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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: VCT. See applicants’ specification, page 4, paragraph 24, line 29 of the page:
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Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 31 in Figure 44.
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Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d), or amendment to the specification to add the reference character(s) in the description in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(b) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Figure 24, landing pad LP and data storage pattern DSP are supposed to be misaligned, per applicants’ specification, page 25, paragraph 172, but they are shown as aligned in plan view in this figure.
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In the interest of clarity, add the directions from Figure 2 to Figure 4.
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In the specification, page 16, paragraph 109, the specification indicates that the height of the back gate electrode BG to the shielding conductive line SL is greater than the height from the back gate electrode BG to the metal pattern 163. However, Figures 2 and 3 show that the height of the back gate electrode BG to the shielding conductive line SL is less than the height from the back gate electrode BG to the metal pattern 163. See annotated Figures 2, 3, on the next page. It could be that there was a mistranslation of this sentence.
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Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Page 16, paragraph 109, last sentence: Per the discussion in the Drawing Objections section, check the last sentence for a mistranslation error.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 10 and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 10, lines 2, 6: The reference to “first direction” should be to “third direction”. Claim 1, which claim 10 depends from, defines the third direction as what would be the first direction in the disclosure, and vice versa.
Claim 15, line 2: Change “increase” to “increases”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential structural cooperative relationships of elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the necessary structural connections. See MPEP § 2172.01. The omitted structural cooperative relationships are: the relationship between the first, second, and third directions.
Claims 17-20 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.
Regarding claim 17: This claim defines “first and second active patterns” in line 5, which can be interpreted as (a) “a first active pattern and a second active pattern” or as (b) “first active patterns and second active patterns”. However, the claim refers to “first active patterns” or “the first active pattern” as well as “second active patterns” or “the second active pattern”. See lines 9, 11, 13, and 15-16. Thus, the initial definition of “first and second active patterns” is confusing because the language is unclear whether (a) or (b) has been defined. Because the language is unclear, claim 17 is rejected as indefinite.
Claims 18-20 are rejected for depending from rejected base claim 1.
Regarding claim 20, which depends from claim 17: Lines 2-3 refer to “the most adjacent bit lines”. However, the language is unclear about the difference between adjacent bit lines and “most” adjacent bit lines. Because the language is unclear, claim 20 is rejected as indefinite.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 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 if the claim informalities in claims 10 and 15 were addressed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With regard to claim 1: The claim has been found allowable because the prior art of record does not disclose “a peripheral gate structure disposed on the first surface of the second substrate; a first connection wiring structure disposed on the first surface of the second substrate and connected to the peripheral gate structure and the bit line; a second connection wiring structure disposed on the second surface of the second substrate; and a through via penetrating the second substrate and connecting the first connection wiring structure and the second connection wiring structure”, in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
With regard to claims 2-10: The claims have been found allowable due to their dependency from claim 1 above.
With regard to claim 11: The claim has been found allowable because the prior art of record does not disclose “a peripheral gate structure disposed on the first surface of the second substrate; a first connection wiring structure disposed on the first surface of the second substrate and connected to the peripheral gate structure; […] and a through via penetrating the second substrate and connecting the first connection wiring structure and the second connection wiring structure”, in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
With regard to claims 12-16: The claims have been found allowable due to their dependency from claim 11 above.
With regard to claim 17: The claim has been found allowable because the prior art of record does not disclose “a peripheral gate structure disposed on the first surface of the second substrate; a first connection wiring structure disposed on the first surface of the second substrate and connected to the peripheral gate structure; […] a second connection wiring structure disposed on the second surface of the second substrate; and a through via penetrating the second substrate and connecting the first connection wiring structure and the second connection wiring structure”, in combination with the remaining limitations of the claim.
With regard to claims 18-20: The claims have been found allowable due to their dependency from claim 17 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICTORIA KATHLEEN HALL whose telephone number is (571)270-7567. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Fernando Toledo can be reached at 571-272-1867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Victoria K. Hall/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2897