DETAILED ACTION
Table of Contents
I. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 3
II. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 3
A. Claims 1, 12, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0181414 (“Huang”) in view of US 7,977,249 (“Liu”). 3
B. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Liu, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2023/0290863 (“Lyu”). 8
C. Claims 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Liu, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2020/0013613 (“Blanquart”). 10
D. Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Liu, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 3,982,943 (“Feng”). 12
E. Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Liu, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 6,069,069 (“Chooi”). 13
III. Allowable Subject Matter 14
IV. Response to Arguments 16
Conclusion 17
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I. 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 .
II. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
A. Claims 1, 12, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2016/0181414 (“Huang”) in view of US 7,977,249 (“Liu”).
Claim 1 reads,
1. (Currently amended) A method comprising
[1] providing a substrate, the substrate comprising a proximal surface and a gap, the gap comprising a distal surface and sidewalls;
[2a] forming a material layer overlying the proximal surface, the distal surface, and the sidewalls,
[2b] wherein the material layer comprises a solid material comprising silicon nitride;
[3a] partially filling the gap with a gap filling fluid,
[3b] thereby forming a protected distal material layer and an unprotected proximal material layer,
[3c] the protected distal material layer overlying the distal surface,
[3d] the distal surface being covered by the gap filling fluid, and
[3e] the unprotected proximal material layer overlying the sidewalls and the proximal surface;
[4a] converting the unprotected proximal material layer into a converted material layer comprising silicon oxide,
[4b] wherein the converting comprises generating an oxygen plasma;
[5a] selectively etching the converted material layer vis-à-vis the gap filling fluid,
[5b] wherein the selectively etching comprises exposing the substrate to a fluorine species; and
[6] removing the gap filling fluid from the substrate.
With regard to claim 1, Huang discloses,
1. (Currently amended) A method comprising
[1] providing a substrate 10 [¶ 13 (reference character, “10” only shown in Figs. 1 and 10)], the substrate 10 comprising a proximal surface and a gap [between fins, e.g. 110A and 210A in Fig. 11], the gap comprising a distal surface and sidewalls;
[2a] forming a material layer 140 overlying the proximal surface, the distal surface, and the sidewalls [¶ 19; Figs. 4-5, 11],
[2b] wherein the material layer 140 comprises a solid material comprising silicon nitride [¶ 19: “the protective layers [140] are made of silicon nitride (SiN)”];
[3a] partially filling the gap [between 110A and 210A] with a gap filling fluid 360 [e.g. photoresist formed by spin coating; ¶¶ 51-53; Figs. 11-12],
[3b] thereby forming a protected distal material layer [portion of 140 in Fig. 12 covered by sacrificial layer 360] and an unprotected proximal material layer [portion of 140 in Fig. 12 from which sacrificial layer 360 has been removed],
[3c] the protected distal material layer [portion of 140 in Fig. 12 covered by sacrificial layer 360] overlying the distal surface [as shown in Fig. 12],
[3d] the distal surface being covered by the gap filling fluid 360 [as shown in Fig. 12], and
[3e] the unprotected proximal material layer [portion of 140 in Fig. 12 from which sacrificial layer 360 has been removed] overlying the sidewalls and the proximal surface [as shown in Fig. 12];
[4a]-[4b] … [not taught] …
[5a] selectively etching the …[unprotected proximal]… material layer 140 vis-à-vis the gap filling fluid 360 [¶ 54; Fig. 13],
[5b] … [not taught] …
[6] removing the gap filling fluid 360 from the substrate 10 [¶ 55; Fig. 14].
With regard to features [4a]-[4b] and [5a]-[5b] of claim 1, while Huang selectively etches the SiN layer 140 left exposed by the recessed sacrificial layer 360, using either a plasma etching or wet etching (Huang: ¶ 54; Figs. 12-13), Huang does not explain the etching process and does not, therefore teach all of the limitations of features [4a]-[4b] and [5a]-[5b] of claim 1.
