Attorney’s Docket Number: PA5384-0
Filing Date: 05/24/2023
Claimed Foreign Priority Date: 01/26/2023 (KR 10-2023-0010283)
Applicants: Kwak et al.
Examiner: Younes Boulghassoul
DETAILED ACTION
This Office action responds to the application filed on 05/24/2023.
Remarks
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . The application serial no. 18/323,323 filed on 05/24/2023 has been entered. Pending in this Office Action are claims 1-12.
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 arrangements of features as recited in claim 11 “third pads configured to extend from the third gate lines and configured to protrude upward along the sidewall of the support; fourth pads configured to extend from the fourth gate lines and configured to protrude upward along the sidewall of the support; and second connection pads configured to extend in the first direction along the sidewall of the support and configured to connect the third pads with the fourth pads.”, or as recited in claim 12 “wherein the third pads extend into the first cell area along the sidewall of the support, and wherein the fourth pads extend into the second cell area along the sidewall of the support” 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 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 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 2, 4, and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation “wherein each of the first gate line, the first pad, the second gate line, the second pad, and the first connection pad is comprised of a conductive layer.”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, and it is unclear which feature (recited in the singular) from the previously recited corresponding features (recited in the plural) this limitation is directed to, thus rendering the claim indefinite. For the purpose of examination, the claim will be construed as reciting -- wherein each of the first gate lines, the first pads, the second gate lines, the second pads, and the first connection pads are comprised of a conductive layer --, in accordance with the claim language “first gate lines, first pads, second gate lines, second pads, and first connection pads” introduced in claim 1, as best understood by the examiner, until further clarifications as provided by applicant.
Claim 4 recites the limitation “wherein each of the first gate line, the second gate line, the first connection pad, and the second connection pad is comprised of a conductive layer.”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, and it is unclear which feature (recited in the singular) from the previously recited corresponding features (recited in the plural) this limitation is directed to, thus rendering the claim indefinite. For the purpose of examination, the claim will be construed as reciting -- wherein each of the first gate lines, the second gate lines, the first connection pads, and the second connection pads are comprised of a conductive layer.--, in accordance with the claim language “first gate lines, second gate lines, first connection pads, and second connection pads” introduced in claims 1 and 3, as best understood by the examiner, until further clarifications as provided by applicant.
Claim 11 recites the limitations “third pads configured to extend from the third gate lines and configured to protrude upward along the sidewall of the support; fourth pads configured to extend from the fourth gate lines and configured to protrude upward along the sidewall of the support; and second connection pads configured to extend in the first direction along the sidewall of the support and configured to connect the third pads with the fourth pads”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. Furthermore, claim 1 introduces “a first sidewall of the support”, “a second sidewall of the support” and “a third sidewall of the support”, and it is unclear which of the first, second, or third previously recited sidewalls the multiple instances of the limitation “the sidewall” might be directed to. As such, the claim is irredeemably indefinite, and cannot be construed for the purpose of examination on merit. See In re Steele, 305 F.2d 859, 134 USPQ 292 (CCPA 1962).
Claim 12 depends from claim 11, and recites “wherein the third pads extend into the first cell area along the sidewall of the support, and wherein the fourth pads extend into the second cell area along the sidewall of the support.”, thus raises issues similar to the ones described above, in addition to inheriting the deficiencies identified in claim 11.
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 11 and 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.
Claim 11 recites in part ““third pads configured to extend from the third gate lines and configured to protrude upward along the sidewall of the support; fourth pads configured to extend from the fourth gate lines and configured to protrude upward along the sidewall of the support; and second connection pads configured to extend in the first direction along the sidewall of the support and configured to connect the third pads with the fourth pads”. However, the application as originally filed fails to support having third pads, fourth pads, and second connection pads along “the” (same) sidewall of the support, but rather along at least 2 different sidewalls of a single support or along at least 2 different sidewalls of a plurality of supports (see, e.g., Figs. 11-20).
The applicant may cancel the claim, amend the claim, or demonstrate explicit support for the claimed subject matter in the original disclosure (e.g., by citing specific excerpts from Specification or features in Drawings related to the claimed embodiment, as originally filed). A broad statement alleging support for the claimed subject matter will be considered non-persuasive.
Claim 12 depends from claim 11, and recites “wherein the third pads extend into the first cell area along the sidewall of the support, and wherein the fourth pads extend into the second cell area along the sidewall of the support.”, thus raises issues similar to the ones described above, in addition to inheriting the deficiencies identified in claim 11.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 3, and 5-10 allowable.
Claims 2 and 4 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include 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:
The closes prior art, e.g., to Kim et al. (US10,217,746; Figs. 22A,42) or Tsuji et al. (US2015/0076579; Fig. 19) shows a semiconductor device comprising: a first cell area and a second cell area adjacent to each other in a first direction; a support disposed between the first cell area and the second cell area; first gate lines stacked in the first cell area; first pads configured to extend from the first gate lines and configured to protrude upward along a first sidewall of the support; second gate lines stacked in the second cell area; second pads configured to extend from the second gate lines and configured to protrude upward along a second sidewall of the support.
However, none of the references cited disclose or suggest having first connection pads configured to extend in the first direction along a third sidewall of the support and configured to electrically connect the first pads with the second pads, as required by claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additional references cited disclose memory cells adjacent to a support structure, with L-shaped gate lines/WLs such that pad portions protrude upward a long a sidewall of the support, and having sone features similar to the instant inventions. However, none of the references cited disclose additional connection pad arrangements as identified in the claim supra.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Younes Boulghassoul at (571) 270-5514. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9am-6pm EST (Eastern Standard Time), or by e-mail via younes.boulghassoul@uspto.gov. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wael Fahmy can be reached at (571) 272-1705. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YOUNES BOULGHASSOUL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814