Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 17, 2026
Application No. 18/288,359

MACHINE FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL BREADING OF FOOD

Non-Final OA §102§112
Filed
Oct 25, 2023
Examiner
SULTANA, NAHIDA
Art Unit
1743
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
unknown
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allow Rate
1014 granted / 1298 resolved
+13.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+8.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
36 currently pending
Career history
1334
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
47.1%
+7.1% vs TC avg
§102
23.4%
-16.6% vs TC avg
§112
21.2%
-18.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1298 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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. 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 1- 4 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. Claim 1 recites “the transfer conveyor” in line 5, and claim 1 initially recites “transport conveyor”. Claim as written is vague and indefinite as it is unclear whether “transfer conveyor” is same or different from “transport conveyor” as recited earlier. The dependent claims are rejected for the same reasons as stated above. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Crisp Holding (EP 2481294 A1). Regarding claim 1, Crisp Holding teaches a powder coating apparatus for food (see Figs 1- 4) , comprising: a transport conveyor (40) that transports food in a row; a breadcrumb supply unit that sprinkles breadcrumbs on the food that is transferred in a row at an upper part of the transfer conveyor (51) ; and a pressure part (44) installed on a path of the transfer conveyor and pressing the upper and side surfaces of the food with the breadcrumbs to adhere the breadcrumbs to the food (see Fig. 2-4; see example 6, and description regarding Fig. 4 which states “ An endless conveyor (40) passing over a guide plate (46) receives battered substrate pieces (41). A supply of 2mm crumb (42) contained in hopper (43) has an outlet extending across the width of the conveyor (40). Additional crumb may be added through inlets (51). Excess crumb (45) passing through the chain link conveyor (40) is collected by screw lift (47) and ejected into the top (48) of the hopper (43). A roller (44) serves to compress the crumb onto the surface of the substrate particles. An air blower (49) removes excess crumb from the coated particles, following which the particles (50) pass to a second crumb application station (Stage 8) for application of lighter grist crumb for infill between the larger crumb applied in Stage 7. The configuration of the batter crumb applicator (25) is similar to that of the first crumb applicator (24) ”) . Allowable Subject Matter Claim s 2-5 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the 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 and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure : US 6,881,429 B2 . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT NAHIDA SULTANA whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-1925 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Mon-Friday (8:30 AM -5:00 PM) . 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 Galen Hauth can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-270-5516 . 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. FILLIN "Examiner Stamp" \* MERGEFORMAT NAHIDA SULTANA Primary Examiner Art Unit 1743 /NAHIDA SULTANA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1743
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 25, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
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
78%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+8.5%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1298 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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