DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the RCE and Amendment filed on February 23, 2026.
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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Arreghini (US Pub. 2019/0198525 A1).
In re claim 6, Arreghin shows (figs. 1 and 5) avertical non volatile memory device comprising: a substrate (105); a plurality of insulating layers (102) and a plurality of conductive layers (104) alternately stacked on a surface of the substrate in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate; a channel layer(502) on the substrate, the channel layer extending in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the substrate, the channel layer on lateral surfaces of the plurality of insulating layers and lateral surfaces of the plurality of conductive layers; and a ferroelectric layer (108; [0035]) between the channel layer and the lateral surfaces of the plurality of conductive layers, wherein the lateral surfaces of the plurality of conductive layers are flat with the lateral surfaces of the plurality of insulating layers, and wherein the ferroelectric layer extends onto the lateral surfaces of the plurality of insulating layers.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 and 7-20 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 6 has been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Takahashi et al. (US Pub. 2021/0358925 A1) also discloses elements of the claimed invention.
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/MATTHEW E WARREN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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