Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/039,553

SIGNAL ANALYZING APPARATUS, SIGNAL ANALYZING METHOD AND PROGRAM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
May 31, 2023
Priority
Jan 06, 2021 — WO PCT/JP2021/000209 +2 more
Examiner
TEIXEIRA MOFFAT, JONATHAN CHARLES
Art Unit
3796
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
NTT, Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
78%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allowance Rate
235 granted / 345 resolved
-1.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
112 currently pending
Career history
876
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.1%
-37.9% vs TC avg
§103
77.9%
+37.9% vs TC avg
§102
10.1%
-29.9% vs TC avg
§112
6.5%
-33.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 345 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1 and 4-7 in the reply filed on 12/04/25 is acknowledged. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WO 2016/077786 A1 granted to Weng et al (hereinafter “Weng”). In reference to claim 1, Weng discloses a signal analysis device [e.g. control unit 120] comprising: a biological information acquisitor unit that acquires a waveform of a time section of an R wave [e.g. p. 21: “clause 139”] included in a waveform for one cycle indicating a cardiac cycle of a heart of an analysis target as a target time waveform [e.g. p. 48: lines 5-22]; and an analyzer unit that, upon approximating the target time waveform by an approximate time waveform that is a time waveform obtained by a difference or a weighted difference between a first cumulative distribution function that is a cumulative distribution function of a first unimodal distribution and a second cumulative distribution function that is a cumulative distribution function of a second unimodal distribution, or upon approximating the target time waveform by an approximate time waveform that is a time waveform obtained by adding a level value to a difference or a weighted difference between a first cumulative distribution function that is a cumulative distribution function of a first unimodal distribution and a second cumulative distribution function that is a cumulative distribution function of a second unimodal distribution, acquires at least one of at least some parameters of parameters identifying the first unimodal distribution, at least some parameters of parameters identifying the first cumulative distribution function, at least some parameters of parameters identifying the second unimodal distribution [e.g. abstract, “clause 1”, p. 78: lines 8-20], or at least some parameters of parameters identifying the second cumulative distribution function as a parameter indicating activity of a myocardium of the heart [e.g. p. 47: lines 13-15]. In reference to claim 7, Weng discloses wherein each unimodal distribution is a Gaussian distribution [e.g. p. 89: line 1]. Allowable Subject Matter Claim 4 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The closest prior art of Weng fails to discloses a fifth unimodal distribution. Claims 5 and 6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The closest prior art of Weng fails to disclose a potential at a starting end of a target time waveform as the level value when the waveform is an R wave, and a potential at an end of a target time waveform as the level value when the waveform is a T wave. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NADIA AHMAD MAHMOOD whose telephone number is (571)270-3975. 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, David Hamaoui can be reached at 571-270-5625. 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. /NADIA A MAHMOOD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3796
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 31, 2023
Application Filed
Apr 06, 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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
68%
Grant Probability
78%
With Interview (+10.4%)
2y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 345 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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