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 .
Acknowledgement of RCE Filing
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/31/26 has been entered.
The amendment filed on 03/31/26 has been entered. Applicant did not amend Claims, but provided a new IDS that has been considered.
Status of Claims
Since the Applicant did not amend claims, a set of claims for examination includes Claims 1-3, 5-15, and 17-18 as filed 01/22/26, with Claims 4, 16, and 19-20 cancelled by the Applicant and Claims 6-11 withdrawn from examination as of 01/22/26, but rejoined with allowed Claim 1 in the Notice of Allowability mailed 03/05/26.
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 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Utsumi (US 2018/0047744).
In re Claim 12, Utsumi teaches a semiconductor device comprising (Fig. 1 and Annotated Fig. 1)
Annotated Fig. 1
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a substrate 10 (paragraph 0045);
a stack of films 30 (paragraph 0045) disposed above the substrate 10 and including a plurality of electrode layers separated from each other in a first direction Z;
an array region – within region 30b (paragraphs 0051, 0057-0062) disposed on the substrate 10 and including a memory cell array (paragraph 0004), the memory cell array having a plurality of word lines WL and a plurality of select lines SGS, SGD (paragraph 0050) that constitute the plurality of electrode layers;
a first plug region – in region 30a – at a border with region 30b - disposed on the substrate 10, located in the second direction (“-x”) of the array region, and including a first contact plug FCP (FCP is similar to plug 47, but is not being a bit line) electrically connected to a first select line SGD; and
a second plug region – around “SCP” (as identified in Annotated Fig. 1) - disposed on the substrate 10 in the second direction of the first plug region, and including a second contact plug SCP electrically connected to a first word line – being the top WL 32 - of the plurality of word lines (see 0055-0056 on electrical conductivity of 33a), wherein
the plurality of electrode layers includes a first electrode layer, the first electrode layer including the first word line – the top WL 32- and
the second contact plug SCP penetrates an electrode layer (one of multiple electrode layers under the upper WL 32 - provided between the substrate 10 and the first electrode layer – the upper WL 32.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 5-11, 13-15, and 17-18 are allowed.
Reason for Identification of Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an Examiner Statement of Reasons for Allowance:
Re Claim 1: The prior arts of record, alone or in combination, fail(s) to anticipate or render obvious such limitation as: “a plurality of second insulating films disposed in the stack of films and each second insulating film having a portion extending between corresponding two of the first insulating films”, in combination with other limitations of the claim.
Re Claim 13: The prior arts of record, alone or in combination, fail(s) to anticipate or render obvious such limitation as: “a plurality of second insulating films disposed in the stack of films and each second insulating film having a portion extending between corresponding two of the first insulating films”, in combination with other limitations of the claim.
Re Claims 2-3, 5-11, 14-15, and 17-18: Claims 2-3, 5-11, 14-15, and 17-18 are allowed due to dependency either on Claim 1 or on Claim 13.
The prior arts of record include: Utsumi (US 2018/0047744), Park et al. (US 2014/0306279), Kim et al. (US 20210265389), Yun et al. (US 2021/0118861), Matsumura et al. (US 2021/0313246), Hu et al. (US 2022/0181347), Oike (US 2020/0321350), Hatano et al. (US 2017/0103995), and Baek et al. (US 2019/0237477).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to GALINA G YUSHINA whose telephone number is 571-270-7440. The Examiner can normally be reached between 8 AM - 7 PM Pacific Time (Flexible).
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If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s Supervisor, Lynne Gurley can be reached on 571-272-1670.
The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300; a fax phone number of Galina Yushina is 571-270-8440.
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/GALINA G YUSHINA/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2811, TC 2800,
United States Patent and Trademark Office
E-mail: galina.yushina@USPTO.gov
Phone: 571-270-7440
Date: 04/07/26
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