Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/453,200

DETERMINING ELECTRONIC COMPONENT AUTHENTICITY VIA ELECTRONIC SIGNAL SIGNATURE MEASUREMENT

Final Rejection §112
Filed
Aug 21, 2023
Examiner
GONZALEZ, MILTON
Art Unit
2852
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
OA Round
2 (Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 6m
To Grant
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allow Rate
497 granted / 638 resolved
+9.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+12.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
656
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.7%
-38.3% vs TC avg
§103
46.9%
+6.9% vs TC avg
§102
29.9%
-10.1% vs TC avg
§112
15.5%
-24.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 638 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a): (a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112: The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Claims 1-6, 8, 10-15, 17 and 19-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claims 1, 11, and 21 recite the limitation “maintaining, in a data store, values corresponding to pin-to-pin characteristics of a plurality of pairs of data pins of a plurality of pins of a known authentic electronic component” which constitutes new matter since it lacks antecedent basis in the original disclosure. There is no clear indication that the values corresponding to pin-to-pin characteristics refers to data pins of the component. Claims 2-6, 8, 10, 12-15, 17, 19, 20, and 22-24 are rejected due to their dependencies upon rejected claims 1, 11, and 21, respectively. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hashimoto (US 6,404,220) discloses an IC testing apparatus which executes a function test and a DC test. Little (US 7,667,429) discloses a method for authenticating a smart battery for use with a mobile communication device. Taylor (US 8,296,565) discloses a communication protocol between a master device, such as a mobile phone, and a peripheral device facilitates authentication of the peripheral device. 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MILTON GONZALEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-7914. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 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, WALTER LINDSAY can be reached at (571) 272-1674. 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. /WALTER L LINDSAY JR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2852 /M.G/Examiner, Art Unit 2852 2/16/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 21, 2023
Application Filed
Jun 11, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Oct 13, 2025
Response Filed
Feb 16, 2026
Final Rejection — §112 (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
78%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+12.7%)
2y 6m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 638 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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