Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/429,800

METHOD FOR PROVIDING CHARGING SERVICE

Final Rejection §103§112
Filed
Feb 01, 2024
Examiner
SHARMA, SHIVAM
Art Unit
3665
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
OA Round
2 (Final)
44%
Grant Probability
Moderate
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
43%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 44% of resolved cases
44%
Career Allow Rate
15 granted / 34 resolved
-7.9% vs TC avg
Minimal -1% lift
Without
With
+-1.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
49 currently pending
Career history
83
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
11.8%
-28.2% vs TC avg
§103
44.8%
+4.8% vs TC avg
§102
19.4%
-20.6% vs TC avg
§112
24.0%
-16.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 34 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §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 . Status of Claims This action is reply to the Application Number 18/429,800 filed on 11/07/2025 Claims 1 and 4 are currently pending and have been examined. Claims 2 – 3 and 5 have been cancelled. Claim 1 has been amended. This action is made FINAL 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 and 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 states: “the privilege information including a discount coupon that has a higher discount rate as an amount of time required to use the charging service is shorter;”, however it is indefinite on how the system is able to gather the amount of time required to use the charging service. The claim teaches “acquiring, from a terminal device of a user, usage date and time information indicating a date and time the user wants to use the charging service;”, not mentioning gathering the amount of time required to use the charging service. The discount rate of the discount coupon cannot be determined without the amount of time required to use the charging service. Due to this indefiniteness, any art teaching sending a discount coupon based on the privilege information will be broadly interpreted as the claim limitation. Claim 4 is also rejected as being dependent upon claim 1. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 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. Claims 1 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dubiella et al. (DE 102009042627 A1), further in view of Niwa et al. (US 20190126768 A1) and Kubo et al. (US 20210158230 A1). Regarding claim 1, Dubiella teaches acquiring, from a terminal device of a user, usage date and time information indicating a date and time the user wants to use the charging service; after the usage date and time information is acquired, (Dubiella: Paragraph 0009: “above, a user of a vehicle with an at least partially electric drive is supported with regard to free driving without having to plan in advance the charging of an energy storage device, such as a battery, for the at least partially electric drive. Rather, an ad-hoc search for available charging stations is possible where the vehicle can be charged with at least a partial electric drive. The equipment required to carry out the procedure in the vehicle is simple and convenient for the user to operate and the procedure can also be easily integrated into an active navigation system.”; Paragraph 0050: “In a step S100, a query of position data is generated in the vehicle display device 1, such as a vehicle navigation system. This query takes into account a range that can, for example, be specified in advance by a vehicle user or preset. The range can be defined as the distance from the vehicle to a charging station 2 if no destination for route guidance of the vehicle is specified in the vehicle display device 1, or can be defined as a distance from a destination to a charging station 2 if a destination for route guidance is defined in the vehicle display device.”; Paragraph 0051: “This query of position data is sent to charging stations 2 within range of the vehicle or the destination.”; Paragraphs 0055 – 0056: “it is also possible for a user to select a charging station 2 in step S500' using, for example, the position data displayed in step S600 or the status data displayed in step S700. Using the selected charging station 2, a route can be guided to the selected charging station 2, where the vehicle can then be charged.”; Paragraph 0058: “The necessary communication processes between the vehicle and charging stations 2 or one or more other charging stations 2 that have appropriate information about charging stations 2 can be carried out, for example, via respective queries using GPRS. During these communication processes, the vehicle can query the status of a respective charging station 2 and, if necessary, reserve a suitable available charging station 2. The reservation can be made, for example, via remote access (mobile device, PC, etc.). In this way, the user is assured that, based on the reservation, he or she can charge the vehicle after reaching the suitable available charging station 2 without having to wait due to charging station 2 being occupied. The reservation may, for example, also include a reservation time and/or duration.”, Supplemental Note: the system is able to predict charging locations on route to a destination in which the user is able to select on the