Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 26, 2026
Application No. 18/483,126

HIGH FIDELITY READOUT WITH TWO QUBITS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Oct 09, 2023
Examiner
KIK, PHALLAKA
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
International Business Machines Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allowance Rate
876 granted / 965 resolved
+30.8% vs TC avg
Minimal +2% lift
Without
With
+1.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
16 currently pending
Career history
979
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
32.5%
-7.5% vs TC avg
§103
16.3%
-23.7% vs TC avg
§102
26.5%
-13.5% vs TC avg
§112
9.1%
-30.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 965 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . This Office Action responds to the Applicant’s response to Election/Restriction filed on 9/16/2026, and application and IDS filed on 10/09/2023. Claims 1-20 are pending, wherein claims 9-20 are withdrawn from further consideration as being directed to non-elected invention without traverse as noted below. Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election of group I, claims 1-8 in the reply filed on 9/16/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)). Claims 9-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventios, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 9/16/2026. Applicant is reminded that upon the cancelation of claims to a non-elected invention, the inventorship must be corrected in compliance with 37 CFR 1.48(a) if one or more of the currently named inventors is no longer an inventor of at least one claim remaining in the application. A request to correct inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48(a) must be accompanied by an application data sheet in accordance with 37 CFR 1.76 that identifies each inventor by his or her legal name and by the processing fee required under 37 CFR 1.17(i). 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) 1-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sank (US Patent Application Publication No. 20230010205 A1). As per claim 1¸Fig. 1 illustrates the elements of the claim, wherein the qubit data (i.e., transmon qubit 101-1, 101-2) are coupled to the measurement resonator (111), which is coupled by a coupler (220—Fig. 2) to measurement units (which are localized flux qubits that act as the measurement units--see abstract, paragraphs [0004]-[0012]); wherein the measurement tone or signal applied to the measurement resonator, acquires a change or shift in phase or amplitude that depends on the state of the measurement qubit is further discussed in paragraph [0059]. As per claim 2¸the data qubit is utilized for performing quantum gates (see paragraph [0053]—transmon qubits are used as quantum gates as used for example as two-logic gate operations for quantum computation). As per claim 3, wherein the measurement qubit is utilized for measuring a state of the data qubit. (see paragraph [0006]-[0012]). As per claim 4, wherein the coupler (220 of Fig. 2) is a tunable coupler—see paragraph [0079]). As per claim 5, wherein the coupler is a fixed coupler (see paragraph [0071], i.e., it is fixed in the instance that detector qubit 210 need not be tuned to come in and out of resonance with each other and only superconducting qubit being used as the coupling element 210). As per claim 6, wherein the measurement qubit is a frequency tunable qubit is further discussed in paragraphs [0007]-[0008]. As per claim 7, wherein the measurement qubit has a lower sweet spot within a defined range of a frequency of the data qubit and an upper sweet spot within a second defined range of a frequency of the measurement resonator (see paragraph [0061]-[0062], [0084]. As per claim 8, wherein the data qubit is coupled to an independent drive line (line 102 of Fig. 1); see also paragraphs [0059], [0064], [0094]-[0099], [0135]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHALLAKA KIK whose telephone number is (571)272-1895. The examiner can normally be reached Maxiflex Mon-Fri 8:30AM-5PM. 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, Jack Chiang can be reached at 5712727483. 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. Any response to this action should be mailed to: Commissioner for Patents P. O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 or faxed to: 571-273-8300 /PHALLAKA KIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2851 September 30, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 09, 2023
Application Filed
Oct 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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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
91%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+1.6%)
2y 2m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 965 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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