Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 27, 2026
Application No. 18/353,638

HIGH SPEED WAVEFORM ACQUISITIONS AND HISTOGRAMS USING GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT IN A TEST AND MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jul 17, 2023
Priority
Jul 21, 2022 — provisional 63/391,288
Examiner
NGUYEN, LAM S
Art Unit
2853
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Tektronix Inc.
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
2-3
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
79%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allowance Rate
1127 granted / 1429 resolved
+10.9% vs TC avg
Minimal +0% lift
Without
With
+0.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
54 currently pending
Career history
1493
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.2%
-36.8% vs TC avg
§103
46.2%
+6.2% vs TC avg
§102
33.7%
-6.3% vs TC avg
§112
8.0%
-32.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1429 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 Objections Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the first type” on line 14 should be corrected as “the x-type”. Appropriate correction is required. 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 13, 15, and 19 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. Regarding to claim 13: In the limitation “increasing a count for a target pixel by one for each sample that occurs in a location of the target pixel” (lines 13-14), it is unclear where “each sample” comes from; as a result, the scope of the claim cannot be determined. Claims 15 and 19 are rejected because they depend on claim 13. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1, 6, 10, and 12 are allowed over the cited prior art. Regarding to claim 1: The primary reasons for the indication of the allowability of the claim is the inclusions therein, in combination as currently claimed, of the limitation that group the multiple threads into groups of an x-type of group corresponding to a set of rows in the batch histogram; assign each thread group of the x-type of group to one column in the raster plane, wherein each waveform has a number of samples equal to the number of columns in the raster plane; execute a common instruction per for each thread group of the first type, the instruction to populate the raster plane with data from the digitized waveform by increasing a count for a target pixel by one for each sample that occurs in a location of the target pixel is neither disclosed nor taught by the cited prior art of record, alone or in combination. Claims 6, 10, and 12 are allowed because they depend directly/indirectly on claim 1. 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 LAM S NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2151. 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, DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ, can be reached on 571-431-0716. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /LAM S NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2853
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 17, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
May 26, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 06, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §112
Oct 06, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
79%
Grant Probability
79%
With Interview (+0.3%)
2y 8m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1429 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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