Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/556,661

SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD OF TEMPERATURE MEASURING, AND METHOD OF TEMPERATURE CONTROLLING

Non-Final OA §101
Filed
Oct 20, 2023
Priority
Apr 20, 2021 — RE 10-2021-0050898 +1 more
Examiner
BOWMAN, ANDREW J
Art Unit
1718
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Jusung Engineering Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
66%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
8m
Est. Remaining
79%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 66% — above average
66%
Career Allowance Rate
584 granted / 888 resolved
+0.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+13.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 5m
Avg Prosecution
58 currently pending
Career history
973
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.7%
-39.3% vs TC avg
§103
83.0%
+43.0% vs TC avg
§102
5.5%
-34.5% vs TC avg
§112
6.8%
-33.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 888 resolved cases

Office Action

§101
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 . Election/Restrictions Claims 1-5 were withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/19/2026. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows: Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. Claims 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract without significantly more. Claim 6 recite(s) “determining temperatures of the substrate by reflecting correction values, stored in advance, in the temperatures of the substrate measured outside the chamber”. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because it is not integrated into practical application. The measured temperature is not employed in any manner. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the “taking a substrate” step of claim 6 would be considered a routine operation in the field and the “measuring temperatures” step of claim 6 would be considered a routine operation in the field. Claim 7 only serves to define where a location of the routine activity of claim 6. Claim 8 contains three data storing steps that only would all likely be considered to be insignificant extra-solution activity and an appending of well-understood, routine, conventional data storage practices previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality. Claim 9 defines the type of data stored but does not provide a specific calculation other than to say that the data represents a difference between two data sets and would be considered insignificant extra-solution activity and an appending of well-understood, routine, conventional data storage practices previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality. Claim 10 further defines claim 9 so as to essentially use the data acquired in claim 9 or to “apply it”. See MPEP 2106.05(f). This application would be considered an appending of well-understood, routine, conventional heating practices previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW J BOWMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5342. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Sat 5:00AM-11:00AM. 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, Dah-Wei Yuan can be reached at 571-272-1295. 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. /ANDREW J BOWMAN/Examiner, Art Unit 1717
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 20, 2023
Application Filed
May 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §101 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12680005
CO-MODIFIED ORGANOPOLYSILOXANE AND CURABLE ORGANOPOLYSILOXANE COMPOSITION INCLUDING SAME
2y 7m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12674126
Substrates for High-Density Cell Growth and Metabolite Exchange
3y 11m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12662736
MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR GRAPHENE FILM
3y 3m to grant Granted Jun 23, 2026
Patent 12637778
Fast Ambient-Temperature Synthesis of OER Catalysts for Water Electrolysis
3y 7m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12637769
FILM FORMING METHOD AND FILM FORMING APPARATUS
2y 2m to grant Granted May 26, 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
66%
Grant Probability
79%
With Interview (+13.0%)
3y 5m (~8m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 888 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month