Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/278,987

EVOLUTIONAL DEEP NEURAL NETWORKS

Non-Final OA §101
Filed
Aug 25, 2023
Examiner
WALKER, MICHAEL JARED
Art Unit
3627
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
The Johns Hopkins University
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
56%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 56% of resolved cases
56%
Career Allow Rate
153 granted / 271 resolved
+4.5% vs TC avg
Strong +31% interview lift
Without
With
+30.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
302
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
34.6%
-5.4% vs TC avg
§103
28.4%
-11.6% vs TC avg
§102
15.3%
-24.7% vs TC avg
§112
16.0%
-24.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 271 resolved cases

Office Action

§101
DETAILED ACTION 1. Claims 1-7 are currently pending. The effective filing date of the present application is 3/8/2021 . Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 3. 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows: Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. 4. Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed a non-statutory subject matter . 5 . Claim 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Under the claims’ broadest reasonable interpretation, the claim is directed to a transitory signal, or “signal per se.” “A signal per se” has been found to be ineligible subject matter. See In re Nuijten , 500 F.3d 1346, 1354 (Fed. Cir. 2007). The examiner recommends Applicant amend the claim to include “One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media . . . .” The claim reads “ A computer executable medium comprising non-transient computer- executable code ,” which under BRI the medium could be a transitory signal. Allowable Subject Matter 6. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The reason for allowable subject matter of claims 1-7 in the instant application is because the prior art of record fails to teach the overall combination as claimed. Therefore, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the prior art to meet the combination above without unequivocal hindsight and one of ordinary skill would have no reason to do so. The nearest art, Lenc 2020 / 0234142 and Comti 2019 / 0188571 , does not teach modifying said set of neural network parameters for said prediction time to provide a prediction set of neural network parameters that is used to replace an immediately prior set of neural network parameters in said neural network to provide a predicted spatial representation of said system at said prediction time using said neural network, and wherein each of said modifying said set of neural network parameters for each intermediate time and for said prediction time is based on a time-dependent property of said partial differential equation without further training of said neural net work . Upon further searching the examiner could not identify any prior art to teach these limitations. The prior art on record, alone or in combination, neither anticipates, reasonably teaches, not renders obvious the Applicant' s claimed invention. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See Notice of References Cited, PTO form 892. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT MICHAEL JARED WALKER whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (303)297-4407 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Thursday 9:00 AM -5:00 PM CT . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Fahd Obeid can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-3324 . 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. /MICHAEL JARED WALKER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627 Michael.walker@uspto.gov
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 25, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 14, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §101 (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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
56%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+30.6%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 271 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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