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 .
Status of claim(s) to be treated in this office action:
a. Independent: 1
b. Pending: 1-7
Per MPEP 2111 and 2111.01, the claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation and the words of the claims are given their plain meaning consistent with the specification without importing claim limitations from the specification.
Election/Restrictions
Previously withdrawn and currently amended claim set 8-20 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons:
Independent claim 8 recites “lower surfaces of the conductive material of the gate structures directly abutting and physically contacting upper surfaces of the semiconductive material and the isolation structures”; and
Independent claim 14 recites “semiconductive material of the gate structures directly vertically intervening between the conductive material and the dielectric material”.
These two independent claims are distinct and require additional searches.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claims 8-20 withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) is submitted on 12/4/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 12/30/2025 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of U.S. Patent No. 11799038 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7 are allowed.
Conclusion
Applicant's submission of an information disclosure statement under 37 CFR 1.97(c) with the timing fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(p) on 12/4/2025 prompted the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 609.04(b). 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Kim (US 20130175590) --- IDS
Regarding independent claim 1, Kim discloses an apparatus (Figs. 1-2), comprising:
capacitors comprising active regions (Figs. 1-2 and [0087] describes an active region 110);
multiple dielectric materials overlying the capacitors, adjacent portions of the multiple dielectric materials exhibiting thicknesses that differ from one another (Figs. 1-2 and [0086] describes a first insulating film 132, a second insulating film 130. Fig. 2 shows that the thicknesses are different);
isolation regions laterally separating adjacent capacitors (Figs. 1-2, 6 and [0086] describes capacitor 4, defined by an element isolation region 118); and
gate regions overlying the capacitors (Figs. 1-2 and [0086] shows gate region 120) and comprising:
semiconductive material overlying and physically contacting upper surfaces of the multiple dielectric materials; and
conductive material overlying and physically contacting upper surfaces of the semiconductive material and the isolation regions (Figs. 1-2 and [0086] shows gate region 120 is a conductive layer).
Kim lacks semiconductive material overlying and physically contacting upper surfaces of the multiple dielectric materials; and conductive material overlying and physically contacting upper surfaces of the semiconductive material and the isolation regions.
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/SULTANA BEGUM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824 3/13/2026