Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/581,407

JOINT SENSING METHOD AND RELATED USER EQUIPMENT FOR ORTHOGONAL FREQUENCY DOMAIN MULTIPLEXING COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Feb 20, 2024
Priority
Feb 23, 2023 — provisional 63/486,483
Examiner
ANDERSON, MARGARET MARIE
Art Unit
2412
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
MediaTek Inc.
OA Round
2 (Final)
70%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 70% — above average
70%
Career Allowance Rate
38 granted / 54 resolved
+12.4% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+18.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
36 currently pending
Career history
92
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
§103
75.6%
+35.6% vs TC avg
§102
17.5%
-22.5% vs TC avg
§112
5.9%
-34.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 54 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 . Status This communication is responsive to applicant’s patent application filed February 20, 2024 claiming priority to US Prov. Pat. App. 63/486,483 field February 23, 2023. Claims 1-18 are currently pending. Claims 4-9 and 13- 18 were previously objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Response to Amendment Claims 3 and 12 have been amended in response to an objection. The amendments have been entered. Examiner appreciates the amendments. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the rejection cites Manolakos in paragraphs [0112]-[0113], which discloses the bin allocation to reduce reporting overhead/data volume. Applicant argues, “Specifically, Manolakos teaches to utilize a Doppler shift value calculated by the UE 115 (e.g., +50 Hz) and allocate the Doppler shift value into a specific bin, thereby reducing data transmission overhead during reporting, which is analogous to the feature "the delay and sum approach is determined based on linear convolution and frequency binning in a time domain of the plurality of RS patterns". Applicant argues that the Manolakos is not analogous to “frequency binning” of claim 1 and that claim 1 is directed to “performing frequency binning in the time domain of the plurality of RS patterns to divide a spectrum into a plurality of frequency bins within the time-frequency domain.” However, Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant has paraphrased claim 1 to include limitations that are not present. Specifically, claim 1 does not state “to divide a spectrum into a plurality of frequency bins within the time-frequency domain.” Rather, claim 1 recites that the RS patterns are according to a delay and Doppler shift detection, and that “delay and sum approach is determined based on linear convolution and frequency binning in a time domain of the plurality of RS patterns; wherein the plurality of RS patterns are for a comb structure.” Manolakos teaches in para. [0007] that Doppler shift parameters are associated with a “number of time durations over which the UE is configure to measure for estimating the one or more Doppler shift parameters” which is in the time domain, and “a number of time durations” is per se a “frequency” determination under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claims. Furthermore, Manolakos teaches in paras. [0112]-[0113] as recited in the office action, the UE allocates values in bins according to estimate parameters over multiple instances of a time duration which is a frequency determination of the estimate of Doppler shift parameters over that time. Therefore, Manolakos teaches the current claim 1. Examiner suggests amending the claim to recite the language recited in applicant’s arguments made which are not currently in the claims. For at least these reasons, the rejection is maintained. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Claims 1-2 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pat. Pub. 20230141785 to Alexandros Manolakos et al (hereinafter Manolakos) in view of US Pat. Pub. 20240151811 to David Gonzalez et al. (hereinafter Gonzalez), further in view of US Pat. Pub. 20220171016 to Alexandros Manolakos, Weimin Duan et al. (hereinafter Manolakos II). Regarding claim 1, Manolakos in view of Gonzalez and Manolakos II teach A joint sensing method for an orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing (OFDM) communication system, comprising: configuring a plurality of reference signal (RS) patterns according to a delay and Doppler shift detection of a measured signal; (Manolakos teaches in para. [0112]-[0113] that after transmitting a number of reference signals, “the UE 115 may estimate the Doppler shift parameters over the single time duration (e.g., a single “shot”) or the UE may average a number of estimated Doppler shift parameters over multiple instances of the time duration (e.g., multiple “shots”) in