Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/166,254

ANTENNA MOUNT EXTENSION BRACKET WITH A RETENTION AND ALIGNMENT CLIP

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Feb 08, 2023
Examiner
WUJCIAK, ALFRED J
Art Unit
3636
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
VIAVI SOLUTIONS INC.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allow Rate
869 granted / 1167 resolved
+22.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
29 currently pending
Career history
1196
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
33.2%
-6.8% vs TC avg
§102
31.6%
-8.4% vs TC avg
§112
27.9%
-12.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1167 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . This is the non-final Office Action for the serial number 18/166,254, ANTENNA MOUNT EXTENSION BRACKET WITH A RETENTION AND ALIGNMENT CLIP, filed on 2/8/23. The final office action mailed on 9/8/25 has been withdrawn in view of new ground rejection, any inconvenience is regretted. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claims 1-5, 7 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent # 6,546,684 to Waalkes et al., in view of US Patent # 6,023,249 to Fujita et al and in further view of US Patent Application Publication # 2023/0411842 to Kim et al. Waalkes et al. teaches a mounting bracket comprising a base bracket (8) comprising a slot (16, 71) and an extension bracket (11) comprising a retention clip (13, 48) configured to be inserted into the slot. The retention clip and the slot forming a retention mechanism that engaging using a forward weight of an object. The retention clip is configured to be released when the extension bracket is pushed forward and then raised. The retention clip is configured to slide to different positions within the slot. The extension bracket is configured to be locked to the base bracket at each of the different positions of the retention clip within the slot. The extension bracket is configured to be mounted to the base bracket through a one hand operation. The retention clip is configured to engage a back side of the slot. The retention clip is formed integrally with the extension bracket. The retention clip is attached to the extension bracket. Waalkes et al. teaches the mounting bracket but fails to teach the mounting bracket for mounting an antenna alignment device being configured to measure at least one of a roll, tilt or azumith of the antenna. Fujita et al. teaches the antenna alignment device (4) installed in the office partitions (column 1, lines 30-42). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have included the antenna alignment device in Waalkes et al.’s office partitions as taught by Fujita et al. to improve the appearance of the office partition (column 1, lines 30-42 in Fujita’s invention). Waalkes et al in view of Fujita et al. teaches the antenna alignment device but fails to teach the antenna alignment device is configured to measure at least one of a roll, tilt , or azimuth of the antenna. Kim et al. teaches the antenna alignment device (section 0007) is being configured to measure roll, tilt and azimuth of antenna. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Waalkes et al. in view of Fugita et al.’s antenna alignment device with measuring the roll, tilt and azimuth of antenna as taught by Kim et al. “without putting a worker in a field of a mobile communication base station, and to adjust a tilting angle and an orientation angle of the antenna so that the antenna has a target spatial orientation” (section 0007 in Kim et al.’s invention). Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Waalkes et al. in view of Fujita et al., Kim et al. and in further view of US Patent Application Publication # 2018/0116427 to Gupta et al. Waalkes et al. teaches the base bracket and the extension bracket but fails to teach the base bracket and the extension bracket are made of aluminum. Gupta et al. teaches the aluminum (section 0081). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Waalkes et al.’s base bracket and extension bracket with aluminum as taught by Gupta et al. to reduce weight in the base bracket and the extension bracket. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Waalkes et al. in view of Fujita et al., Kim et al. in further view of US Patent Application Publication # 2024/0218966 to Xu et al. Waalkes et al. teaches the slot but fails to teach the slot has an oblique front side. Xu et al. teaches the slot (166) having the oblique (section 0031). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Waalkes et al.’s slot with oblique as taught by Xu et al. to allow the extension bracket to rotate with respect to the base bracket (see section 0031 in Xu et al.’s invention). Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-10 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALFRED J WUJCIAK whose telephone number is (571)272-6827. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-3:30pm. 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, Terrell McKinnon can be reached on 571-272-4797. 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. ALFRED J. WUJCIAK Examiner Art Unit 3632 /ALFRED J WUJCIAK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3636 2/27/26
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 08, 2023
Application Filed
Apr 04, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Aug 11, 2025
Response Filed
Sep 05, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Dec 08, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 12, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Feb 12, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Feb 24, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Feb 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12601191
PROP-BRACE COUPLER FOR CONSTRUCTION PLATFORM
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12587132
PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULE CLAMP ASSEMBLY
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12571342
Engine-Generator Set
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12571497
MOUNTING SYSTEM
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12571495
DISPLAY MOUNTING SUPPORT
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 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
74%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+12.1%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 1167 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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