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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention I (claims 1-15) in the reply filed on 12 January 2026 is acknowledged.
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 1-15 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.
Regarding Claim 1, it recites “the topmost surface of the alternating stack” in the last line. This claim limitation lacks antecedence bases, leaving the claim unclear as to what the topmost surface of the alternating stack refers to. For at least this reason, claims 2-15 are also rejected under 35 USC 112(b) based on their dependency from claim 1.
Regarding Claim 10, it recites “the topmost surface of the alternating stack” in the last line. This claim limitation lacks antecedence bases, leaving the claim unclear as to what the topmost surface of the alternating stack refers to. For at least this reason, claim 11 is also rejected under 35 USC 112(b) based on its dependency from claim 10.
Regarding Claim 11, it recites “contacting topmost portions of the respective conductive strips” in line 7. It is unclear if this intends to refer to the same “a respective topmost portions” of the electrically conductive strips recited in claim 1.
Regarding Claim 14, it recites “the at one support pillar structure” in the last line. This lacks antecedence and leaves the claim unclear as to what it refers to. It appears this should read “the at least one”. Appropriate correction is required.
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, and include all of the limitations of the base claim.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 1, the closest prior art of record (Tomohiro Kubo; US 2022/0102273 A1) teaches a memory device, comprising:
an alternating stack (Fig. 3A; 132L/142L) including insulating layers (132L) and electrically conductive layers (142L become conductive layers 146) that are interlaced along a vertical direction (up/down), wherein the alternating stack comprises a tapered sidewall (Fig. 3A; tapered sidewall of 163) that laterally extends along a first horizontal direction and which is inclined along a second horizontal direction perpendicular to the first horizontal direction;
memory openings (Fig. 9A; 49) vertically extending through each layer within the alternating stack;
memory opening fill structures (Fig. 11A; 58) located in the memory openings and including a respective vertical stack of memory elements (Fig. 10D; 55/50) and a respective vertical semiconductor channel (60);
a cavity (Fig. 9A; containing 165) in the alternating stack bounded laterally along a first side by the tapered sidewall (left side) and having a bottom surface comprising stepped surfaces of at least some of the electrically conductive layers (142 as shown on the right side of the cavity in Fig. 9A).
However, the references of the Prior Art of record and considered pertinent to the applicant's disclosure and to the Examiner’s knowledge does not teach or render obvious, at least to the skilled artisan, all the limitations of the instant invention in their entirety (the individual limitations may be found just not in combination with proper motivation); further including
an insulating liner located over the tapered sidewall in the cavity; and
electrically conductive strips which are adjoined to a respective one of the stepped surfaces at the bottom surface of the cavity, which extend over the insulating liner and the tapered sidewall in the cavity, and which include a respective topmost portion that is located above the topmost surface of the alternating stack.
For at least this reason, claims 2-15 would also be allowable based on their dependency from claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 for relevant references, of which the instant claim 1 is distinct from.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN PRIDEMORE whose telephone number is (703)756-4640. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:00pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JULIO MALDONADO can be reached at (571) 272-1864. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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NATHAN PRIDEMORE
Examiner
Art Unit 2898
/NATHAN PRIDEMORE/Examiner, Art Unit 2898 /JULIO J MALDONADO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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