navigational interface of which of the charging stations to reserve for what time) … after the preference information is acquired, selecting a facility according to the preference information; after the facility is selected, (Dubiella: Paragraph 0050: “In a step S100, a query of position data is generated in the vehicle display device 1, such as a vehicle navigation system. This query takes into account a range that can, for example, be specified in advance by a vehicle user or preset. The range can be defined as the distance from the vehicle to a charging station 2 if no destination for route guidance of the vehicle is specified in the vehicle display device 1, or can be defined as a distance from a destination to a charging station 2 if a destination for route guidance is defined in the vehicle display device.”; Paragraph 0051: “This query of position data is sent to charging stations 2 within range of the vehicle or the destination.”, Supplemental Note: the user is able to set a preference of the range the chargers are to be) acquiring parking lot information indicating a parking lot attached to the facility and available for the charging service, (Dubiella: Paragraph 0071: “A satellite image 90 of a parking lot is displayed as the background image. This allows a vehicle user to better orient themselves when searching for a free charging station. The available charging stations are symbolized here by colored circles 100, for example. In this example, 3 charging stations out of a total of 30 recorded charging stations are available. The nearest charging station is indicated here by a differently colored ring 60”, Supplemental Note: the user can view on the map if a parking lot is part of the charging facility based on the satellite map) the parking lot information indicating a parking space in which the vehicle and the power supply vehicle (taught in combination with Niwa) can be parked, and including coordinates on a map, a parking lot number, and a mark of entrance of the parking lot; after the parking lot information is acquired, (Dubiella: Paragraph 0062: “For communication with the navigation system, the charging stations 2 send data on usage, charge level, etc. to the vehicle or a corresponding mobile device for remote access, to a provider, or the like. Specifically, the charging stations 2 will send navigation or location coordinates and, if applicable, the status of the charging stations 2 (available or not).Data transmission can be carried out via GPRS, for example.”; Paragraphs 0075 – 0076: “In the representations shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, the vehicle is represented by the vehicle symbol 30 in the center of the radar screen. This refers to the case where locating available charging stations 1 is carried out based on the current position of the vehicle 1. Alternatively, instead of the vehicle symbol 30 as the center of the display, a target position can be displayed which is determined by a current route guidance carried out by the vehicle display device 1, such as a vehicle navigation system.”, Supplemental Note: the navigation system is able to send location coordinates of a charging station. The address of the parking lot is interpreted as the parking lot number as it identifies the parking lot, shown in Figure A below. The parking space is indicated by ring 60 while the entrance of the lot can be seen on the satellite imagery, thus marked as the entrance. The navigation system will route the user to the parking spot, thus marking the entrance to the parking lot enroute to the parking spot) PNG media_image1.png 661 813 media_image1.png Greyscale Figure A - Dubiella: FIg. 4 acquiring congestion information indicating a degree of congestion in the selected facility for each predetermined time period; after the congestion information is acquired, (Dubiella: Paragraph 0068: “In the current situation, the radar is set to a detection radius or range of 500 m, which is indicated in the upper left corner of the display. The current geographical position of the vehicle is shown in the lower left corner of the display. Within the rings 20, the positions of free, i.e. available, charging stations are each indicated by plug symbols 50. The position of each plug symbol 50 on the display indicates to the driver the direction and distance of detected charging stations. In this example, the radar system has detected a total of 30 charging stations, of which only 4 are free. These numbers are shown in the bottom right corner of the diagram.”, Supplemental Note: congestion information is interpreted as how many available chargers there are which the vehicle map can display) determining, based on the usage date and time information and the congestion information, whether the date and time is included in the time period in which the degree of congestion is less than a predetermined value; in a case where the date and time is included in the time period in which the degree of congestion is less than the predetermined value, (Dubiella: Paragraph 0072: “In addition to the satellite image 90, a map section can also be provided as a background image. Further improvements could include displaying a large cluster of charging points close together as a charging island with its own symbol. Furthermore, the radar screen or the navigation