Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/493,593

JOINT BACKSCATTER SUPPRESSION AND POLARIZATION TRACKING

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Oct 24, 2023
Examiner
ST CYR, DANIEL
Art Unit
2876
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allow Rate
1131 granted / 1390 resolved
+13.4% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+13.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
45 currently pending
Career history
1435
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
43.1%
+3.1% vs TC avg
§102
32.0%
-8.0% vs TC avg
§112
3.1%
-36.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1390 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 § 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 21-27, 32-38, and 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Grigoryan et al, US Patent No. 8,977,125 . Grigoryan et al disclose a ;ow power optical transceiver using orthogonal polarization detection technique comprising: a receiver configured to receive, from a transmitter, a first optical channel based on a first polarization and a second optical channel based on a second polarization (see fig. 9, col.7-col. 8 and fig. 11) ; to extract, from at least one of the first optical channel or the second optical channel (see col. 7 , lines 54-61) , at least one of a first frequency tone or a second frequency tone (see steps S1102 and S1108 in fig. 11 and corresponding description), wherein the first frequency tone and the second frequency tone are configured to support suppression of stimulated Brillouin scattering for transmissions from the transmitter, (see clarity objection 1.3 above: the tones are not configured in the receiver and this feature is therefore not relevant to the assessment of novelty of the receiver) , wherein the first frequency tone and the second frequency tone are different (see col.7, I. 63-65); and perform, based on at least one of the first frequency tone or the second frequency tone, polarization tracking of at least one of the first optical channel or the second optical channel. ( S ee col.8, 1.13-62) . 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim (s) 28-31 and 39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grigoryan et al. The teachings of Grigoryan et al have discussed above . Regarding claim 28, the use of polari z ation multiplexing is very well-known in the field of optical communications. I t would be obvious for the skilled person to consider such technique of polari z ation multiplexing in the system of Grigoryan et al, where t he skilled person would then implement channels with different polari z ations in the system, and would note that the SBS suppression technique is independent of the polari z ation and can be applied without any changes (i.e . a modulation tone with a different frequency is applied to each channel, at least two channels having a different polari z ation). Regarding claim s 29-31 and 39 , do not appear to contain any additional features which, in combination with the features of any claim to which they refer, meet the requirements with respect to inventive step since the additional features are commonly used for communication. Therefore, it would have been an obvious extension as taught by the prior art. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Way, US Patent No. 7,527,367, disclose an optical communication using duobinary modulation. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT DANIEL ST CYR whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-2407 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M to F 8:00-8:00 . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Michael G Lee can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-2398 . 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 DANIEL ST CYR Primary Examiner Art Unit 2876 /DANIEL ST CYR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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Prosecution Timeline

Oct 24, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
81%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+13.2%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1390 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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