Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/568,236

Improvements in or relating to flooring

Final Rejection §112
Filed
Dec 07, 2023
Examiner
NGUYEN, CHI Q
Art Unit
3635
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Altro Limited
OA Round
2 (Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allow Rate
1666 granted / 2024 resolved
+30.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
39 currently pending
Career history
2063
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
24.1%
-15.9% vs TC avg
§102
29.5%
-10.5% vs TC avg
§112
32.1%
-7.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 2024 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
30DETAILED 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 . This final action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed on 12/12/2025. Currently, claims 1-16, 18-20 and newly filed 22-23 are pending and examined. Claims 17 and 21 have been cancelled. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Specification Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details. The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1-16, 18-20 and 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Re claim 1, line 1; a phrase “which” renders the claim indefinite and confusing because it is unclear whether “which” referring to which structure? Correction is required. Claims 2-10, 18-20, 22-23 depending upon the rejected claim 1 are also rejected. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-16 and 18-23 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. Claims 11-16 are allowable. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to objections and 112 2nd rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. All objections and some of the 112 2nd rejections have been withdrawn. However, in the claim 1, line 1; one of the 112 2nd rejections as previously stated has not been amended (see the rejection above); therefore, the action is made it final. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to CHI Q. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6847. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7AM-5PM or email: chi.nguyen@uspto.gov. If attempt to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached at (571) 270-3238. 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://pairdirect.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866) 217-9197. /CHI Q NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635 PNG media_image1.png 100 143 media_image1.png Greyscale
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 07, 2023
Application Filed
Sep 24, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Dec 12, 2025
Response Filed
Feb 21, 2026
Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12601186
FLOOR PANEL AND METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING FLOOR PANELS
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12601175
TIMBER-CONCRETE COMPOSITE SLAB WITH NOTCHED PLYWOOD SHEAR CONNECTOR AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12600275
SEAT ADJUSTMENT APPARATUS FOR VEHICLE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12595664
WALL OR CEILING PANEL ASSEMBLY, A SET OF PANELS FOR FORMING SUCH ASSEMBLY AND A WALL OR CEILING OBTAINED THEREWITH
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12593919
SEAT STRUCTURE WITH ADJUSTABLE SENSE OF SITTING
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+12.3%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 2024 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow 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