display should update as quickly as possible so that the vehicle user can see if a charging point or charging station is no longer available and a new route may need to be initiated. It can also be useful for handling if the radar system automatically selects the nearest charging station, but the user can also choose a different one. This could be achieved by “jumping through” the symbolized charging stations with a central control element. In principle, it is also advantageous for the vehicle display device 1, such as a vehicle navigation system, if the device automatically switches to the short-range radar upon reaching the destination, so that the user of the vehicle can quickly and easily identify any charging stations.”, Supplemental Note: the predetermined value of congestion is equivalent to if a single charger is found at a charging station, if none are available, the system is able to update in real-time another charging station. The map of the charging location is shown to the user along with how many stations are available to charge. The time and date are according to the user’s current trip from the current location to the destination) generating privilege information indicating a privilege available for use at the facility at a time the charging service is used in the parking lot, (Dubiella: Paragraph 0068: “In the current situation, the radar is set to a detection radius or range of 500 m, which is indicated in the upper left corner of the display. The current geographical position of the vehicle is shown in the lower left corner of the display. Within the rings 20, the positions of free, i.e. available, charging stations are each indicated by plug symbols 50. The position of each plug symbol 50 on the display indicates to the driver the direction and distance of detected charging stations. In this example, the radar system has detected a total of 30 charging stations, of which only 4 are free. These numbers are shown in the bottom right corner of the diagram.”; Paragraph 0071: “A satellite image 90 of a parking lot is displayed as the background image. This allows a vehicle user to better orient themselves when searching for a free charging station. The available charging stations are symbolized here by colored circles 100, for example. In this example, 3 charging stations out of a total of 30 recorded charging stations are available. The nearest charging station is indicated here by a differently colored ring 60”, Supplemental Note: the system is able to locate areas which have electrical charging and how many chargers they have available. The claimed privilege information interpreted as how many chargers are available) … after the privilege information is generated, transmitting, to the terminal device, the parking lot information and the privilege information; and (Dubiella: Paragraph 0071: “A satellite image 90 of a parking lot is displayed as the background image. This allows a vehicle user to better orient themselves when searching for a free charging station. The available charging stations are symbolized here by colored circles 100, for example. In this example, 3 charging stations out of a total of 30 recorded charging stations are available. The nearest charging station is indicated here by a differently colored ring 60”) In sum, Dubiella teaches acquiring, from a terminal device of a user, usage date and time information indicating a date and time the user wants to use the charging service; after the usage date and time information is acquired, after the preference information is acquired, selecting a facility according to the preference information; after the facility is selected, acquiring parking lot information indicating a parking lot attached to the facility and available for the charging service the parking lot information indicating a parking space in which the vehicle and the power supply vehicle can be parked, and including coordinates on a map, a parking lot number, and a mark of entrance of the parking lot; after the parking lot information is acquired, acquiring congestion information indicating a degree of congestion in the selected facility for each predetermined time period; after the congestion information is acquired, determining, based on the usage date and time information and the congestion information, whether the date and time is included in the time period in which the degree of congestion is less than a predetermined value; in a case where the date and time is included in the time period in which the degree of congestion is less than the predetermined value, generating privilege information indicating a privilege available for use at the facility at a time the charging service is used in the parking lot, after the privilege information is generated, transmitting, to the terminal device, the parking lot information and the privilege information. Dubiella however does not teach a method that is performed by a control device that is used to provide a charging service in which a power supply vehicle used to charge a vehicle moves to the vehicle and charges the vehicle, the method comprising: transmitting, to the power supply vehicle, an instruction to move to the parking space indicated by the parking lot information at the date and time indicated by the usage date and time information whereas Niwa