Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026
Application No. 17/459,389

TOPOLOGIES OF UNIT CROSSBARS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Aug 27, 2021
Priority
Aug 30, 2020 — provisional 63/072,184
Examiner
PAYEN, MARVIN
Art Unit
2899
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Knowm Inc.
OA Round
5 (Non-Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
80%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
367 granted / 474 resolved
+9.4% vs TC avg
Minimal +3% lift
Without
With
+2.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
5 currently pending
Career history
483
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
§103
61.0%
+21.0% vs TC avg
§102
29.6%
-10.4% vs TC avg
§112
5.8%
-34.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 474 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 16 April 2026 has been entered. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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. Claims 1-7 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gupta et al. (hereinafter “Gupta”, 2017/0228345). Re Claim 1, Gupta discloses in Figs. 1 and 5 and (para. [0001]-[0026] & [0041]-[0042]), a meta crossbar array (150), comprising: a plurality of unit crossbars (140), wherein each unit crossbar among the plurality of unit crossbars comprises: row and column decoders (110, 112) acting as analog multiplexers that couple an input and an output to a selected memristor (144) located between a selected column and a selected row; a binary enable control (read/write control circuit [0003]) that enables or disables the row and column decoders; and a multi-bit selection control (memristor control circuit [0003]) which sets the selected row and the selected column of the each unit crossbar, wherein each unit crossbar is configured such that only one or no memristor is coupled to a common input source at a time. Re Claim 2. Gupta discloses in para. [0002]-[0003], wherein the binary enable control of the each unit crossbar is controlled by a unique memory element associated with a specific unit crossbar among the plurality of unit crossbars and wherein the unique memory element is operable to be individually set or individually reset. Re Claim 3. Gupta discloses, the meta crossbar array is configured as a non-topological array, wherein all inputs of the each unit crossbar are connected to a common input and all outputs of the each unit crossbar are connected to a common output. Re Claim 4, Gupta discloses, further comprising a pair of meta crossbar arrays acting as a differential pair wherein each meta array among the pair of meta crossbar arrays receives the same enable and the same selection control bits. Re Claim 5. Gupta discloses [0061]-[0071] wherein: the non-topological array comprises a pair of non-topological meta crossbar arrays acting as a differential pair; and each non-topological meta crossbar array among the pair of non-topological meta crossbar arrays receives the same enable and the same selection control bits. Re Claim 6. Gupta discloses, wherein the selection control lines of all unit crossbars among the plurality of unit crossbars are connected such that each unit crossbar among the plurality of unit crossbars receives the same selection signals. Re Claim 7. Gupta discloses, wherein each unique address of the selection control bits is associated with a unique layer of a neural network. Re Claim 15. Gupta discloses in [0061]-[0071], wherein the selection control lines of all unit crossbars among the plurality of unit crossbars are connected wherein each unit crossbar among the plurality of unit crossbars receives the same selection signals. Re Claim 16. Gupta discloses in [0061]-[0071], wherein each unique address of the selection control bits is associated with a unique layer of a neural network. Re Claim 17. Gupta discloses in [0061]-[0071], wherein each unique address of the selection control bits is associated with a unique neuron of a neural network. Re Claim 18. Gupta discloses in Figs. 1 and 5 and (para. [0001]-[0026] & [0041]-[0042]), a meta crossbar array (150), comprising: a plurality of unit crossbars (140), wherein each unit crossbar among the plurality of unit crossbars comprises: row and column decoders (110, 112)) acting as analog multiplexers that couple an input and an output to a selected memristor (144) located between a selected column and a selected row; a binary enable control (read/write control circuit [0003]) that enables or disables the row and column decoders; a multi-bit selection (memristor control circuit [0003]) that which sets the selected row and the selected column of the each unit crossbar; and a memory element (306, 312), wherein the binary enable control of the each unit crossbar is controlled by the memory element associated with a specific unit crossbar among the plurality of unit crossbars and wherein the memory element is operable to be individually set or individually reset, and wherein each unit crossbar is configured such that only one or no memristor is coupled to a common input source at a time. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARVIN PAYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7435. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday, Fridays off. 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, Zandra Smith can be reached on (571)272-2429. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MARVIN PAYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2899
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 7 earlier events
Dec 09, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 18, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102
Sep 16, 2025
Response Filed
Dec 17, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §102
Mar 13, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 16, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Apr 24, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Oct 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
77%
Grant Probability
80%
With Interview (+2.8%)
2y 10m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 474 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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