accordance with the measurement restriction parameter.”) and Manolakos does NOT teach determining a two-dimensional (2D) self-ambiguity function according to a delay and sum approach; In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Gonzalez teaches determining a two-dimensional (2D) self-ambiguity function according to a delay and sum approach; (Gonzalez teaches in para. [0021] “The output of the 2-D matched filter in Eq. 3, i.e. the radar ambiguity function, is a two-dimensional function of time delay and Doppler frequency. The peaks in the radar ambiguity function A(τ, f) occur at the L points corresponding to the range and velocity (dl, vl) of the L targets. Hence, the ambiguity function A(τ, f) contains all the information that is required for the extraction of delay and Doppler information of the object.” Further, Gonzalez teaches that in computing an ambiguity function, “as an output of comparing the reflected data payload with the sent data payload and/or the reflected preamble part with the sent preamble part. For this method, following channel model for the radar processing is assumed: PNG media_image1.png 63 613 media_image1.png Greyscale where L is the number of objects that reflect the transmitted signal. αl and τl are the attenuations and delays due to the lth target. The delay τl between the transmitted signal and the received signal is related to the distance and velocity of the lth moving object. The received signal is given by the convolution (denoted by an asterisk) of the transmit signal u(t) and the wireless channel h(t) of Eq. 1: PNG media_image2.png 60 963 media_image2.png Greyscale ” Therefore, Gonzalez teaches a sum and delay approach to a two dimensional ambiguity function.”) wherein the delay and sum approach is determined based on linear convolution (Gonzalez teaches convolution in Equation 2 above (the star denotes a linear convolution in the equation) and para. [0019] wherein the received signal is given by the convolution of the transmit signal and the wireless channel. Further, Gonzalez Fig. 5 illustrates an ambiguity function (AF) via linear convolution: PNG media_image3.png 446 745 media_image3.png Greyscale ) Gonzalez para. [0079] teaches with regard to Fig. 5, “The final AF is obtained by taking point-wise minima of the AF at each delay and Doppler bin, according to Eq. 13.” which illustrates a sum and delay via convolution as shown.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Manolakos with Gonzalez to teach a sum and delay approach to a two dimensional ambiguity function. Each of Manolakos and Gonzalez are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos with Gonzalez in order to provide flexibility in implementing radar solutions as provided in para. [0017] of Gonzalez. and Manolakos, the primary reference, teaches frequency binning in a time domain of the plurality of RS patterns; (Manolakos teaches in para. [0112]-[0113] “UE 115 may allocate Doppler shift values to various bins according to a range of Doppler shift values or the reported Doppler shift being above or below a determined threshold Doppler shift value”, and UE allocates values in bins according to estimate parameters over multiple instances of a time duration which is a frequency determination of the estimate of Doppler shift parameters over that time. Further, Manolakos teaches that the binning is responsive to transmitted RS.) Manolakos does NOT teach wherein the plurality of RS patterns are for a comb structure. In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications Manolakos II teaches RS patterns and wherein the plurality of RS patterns are for a comb structure. (Manolakos II teaches RS patterns and comb structure in Table 2: PNG media_image4.png 381 895 media_image4.png Greyscale ) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Manolakos and Manolakos II. Each of Manolakos and Manolakos II are in the field of wireless communications and Doppler shift measurements. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos and Manolakos II in order to benefit from flexible utilization of bandwidth allocated for wireless communications as taught in Manolakos II, para. [0287]. Regarding claim 2, Manolakos does NOT teach The joint sensing method of claim 1, wherein a 2D unambiguous range in a 2D ambiguity function is formed according to a true delay and a Doppler frequency pair of the measured signal. In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless computing, Gonzalez teaches wherein a 2D unambiguous range in a 2D ambiguity function is formed according to a true delay and a Doppler frequency pair of the measured signal. (Gonzalez teaches in Fig. 5, above, illustrates a 2D ambiguity function that is formed according to a true delay and Doppler frequency pair. Gonzalez para. [0043]-[0044] teaches