does. Niwa teaches a method that is performed by a control device that is used to provide a charging service in which a power supply vehicle used to charge a vehicle moves to the vehicle and charges the vehicle, the method comprising: (Niwa: Paragraph 0039: “FIG. 3 shows how electric power is supplied to depleted vehicle 100 from another vehicle 100. With reference to FIG. 3, inlet 155 of vehicle 100 to receive electric power (hereinafter also referred to as “depleted EV 101”) and inlet 155 of vehicle 100 to supply electric power (hereinafter also referred to as “rescue EV 102”) are connected together through a power cable 300.”; Paragraph 0048: “When a help signal requesting power supply from another vehicle 100 is received from depleted EV 101, processor 230 selects, based on the vehicle information stored in vehicle information DB 222, rescue EV 102 to supply power to depleted EV 101 from among a plurality of vehicles 100 (excluding depleted EV 101). Then, processor 230 notifies selected rescue EV 102 of a rescue request to move to depleted EV 101.”) … transmitting, to the power supply vehicle, an instruction to move to the parking space indicated by the parking lot information at the date and time indicated by the usage date and time information. (Niwa: Paragraph 0039: “FIG. 3 shows how electric power is supplied to depleted vehicle 100 from another vehicle 100. With reference to FIG. 3, inlet 155 of vehicle 100 to receive electric power (hereinafter also referred to as “depleted EV 101”) and inlet 155 of vehicle 100 to supply electric power (hereinafter also referred to as “rescue EV 102”) are connected together through a power cable 300.”; Abstract: “A depleted EV transmits first information including a current location of the depleted EV to a server. Each of the other vehicles transmits second information including a current location of the vehicle to the server. When the server receives from the depleted EV a help signal requesting power supply from another vehicle to the depleted EV, the server selects, from among the other vehicles, a rescue EV to supply electric power to the depleted EV, using the first information and the second information.”: Paragraph 0073: “Based on the calculated travel distance between each vehicle 100 and depleted EV 101, server 200 selects vehicle 100 located closest to depleted EV 101 (vehicle 100 having the shortest travel distance to depleted EV 101) as rescue EV 102 to supply power to depleted EV 101 (step S130). Accordingly, rescue EV 102 can be dispatched to depleted EV 101 in a short period of time while power consumption of rescue EV 102 moving to supply power to depleted EV 101 is suppressed.”) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention disclosed by Dubiella with the teachings of Niwa with a reasonable expectation of success. Dubiella and Niwa both teach methods of charging an electric vehicle. Dubiella teaches the ability of the user to view multiple charging locations within vicinity of their current location or destination and reserve a time to charge at that location. Niwa teaches the ability of a rescue EV able to charge a depleted EV by gathering the time the vehicle initiated a charging request and by the location of the vehicle. One with knowledge in the art would find it obvious to try to combine this method with the vehicle system of Dubiella. For example, if the electric vehicle of Dubiella is unable to reach the closest charging station, the ability to call upon a rescue EV to charge the vehicle increases the efficiency of the electric vehicle and improves quality of life for the user. The electric vehicle can now be taken into areas which sparse areas without a charging station as a rescue EV is able to charge the vehicle wherever. This also improves the quality of life for the user as they won’t be stranded with an empty electric vehicle and have peace of mind when traveling that a rescue EV can also be utilized along with the chargers. Dubiella in view of Niwa however still do not teach acquiring preference information, from the terminal device of the user, indicating a preference of the user including sports, beauty, and shopping; the privilege information including a discount coupon that has a higher discount rate as an amount of time required to use the charging service is shorter whereas Kubo does. Kubo teaches acquiring preference information, from the terminal device of the user, indicating a preference of the user including sports, beauty, and shopping; (Kubo: Paragraph 0008: “a controller configured to acquire time slot data indicating an available time slot at a place that provides a service, and generate announcement data announcing a proposal to take a user to the place using a vehicle should the user reserve the time slot indicated by the time slot data; and”; Paragraph 0033: “The first terminal apparatus 30 is held by a staff member of a place 11 that provides a service, such as a restaurant, a beauty salon, a hotel, a clinic, a hospital, a bank, a sports facility, a leisure facility, or an educational facility. Alternatively, the first terminal apparatus 30 is installed at the place 11. The first terminal apparatus 30 is, for example, a mobile device such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, or a tablet, or a PC. The term “PC” is an abbreviation