Appeal No. 2002-1144
Application No. 09/422,633
citation of the Ito publication of 1998, claim 1 on appeal
encompasses a variety of polymers having a variety of functional
groups which are substituted with a myriad of acid labile groups.
For instance, the 1998 Ito publication cited by appellants
discloses a number of different tBOC-protected resist polymers
(Fig. 9), and teaches that other blocking groups such as t-butyl
esters are known in the resist art (page 385, column 1, first
paragraph; and page 387, column 1, third paragraph for a teaching
of ketal and acetal protecting groups). In addition, Ito
evidences that there is a large number of photoinitiators which
generate an acid other than the triphenylsulfonium
hexafluoroantimonate exemplified by appellants (see page 383,
second column, last paragraph). Accordingly, the limited showing
found in appellants' specification data does not demonstrate that
the large class of resist compositions encompassed by appealed
claim 1 would exhibit similar superior results.
Appellants also contend at page 6 of the Brief that the
patent to Mertesdorf indicates that those of ordinary skill in
the art would have understood Ito (JPS) as teaching away from the
use of partially protected polymers in a photoresist. We agree
with the examiner, however, that Mertesdorf is not pertinent to
how one of ordinary skill in the art would have understood Ito
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