Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/095,726

SUBSTRATE HANDLING DEVICE

Final Rejection §112
Filed
Jan 11, 2023
Examiner
LEE, AIDEN Y
Art Unit
1718
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Yield Engineering Systems Inc.
OA Round
2 (Final)
47%
Grant Probability
Moderate
3-4
OA Rounds
1m
Est. Remaining
73%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 47% of resolved cases
47%
Career Allowance Rate
224 granted / 479 resolved
-18.2% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+25.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 6m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
514
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
86.1%
+46.1% vs TC avg
§102
1.6%
-38.4% vs TC avg
§112
6.6%
-33.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 479 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . DETAILED ACTION Response to Amendment Applicants' amendment of the claims, filed on 04/13/2026, in response to the rejection of claims 1-18 from the non-final office action, mailed on 01/13/2026, by amending claims 1-2, 4-7, 10-17, 20, is acknowledged and will be addressed below. Claim Objections Claim(s) is/are objected to because of the following informalities: (1) The “configured to removably coupled to a central hub” of Claim 1 should be: “configured to be removably coupled to a central hub”. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. Claim 3 is 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. (1) The “wherein the first substrate support includes a post extending transverse to an arm of the plurality of arms that the substrate support is coupled to, and wherein the temperature detector is configured to extend through the post to contact the substrate” of Claim 3 is not clear, because of the “an arm of the plurality of arms that the substrate support is coupled to”. First, does the “an arm” means “the first arm” or “the second arm” of Claim 1? Second, does the “the substrate support” means “the first substrate support” or “the second substrate support” of Claim 1? Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-2 and 4-20 are allowed. Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AIDEN Y LEE whose telephone number is (571)270-1440. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 9am-5pm PT. 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, Gordon Baldwin can be reached on 571-272-5166. 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. /AIDEN LEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1718
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 11, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Mar 09, 2026
Interview Requested
Mar 12, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Mar 12, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Apr 13, 2026
Response Filed
May 20, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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METHOD FOR CRYSTALLIZATION OF METAL OXIDE THIN FILM BY USING THERMAL DISSIPATION ANNEALING
2y 2m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12633503
PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS
3y 8m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12626890
SUBSTRATE TREATING APPARATUS
4y 0m to grant Granted May 12, 2026
Patent 12628587
ETCHING METHOD AND ETCHING APPARATUS
3y 7m to grant Granted May 12, 2026
Patent 12620560
APPARATUS FOR TREATING SUBSTRATE AND METHOD FOR ALIGNING DIELECTRIC PLATE USING THE SAME
3y 2m to grant Granted May 05, 2026
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
47%
Grant Probability
73%
With Interview (+25.8%)
3y 6m (~1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 479 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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