of personal computer.”; Paragraph 0034: “The second terminal apparatus 40 is held by a user 12. Alternatively, the second terminal apparatus 40 is installed at a location at which the user 12 is present or a location through which the user 12 passes”; Paragraph 0038: “In the system 10 according to the present embodiment, announcement data D5 announcing a proposal to take a user 12 to a place 11 that provides a service, using the vehicle 13, should the user 12 reserve an available time slot at the place 11 are transmitted from the control apparatus 20 to the second terminal apparatus 40.”, Supplemental Note: the services can be one of sports, beauty and shopping in which the user can select to reserve a time slot for, thus indicating the user’s preference) … the privilege information including a discount coupon that has a higher discount rate as an amount of time required to use the charging service is shorter; (Kubo: Paragraph 0098: “For example, suppose that each of the plurality of users Z holds a smartphone as the second terminal apparatus 40. The controller 21 of the control apparatus 20 refers to the positional data D4 for each smartphone stored in the memory 22 to select a smartphone for receiving the announcement data D5. Specifically, if the position indicated by the positional data D4 for a smartphone is within the announcement range Rt, the controller 21 selects the smartphone for reception of the announcement data D5. If the position indicated by the positional data D4 for a smartphone is outside the announcement range Rt, the controller 21 excludes the smartphone from receiving the announcement data D5. The communication interface 23 of the control apparatus 20 transmits the announcement data D5 to the smartphone selected by the controller 21. That is, the controller 21 refers to the positional data D4 for each smartphone to determine whether each smartphone is within the announcement range Rt. When a smartphone is within the announcement range Rt, the controller 21 controls the communication interface 23 to transmit the announcement data D5 to the smartphone. The announcement data D5 announces a proposal to take the user 12 to restaurant X by taxi Y should the user 12 reserve the table for two adults at 19:00 on the day. The announcement data D5 may notify that the user 12 can receive a discount in restaurant X should the user 12 accept the proposal. The announcement data D5 may notify that restaurant X bears part or all of the fee of taxi Y.”) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention disclosed by Dubiella with the teachings of Kubo with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would find it obvious to try to implement the teaching of Kubo allowing the user to select their preference of which location they prefer to go with the vehicle system of Dubiella. The system of Dubiella allows the user to select a charging station, thus the ability to also allow the user to select their preference of which facility to visit while their vehicle is charging would be obvious to try. For example, if the user wants to eat while charging their vehicle, the system of Kubo can now alert the user of an available times at a restaurant while stating available charging stations around that location as taught by Dubiella. This improves the quality of life for the user of the vehicle as it allows them to select a charging location in a location they prefer. Without this combination, the user can select any charging station and if there are no other facilities in that area, the user would have to wait for the vehicle to be charged and then proceed to the restaurant. This combination saves time for the user while also incorporating their preference on where to charge, thus would be obvious to try by one with knowledge in the art. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would find it obvious to try to send any discount codes to the user when selecting their preferred location as taught by Kubo. For example, if the user selects to reserve a seat a restaurant, any discount codes can be sent to the user. This saves money for the user if the discount is applicable, thus saving the user time and money as they can now select to charge their vehicle near a facility they prefer while also getting discount codes for the facility. For these reasons, one of ordinary skill in the art would find it obvious to try to combine the reservation system of Kubo with the vehicle system of Dubiella. Regarding claim 4, Dubiella, as modified, teaches further comprising: acquiring facility reservation information indicating whether the facility is available to reserve for each predetermined time period; and (Dubiella: Paragraph 0053: “In a step S500, a charging station 2 is selected in the vehicle display device 1 from the charging stations 2 thus determined and their position and status data. This can be the closest to the vehicle or Destination available charging station 2. In detail, the status data is used to check whether the closest to the vehicle or Charging station 2 located at the destination is available or not. If available, the one closest to the vehicle or Charging station 2 located at the destination is closest to the vehicle or Available charging station 2 located at the destination is selected. If this is not available, the status