DETAILED ACTION
This correspondence is in response to the communications received February 3, 2026. Claims 1-13 are pending. Claims 14-20 have been withdrawn from consideration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed February 3, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. On page 8 of the remarks, it is asserted that metal chalcogenide film is only octahedral when there is a gap present. Even if this were the case, the material still has the octahedral structure, and the claim language does not mention that a gap is not present.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 14-20 have been withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Group II method claims, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on October 14, 2025. Applicant's election with traverse of Group I structure claims 1-13 in the reply filed on October 14, 2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that “Applicants submit that the Office would not be unduly burdened in the examination of twenty total claims”. This is not found persuasive because in the election restriction dated October 1, 2025, sets forth the basis for a properly substantiated restriction, where the burden has been established due to the divergent nature of the search and consideration for the two identified inventions. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Applicant’s Claim to Figure Comparison
It is noted that this comparison is merely for the benefit of reviewers of this office action during prosecution, to allow for an understanding of the examiner’s interpretation of the Applicant’s independent claims as compared to disclosed embodiments in Applicant’s Figures. No response or comments are necessary from Applicant.
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Regarding claim 1, the Applicant discloses in Fig. 1, a metal chalcogenide film comprising:
a transition metal element (¶ 0049, “the transition metal precursor may include at least one element selected from among Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Mo, W, Tc, Re, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Zn and Sn”); and
a chalcogen element (¶ 0051, “the chalcogen precursor may include S and/or Se”),
wherein the metal chalcogenide film has an octahedral crystal structure (discussed in ¶ 0018, 0048).
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Koo et al. (US 12,207,572).
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Regarding claim 1, the prior art of Koo discloses in Figs. 1 and 2B, a metal chalcogenide film (140, with identification of metal and chalcogenide aspects to be disclosed below) comprising:
a transition metal element (col. 4, line 61-65, “The transition metal M may include, for example, molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), vanadium (V), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), technetium (Tc), rhenium (Re), iridium (Ir), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), or the like. The chalcogen element C may include, for example, sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), or the like.”); and
a chalcogen element (col. 4, line 61-65, “The transition metal M may include, for example, molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), vanadium (V), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), technetium (Tc), rhenium (Re), iridium (Ir), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), or the like. The chalcogen element C may include, for example, sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), or the like.”),
wherein the metal chalcogenide film has an octahedral crystal structure (col. 5, lines 50-55, “FIG. 3B, the crystal structure of the unit film U140 may be converted from a triangular prismatic crystal structure 10 to an octahedral crystal structure 20. A unit film U140 having the octahedral crystal structure 20 may have, electrically, a metallic property.”).
Regarding claim 2, Koo discloses the metal chalcogenide film of claim 1, wherein the transition metal element is one or more of Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Mo, W, Tc, Re, Co, Rh, Ir, Ni, Pd, Pt, Zn, or Sn, and the chalcogen element is one or more of S or Se (col. 4, line 61-65, “The transition metal M may include, for example, molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), vanadium (V), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), technetium (Tc), rhenium (Re), iridium (Ir), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), or the like. The chalcogen element C may include, for example, sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), or the like.”).
Regarding claim 3, Koo discloses the metal chalcogenide film of claim 1, wherein the transition metal element is Ti and the chalcogen element is S (col. 4, line 61-65, “The transition metal M may include, for example, molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), vanadium (V), niobium (Nb), tantalum (Ta), technetium (Tc), rhenium (Re), iridium (Ir), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), or the like. The chalcogen element C may include, for example, sulfur (S), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), or the like.”).
Regarding claim 4, Koo discloses the metal chalcogenide film of claim 1, wherein the transition metal element and the chalcogen element do not exhibit an in-plane concentration gradient (looking to Fig. 2B, which is a detailed view of U140, it can be seen that a gradient of the constituent atoms are not formed in a gradient).
Regarding claim 5, Koo discloses the metal chalcogenide film of claim 1, wherein the transition metal element and the chalcogen element do not exhibit a concentration gradient in a perpendicular direction to each other along a surface of the metal chalcogenide film (looking to Fig. 2B, which is a detailed view of U140, it can be seen that a gradient of the constituent atoms are not formed in a gradient).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-13 are 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. Claims 7-13 are objected to, merely due to their dependence upon claim 6.
“6. (Original) A memory element comprising:
a substrate;
a first electrode on the substrate;
a phase-change heterolayer on the first electrode and electrically connected to the first electrode; and
a second electrode on the phase-change heterolayer,
wherein the phase-change heterolayer includes one or more confinement material layers and one or more phase-change material layers, and at least one of the one or more confinement material layers include the metal chalcogenide film according to claim 1.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Eduardo A Rodela whose telephone number is (571)272-8797. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30-5:00pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yara B Green can be reached on (571) 270-3035. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDUARDO A RODELA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2893