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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 09/26/25 was/were received by the Examiner before the issuance/mailing date of the first office action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) has/have been considered (except for anything in foreign language non-accompanied by an English translation) by the Examiner.
Drawings
Figures 1 and 5(a) should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. 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.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 should recite “An integrated circuit (IC) structure…” on line 1 instead of “An IC structure…” so that one knows what the acronym “IC” stands for.
Claim 1 recites “a plurality of semiconductor dies horizontally separate with each other” (emphasis added). This is incorrect and should instead be “a plurality of semiconductor dies horizontally separate from each other”.
Claims 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 each recites “one of the semiconductor die” in a single or many instances. This is incorrect and should instead be “one of the semiconductor dies”.
Claim 11 recites “a plurality of semiconductor dies horizontally separate with each other” (emphasis added). This is incorrect and should instead be “a plurality of semiconductor dies horizontally separate from each other”.
Claim 11 further recites “two side”. This is incorrect and should instead be “two sides”.
Claim 13 recites “a plurality of semiconductor dies horizontally separate with each other” (emphasis added). This is incorrect and should instead be “a plurality of semiconductor dies horizontally separate from each other”.
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 1-18 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.
Claim 1 recites “wherein an area of the bottom surface or the top surface is larger than that of any sidewall” (emphasis added). It is unclear what Applicants meant by “any sidewall”. Is it any sidewall among the first, second, third and fourth sidewalls priorly recited or is it any sidewall in the first memory stack or IC structure? Clarification is needed.
Claims 8 and 9 each recites the limitation "the thermal conductivity". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claim 17 recites “the material”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 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. In fact, claims 1-18 would be allowable assuming all the objections and 112 2nd rejections above are overcome.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chiu et al. (US 2018/0114773), Song et al. (US 2003/0146012), Colgan et al. (US 2012/0233510, BAE et al. (US 2023/0042063) and Jung et al. (US 2020/0395346) disclose IC structures similar to the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PENIEL M GUMEDZOE whose telephone number is (571)270-3041. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00AM - 5:30PM.
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, Dale Page can be reached at 5712707877. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PENIEL M GUMEDZOE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899