Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/536,750

METHOD OPERABLE IN A VEHICLE RADIO SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 12, 2023
Examiner
MENGESHA, MULUGETA A
Art Unit
2424
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Ibiquity Digital Corporation
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 5m
To Grant
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allow Rate
597 granted / 732 resolved
+23.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
755
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.7%
-29.3% vs TC avg
§103
47.2%
+7.2% vs TC avg
§102
17.3%
-22.7% vs TC avg
§112
5.6%
-34.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 732 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 . Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Claims Status Claims 1-10 are currently pending in the application. 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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0129833 A1 to LEE et al in-view US 2018/0205492 A1 to Littlejohn et al, and further in view of US 9,438,359 B2 to Haslam. As to claim 1, LEE discloses a method operable by a vehicle processor (see fig.1-2), the method comprising: causing a vehicle receiver to receive a radio broadcast channel, transmitting location and broadcasting range for one or more other radio broadcast channels whose broadcasting range overlaps with a broadcasting range of said received radio broadcast channel; determining a location of the vehicle (see fig. 4A-4B and 5; page.9, ¶0227-¶0230¶); determining if a broadcasting range of any of the or each other radio broadcast channels overlaps with a location of the vehicle; and outputting for display through a user interface, an indication of available radio broadcast channels including the or each of the other radio broadcast channels determined to have a broadcasting range overlapping with the location of the vehicle (see fig.5-7; page.9, ¶0227-¶0234). LEE does not explicitly discloses obtaining directly from digital sideband information of the received radio broadcast channel. Littlejohn discloses obtaining directly from digital sideband information of the received radio broadcast channel (see fig.1; page.3, ¶0030). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify LEE with the teaching as taught by Littlejohn in order to increasing accuracy of data subsequently provided to the receiver device and improving user experience. LEE and Littlejohn do not explicitly disclose digital data encoded in the radio broadcast channel, wherein the digital data comprising a respective digital broadcast identifier. Haslam discloses digital data encoded in the radio broadcast channel, wherein the digital data comprising a respective digital broadcast identifier (see fig.2-4;col.6,ll.16-22 and col.8,ll.18-37). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify LEE and Littlejohn with the teaching as taught by Haslam in order to provide an automatic switching to the same digital audio data when the receiver outside of regions in which broadcast stations transmit such audio data. As to claim 2, LEE further discloses receiving a position of the vehicle from a separate processor across a vehicle network (see fig.2; page.5, ¶0116). As to claim 3, LEE further discloses wherein said radio broadcast channel comprises one of: a Frequency Modulated, FM; an Amplitude Modulated, AM; or a digitally encoded broadcast (see fig.5-6; page.4, ¶0083). As to claim 4, LEE further discloses comprising obtaining the digital data through the Radio Data System, RDS of an FM broadcast (see fig. 9; page.11, ¶0251,¶0122). As to claim 5, LEE further discloses comprising iteratively performing the steps of: determining a position of the vehicle, determining for each iteratively determined position of the vehicle, if a broadcasting range of any of the or each other radio broadcast channels overlaps with said iteratively determined position of the vehicle; and outputting for display through the user interface, an indication of available radio broadcast channels including the or each of the other radio broadcasts determined to have a broadcasting range overlapping with the location of the vehicle (see fig.5-7; page.9, ¶0227-¶0234). As to claim 6, Haslam further discloses performing said steps in response to determining that the position of the vehicle has changed after a waiting period greater than a threshold amount (see col.8,ll.38-45). As to claim 7, LEE further discloses further outputting for display through the user interface, an indication of radio broadcast channels previously available at said vehicle receiver(see page.4, ¶0086, ¶0228-¶0229). As to claim 8, LEE further discloses wherein said broadcast channels previously available comprise radio broadcast channels saved by a user of said vehicle(see page.4, ¶0086, ¶0228-¶0229). As to claim 9, LEE further discloses wherein said processor is responsive to user interaction with said user interface to cause said vehicle receiver to tune to a radio broadcast channel selected by a user of said vehicle(see fig.1-2; page.6,¶0139-¶0140). As to claim 10, LEE further discloses A vehicle radio system comprising a receiver capable of receiving a radio broadcast channel, a user interface, and a processor configured to perform the method of claim 1(see fig.1-3). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MULUGETA MENGESHA whose telephone number is (469)295-9212. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00AM-5:30PM ET. 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, Benjamin Bruckart can be reached on 571-272-3982. 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. MULUGETA MENGESHA Primary Examiner Art Unit 2424 /Mulugeta Mengesha/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 12, 2023
Application Filed
Apr 02, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Apr 25, 2025
Interview Requested
Sep 05, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Sep 06, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Sep 08, 2025
Response Filed
Nov 29, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Feb 25, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Mar 08, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §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

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+10.3%)
2y 5m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 732 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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