data is used to check whether the second closest location to the vehicle or Charging station 2 located at the destination is available or not. If available, the second closest location to the vehicle or Charging station 2 located at the destination is closest to the vehicle or Available charging station 2 located at the destination is selected.”, Supplemental Note; the system is able to determine if there are charging stations the vehicle is able to charge, this is interpreted if a reservation is available) determining, based on the usage date and time information and the facility reservation information, whether the date and time is included in the time period in which the facility is available to reserve, and when the date and time is included in the time period, notifying the user of the parking lot information and the privilege information. (Dubiella: Paragraph 0058: “The necessary communication processes between the vehicle and charging stations 2 or one or more other charging stations 2 that have appropriate information about charging stations 2 can be carried out, for example, via respective queries using GPRS. During these communication processes, the vehicle can query the status of a respective charging station 2 and, if necessary, reserve a suitable available charging station 2. The reservation can be made, for example, via remote access (mobile device, PC, etc.). In this way, the user is assured that, based on the reservation, he or she can charge the vehicle after reaching the suitable available charging station 2 without having to wait due to charging station 2 being occupied. The reservation may, for example, also include a reservation time and/or duration.”, Supplemental Note: a reservation can be set to charge a vehicle at a charging station along route from the current location to the destination) Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments, see section Specification of the REMARKS, filed 11/07/2025, with respect to specification objection about the title not being adequately descriptive have been fully considered and are persuasive. The specification objection has been withdrawn. Applicant’s arguments, see section 35 U.S.C. 103 of the REMARKS, filed 11/07/2025, with respect to 35 U.S.C. 103 prior art rejection of claims 1 – 5 have been fully considered but are not persuasive. Applicant states the amendments to claim 1 overcome the 35 U.S.C. 103 prior art rejection by Dubiella in view of Niwa and Quint. Applicant states that neither Dubiella, Niwa or Quint teach the amended claims recited in order, such as "after the usage date and time information is acquired, acquiring preference information, from the terminal device of the user, indicating a preference of the user including sports, beauty, and shopping" and "after the usage date and time information is acquired, acquiring preference information indicating a preference of the user including sports, beauty, and shopping.". Furthermore, Applicant states that none of the claims recite "after the preference information is acquired, selecting a facility according to the preference information." and "after the facility is selected, acquiring parking lot information indicating a parking lot attached to the facility and available for the charging service, the parking lot information indicating a parking space in which the vehicle and the power supply vehicle can be parked, and including coordinates on a map, a parking lot number, and a mark of entrance of the parking lot.". Examiner respectfully disagrees. In regards to the claimed amendments station “after…”, the limitations within a specified order can still be taught by the primary prior art and any secondary prior art per the motivation to combine. The applicant does not explain how the claims avoid the references or distinguish from them thus please refer to section Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 for the prior art rejections and motivations to combine. Furthermore, examiner agrees the amended limitation of “acquiring preference information indicating a preference of the user including sports, beauty, and shopping” is not taught by the current prior art however through further search and consideration, it is taught by the prior art of Kubo (US 20210158230 A1). Please refer to section Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 for the rejection and motivation to combine. 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 SHIVAM SHARMA whose telephone number is (703)756-1726. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00. 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, Erin Bishop can be reached at 571-270-3713. 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. /SHIVAM SHARMA/Examiner, Art Unit 3665 /Erin D Bishop/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3665
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 01, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 07, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §112
Nov 07, 2025
Response Filed
Jan 30, 2026
Final Rejection — §103, §112 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
44%
Grant Probability
43%
With Interview (-1.3%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 34 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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