Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/686,113

LARGE-SCALE POLICY EVALUATION IN MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Mar 03, 2022
Examiner
XIA, XUYANG
Art Unit
2143
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 4m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allow Rate
327 granted / 460 resolved
+16.1% vs TC avg
Strong +54% interview lift
Without
With
+53.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 4m
Avg Prosecution
44 currently pending
Career history
504
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
14.4%
-25.6% vs TC avg
§103
59.2%
+19.2% vs TC avg
§102
15.0%
-25.0% vs TC avg
§112
3.7%
-36.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 460 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/30/2026 has been entered. Specification The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: unreadable. Para. [0014][0015][0042] [0047]-[0049] of the specification recite formulas which are unreadable. Appropriate correction is required. Drawings The drawings 1-9 are objected to because of unreadable. The drawings 1-9 are not readable, the drawing of 10-15 are recommended to resubmit too. It seems the drawings submitted without the high enough resolution. please resubmit readable drawings. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Objections Claims 1, 14 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities: unreadable. The formula recited at 1, 14 and 17 cannot be read. Please resubmit the readable claim set. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 1, 14, 4-10, 12-13 and 17, 21-22 are objected to because of the following informalities: lack of antecedent basis. Claim 1, 14 and 17, etc. recite the operational policies which appear the plurality of operational policies, etc. the policy evaluation system which appears the computer-implemented policy evaluation system, etc. The actors which appear the plurality of actors, etc. Claim 1, 14, 17, etc. recite a previously estimated ranking of combination of policies appeal a previously estimated ranking of combination of operational policies, etc. Claim 4-10, 12-13, etc. recite the policy evaluation systems which appear the computer-implemented policy system. Claim 21, 22, etc. recite the method which appear the computer-implemented method. Please check if there are any other similar issues and correct it for the whole claim set. 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, 14 and 17 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claims 1, 14 and 17 recite mathematical formulas, but there are undefined variables. It makes the scope of the invention unclear or indefinite. such as ρ, R(+), and further such as f(rel), i for the sampling formula, in 1, 14 and 17, etc. Thus, the scope of the limitation cannot be determined by Examiner. Please define each variable in the claims. Appropriate correction is required. Allowable Subject Matter Claim 1, 14 and 17 are objected. As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a). The prior arts of record including the newly cited prior arts when taken individually or in combination do not expressly teach or render obvious the amended limitations recited in claims 1, 14 and 17, when taken in the context of the claims as a whole. At best the prior arts of record, specifically Wright et al. (US20180012137) disclose A control system and method for controlling a system, which employs a data set representing a plurality of states and associated trajectories of an environment of the system; and which iteratively determines an estimate of an optimal control policy for the system. The iterative process performs the substeps, until convergence, of estimating a long term value for operation at a respective state of the environment over a series of predicted future environmental states; using a complex return of the data set to determine a bound to improve the estimated long term value; and producing an updated estimate of an optimal control policy dependent on the improved estimate of the long term value. The control system may produce an output signal to control the system directly, or output the optimized control policy. The system preferably is a reinforcement learning system which continually improves…. see abstract. Nishi US 2018/0373245 disclose A device and method for state progression in a set of autonomous vehicle states related to an autonomous vehicle objective for a multi-vehicle environment. A vehicular state of another vehicle of the multi-vehicle environment is discerned to produce a discerned vehicular state of the another vehicle, wherein the another vehicle operates to affect the autonomous vehicle objective. An adaptive policy is formed for a present one of the set of autonomous vehicle states based on the discerned vehicular state, and producing from the adaptive policy an autonomous vehicle action to progress to a subsequent one of the set of autonomous vehicle states. The autonomous vehicle action is transmitted for effecting a progression to the subsequent one of the set of autonomous vehicle states… see abstract. In addition, neither a reference uncovered that would have provided a basis of evidence for asserting a motivation, nor one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made, knowing the teaching of the prior arts of record would have combined them to arrive at the present invention as recited in the context of independent claims 1, 14 and 17 and as a whole. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XUYANG XIA whose telephone number is (571)270-3045. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-4pm. 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, Jennifer Welch can be reached at 571-272-7212. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. XUYANG XIA Primary Examiner Art Unit 2143 /XUYANG XIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2143
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 03, 2022
Application Filed
Jun 05, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Sep 09, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 28, 2025
Final Rejection — §112
Jan 30, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 24, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Mar 07, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (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

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+53.8%)
3y 4m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 460 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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