Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/230,629

DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 05, 2023
Examiner
AKHAVANNIK, HADI
Art Unit
2676
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Sony Europe B V
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allow Rate
843 granted / 980 resolved
+24.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+12.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
41 currently pending
Career history
1021
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.5%
-29.5% vs TC avg
§103
46.5%
+6.5% vs TC avg
§102
31.9%
-8.1% vs TC avg
§112
2.9%
-37.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 980 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 . Response to Arguments Regarding the amendment, please see the rejection below incorporating Tekin (20220230079). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. Claim(s) 1-5, 7-16, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Power (20200276474) in further view of Tekin (20220230079) in further view of Lucey (20180032858). Regarding claim 1, Power teaches a data processing apparatus comprising circuitry configured to (pars. 28-33): obtain an image of a person participating in a sport (par. 34); determine, using the image, pose information indicative of a pose of the person (pars. 42 and 58); Tekin teaches determine a classification of classify an event of the sport based on the pose information determined, wherein the event of the sport is one of a scoring of a point in the sport or a pass to another person (par. 4, 55 and 91, labeling possible action labels); It would have been obvious prior to the effective filing date of the invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in Power the ability to recognize an action as taught by Tekin. The reason is to allow the system to predict. Lucey teaches determine, using historical information indicative of a relationship between the determined pose information and a probability of an occurrence of the event of the sport and based on the classification of the event of the sport, a probability of the occurrence of the event of the sport (pars. 3-4and 44); and output the determined probability of the occurrence of the event of the sport (par. 4). It would have been obvious prior to the effective filing date of the invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in Power and Tekin the ability to use historical plays in a database to help predict as taught by Lucey. The reason is to improve prediction. Regarding claim 2, see par. 42 of Power, hip orientation, shoulder alignment and angles. Regarding claim 3, see par. 53 of Power, foot height for volley. Regarding claim 4, see par. 42 of Power, goalkeeper. Regarding claim 5, see par. 58 of Power. Regarding claim 7, see par. 41. Regarding claim 8, Lucey teaches wherein the event is a successful pass from the person to another person participating in the football match (see par. 44 of Lucey). Regarding claim 9, see pars. 44-48 of Lucey, playbook. Regarding claim 10, see par. 63 of Lucey. Regarding claim 11, see par. 58 of Lucey. Regarding claims 12-16, see the rejection of claims 1-5. Regarding clams 18, see the rejection of claim 7. Regarding claim 20, see the rejection of claim 1. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. Claim(s) 6 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Power in view of Tekin, in view of Lucey and in further view of Hermansen (20200023235). Regarding claim 6, Power teaches determining, using the pose information in the rejection of claim 1 and Power teaches scoring probability in pars. 41-43. Hermansen teaches an amount by which a goal area is obscured from a position on a football pitch (pars. 45-46 and 82-84); and determining the probability of the occurrence of the event of the sport using the determined proportion of the goal area (pars. 83-86, kick optimization) It would have been obvious prior to the effective filing date of the invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to include in Power, Tekin and Lucey the ability to take different factors like occlusion into account as taught by Hermansen. The reason is to model based on different conditions. Regarding claim 17, see the rejection of claim 6. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HADI AKHAVANNIK whose telephone number is (571)272-8622. The examiner can normally be reached 9 AM - 5 PM Monday to Friday. 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, Henok Shiferaw can be reached at (571) 272-4637. 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. /HADI AKHAVANNIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2676
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Prosecution Timeline

Aug 05, 2023
Application Filed
Jul 18, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Oct 03, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 30, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Jan 05, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 27, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Mar 02, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
86%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+12.7%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 980 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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