Liu teaches a process of selectively removing a portion of a silicon nitride layer 102 exposed in contact hole 104 that includes converting the exposed silicon nitride into silicon oxide and then etching with a fluoride based etching (Liu: Figs. 1 and 3). Thus Liu teaches features [4a]-[4b] and [5a]-[5b] of claim 1, as follows:
[4a] converting the unprotected … [silicon nitride]… material layer 102 into a converted material layer comprising silicon oxide [step 303 in Fig. 3],
[4b] wherein the converting comprises generating an oxygen plasma [“in some embodiments silicon nitride is converted to silicon dioxide based material using O2 plasma or H2O plasma. In some embodiments treatment with O2 plasma is preferred.” (Liu: col. 8, lines 8-11)];
[5a] selectively etching the converted material layer [i.e. “the silicon dioxide” exposed in the opening 104] … [Liu: col. 8, line 44 to col. 9, line 5]
[5b] wherein the selectively etching comprises exposing the substrate to a fluorine species [e.g. NH4F, NH4HF2, HF in gas phase processes; (id.)]; and
Use of both the O2 plasma conversion of silicon nitride to silicon oxide and subsequent etching with a fluorine species is consistent with the process in Huang because Huang uses an oxygen plasma with a fluorocarbon (CF4) or hydrofluorocarbon (CHF3) as etching gases to recess the sacrificial (e.g. photoresist) layer 360 (Huang: ¶ 52), which necessarily exposes the SiN layer 140 of Huang to each of the oxygen plasma and a fluorine-containing etchant, as in Liu.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the etching process of Liu to remove the exposed portion of the silicon nitride layer 140 of Huang because Huang is silent as to the particular etching process (Huang: ¶ 54) such that one having ordinary skill in the art would use known etching processes to remove portions of silicon nitride exposes in an opening, such as the process taught in Liu.
This is all of the limitations of claim 1.
Claim 12 reads,
12. (Currently amended) The method according to claim 1, wherein
[1] forming the material layer comprises executing a cyclical deposition process, the cyclical deposition process comprising
[2] a plurality of deposition cycles, a deposition cycle of the plurality of deposition cycles comprising a material layer precursor pulse and a material layer reactant pulse,
[3] wherein the material layer precursor pulse comprises contacting the substrate with a material layer precursor, and
[4] wherein the material layer reactant pulse comprises contacting the substrate with a material layer reactant.
With regard to claim 12, Huang states,
[0031] As shown in FIG. 5, protective layers 140 are formed to cover the first fin structure 110 and the second fin structure 210, respectively. The protective layers 140 are made of a material that prevents an underlying layer from oxidizing. In the present embodiment, silicon nitride (SiN) is used as the protective layers. SiCN, SiOCN or SiC may also be used as the protective layer. The SiN layer may be deposited by … atomic layer deposition (ALD), and/or other processes. In a LPCVD or plasma CVD process, a silicon source such as Si2H6, SiH4 and/or Si2C16 and a nitrogen source such as NH3 and/or N2 are used and the SiN film is formed at a temperature in a range of about a room temperature to about 1000° C. under a reduced pressure in a range of about 0.01 to 10 Torr (about 1.33 Pa to about 1333 Pa) to in some embodiments.
(Huang: ¶ 31; emphasis added)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use ALD using e.g. Si2H6, SiH4 and/or Si2C16, and nitrogen compounds NH3 and/or N2 because Huang suggests using ALD and which necessarily requires volatile sources of each of Si and N in order to make SiN.
In addition, ALD requires cycles of contacting the substrate with pulses of each a precursor pulse (e.g. volatilizable organic or inorganic compound including silicon) and pulses of a reactant (e.g. a volatilizable compound including nitrogen). As such, Huang inherently discloses the features of claim 12, by using ALD to make SiN. As such, the burden of proof is shifted to Applicant to prove the contrary. (See MPEP 2112(I)-(V).)
This is all of the limitations of claim 12.
With regard to claim 19,
19. (Original) The method according to claim 1, wherein removing the gap filling fluid from the substrate comprises exposing the substrate to a solvent.
The prior art of Huang in view of Liu, as explained above, teaches each of the features of claim 1.
With regard to claim 19, Huang states that “[t]he remaining sacrificial layer 360 is removed by, for example, an ashing process and/or a wet cleaning process” (Huang: ¶ 55; emphasis added). A wet cleaning process inherently requires a liquid-phase cleaning solution or solvent, in order to dissolve or decompose the sacrificial material, e.g. the photoresist. A solution, by definition is a solute dissolved in a solvent. Thus, the wet cleaning liquid inherently, necessarily includes a solvent, even of only a solvent is used as the wet cleaning liquid. As such, the burden of proof is shifted to Applicant to prove the contrary. (See MPEP 2112(I)-(V).)
This is all of the limitations of claim 19.
B. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Liu, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2023/0290863 (“Lyu”).
