Attorney’s Docket Number: 6810-1428-CON
Filing Date: 11/3/2022
Inventors: Takizawa et al.
Examiner: Marcos D. Pizarro
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the amendment filed on 6/1/2026.
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 . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for a 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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination (RCE) under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after the final rejection in paper no. 12, mailed on 4/1/2026. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/1/2026 has been entered.
Amendment Status
The RCE submission filed on 6/1/2026 as an amendment in reply to the Office action in paper no. 12 has been entered. The present Office action is made with all the suggested amendments being fully considered. Accordingly, pending in this Office action are claims 1-4, 6-17 and 19-21.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the concave portions of the lower electrode and insulating film recited in claims 10-12, must be shown or the features canceled from the claim. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered, and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement.
The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 10-12 recite that the lower electrode and the insulating film have concave portions. The specification, as originally filed, fails to describe or otherwise disclose these limitations.
In particular, the specification does not describe any portion of the lower electrode or the insulating film as being concave, nor does it provide any description of their geometry that would reasonably convey to one of ordinary skill in the art that the inventor was in possession of such features at the time of filing. The specification does not identify any specific region of the electrode or the insulating film as being concave, nor does it attribute any structural or functional significance to such a feature.
Accordingly, the originally filed disclosure does not reasonably convey to one of ordinary skill in the art that the inventor had possession of the claimed subject matter. Therefore, claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 6-9 and 13-17 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Response to Arguments
FIG. 4 shows a lower electrode having a concave portion and, on this basis, the objection to the drawings and the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) should be withdrawn.
The examiner responds:
Applicant’s amendment of claim 10 from reciting an upper electrode having a concave portion to reciting a lower electrode having a concave portion does not overcome the deficiency identified in the rejection. The specification, as originally filed, does not describe the lower electrode 1523 as having a concave portion, nor does it describe the geometry of the lower electrode in a manner that would reasonably convey possession of a concave portion to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Applicant relies on FIG. 4 as allegedly disclosing the claimed concave portion. However, FIG. 4 does not identify or describe any portion of the lower electrode 1523 as being concave. Moreover, the detailed description of the trench capacitor 152 likewise does not characterize the lower electrode as having a concave portion. For example, paragraphs [0131] and [0161] merely describe the lower electrode 1523 as being formed on the inner surface of a trench, with the insulation film 1522 formed to cover the surface of the lower electrode. The disclosure does not identify any portion of the lower electrode as concave or otherwise describe its geometry as having the claimed concave portion.
FIG. 4 depicts the lower electrode 1523 as being formed in the trench of the semiconductor substrate 151. The boundary of the lower electrode 1523 is represented in the figure by the depicted/dashed boundary of the structure. The illustrated trench and the corresponding boundary of the lower electrode are shown with substantially straight sides and sharp corners. Thus, the figure does not depict a rounded, curved, recessed, or otherwise concave portion of the lower electrode. Rather, the illustrated geometry is consistent with a trench having generally rectangular or angular features.
The same deficiency applies to the capacitor insulating film 1522. The originally filed disclosure describes the insulating film 1522 as being formed to cover the surface of the lower electrode 1523. The figures depict the insulating film as a layer conforming to or lining the trench structure. Neither the written description nor the figures identifies any portion of the insulating film 1522 as having a concave portion. The mere fact that the insulating film 1522 is disposed within or along a trench does not, by itself, establish that the insulating film includes the particular concave geometry now positively recited in the claims.
Further, the claim limitation reciting that the lower electrode 1523 fills the concave portion of the capacitor insulating film 1522 is not supported by the originally filed disclosure. The specification does not describe a concave portion of the insulating film 1522 that is subsequently filled by the lower electrode. Rather, paragraph [0131] describes the lower electrode 1523 as being formed on the inner surface of the trench, and the insulation film 1522 as covering the surface of the lower electrode. This disclosure does not describe the claimed positional and geometrical relationship in which a concave portion of the capacitor insulating film is filled by the lower electrode.
Accordingly, the issue is not merely whether a person of ordinary skill could potentially interpret the illustrated trench capacitor as having some degree of concavity. The issue under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) is whether the originally filed disclosure reasonably conveys to one of ordinary skill in the art that the inventor had possession of the specifically claimed structure at the time of filing. Neither the written description nor the drawings identify a concave portion of the lower electrode, a concave portion of the capacitor insulating film, or a relationship in which the lower electrode fills a concave portion of the capacitor insulating film.
Applicant has therefore not identified, and the Examiner has not found, an express or reasonably discernible disclosure in the application, as originally filed, that supports these limitations. The amendment from the upper electrode to the lower electrode does not cure the absence of original disclosure because the lower electrode is likewise not disclosed as having the claimed concave portion.
Accordingly, the rejection of the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) is maintained. The objection to the drawings is also maintained because the drawings do not depict the claimed concave portion of the lower electrode or the corresponding concave portion of the capacitor insulating film. The claims should be amended to conform to the originally filed disclosure, or the unsupported limitations should be canceled. No new matter should be entered.
Conclusion
Papers related to this application may be submitted directly to Art Unit 2814 by facsimile transmission. Papers should be faxed to Art Unit 2814 via the Art Unit 2814 Fax Center. The faxing of such papers must conform to the notice published in the Official Gazette, 1096 OG 30 (15 November 1989). The Art Unit 2814 Fax Center number is (571) 273-8300. The Art Unit 2814 Fax Center is to be used only for papers related to Art Unit 2814 applications.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Marcos D. Pizarro at (571) 272-1716 and between the hours of 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) Monday through Thursday or by e-mail via Marcos.Pizarro@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Wael Fahmy, can be reached on (571) 272-1705.
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/Marcos D. Pizarro/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814
MDP/mdp
August 25, 2026
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