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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tran et al (PG Pub 2006/0216923 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Tran teaches self-aligned multiple patterning mark, comprising: a first group of patterns (118, figs. 6-8), disposed on a substrate and comprising a plurality of first strip patterns each extending in a first direction (vertical or horizontal direction of fig. 8B), wherein ends of two adjacent ones of the plurality of strip patterns are connected to each other to form an independent ring (figs. 6-8); and a cover layer (126), disposed on the substrate and covering top surfaces of the ends of the plurality of strip patterns, wherein an opening in the cover layer extends in a second direction (horizontal or vertical direction, fig. 8B) in which the plurality of strip patterns are arranged, so as to expose portions of the plurality of patterns except for the ends, wherein each boundary of the opening at ends of the opening is spaced from a respective adjacent one of the plurality of strip patterns (see fig. 8B below), and the second direction is different from the first direction.
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Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed February 25, 2026 regarding Tran reference have been fully considered but are not persuasive. See rejection above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-12 are allowed.
Claims 2-3 and 5-7 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Prior art does not teach
“distances between two adjacent ones of the plurality of strip patterns in the first group of patterns are equal” (claim 2);
“in the first direction, a ratio of the length of each of the plurality of strip patterns to the length of the end of each of the plurality of strip patterns covered by the cover layer is greater than 18” (claim 3);
“the distance between the first group of patterns and the second group of patterns is greater than the distance between two adjacent ones of the plurality of strip patterns in the first group of patterns” (claim 5);
“the first opening and the second opening respectively expose a first end and a second end opposite to each other of each of the plurality of strip patterns, and the cover layer covers rest of each of the plurality of strip patterns except the first end and the second end” (claim 8).
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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/FEIFEI YEUNG LOPEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899