Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/175,132

RESONATOR-BASED FILTER

Final Rejection §102
Filed
Feb 27, 2023
Examiner
PATEL, RAKESH BHASKARBHAI
Art Unit
2843
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Texas Instruments Incorporated
OA Round
3 (Final)
92%
Grant Probability
Favorable
4-5
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 92% — above average
92%
Career Allow Rate
870 granted / 950 resolved
+23.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+13.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
974
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
38.4%
-1.6% vs TC avg
§102
33.4%
-6.6% vs TC avg
§112
20.0%
-20.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 950 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION Response to Amendment Notice to Applicant The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . 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. In the amendment dated 12/22/2025, the following has occurred: Claims 1, 11, 15, 17-19, and 24 have been amended. Claims 1-15 and 17-24 are pending. 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102 Claims 1-2, 5-6, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Alicioglu et al. US Patent 10,848,126. As per claims 1-3, 5-6, 14, Alicioglu et al. discloses in Fig. 4 an integrated circuit (IC), comprising: as per claim 1, a filter circuit (e.g. band pass filter 400) having a first terminal (e.g. node 431) and a second terminal (e.g. node 468), the filter circuit including: a first resonator (e.g. resonator 412) coupled between the first terminal and the second terminal, wherein the first resonator is electrically coupled to the second terminal (The resonator 412 is directly coupled to the node 468.); a first inductor (e.g. inductor 462) coupled between the second terminal and a reference terminal (The inductor 462 is connected between node 468 and ground via node 432.); and a second resonator (e.g. resonator 422) and a second inductor (e.g. inductor 455) coupled between the first terminal and the reference terminal (The inductor 455 is electrically connected between node 431 and ground.), wherein the filter circuit is configurable to provide a signal at one of the first or second terminals responsive to a combination of a first current conducted by the first resonator and a second current conducted by the second resonator (A signal is provided to the node 468 that is responsive to a combination of a “first current” via resonator 412 and “a second current” via resonator 422 through circuit 424.); as per claim 2, wherein the first resonator and the second resonator are configured as a band pass filter (Resonators 412 and 422 are a portion of band pass filter 400.); as per claim 5, wherein the reference terminal is a ground terminal (e.g. ground); as per claim 6, wherein the first and second resonators are bulk-acoustic wave resonators (Col. 3 lines 61-64, BAW resonators); and as per claim 14, a third inductor (e.g. inductor 454) electrically coupled between the first terminal and the reference terminal. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3-4, 7-13, and 24 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. Claims 15 and 17-23 are allowed. See reasons for allowance in the office action dated 9/24/2025. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-10 of Applicant’s Remarks, filed 12/22/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-3, 5-6, and 14 under 35 USC 102(a)(1) and claim 4 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive (Sellers (of record) does not disclose “the first resonator being electrically coupled to the second terminal”.). Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made for claims 1-2, 5-6, and 14 in view of a newly cited reference Alicioglu et al. under 35 USC 102(a)(1) as explained above. Because Applicant’s amendments to claim 1 necessitated a new ground of rejection, this action has been made final necessitated by amendment. 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 RAKESH PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-0961. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F. 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, Andrea Lindgren-Baltzell can be reached at 571-272-5918. 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. /RAKESH B PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 27, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 13, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102
May 19, 2025
Response Filed
Sep 08, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Sep 09, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Sep 19, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102
Dec 22, 2025
Response Filed
Mar 05, 2026
Final Rejection — §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

4-5
Expected OA Rounds
92%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+13.4%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 950 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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