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 .
Drawings
The replacement drawings were received on 6/17/26. While the drawings objection for reference character “176” being used to designate both the “gate dielectric layer” and the “ILD layer” has been withdrawn, the drawings are still objected due to not showing every feature of the invention specific in the claims (see below).
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 “first metal gate and the second metal gate have top surfaces “at the same height” with a top surface of the second dielectric wall” (subject matter of claim 5; see also 35 U.S.C. 112 rejection below) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). 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 of 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.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
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 of carrying out his invention.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains 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, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 5 has been amended to recite the first metal gate and the second metal gate have top surfaces “at the same height” with a top surface of the second dielectric wall. Examiner notes that the first and second metal gates correspond to 82N and 82P (Fig. 29B) and the second dielectric wall corresponds to 168b (Fig. 29B) within the elected Species. As can be seen in reproduced Fig. 29B below, the first and second metal gates (82N and 82P, Fig. 29B) appear to be at the same height with one another and the top surface of the dielectric layer (177, Fig. 29B) (see also Specification at [0057]). Said another way, the height of the top surface of the first metal gate and the height of the top surface of the second metal gate are higher than the height of the top surface of the second dielectric wall (168b, Fig. 29B).
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Thus, the subject matter that the first metal gate and the second metal gate have top surfaces at the same height with a top surface of the second dielectric wall within amended claim 5 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, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 6-13, 17-18, and 21 are allowed.
Claim 1 contains allowable subject matter because of the limitation the first dielectric wall has a gradually decreasing width W5 towards a tip of the dielectric wall from a top contact position between the first dielectric wall and either the n-type source/drain region or the p-type source/drain region in combination with the other elements of the claim. Claims 2-4 and 6-13 depend on claim 1.
Claim 17 contains allowable subject matter because of the limitation of a first dielectric wall formed between each pair of immediately adjacent n-type source/drain region and p-type source/drain region, wherein the first dielectric wall has a height gradually decreasing from a center to a periphery thereof in combination with the other elements of the claim. Claim 18 depends on claim 17.
Claim 21 contains allowable subject matter because of the limitation wherein first dielectric wall is shorter than the second dielectric wall and the first dielectric wall has a rounding top portion in combination with the other elements of the claim.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/REEMA PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812 8/6/2026
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