that the “AF of a good time domain and the AF of a good frequency domain waveform may be combined to obtain a fused AF with good performance in both the delay and Doppler domain” ... “wherein the final AF is obtained by taking the point-wise minima of the absolute value of the two AFs at each delay and Doppler bin”. Gonzalez teaches in para. [0045] “matched filtering” defining regions of unambiguous detection, which Examiner interprets as the unambiguous detection as the results of the matched filtering illustrated and described with respect to Fig. 5 and para. [0045] and [0079]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Manolakos with Gonzalez to teach a sum and delay approach to a two dimensional ambiguity function. Each of Manolakos and Gonzalez are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos with Gonzalez in order to provide flexibility in implementing radar solutions as provided in para. [0017] of Gonzalez. Regarding claim 10, Manolakos in view of Gonzalez and Manolakos II teach A user equipment (UE) (Manolakos Fig. 2, UE 115a) of an orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing (OFDM) communication system, comprising: a wireless transceiver, (Manolakos Fig. 5, receiver/transceiver 510 taught in para. [0152] configured to perform wireless transmission and reception to and from a service network; and a controller, (Manolakos Fig. 5 communications manager 515, taught in para. [0154] to include processor components) configured to configure a plurality of reference signal (RS) patterns according to a delay and Doppler shift detection of a measured signal; (Manolakos teaches in para. [0112]-[0113] that after transmitting a number of reference signals, “the UE 115 may estimate the Doppler shift parameters over the single time duration (e.g., a single “shot”) or the UE may average a number of estimated Doppler shift parameters over multiple instances of the time duration (e.g., multiple “shots”) in accordance with the measurement restriction parameter.”) and Manolakos does NOT teach to determine a two-dimensional (2D) self-ambiguity function according to a delay and sum approach; In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Gonzalez teaches to determine a two-dimensional (2D) self-ambiguity function according to a delay and sum approach; (Gonzalez teaches in para. [0021] “The output of the 2-D matched filter in Eq. 3, i.e. the radar ambiguity function, is a two-dimensional function of time delay and Doppler frequency. The peaks in the radar ambiguity function A(τ, f) occur at the L points corresponding to the range and velocity (dl, vl) of the L targets. Hence, the ambiguity function A(τ, f) contains all the information that is required for the extraction of delay and Doppler information of the object.” Further, Gonzalez teaches that in computing an ambiguity function, “as an output of comparing the reflected data payload with the sent data payload and/or the reflected preamble part with the sent preamble part. For this method, following channel model for the radar processing is assumed: PNG media_image1.png 63 613 media_image1.png Greyscale where L is the number of objects that reflect the transmitted signal. αl and τl are the attenuations and delays due to the lth target. The delay τl between the transmitted signal and the received signal is related to the distance and velocity of the lth moving object. The received signal is given by the convolution (denoted by an asterisk) of the transmit signal u(t) and the wireless channel h(t) of Eq. 1: PNG media_image2.png 60 963 media_image2.png Greyscale ” Therefore, Gonzalez teaches a sum and delay approach to a two dimensional ambiguity function.”) wherein the delay and sum approach is determined based on linear convolution (Gonzalez teaches convolution in Equation 2 above (the star denotes a linear convolution in the equation) and para. [0019] wherein the received signal is given by the convolution of the transmit signal and the wireless channel. Further, Gonzalez Fig. 5 illustrates an ambiguity function (AF) via linear convolution: PNG media_image3.png 446 745 media_image3.png Greyscale ) Gonzalez para. [0079] teaches with regard to Fig. 5, “The final AF is obtained by taking point-wise minima of the AF at each delay and Doppler bin, according to Eq. 13.” which illustrates a sum and delay via convolution as shown.