Last updated: July 17, 2026

Application No. 18/537,086

GUIDANCE FUNCTION(S) FOR USE OF LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS WITHIN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS

Non-Final OA

Filed

Dec 12, 2023

Examiner

BOSTWICK, SIDNEY VINCENT

Art Unit

Tech Center

Assignee

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

OA Round

1 (Non-Final)

This examiner grants 52% of cases after interview

— +37.1% interview lift. A telephonic interview to clarify the technical implementation could significantly improve the outcome.

Based on 143 resolved cases, 2023–2026

Examiner Intelligence

BOSTWICK, SIDNEY VINCENT View full profile →

Grants 52% of resolved cases

Career Allowance Rate

74 granted / 143 resolved

-8.3% vs TC avg

Strong +37% interview lift

Without

With

+37.1%

Interview Lift

resolved cases with interview

Typical timeline

4y 5m

Avg Prosecution

44 currently pending

Career history

212

Total Applications

across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101

2.3%

-37.7% vs TC avg

§103

93.7%

+53.7% vs TC avg

§102

1.5%

-38.5% vs TC avg

§112

2.4%

-37.6% vs TC avg

Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 143 resolved cases

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 12, 2023

Application Filed

May 28, 2026

Non-Final Rejection mailed

Jun 30, 2026

Interview Requested

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

17/925,882

Patent 12675673

NEURAL NETWORK PROCESSING DEVICE, METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM

3y 7m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026

18/072,012

Patent 12645914

INSTRUCTION PRUNING FOR NEURAL NETWORKS

3y 6m to grant Granted Jun 02, 2026

17/632,509

Patent 12626139

SECRET SOFTMAX FUNCTION CALCULATION SYSTEM, SECRET SOFTMAX FUNCTION CALCULATION APPARATUS, SECRET SOFTMAX FUNCTION CALCULATION METHOD, SECRET NEURAL NETWORK CALCULATION SYSTEM, SECRET NEURAL NETWORK LEARNING SYSTEM, AND PROGRAM

4y 3m to grant Granted May 12, 2026

18/909,558

Patent 12619815

Magnitude Invariant Multimodal Agent for Efficient Image-Text Interface Automation

1y 6m to grant Granted May 05, 2026

17/373,021

Patent 12561604

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ITERATIVE DATA CLUSTERING USING MACHINE LEARNING

4y 7m to grant Granted Feb 24, 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

52%

Grant Probability

89%

With Interview (+37.1%)

4y 5m (~1y 10m remaining)

Median Time to Grant

Low

PTA Risk

Based on 143 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.