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 1-10 and 20, in the reply filed on August 17, 2026 is acknowledged.
Accordingly, claims 11-19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on August 17, 2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on August 20, 2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7, 9, 10, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (US Pub 2019/0341251).
In re claim 1, Lee discloses a semiconductor device (i.e. see at least Figure 12B) comprising contact structures (i.e. 45), wherein: the contact structures are positioned along a first direction (i.e. horizontally) in a block of the semiconductor device; the contact structures are grouped into contact structure groups based on depths of the contact structures along a second direction (i.e. vertically) perpendicular to the first direction, each contact structure group comprising one or more respective contact structures (i.e. two in Figure 12B, for example, starting from left and considering all items 45 (11 of them are visible in total): group I, columns 1 and 8; group II, columns 2 and 9; etc.); and between two adjacent contact structures of a first contact structure group along the first direction (i.e. group I as defined earlier), a contact structure of a second contact structure group (i.e. contact in column 2, group II as defined earlier) different from the first contact structure group is positioned.
In re claim 2, Lee discloses comprising a stack of conductive layers (i.e. 47) and isolating layers (i.e. 32) alternating with each other along the second direction, wherein each contact structure extends through at least a part of the stack of conductive layers and isolating layers, each contact structure is coupled to a respective conductive layer, and a depth of a contact structure along the second direction is determined by a depth, along the second direction, of a conductive layer coupled to the contact structure (i.e. see at least Figure 12B).
In re claim 3, Lee discloses wherein all contact structures of the first contact structure group are coupled to first conductive layers, all contact structures of the second contact structure group are coupled to second conductive layers, and the first conductive layers are on a first side of the second conductive layers along the second direction (i.e. see at least Figure 12B).
In re claim 4, Lee discloses wherein the contact structure groups comprise a third contact structure group, all contact structures of the third contact structure group are coupled to third conductive layers, the third conductive layers are on a second side of the second conductive layers along the second direction, the second side is opposite to the first side, and a contact structure of the third contact structure group is positioned between a contact structure of the first contact structure group and a contact structure of the second contact structure group (i.e. see at least Figure 12B – at least 5 groups may be distinguished).
In re claim 5, Lee discloses wherein the block comprises one finger (i.e. see at least Figure 12A).
In re claim 7, Lee discloses wherein two rows of contact structures of the first contact structure group are positioned parallelly along the first direction, one row of contact structures of the second contact structure group are positioned along the first direction, and a depth associated with the first contact structure group is smaller than a depth associated with the second contact structure group (i.e. see at least Figures 12A and 12B).
In re claim 9, Lee discloses wherein the block comprises two word lines (i.e. 28B), each word line is positioned on a side of the block, and a contact structure of the contact structures is coupled to at least one of the two word lines (i.e. see at least Figure 1B).
In re claim 10, Lee discloses wherein a first contact structure and a second contact structure of the first contact structure group are adjacent to each other along a third direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first contact structure is coupled to a first side of the block via a first interconnect line, the second contact structure is coupled to a second side of the block via a second interconnect line, and at least a part of the first interconnect line and at least a part of the second interconnect line overlap on the third direction (i.e. see at least Figures 12A and 12B).
In re claim 20, Lee discloses a system (i.e. 1000), comprising: a semiconductor device (i.e. see at least Figure 12B) comprising contact structures (i.e. 45), wherein: the contact structures are positioned along a first direction (i.e. horizontally) in a block of the semiconductor device; the contact structures are grouped into contact structure groups based on depths of the contact structures along a second direction (i.e. vertically) perpendicular to the first direction, each contact structure group comprising one or more respective contact structures (i.e. two in Figure 12B, for example, starting from left and considering all items 45 (11 of them are visible in total): group I, columns 1 and 8; group II, columns 2 and 9; etc.); and between two adjacent contact structures of a first contact structure group along the first direction (i.e. group I as defined earlier), a contact structure of a second contact structure group (i.e. contact in column 2, group II as defined earlier) different from the first contact structure group is positioned; and a memory controller (i.e. 1200) electrically connected to the semiconductor device, wherein the memory controller is configured to control the semiconductor device (i.e. see at least paragraph 0076).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 8 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTHONY HO whose telephone number is (571)270-1432. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM, Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marlon Fletcher can be reached at 571-272-2063. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANTHONY HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2817
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