Claim 2 reads,
2. (Currently amended) The method according to claim 1, wherein the following steps are carried out in a single vacuum system without any intervening vacuum breaks:
[1] forming the material layer,
[2] partially filling the gap with the gap filling fluid,
[3] selectively etching the converted material layer, and
[4] removing the gap filling fluid.
The prior art of Huang in view of Liu, as explained above, teaches each of the features of claim 1.
While Huang discusses processing requiring apparatus necessitating vacuum capability in order to provide the required “reduced pressure” deposition environment for, e.g., formation of the SiN material layer 140 (¶ 31), Huang does not disclose the processing apparatus.
Lyu teaches a multi-chamber processing apparatus (Fig. 1A) having a plurality of processing tools 102-112 and a transport tool 114 (Lyu: ¶¶ 14, 22) including a plurality of deposition tools 102 including for both spin coating of, e.g. photoresist, as well as various kinds of CVD (Lyu: ¶¶ 15, 22), an etching tool 108 for plasma assisted etching using oxygen and fluorine-containing species (Lyu: ¶¶ 18, 23, 27), as well as an photoresist removal tool that includes plasma ashing (Lyu: ¶ 108), each as performed in Huang or Huang/Liu. Lyu further states,
In some implementations, a wafer/die transport tool 114 may be included in a multi-chamber (or cluster) deposition tool 102, which may include a pre-clean processing chamber (e.g., for cleaning or removing oxides, oxidation, and/or other types of contamination or byproducts from a substrate and/or semiconductor device) and a plurality of types of deposition processing chambers (e.g., processing chambers for depositing different types of materials, processing chambers for performing different types of deposition operations). In these implementations, the wafer/die transport tool 114 is configured to transport substrates and/or semiconductor devices between the processing chambers of the deposition tool 102 without breaking or removing a vacuum (or an at least partial vacuum) between the processing chambers and/or between processing operations in the deposition tool 102, as described herein.
(Lyu: ¶ 22; emphasis added)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a multi-chamber apparatus to perform all of the processes recited in claim 2 that are performed in the process of Huang/Liu—without breaking vacuum—at least in order to prevent contamination by exposure to atmosphere, as well as to increase throughput of the device fabrication, as would be known to one having ordinary skill in the art.
This is all of the features of claim 2.
C. Claims 13-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Liu, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 2020/0013613 (“Blanquart”).
Claims 13-17 read,
13. (Original) The method according to claim 1, wherein partially filling the gap with a gap filling fluid comprises generating a plasma.
14. (Currently amended) The method according to claim 13, wherein partially filling the gap with the gap filling fluid comprises
[1a] positioning the substrate on a substrate support comprised in the gap filling fluid reaction space,
[1b] the gap filling fluid reaction space further comprising a showerhead injector;
[2] wherein the plasma is generated between the substrate and the showerhead injector; and,
[3] wherein partially filling the gap with the gap filling fluid further comprises providing the gap filling fluid precursor to the reaction space.
15. (Original) The method according to claim 14, wherein the gap filling fluid precursor comprises a hydrocarbon.
16. (Original) The method according to claim 15, wherein the hydrocarbon is an aromatic hydrocarbon.
17. (Original) The method according to claim 16, wherein the aromatic hydrocarbon is toluene.
The prior art of Huang in view of Liu, as explained above, teaches each of the features of claim 1.
Huang gives photoresist deposited using spin coating as an example of the sacrificial layer 360 (Huang: ¶ 51, supra); therefore, the sacrificial layer 360, i.e. the claimed “gap filling fluid” is a hydrocarbon, as required by claim 15. Huang does not disclose the other limitations of claims 13-17.
Blanquart, like Yu, teaches a method of filling gaps with organic material. Blanquart further recognizes the problem with filling high-aspect ratio openings with organic material (Blanquart: ¶ 3). Blanquart uses a plasma CVD process in a plasma deposition apparatus (Blanquart: Fig. 1A: ¶ 77) using hydrocarbons, e.g. toluene (Blanquart: ¶ 45)—as required by claims 15 and 16—to form an organic gap-fill material. Thus, Blanquart teaches the features of claims 13-16, generally in Figs. 1A and 9, as follows:
13. (Original) The method according to claim 1, wherein partially filling the gap 32 with a gap filling fluid comprises generating a plasma [¶ 56].
