Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 26, 2026
Application No. 18/497,017

AUTOMATIC HEALING OF MICROSERVICE DEPENDENCY INCOMPATIBILITY

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Oct 30, 2023
Examiner
KENDALL, CHUCK O
Art Unit
2192
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
International Business Machines Corporation
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
87%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 87% — above average
87%
Career Allowance Rate
802 granted / 923 resolved
+31.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
947
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.4%
-32.6% vs TC avg
§103
27.6%
-12.4% vs TC avg
§102
52.1%
+12.1% vs TC avg
§112
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 923 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 is in response to Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed 04/02/2026 Claims 1 – 20 have been amended and are pending. 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 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Emeis et al. US 20180088925 A1 in view of Johnson et al. US 20170187785 A1. Regarding claims 1, 8 and 16, Emeis discloses a system/computer-implemented method/ computer program product, said system comprising: a memory; and a processor in communication with said memory, said processor being configured to perform operations, said operations comprising: determining an application programming interface version dependency between a first microservice and a second microservice, wherein said first microservice and said second microservice are in a set of dependent microservices [0046 – 0047, see version manager and microservices, shows a plurality of microservices and in 0052, shows dependencies required to run a software package]; and wherein said first microservice and said second microservice are deployed [0021, shows deployment as well as packaging Each microservice]; detecting an incompatible application programming interface version in said set of dependent microservices [0046 – 0047, shows compatibility and also if not compatible and outdated]; requesting, automatically, a version change for said incompatible application programming interface version; and implementing said version change [0045 – 0047, see manage changes, version manager and version control and revisions]. Emeis doesn’t expressly disclose wherein, deploying, automatically, an updated microservice in said set of dependent microservices, wherein said updated microservice has a compatible application programming interface version, and wherein said updated microservice is distinct from said first microservice and said second microservice. However, Johnson discloses in [0050] replacing and deploying a backend system have a microservice leaving compatible application interface unchanged and allowing for new functionality and flexible modification of microservice by replacing or updated backend systems and also in 0061 discloses when deployed with other microservices, the deployment API 610 may define the dependencies of the application upon which it may interact. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before filing the invention to combine Emeis and Johnson because it would enable flexible modification of microservice, as Taught by Johnson. Regarding claims 2, 9 and 17, the system of claim 1, wherein said version change is selected from the group consisting of an upgrade or a downgrade [0046 – 047, see manage updates also see new versions, regarding “upgrade or downgrade”]. Regarding claims 3, 10 and 18, The system of claim 1, further comprising: deploying an updated microservice in said set of dependent microservices [0046, see deployment]. Regarding claims 4 and 11, the system of claim 1, wherein said version change is implemented automatically [0046 – 0047, see “…Version manger 233 may facilitate updating the software application, when appropriate with new versions…”, i.e., automatic]. Regarding claims 5 and 12, the system of claim 1, wherein said version change is implemented upon approval of an administrator [0045, see software developer and manage changes]. Regarding claims 6, 13 and 19, the system of claim 1, further comprising: delaying a microservice starting until said version change is complete [0075, see microservice application with handles maintenance of software as well as perform complete updates at any given time and rolling back buggy updates]. Regarding claims 7, 14 and 20, the system of claim 1, further comprising: reporting said incompatible application programming interface version to a user [FIG.7, shows obtaining and displaying different results]. Regarding claim 15, the method of claim 8, further comprising: retrieving a version for said version change from a repository [FIG.7 and all associated text, et seq. also see 0046 retrieve software image]. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s)1 – 20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection. Correspondence Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Chuck Kendall whose telephone number is 571-272-3698. The examiner can normally be reached on 10:00 am - 6:30pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hyung Sough can be reached on 571-272-6799. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /CHUCK O KENDALL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2192
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Prosecution Timeline

Show 9 earlier events
Jan 29, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Feb 02, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 02, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Apr 07, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jun 16, 2026
Interview Requested
Jun 23, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Jun 23, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary

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
87%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+7.7%)
2y 11m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 923 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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