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Manolakos with Gonzalez to teach a sum and delay approach to a two dimensional ambiguity function. Each of Manolakos and Gonzalez are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos with Gonzalez in order to provide flexibility in implementing radar solutions as provided in para. [0017] of Gonzalez. and Manolakos, the primary reference, teaches frequency binning in a time domain of the plurality of RS patterns; (Manolakos teaches in para. [0112]-[0113] “UE 115 may allocate Doppler shift values to various bins according to a range of Doppler shift values or the reported Doppler shift being above or below a determined threshold Doppler shift value” the UE allocates values in bins according to estimate parameters over multiple instances of a time duration which is a frequency determination of the estimate of Doppler shift parameters over that time. Further, Manolakos teaches that the binning is responsive to transmitted RS.) Manolakos does NOT teach wherein the plurality of RS patterns are for a comb structure. In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications Manolakos II teaches RS patterns and wherein the plurality of RS patterns are for a comb structure. (Manolakos II teaches RS patterns and comb structure in Table 2: PNG media_image4.png 381 895 media_image4.png Greyscale ) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Manolakos and Manolakos II. Each of Manolakos and Manolakos II are in the field of wireless communications and Doppler shift measurements. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos and Manolakos II in order to benefit from flexible utilization of bandwidth allocated for wireless communications as taught in Manolakos II, para. [0287]. Regarding claim 11, Manolakos does NOT teach The UE of an OFDM communication system of claim 10, wherein a 2D unambiguous range in a 2D ambiguity function is formed according to a true delay and a Doppler frequency pair of the measured signal. In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless computing, Gonzalez teaches wherein a 2D unambiguous range in a 2D ambiguity function is formed according to a true delay and a Doppler frequency pair of the measured signal. (Gonzalez teaches in Fig. 5, above, illustrates a 2D ambiguity function that is formed according to a true delay and Doppler frequency pair. Gonzalez para. [0043]-[0044] teaches that the “AF of a good time domain and the AF of a good frequency domain waveform may be combined to obtain a fused AF with good performance in both the delay and Doppler domain” ... “wherein the final AF is obtained by taking the point-wise minima of the absolute value of the two AFs at each delay and Doppler bin”. Gonzalez teaches in para. [0045] “matched filtering” defining regions of unambiguous detection, which Examiner interprets as the unambiguous detection as the results of the matched filtering illustrated and described with respect to Fig. 5 and para. [0045] and [0079]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Manolakos with Gonzalez to teach a sum and delay approach to a two dimensional ambiguity function. Each of Manolakos and Gonzalez are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos with Gonzalez in order to provide flexibility in implementing radar solutions as provided in para. [0017] of Gonzalez. Claims 3 and 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of Gonzalez further in view of Manolakos II further in view of US Pat. Pub. 20210167924 to Jingchao Bao et al. (hereinafter Bao). Regarding claims 3 and 12 Manolakos does NOT teach wherein Ssub unit in a subcarrier number denotes a spacing of a plurality of non-zero resource elements (RE) in a frequency domain, Ssym unit in a symbol number denotes the spacing of the RS symbol in the time domain, Fi unit in a subcarrier numbers denotes a staggering offset in the frequency domain of an ith RS symbol, Fj unit in the subcarrier numbers denotes the staggering offset in the frequency domain of an jth RS symbol, Ts denotes an OFDM duration, Tcp denotes a cyclic prefix (CP) duration, and T=TS+Tcp denotes a sum of the OFDM symbol duration and the CP duration. In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Bao teaches wherein Ssub unit in a subcarrier number denotes a spacing of a plurality of non-zero resource elements (RE) in a frequency domain, (Bao teaches RS subcarriers in Fig. 4A that are mapped to specific indices as follows: PNG media_image5.png 533 780 media_image5.png Greyscale Examiner notes that the designation Ssub unit is a design choice). Ssym unit in a symbol number denotes the spacing of the RS symbol in the time domain, (Bao teaches RS allocation across the time axis and RS symbols in the time dimension in Fig. 4A, as shown OFDM symbols are taught in Fig. 4A as well as “symbol” spaced in a grid. Examiner notes that the designation Ssym unit is a design choice.) Ts denotes an OFDM duration, Tcp denotes a cyclic prefix (CP) duration, and T=TS+Tcp denotes a sum of the OFDM symbol duration and the CP duration. (Bao teaches in Fig. 4B above and para. [0084]staggering offsets in RS symbols as shown in “R” staggered elements above. As taught in Bao para. [0084] “An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIGS. 4A and 4B, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs” .... “An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIGS. 4A and 4B, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs” Examiner notes that variables used in equations in reference taught are design choice.