14. (Currently amended) The method according to claim 13, wherein partially filling the gap with the gap filling fluid comprises
[1a] positioning the substrate [31 in Fig. 9 (Blanquart: ¶ 56) and 1 in Fig. 1A (Blanquart: ¶ 77)] on a substrate support 2 [Fig. 1A (¶ 77)] comprised in the gap filling fluid reaction space 11 [Fig. 1A (Blanquart: ¶ 77)],
[1b] the gap filling fluid reaction space 11 further comprising a showerhead injector 4 [Fig. 1A (Blanquart: ¶ 77)];
[2] wherein the plasma is generated between the substrate and the showerhead injector [because the HRF power 25 is applied to the shower plate 4 (Fig. 1A; Blanquart: ¶ 77)]; and,
[3] wherein partially filling the gap 32 with the gap filling fluid further comprises providing the gap filling fluid precursor 33 [Blanquart: ¶ 56; i.e. a hydrocarbon, e.g. toluene (¶Blanquart: 45)] to the reaction space 11.
15. (Original) The method according to claim 14, wherein the gap filling fluid precursor 33 comprises a hydrocarbon [Blanquart: ¶ 45].
16. (Original) The method according to claim 15, wherein the hydrocarbon is an aromatic hydrocarbon [Blanquart: ¶ 45].
17. (Original) The method according to claim 16, wherein the aromatic hydrocarbon is toluene [Blanquart: ¶ 45].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the process of Blanquart to form the sacrificial layer 360 of Huang because it would be the substitution of one known process and material for forming a sacrificial gap filling material (e.g. spin-coated photoresist) for another known process and material suitable for the same purpose of filling openings with organic material that Blanquart explains is well-suited to filling high-aspect ratio openings (Blanquart: ¶¶ 3, 40, 42, 83, 85), such as those in Huang. As such, Blanquart may be seen as an improvement to Huang in this aspect. (See MPEP 2143.)
This is all of the limitations of claims 13-17.
D. Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Liu, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 3,982,943 (“Feng”).
Claim 18 reads,
18. (Original) The method according to claim 1, wherein removing the gap filling fluid from the substrate comprises generating an oxygen plasma.
The prior art of Huang in view of Liu, as explained above, teaches each of the features of claim 1.
With regard to claim 18, Huang states that “[t]he remaining sacrificial layer 360 is removed by, for example, an ashing process and/or a wet cleaning process” (Huang: ¶ 55; emphasis added). While (1) it is known that ashing removal of photoresist uses an oxygen plasma, and (2) Huang uses an oxygen plasma to recess etch the photoresist (Huang: ¶ 52), Huang does not explicitly state that an oxygen plasma is used as the ashing process of the remaining sacrificial layer 360 after the etching of the exposed portion of the SiN layer 140.
Feng teaches that it known photoresist ashing includes an oxygen plasma:
Ashing involves the removal of material by activated oxygen. A typical ashing technique is described in the "Handbook of Thin Film Technology", L. I. Maissel et al., McGraw-Hill, 1970, page 7-42. Ashing involves the use of an RF generated plasma containing activated oxygen to oxidize the photoresist into its volatile components.
(Feng: col. 5, lines 8-15; emphasis added)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use an oxygen plasma as the ashing process in Huang because oxygen plasma for the oxidizing source in the photoresist ashing process is exceedingly old and well known, as evidenced by Feng.
E. Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Liu, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of US 6,069,069 (“Chooi”).
Claim 20 reads,
20. The method according to claim 1, wherein partially filling the gap with the gap filling fluid comprises:
[1] forming a reflowable material in the gap; and
[2] annealing the substrate to a temperature in excess of a pre-determined temperature,
[3] thereby at least partially melting the reflowable material to form the gap filling fluid that at least partially fills the gap.
The prior art of Huang in view of Liu, as explained above, teaches each of the features of claim 1.
With regard to claim 20, Huang further discloses,
20. The method according to claim 1, wherein partially filling the gap with the gap filling fluid comprises:
[1] forming a reflowable material 360 in the gap [i.e. the gaps between fins 110A and 210A (supra)]; and
[2] … [not taught] …
[3] thereby … to form the gap filling fluid 360 that at least partially fills the gap [as shown in Figs. 11-12 of Huang, as explained above].
Huang gives photoresist deposited using spin coating as an example of the sacrificial layer 360 (Huang: ¶ 51, supra).
Huang does not teach annealing to reflow the spin-on sacrificial layer 360.
Chooi, like Huang, teaches filling a gap with a spin-on organic material 38. Chooi however uses an organic silsesquioxane polymer (Chooi: col. 3, lines 21-33; Fig. 3). Chooi further teaches that the spin-on organic material 38 is reflowed by annealing at a temperature of 100 ℃ to 200 ℃ (id.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use the sacrificial material and deposition process of Chooi to form the spin-on sacrificial layer 360 of Huang, in order to aid the filling of the gap with the sacrificial material, as taught to be known in Chooi.
