method of cleaning semiconductor wafers using an acid cleaner followed by an alkaline cleaner to clean contaminants from the material. See Abstract. Application of the aqueous alkaline cleaning composition immediately following application of the aqueous acid composition removes substantially all of the organic materials, abrasives and conventional additives used in slurries. Alkaline compounds are included in the aqueous alkaline compositions in amounts of 0.2 wt% to 30 wt%, or such as from 0.5 wt% to 10 wt%. Alkaline compounds which are included in the aqueous alkaline composition include, but are not limited to, sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium metasilicate, triethanolamine, tetra-methyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) and mixtures thereof. Typically, the alkaline compounds used are sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide or mixtures thereof. See column 4, lines 40-69. One or more surfactants may be added to the cleaning compositions. Such surfactants may be nonionic, anionic, cationic, amphoteric and gemini (dimeric) surfactants. Typically, the surfactants used in the cleaning compositions are nonionic. The surfactants assist in removing organic materials and abrasive particles as well as metals which may have been missed by the aqueous acid cleaning composition. Surfactants are included in the cleaning compositions in amounts of 0.001 wt% to 1 wt%, or such as from 0.0025 wt% to 0.5 wt%. See column 4, line 60 to column 7, line 35. One type of surfactant which may be used include polyols such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, glycerol, etc.
Additionally, non-reducing sugars derived from mono-, di-, tri-, oligo- or polysaccharides, e.g. alkyl glycosides like methyl-glycoside, other sugars such as
trehalose, isotrehalose, raffinose, stachyose, etc.) may also beused. Other polyols include aldonic acid, aldonic acid salts (e.g. methyl gluconate, sodium gluconate, etc.), aldonic lactones (e.g. gluconolactone, etc.), aldaric acid esters or salts (e.g. dimethyltartarate, diamonium tartarate, etc.). Polyols that are useful also include polyols which have been reacted with ethylene oxide or other alkylene oxides to provide alkoxylated polyols. Also included are ethers and esters of polyols. Polyols such as glycoside and polyglycoside compounds including alkoxylated glycosides may be used. A useful polyglycoside is one according to the formula: (I) where Z is derived from glucose, R1 is a hydrophobic group selected from alkyl groups, alkylphenyl groups, hydroxyalkylphenyl groups as well as mixtures thereof, wherein the alkyl groups may be straight chained or branched, which contain from 8 to 18 carbon atoms, p is 2 or 3, r is an integer from 0 to 10, and x is a value from 1 to 8. Exemplary alkyl glycosides suitable for use in the practice of this invention include those represented by the formula: (V) where R5 is an alkyl group, preferably a linear alkyl chain, such as C8 to C16 alkyl groups; q is an integer value of from 0-3, inclusive. Examples of such alkylpolyglycoside compounds according to structure V include: where R is C8 to C10 alkyl chains (Glucopon® 220 UP, Glucopon® 225 DK); where R is C8, C10, C12, C14 and C16 alkyl chains (Glucopon® 425); where R is C12, C14 and C1 6 alkyl chains (Glucopon® 600 UP, Glucopon® 625 CSUP, and Glucopon® 625 FE, all of which are
available from Henkel Corp., Ambler Pa.). Also useful as the alkylpolyglycoside compound is Triton® CG-110. See column 6, lines 1-69. The aqueous alkaline cleaning compositions consist essentially of one or more alkaline compound, one or more surfactants and water. See column 8, lines 1-15.
Barr et al do not teach, with sufficient specificity, a composition containing a surfactant comprising a hydrophilic moiety and a hydrophobic moiety, a solvent, and the other requisite components of the composition in the specific amounts as recited independent, instant claim 1 and the respective dependent claims.
Nonetheless it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to formulate a composition containing a surfactant comprising a hydrophilic moiety and a hydrophobic moiety, a solvent, and the other requisite components of the composition in the specific amounts as recited independent, instant claim 1 and the respective dependent claims, with a reasonable expectation of success and similar results with respect to other disclosed components, because the broad teachings of Barr et al suggest a composition containing a surfactant comprising a hydrophilic moiety and a hydrophobic moiety, a solvent, and the other requisite components of the composition in the specific amounts as recited independent, instant claim 1 and the respective dependent claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Remaining references cited but not relied upon are considered to be cumulative to or less pertinent than those relied upon or discussed above.
Applicant is reminded that any evidence to be presented in accordance with 37 CFR 1.131 or 1.132 should be submitted before final rejection in order to be considered timely.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY R DEL COTTO whose telephone number is (571)272-1312. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30am-6:00pm, EST.
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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 (571) 272-2817. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY R DELCOTTO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1761
/G.R.D/August 13, 2026
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