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Manolakos with Bao. Each of Manolakos and Bao are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos with Bao in order to take advantage of the flexibility of NR in mapping of reference signals as taught in Bao para. [0115] and [0116] and signaling efficiencies and reduced latency as taught in para. [0004]. Manolakos also does NOT teach Fi unit in a subcarrier numbers denotes a staggering offset in the frequency domain of an ith RS symbol, Fj unit in the subcarrier numbers denotes the staggering offset in the frequency domain of an jth RS symbol. Manolakos II teaches Fi unit in a subcarrier numbers denotes a staggering offset in the frequency domain of an ith RS symbol, Fj unit in the subcarrier numbers denotes the staggering offset in the frequency domain of an jth RS symbol, (Manolakos II teaches in para. [0330] and Figs. 18A-18H “ 18A-18H has at least one sounded RE in each of the subcarriers and is thus a fully-staggered transmission pattern: PNG media_image6.png 594 413 media_image6.png Greyscale (Examiner notes that how the pattern is denoted is design choice.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Manolakos and Manolakos II. Each of Manolakos and Manolakos II are in the field of wireless communications and Doppler shift measurements. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos and Manolakos II in order to benefit from flexible utilization of bandwidth allocated for wireless communications as taught in Manolakos II, para. [0287]. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4-9 and 13- 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. In particular, the prior art does not teach or suggest wherein Fi=Fj for any i, j, the plurality of side peak locations are PNG media_image7.png 91 298 media_image7.png Greyscale in the 2D ambiguity function, and no side peak at PNG media_image8.png 73 150 media_image8.png Greyscale , where l = -Ssub,-(Ssub-1),…0,…Ssub-1, Ssub, k=-Ssym,-(Ssym-1),…0, …Ssym-1,Ssym,(k,l)≠ (0,0) wherein (τ,f) denotes the true delay and the Doppler frequency pair of the measured signal. The prior art does not teach or suggest wherein a maximum 2D unambiguous range around the true delay and the Doppler frequency pair (0, 0) is: PNG media_image9.png 402 1164 media_image9.png Greyscale The prior art does not teach or suggest method of claim 3, wherein when the staggering offset is similar to positions of the plurality of RSs, a maximum 2D unambiguous range around the true delay and the Doppler frequency pair (0, 0) is: PNG media_image10.png 535 1157 media_image10.png Greyscale The prior art does not teach or suggest wherein when Ssub is even and staggered on two RS symbols, a maximum 2D unambiguous range around the true delay and the Doppler frequency pair (0, 0) is: when Ssym>1 and time delay from 0 to PNG media_image11.png 66 65 media_image11.png Greyscale , the Doppler frequency from I to PNG media_image12.png 60 130 media_image12.png Greyscale , where I is a specified value and PNG media_image13.png 64 186 media_image13.png Greyscale 0; when Ssym=1, for time delay from 0 to PNG media_image14.png 71 85 media_image14.png Greyscale , the Doppler frequency from I to I+N/T, where I is a specified value and -N/T ≤ I ≤ 0, where N is subcarrier number; with the time delay from 0 to PNG media_image15.png 66 58 media_image15.png Greyscale , the Doppler frequency from J to PNG media_image16.png 54 142 media_image16.png Greyscale , where J is a specified value and PNG media_image17.png 61 226 media_image17.png Greyscale . The prior art also does not teach wherein PNG media_image18.png 404 1163 media_image18.png Greyscale The prior art also does not teach wherein when Fi = PNG media_image19.png 374 1189 media_image19.png Greyscale Conclusion 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 communications from the examiner should be directed to MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON whose telephone number is (703)756-1068. The examiner can normally be reached M-F. 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, CHARLES JIANG can be reached at 571-270-7191. 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. /MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2412 /CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 20, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jun 26, 2026
Response Filed
Jul 23, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Expected OA Rounds
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