Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 04, 2026
Application No. 18/469,925

SEPARATION APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING PLASTIC AND SILICONE IN A COMPOSITE MATERIAL

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 19, 2023
Priority
Sep 23, 2022 — TW 111210410
Examiner
HUSON, MONICA ANNE
Art Unit
1742
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Jabil Circuit (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
4m
Est. Remaining
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allowance Rate
1080 granted / 1359 resolved
+14.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+13.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 12m
Avg Prosecution
38 currently pending
Career history
1397
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
44.8%
+4.8% vs TC avg
§102
24.3%
-15.7% vs TC avg
§112
20.4%
-19.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1359 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 § 103 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. Claim (s) 1 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mignani et al. (WO 2008/043764, translation attached) . Mignani et al., hereafter “ Mignani ,” show that it is known to have a separation apparatus for a method of separating plastic and silicone in a composite material ( pg 2, para 4), comprising a tank having a reaction space for immersing the composite material in a hydrocarbon solvent to thereby separate the plastic and the silicone in the composite material, the plastic and the silicone being insoluble in the hydrocarbon solvent ( pg 2, para 6; pg 5, para 12). Mignani does not show a storage tank and a reaction tank. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use two separate tanks in order to avoid contamination of the storage tank and because duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced (MPEP 2144.04 (VI)(B)). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-10 and 12-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT MONICA HUSON whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-1198 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 8a-4p . 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 Christina Johnson can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-1176 . 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 MONICA ANNE HUSON Primary Examiner Art Unit 1742 /MONICA A HUSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 19, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 26, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12611472
PRODUCTION METHOD FOR HIGH-PRESSURE PROCESSED MULTILAYER STRUCTURE, AND HIGH-PRESSURE PROCESSING METHOD FOR MULTILAYER STRUCTURE
4y 3m to grant Granted Apr 28, 2026
Patent 12611812
CONDITIONING STATION TOOLING
2y 3m to grant Granted Apr 28, 2026
Patent 12600076
METHOD FOR OPERATING A CONTAINER TREATMENT SYSTEM AND CONTAINER TREATMENT SYSTEM WITH OPTIMIZED PARAMETERS
5y 6m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12594630
AMORPHOUS PHASE MODIFICATION APPARATUS AND PROCESSING METHOD OF SINGLE CRYSTAL MATERIAL
2y 7m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12589543
METHOD FOR PRODUCING A CONTAINER PRODUCT AND DEVICE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE METHOD
3y 6m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
80%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+13.5%)
2y 12m (~4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1359 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month