Prosecution Insights
Last updated: September 17, 2026
Application No. 18/128,147

ADJUSTABLE FIXTURE ASSEMBLY FOR LASER MARKING OBJECTS

Final Rejection §112
Filed
Mar 29, 2023
Priority
Mar 22, 2023 — CIP of 12/434,334
Examiner
BELAY, DILNESSA B
Art Unit
3761
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
Lmtgpr LLC
OA Round
2 (Final)
62%
Grant Probability
Moderate
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 62% of resolved cases
62%
Career Allowance Rate
140 granted / 224 resolved
-7.5% vs TC avg
Strong +25% interview lift
Without
With
+24.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 5m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
246
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
52.6%
+12.6% vs TC avg
§102
19.6%
-20.4% vs TC avg
§112
23.6%
-16.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 224 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 . Response to Amendment The amendment filed on 06/08/2026 has been entered. As directed by the amendment: Claims 1, 11 and 18 are amended. Claim 9 is cancelled. Thus, claims 1 – 8 and 10 – 18 are currently pending. Applicant’s arguments regarding the Non-Final rejection on 03/02/2026 have been fully considered and the following Final Rejection is made herein. Specification The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: the specification in ¶ 0014, line 22 and ¶ 0035, line 17, “inserted to” should be “inserted into." Further, ¶0014, line 24 and ¶ 0035, line 19, “second mail connector" should be “second male connector". Appropriate correction is required. Drawings The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “80” has been used to designate different elements (that appear to be the “brake device” and the “extension element”) in FIG.1. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. The drawings are also objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “at least one clamping element” in claim 4, “a brake device” in claim 7 and claim 18 and “three clamping elements” in claim 18 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Claim Objections Regarding claim 1, this claim included the entire limitation of cancelled claim 9 “…said first part presents at least one inclined surface, said first part including a bottom surface to be connected to said tongue section…” in lines 9 – 11 of the claim. However, this limitation is not indicated fully underlined as the amended claim 1 partially underlines the limitation as “…said first part presents at least one inclined surface, said first part including a bottom surface to be connected to said tongue section…”. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 1 – 8 inherit this objection by virtue of their dependency. Further, this claim: in line 5, "including" should be "includes", in line 7, "includes" should be "including", in line 8, "includes" should be "including", inline 10, "presents" should be "presenting", in line 13, "mover" should be "moved". Regarding claim 2, “including" should be "includes." Regarding claim 3, “between said first end, said second end.” should be "between said first end and said second end." Regarding claim 4, this claim recites "the first axis A" but a reference character “A” for the first axis is absent from recitation of the term in the claims elsewhere, and it should be stricken out here for consistency and uniformity. Regarding claim 5, this claim recites "both side edges" but the claim introduces this element simply as "side edges" with no hint that there are two side edges. Thus, in line 2 of the claim, “side edges”, should be amended to clarify that there are two side edges. Further, in line 4, "extend" should be "extending" and "cradle" should be "cradle member". Regarding claim 6, in line 2, “…a tower device is engaged with at least one of said tracks and is slidable movable along…” should be “… a tower device engaged with at least one of said tracks and being slidable movable along…”. Further, in line 3, "includes" should be "including." Regarding claim 7, in line 2, "handle is connected to …" should be “handle connected to …”. Regarding claim 8, in line 3, "extend" should be "extends" Regarding claim 12, this claim recites "…a bracket section…" and claim 1 already recites “…a bracket section…" in line 9 the claim. Thus, this claim should be amended to recite “…the bracket section…”, if this claim is amended to establish dependency to claim 1. Regarding claim 15, in line 3, should be amended to recite "…wherein said insert member is inserted into…". Regarding claim 16, this claim objected to because of the following informalities: this claim appears to have typographical error in “…fixed by a second mail connector…” meant to read “… male connector…”. Appropriate correction is required. Regarding claim 17, lines 1–2, should be amended to recite "…a laser marking device that marks the pistol…”, in line 2, the recitation of “…said cradle…” (twice) should be amended to recite "…said cradle member…" and line 3, “…rotate about the axis...” should recite "…rotate about the first axis…”. Regarding claim 18, this claim recites “…a second end, a pair of side walls, and a pair of tracks extending between said first end, said a second end …”, lines 3 – 4 of the claim, and the term “said a second end” appears to have typographical error meant to read “said [[a]] second end”. Further, in line 2, “with laser” should be "with a laser”, in line 4, “between said first end, said a second end" should be "between said first end and said second end", in line 