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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's amendments and arguments filed 9/16/2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive, the office action has been updated to address the newly amended limitations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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, 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.
Claims 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nitta et al (U.S. Pub #2015/0060975).
With respect to claim 13, Nitta teaches a memory device, comprising:
a substrate (see Fig. 5A, 16);
a plurality of word lines (Fig. 4, WL of block MB1 or MB2) disposed on the substrate, wherein the word lines extend in a first direction (Fig. 4, X) and are arranged in a second direction (Fig. 4, Y), and wherein the first direction intersects the second direction; and
a first sub-select gate (Fig. 4, SG1) extending in the first direction and disposed adjacent to and separated from an outermost word line in the second direction, wherein one end of the first sub-select gate (Fig. 4, portion SG1-H) has a first width (Fig. 4, W-SG1) in the second direction, a major portion of the first sub-select gate has a second width (Fig. 4, W1) in the second direction, and the second width is greater than the first width,
wherein the first sub-select gate and a second sub-select gate (Fig. 4, SG2) are disposed on a same side of the word lines and are opposite to each other in the second direction, and the first sub-select gate and the second sub-select gate collectively form a U-shaped end (Fig. 4, SG1 and SG2 form the upper portions of the U, and the end portion SG1v forms the bottom portion of the U; Note: this structural arrangement is similar to Fig. 7 of the application wherein the sub-select gates 310 and 320 are separated by opening 160 but the inner contours of 310 and 320 can be considered to outline a U shape).
With respect to claim 14, Nitta teaches the first sub-select gate comprises a floating gate (Fig. 5A, 22 and Paragraph 61) and a control gate (Fig. 5A, 26) above the floating gate.
With respect to claim 15, Nitta teaches a dummy structure (Fig. 4, DWL and Paragraph 55) adjacent to and separated from one end of the word lines in the first direction, and the dummy structure is comb-shaped.
With respect to claim 16, Nitta teaches a plurality of landing pads (Fig. 4, C3) extending along the second direction and respectively connecting to another plurality of word lines.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 17-20 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.
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 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN P SANDVIK whose telephone number is (571)272-8446. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davienne Monbleau can be reached at (571)-272-1945. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BENJAMIN P SANDVIK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2812
