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 .
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3-7, 9, 10, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation " at least two source/drain regions " in line 5 and thereafter refers to “the source/drain region” (singular) (in the final clause “the third filling layer is used to isolate the second gate conductor layer from the source/drain region”)
It is not clear whether “the source/drain region “refers to one, unspecified source drain region among at least two, to each of them or is typographical omission of “regions”.
For the purposes of examination, the Examiner will treat “the third filling layer is used to isolate the second gate conductor layer from the source/drain region” met as long as the third filling layer is used to isolate the second gate conductor layer from any one of the at least at least two source/drain regions.
Claim 1 introduces “at least one body region” and in the same clause refers to “the body region” (singular without “at least one”) in reciting “a memory cell is defined at an intersection of the gate stack and the body region”. Since the device layer may include more than one body region, it is unclear whether every intersection defines a memory cell or only an intersection with a specific, unidentified body region.
Claim 1 recites “ a plurality of gate stacks” and thereafter refers to “the gate stack” (singular) at least four times, including newly added limitation.
The term “a side of the device layer close to the gate stack” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “close to” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claim 4 recites “the first leading electrode is electrically connected to the source/drain region” (singular), which suffers from the same indefiniteness as noted in Claim 1 above, since claim 1 establishes “at least two source/drain regions”
Claim 6 recites “wherein a material of the vertical channel comprises monocrystalline silicon, silicon carbide, a III-V group compound, and graphene,” as written, the conjunctive “and” requires the vertical channel to be composed of all four listed materials simultaneously, which is inconsistent with the originally filed specifications that the material “may be any one of “ the listed materials [0066] and renders metes and bounds of the claim unclear.
For the purposes of examination, the Examiner will treat “wherein a material of the vertical channel comprises monocrystalline silicon, silicon carbide, a III-V group compound, and graphene,” as --wherein a material of the vertical channel comprises one of monocrystalline silicon, silicon carbide, a III-V group compound, and graphene--.
Claim 20 recites “the electronic device comprises: a smart phone, a personal computer, a tablet computer, an artificial intelligence device, a wearable device, and a mobile power supply.” Which requires a single electronic device to simultaneously be all six listed items and is inconsistent with the originally filed specifications [0025] and renders metes and bounds of the claim unclear.
For the purposes of examination, the Examiner will treat s “the electronic device comprises: a smart phone, a personal computer, a tablet computer, an artificial intelligence device, a wearable device, and a mobile power supply.” as -the electronic device is selected from a group consisting of: a smart phone, a personal computer, a tablet computer, an artificial intelligence device, a wearable device, and a mobile power supply.--
Claims 3-7, 9, 10, 19 and 20 are rejected as being dependent on Claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-10, filed 07/08/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1 under 35 U.S.C. 102(A1) as being anticipated by Rabkin et al. (US 9,685,484 B1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Prior art of Lai (US 2015/03018299 A1) discloses memory devices having vertical gate stacks and source/drain.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DMITRIY YEMELYANOV whose telephone number is (571)270-7920. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9a.m.-6p.m.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew Landau can be reached at (571) 272-1731. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DMITRIY YEMELYANOV/Examiner, Art Unit 2891
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