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Office Actions › International Business Machines Corporation › 16685474
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 16/685,474

Protecting information embedded in a machine learning model

Non-Final OA
Filed
Nov 15, 2019
Examiner
PATEL, HITESHKUMAR R
Art Unit
2400
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
International Business Machines Corporation
OA Round
7 (Non-Final)
64%
Grant Probability
Moderate
7-8
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

This examiner grants 64% of cases after interview

— +47.2% interview lift. A telephonic interview to clarify the technical implementation could significantly improve the outcome.
Based on 496 resolved cases, 2023–2026

Examiner Intelligence

PATEL, HITESHKUMAR R View full profile →
Grants 64% of resolved cases
64%
Career Allowance Rate
315 granted / 496 resolved
+5.5% vs TC avg
Strong +47% interview lift
Without
With
+47.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 8m
Avg Prosecution
8 currently pending
Career history
516
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.4%
-31.6% vs TC avg
§103
80.2%
+40.2% vs TC avg
§102
6.7%
-33.3% vs TC avg
§112
2.8%
-37.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 496 resolved cases

Prosecution Timeline

Show 19 earlier events
Feb 05, 2025
Interview Requested
Feb 24, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 01, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 01, 2025
Notice of Allowance
May 28, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 02, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 12, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

18/524,320
Patent 12668257
METHOD TO ADJUST ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL WITH DETECTION OF AFTERMARKET TRAILER BRAKE CONTROLLER
2y 7m to grant Granted Jun 30, 2026
18/598,639
Patent 12630026
BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE
2y 2m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
18/665,822
Patent 12629987
COOLING DEVICE FOR ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN VEHICLE
2y 0m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
18/672,915
Patent 12606087
SMART VEHICLE FIRE WARNING SYSTEM
1y 11m to grant Granted Apr 21, 2026
18/814,811
Patent 12603881
Cloud Service Access Permission Setting Method for Enclave Instance and Cloud Management Platform
1y 7m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

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Prosecution Projections

7-8
Expected OA Rounds
64%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+47.2%)
3y 8m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 496 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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Data sourced from USPTO Patent File Wrapper (daily) and Office Action Archive (weekly). Analysis generated by IP Author.

Data: USPTO Patent File Wrapper (daily) • Office Action Archive (weekly) • 89M+ prosecution events

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