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 .
1. Claims 1-19 are present for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
2. Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1, line 9, the phrase “when in an OFF state, selectively transmit a programming signal to the memristor device” is vague and indefinite. First, if the selector device is in its OFF state, then how can it be active or capable of transfer any signal through its body when it is already in an OFF state? Does this imply “switching happened only after it will switch from OFF to ON as a temporarily condition alter”? (see claim 2, lines 2-3 for the same required condition). Second, both claim 14 temporarily switched to ON state” before to be able to deliver any programming signal to a connected memristor device as well. For this reason, please amend claim 1 to be consistent with these claims (2, 14 & 17).
Claim 2, last line, it is unclear how can a device can “switch itself from OFF to ON” without a help of another device first? Particularly, Fig. 3 of application only shows the voltage applied from the control circuit (Fig. 1 and 10) to the combined layers (211 & 213) constituting both the selector device (213, see para [0039]) disposed above the memory device (211). Thus, the control voltages applied to switch such devices (211 & 213) must come from somewhere, and therefore these devices cannot switch by itself from OFF to ON or vice versa. Additionally, the other claims 4, 14 and 17 all recite that by applying the “high temperature treatment” followed by “cooling process” to control the switching of these states (from OFF to ON)) as claimed. Thus, the applied temperature is also carried out by an external control device/process and not by “selector device” itself as claimed.
Claims 14 & 17, last three lines should recite that “switching the selector devices from the OFF state to an ON state permanently by applying a high temperature, etc…” because lines 3-4 already recited that “the selector device is switched from OFF to ON state temporarily, etc...” Thus, lines 6-7 shovel be in consistent with claim 4 as well (i.e., a high temperature treatment followed by a cooling process will switch the OFF to ON state permanently”.
Other claims are dependent upon the rejected claims above, and hereby temporarily rejected as dependent upon the defective claims 1, 14 & 17 only.
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/VIET Q NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2827
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