DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-4, 6-7, 11-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (US 2019/0276739 A1), herein after refer as Liu (‘739).
As to claim 1, Liu (‘739) discloses a chemical liquid comprising:
an aromatic compound represented by Formula (1) (i.e. catechol, paragraph 0039;);
a quinone compound having a quinone structure (paragraph 0029-0030);
a halide ion source (paragraph 0032-0034; and
a solvent (paragraph 0027; 0036),
in Formula (1), Ar represents an aromatic ring,
X's each independently represent a Group 16 element and R1's each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent, n represents an integer of 2 or more, R2's each independently represent a substituent, and m represents an integer of 0 or more.
It is known in the art that catechol have the formula structure as shown below (See evidence reference: Wikipedia, “Catechol” via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catechol
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Therefore, the catechol as discussed by Liu read on applicant’s aromatic compound represented by formula (1), where X’s each independent represent a Group 16 element (i.e. oxygen element), R1’s each independently represent a hydrogen atom, n represents an integer of 2; and m represents an integer of 0.
As to claim 2, Liu (‘739) discloses a content of aromatic compound is 0.1 wt% or 0.01 wt%, 0.03 wt% or 0.05 wt% or 0.07 wt% or 0.1 wt% or 0.2 wt% or 1 wt% (paragraph 0040, within applicant’s range of 5 ppb by mass to 1 % by mass).
As to claims 3-4, Liu (‘739) discloses the Ar in Formula (1) is a benzene ring (Note: catechol has a benzene ring; See paragraph 0039).
As to claims 6-7, Liu (‘739) discloses wherein X’s in formula (1) are independently an oxygen atom (See paragraph 0039, and formula structure as shown above for Catechol).
As to claims 11-12, Liu (‘739) discloses the halide ion source includes hydrofluoric acid (paragraph 0032, Liu’s claim 17 Note: hydrofluoric acid is also known as hydrogen fluoride).
As to claim 13, Liu (‘739) discloses a content of the hydrogen fluoride is 0.01 to 8 wt% (paragraph 0032, 0034, within applicant’s range of 0.01% to 10 % by mass).
As to claims 14-15, Liu (‘739) discloses to use 10 wt% or 20 wt% or 40 wt% of quinone (paragraph 0030) and 0.1 wt% or 1 wt% of aromatic compound (paragraph 0040).
Any person having ordinary skill in the art would be able to calculate the ratio of a content quinone compound to a content of the aromatic compound as shown below:
When 10 wt% of quinone and 0.1 wt% of aromatic compound are used:
Ratio of quinone to aromatic compound = 10/0.1 =100.
When 20 wt% of quinone and 0.1 wt% of aromatic compound are used:
Ratio of quinone to aromatic compound = 20/0.1 =200.
When 10 wt% of quinone and 1 wt% of aromatic compound are used:
Ratio of quinone to aromatic compound = 10/1 =10.
When 20 wt% of quinone and 1 wt% of aromatic compound are used:
Ratio of quinone to aromatic compound = 20/1 =20.
When 40 wt% of quinone and 1 wt% of aromatic compound are used:
Ratio of quinone to aromatic compound = 40/1 =40.
Base on the calculation as shown above, Liu (‘739) discloses the ratio of a content quinone compound to a content of the aromatic compound is 10, 20, 40, 100, or 200 (within applicant’s range of 10 to 200).
As to claims 16-17, Liu (‘739) discloses the solvent includes one or more solvents selected from the group consisting of water, an alcohol solvent (i.e. alcohol or glycol), an ether solvent, an amide solvent (i.e. dimethylacetamide (DMAC); sulfoxide solvent (paragraph 0027, 0036-0037).
As to claims 18-19, Liu (‘739) discloses the chemical liquid is applied to an object to be treated containing germanium and silicon germanium (abstract, paragraph 0010).
As to claim 20, Liu (‘739) discloses at step of bring the chemical liquid into a contact with an object to be treated containing germanium and silicon-germanium (abstract, paragraph 0010).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claims 5, 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2019/0276739 A1) as applied to claims 1-4, 6-7 above, and further in view of Liu (US 2017/0145311 A1), herein after refers as Liu (‘311).
