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 .
This non-final Office action is in response to Applicant’s patent application number 19/002,777 filed on 12/27/2024.
Currently, claims 1-18 are pending and examined.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/3/2025 and 6/30/2026 are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-18 are objected to because of the following informalities: claim 1, line 1; an abbreviation “ONO” should be spelled out once in the claims. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 2-8 depending upon the objected claim 1 are also objected. Independent claim 9, line 1; having the same issue as mentioned; therefore, claims 9-18 are objected.
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 1-18 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.
Re claim 1, line 2; a phrase “which” renders the claim indefinite and confusing because it’s unclear whether “which” referring to which structure? Claims 2-8 depending upon the rejected claim 1 are also rejected. Claim 9, line 2; having the same issue as mentioned is also rejected.
Re claim 9, line 2; having the same issue as mentioned; therefore, claims 9-18 are rejected.
Re claim 18, line 2; a citation “a type” is confusing and indefinite because it’s unclear whether the same “a type” cited in line 1? Clarification is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-18 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: no prior art (i.e. US Nos. 9,620,368 or 2009/0179253) discloses a method for processing a substrate having OO stack formed thereon, including steps of (a) supplying a first processing gas to the through-hole to expose the ONO stack to the first processing gas; and (b) supplying a second processing gas to the through-hole to expose the ONO stack to the second processing gas to dry-etch the silicon nitride layers of the ONO stack, wherein the first processing gas includes CₓFy, wherein a x/y is 0.5 or greater as set forth in the claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to CHI Q. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6847. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7AM-5PM or email: chi.nguyen@uspto.gov. If attempt to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached at (571) 270-3238. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pairdirect.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866) 217-9197.
/CHI Q NGUYEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635
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