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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-9 are pending and have been examined.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign benefit based on KR10-2021-0160546 filed on 11/19/2021. The instant application is a continuation of US patent application 17839593.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:
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 1-9 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites:
“a plurality of gate dielectric layers surrounding the active layers, respectively”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The applicant may recite the following to overcome this rejection:
“a plurality of gate dielectric layers surrounding the plurality of active layers, respectively”.
Claim 1 also recites:
“a word line stack including a plurality of gate all-around conductive lines that are surround the gate dielectric layers”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The applicant may recite the following to overcome this rejection:
“a word line stack including a plurality of gate all-around conductive lines that are surround the plurality of gate dielectric layers”.
Claim 1 further recites:
“word line contact plugs coupled to the conductive pads, respectively”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. “the conductive pads” also recited in claims 2, 4, 5. Therefore, corrections required in all four claims.
Claim 3 recites:
“The semiconductor memory device of claim 1, wherein the edge portions of the gate all-around conductive lines are self-aligned”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The applicant may recite the following to overcome this rejection:
“The semiconductor memory device of claim 1, wherein the edge portions of the plurality of gate all-around conductive lines are self-aligned”.
Claim 4 recites:
“a second edge portion coupled to the contact plugs”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The applicant may recite the following to overcome this rejection:
“a second edge portion coupled to the word line contact plugs”.
Claim 7 recites:
“wherein the active layers include a semiconductor material or an oxide semiconductor material”.
There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The applicant may recite the following to overcome this rejection:
“wherein the plurality of active layers include a semiconductor material or an oxide semiconductor material”.
Claims 2-9 depend from claim 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD A. RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571) 270-0168 and email is mohammad.rahman5@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 8:00-5:00 PM.
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, Julio J. Maldonado can be reached on (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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/MOHAMMAD A RAHMAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2898
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