This is all of the features of claim 20.
III. Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-11 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 3, as amended, reads,
3. (Currently Amended) A method comprising,
[1] providing a substrate, the substrate comprising a proximal surface and a gap, the gap comprising a distal surface and sidewalls;
[2] executing a plurality of super cycles that wholly fill the gap with a solid fill material, each super cycle of the plurality of super cycles comprising:
[3] forming a material layer overlying the proximal surface, the distal surface, and the sidewalls, the material layer comprising the solid fill material;
[4a] partially filling the gap with a gap filling fluid, thereby partially covering the material layer with the gap filling fluid to form a protected distal material layer and an unprotected proximal material layer,
[4b] the protected distal material layer overlying the distal surface,
[4c] the distal surface being covered by the gap filling fluid, and
[4d] the unprotected proximal material layer overlying the sidewalls and the proximal surface;
[5] selectively etching the unprotected proximal material layer vis-à-vis the gap filling fluid; and
[6] removing the gap filling fluid from the substrate.
With regard to claim 3, as currently amended, Yu discloses, generally in Figs. 15B and 16A-16J,
3. (Currently amended) A method comprising,
[1] providing a substrate 118/161, the substrate comprising a proximal surface [top of 161] and a gap 160/170, the gap comprising a distal surface and sidewalls [¶¶ 60-51; Fig. 16A];
[2] executing a plurality of super cycles that wholly fill the gap with a solid fill material 168/169/174/182/186 [as shown in Figs. 16A-16J], … super cycle of the plurality of super cycles comprising:
[3] forming a material layer [168/169 in 1st and 2nd cycles in Figs. 16A-16D (¶¶ 52-55); 174/182 in 3rd and 4th cycles in Figs. 16E-16I (¶ 56-60); 186 5th cycle in Fig. 6J (¶ 61)] overlying the proximal surface, the distal surface, and the sidewalls, the material layer 168/169/174/182/186 comprising a solid fill material;
[4a] partially filling the gap with a gap filling fluid [172 in 1st cycle in Fig. 16C (¶ 53: may be spin on organic or carbon material and therefore “fluid” (infra)); 176 in 2nd cycle in Fig. 16E (¶ 57)], thereby partially covering the material layer 168, 174 with gap filling fluid to form a protected distal material layer and an unprotected proximal material layer [as shown in Figs. 16C and 16F],
[4b] the protected distal material layer overlying the distal surface [as shown in Figs. 16C and 16F],
[4c] the distal surface being covered by gap filling fluid [as shown in Figs. 16C and 16F], and
[4d] the unprotected proximal material layer overlying the sidewalls and the proximal surface [as shown in Figs. 16C and 16F];
[5] selectively etching the unprotected proximal material layer vis-à-vis the gap filling fluid [1st cycle in Fig. 16D (¶ 54) and 2nd cycle in Fig. 16G (¶ 58)]; and
[6] removing the gap filling fluid from the substrate [1st cycle in Fig. 16D (¶ 55) and 2nd cycle in Fig. 16G (¶ 59)].
As explained in the prior art rejection premised on Yu (Non-Final Rejection mailed 11/13/2025, pp. 10-14), Yu discloses a plurality of super cycles to wholly fill the gap will a solid fill material 168/169/174/182/186; however, claim 3 requires that “each super cycle of the plurality of super cycles” requires the process steps recited in [4a]-[6]. In this regard, the fill material portion 182 is not etched back using the gap filling fluid. The fill material portion 186 may use the cyclic filling process, ALD, for filling the remaining portion of the opening 160 (Yu: ¶ 61), but then there is no disclosure that the gap filling fluid is used. As such, the filling disclosed in Yu does not require that each of “each super cycle of the plurality of super cycles” requires the process steps recited in [4a]-[6]. In the alternative, those portions of super cycles used in Yu do not “wholly” fill the gap 160.
Based on the foregoing, the prior art does not reasonably teach or suggest—in the context of claim 3—that “a plurality of super cycles that wholly fill the gap with a solid fill material, each super cycle of the plurality of super cycles comprising” all of the process steps recited in [4a]-[6].
Claims 4-11 are allowed at least for including the same allowable limitations by depending from claim 3, either directly or indirectly.
IV. Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 01/23/2026 have been fully considered but they 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
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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Signed,
/ERIK KIELIN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2814