8, "including" should be "includes", in line 10, "includes" should be "including", in line 12, this claim recites "both side edges" but the claim introduces this element simply as "side edges" with no hint that there are two side edges. Thus, in line 12 of the claim, “side edges”, should be amended to clarify that there are two side edges, in line 12, "extend" should be "extending", in line 13, "cradle" should be "cradle member”, in line 14 - 15, “…a tower device is engaged with at least one of said tracks and is slidable movable along…” should be “… a tower device is engaged with at least one of said tracks and being slidable movable along…”, in line 15, "includes" should be "including”, in line 18, "a handle is connected to…" should be "a handle connected to…" , in line 22, "extend" should be "extends", in line 25, "includes" should be "including", in line 28, "are" should be "being" in line 31, "said opening" (twice) should be “one of said plurality of openings”, in line 33, "C-shape bracket" should be "a C-shape bracket" in line 34, “male connectors are used” should be “male connectors used”, in lines 37–38, "inserted to" should be "inserted into", in line 39, "relative an axis" should be "relative to an axis”, in line 39, "second mail connector" should "second male connector" and in line 40, recites "any of said openings" but the claim is not clear whether these are the openings of the inclined surface or those of the insert member. Thus, the claim should be amended so clarify that these openings are of the insert member. 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 10 – 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Regarding Claim 10, this claim recites “…a plurality of openings are defined in said inclined surface” and there is insufficient antecedent basis for "said inclined surface” limitation in the claim, rendering the claim indefinite. Claims 11 – 17 inherit this rejection by virtue of their dependency. Regarding claims 10 – 17, claim 10 depends on the now cancelled claim 9 and claims 11 – 17 indirectly depend from the cancelled claim 9. Thus, it is unclear which claim, claims 10 -17, are depending from, rendering the claims indefinite. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1 – 8 and 10 – 18 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objection and rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed on 03/20/2026, see Remarks pages 9 – 10, have been fully considered and the following response is given herein. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE STATEMENT The Office notes that references listed in the specification do not constitute a proper Information Disclosure Statement. Applicant acknowledges this procedural requirement and will submit a separate IDS in compliance with 37 C.F.R. § 1.97 and §1.98 if necessary. The examiner notes, there is neither an Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed in the application nor the examiner commented on any IDS in the Non-Final Rejection on 03/02/2026. RESPONSE TO SPECIFICATION OBJECTION (37 C.F.R. § 1.75(d)(1)) Applicant amended paragraph [0032] to render the objection to the specification moot. The examiner agrees the amendment overcomes the objection to the specification in the Non-final rejection. As such, those objections are withdrawn. OBJECTION TO THE CLIAMS Applicant amended claims 1 and 11 to render the Examiner's objections of said claims 1 and 11 moot. The examiner agrees the amendment overcomes the respective claim objections in the Non-final rejection. As such, those objections are withdrawn. RESPONSE TO INDEFINITENESS REJECTIONS UNDER 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. § 112 (pre-AIA ) Applicant amended claims 1, 4, and 18 to render the Examiner's rejections of said claims 1, 4, and 18 moot. The examiner agrees the amendment overcomes the respective indefiniteness rejections in the Non-final rejection. As such, those rejections are withdrawn. RESPONSE TO DRAWINGS OBJECTION The Examiner objected to the Drawings. Applicant amended paragraph [0032] to render the objection to the drawings moot. The examiner respectfully disagrees. The amendment to paragraph [0032] of the specification only addresses the objection to the specification. Thus, the drawing objections are maintained herein. RESPONSE TO REJECTION UNDER 35 U.S.C. § 103 The claims are marked allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the above objection and rejection(s). 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 DILNESSA B BELAY whose telephone number is (571)272-3136. The examiner can normally be reached M-F approx. 8:00 am - 5:30 pm EST. 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, Steven Crabb can be reached at (571)270-5095. 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. /DILNESSA B BELAY/Examiner, Art Unit 3761 /JOHN J NORTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3761
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 29, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Mar 19, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 19, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 08, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 17, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §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
62%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+24.9%)
3y 5m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 224 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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