As to claim 5, Liu (‘739) fails to disclose any one of the following requirements 1 to 4 is satisfied,
requirement 1: n in Formula (1) is 2, R1 represents a hydrogen atom, Ar in Formula (1) represents a benzene ring, and bonding positions of two groups represented by -X-R1 are a 1- position and a 4-position of the benzene ring,
requirement 2: n in Formula (1) is 2, R1 represents a hydrogen atom, Ar in Formula (1) represents a naphthalene ring, and bonding positions of two groups represented by -X-R1 are a 1-position and a 4-position of the naphthalene ring,
requirement 3: n in Formula (1) is 2, Ar in Formula (1) represents an anthracene ring, and bonding positions of two groups represented by -X-R1 are a 9-position and a 10-position of the anthracene ring,
requirement 4: n in Formula (1) is 4, Ar in Formula (1) represents an anthracene ring, and bonding positions of four groups represented by -X-R1 are a 1-position, a 4-position, a 9- position, and a 10-position of the anthracene ring.
However, Liu (‘739) clearly discloses the composition comprises aromatic ring includes catechol (aka pyrocatechol) as a corrosion inhibitor (see paragraph 0039). Liu (‘311) teaches to use one or more corrosion inhibitors comprises pyrocatechol (aka catechol) and hydroquinone (paragraph 0057). It is well known in the art that hydroquinone is also known benzene-1,4-diol as have the formula structure as shown below (See evidence references: Wikipedia, “Hydroquinone” via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroquinone )
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Therefore, the hydroquinone as discloses by Liu (‘311) read on applicants limitation requirement 1: n in Formula (1) is 2, R1 represents a hydrogen atom, Ar in Formula (1) represents a benzene ring, and bonding positions of two groups represented by -X-R1 are a 1- position and a 4-position of the benzene ring, It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Liu (‘739) in view of Liu (‘311) by using hydroquinone as a corrosion inhibitor because equivalent and substitution of one for the other would produce an expected result (See MPEP 2143(I)(B)).
As to claims 8-9, Liu (‘739) fails to disclose the aromatic compound is a compound represented by Formula (2)
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in Formula (2), R3 and R4 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, or an alkyl group,
X1 and X2 each independently represent a Group 16 element,
R5 to R8 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent, and the substituent represented by R5 and R6 and the substituent represented by R7 and R8 may be bonded to each other to form a ring.
However, Liu (‘739) clearly discloses the composition comprises aromatic ring includes catechol (aka pyrocatechol) as a corrosion inhibitor (see paragraph 0039). Liu (‘311) teaches to use one or more corrosion inhibitors comprises pyrocatechol and hydroquinone (paragraph 0057). It is well known in the art that hydroquinone is also known benzene-1,4-diol as have the formula structure as shown below (See evidence references: Wikipedia, “Hydroquinone” via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroquinone )
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Therefore, the hydroquinone as disclosed by Liu (‘311) read on applicant’s Formula (2), wherein in Formula (2), R3 and R4 each independently represent a hydrogen atom,
X1 and X2 each independently represent a Group 16 element (i.e. oxygen),
R5 to R8 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Liu (‘739) in view of Liu (‘311) by using hydroquinone as a corrosion inhibitor because equivalent and substitution of one for the other would produce an expected result (See MPEP 2143(I)(B)).
As to claim 10, Liu (‘739) fails to disclose discloses in Formula (2), X1 and X2 represent oxygen atoms; and R3 and R4 represent hydrogen atoms. However, Liu (‘739) clearly discloses the composition comprises aromatic ring includes catechol (aka pyrocatechol) as a corrosion inhibitor (see paragraph 0039). Liu (‘311) teaches to use one or more corrosion inhibitors comprises pyrocatechol and hydroquinone. Hydroquinone as disclosed by Liu (‘311) has a Formula (2) structure, wherein X1 and X2 represent oxygen atoms; and R3 and R4 represent hydrogen atoms (paragraph 0057; See Hydroquinone formula structure as shown above). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Liu (‘739) in view of Liu (‘311) by using hydroquinone as a corrosion inhibitor because equivalent and substitution of one for the other would produce an expected result (See MPEP 2143(I)(B)).
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BINH X TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-1469. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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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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BINH X. TRAN
Examiner
Art Unit 1713
/BINH X TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1713
