Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 16, 2026
Application No. 18/602,801

SERVER

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Mar 12, 2024
Examiner
PATEL, MUKUNDBHAI G
Art Unit
2835
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Bitmain Technologies INC.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 2m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allow Rate
582 granted / 780 resolved
+6.6% vs TC avg
Strong +65% interview lift
Without
With
+65.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
799
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
53.4%
+13.4% vs TC avg
§102
37.2%
-2.8% vs TC avg
§112
6.7%
-33.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 780 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1, 15-17 and 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CHEN, SHI-JIE (CHEN) CN 209962183 U. As per claim 1 CHEN disclose; A server, (item 2 “digital money digging machine” and page 2 “mining machine computing force board”) comprising: a server main body (Fig. 1), comprising a chassis (item 2), a first circuit board assembly (Page 2 “mining machine computing force board”), and a heat dissipation fan assembly (Fig. 2 item 4 and 6); the first circuit board assembly is installed in the chassis (Fig. 3 and page 2 ” mining machine computing force board”), and the heat dissipation fan assembly is installed on the chassis to dissipate heat of the first circuit board assembly (Fig. 2); a power supply,(item 1) installed on a side of the chassis (Fig. 1-3); a heat conduction layer (fig. 4 item 12), arranged between the power supply (item 1) and the chassis (item 2) to conduct heat generated by the power supply to the chassis (through item 12). As per claim 15 CHEN disclose; wherein a heat dissipation fin is protrudingly disposed in the housing (Fig. 3), and the heat dissipation fin is protrudingly disposed on an inner surface of the housing close to the power supply (Fig. 3 and 4). As per claim 16-17 Regarding claims 16-17, claims 16-17 are rejected for the same reason as claim 15, as claim 15 recites similar to claims 16-17. See rejection of claim 15 above. As per claim 20 CHEN disclose; wherein the chassis is formed with an inner cavity (fig. 1 inside item 12), an air inlet and an air outlet (Fig. 2 at fans 4 and 6), and the air inlet and the air outlet communicate with the inner cavity respectively, the first circuit board assembly is installed in the inner cavity (fig. 3), and the heat dissipation fan assembly is arranged at the air inlet and/or the air outlet. (Fig. 1 and 2) Regarding claims 21-22, claims 21-22 are rejected for the same reason as claim 20, as claim 20 recites similar to claims 21-22. See rejection of claim 20 above. As per claim 25 CHEN disclose; wherein the heat dissipation fan assembly comprises a first fan (Fig. 4 item 4) and a second fan (Fig. 2 item 6), the first fan is installed at the air inlet, and the second fan is installed at the air outlet.(Fig. 2) 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. Claim(s) 2, 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN in view of Mario E. Facusse (Facusse) US 9,351,424 B2. As per claims 2, 3 CHEN disclose; wherein the power supply comprises a housing (CHEN Fig. 4 item 11) and the housing (item11) is connected to the chassis (item 2) and/or the second circuit board assembly (page 2 “mining machine computing force board”), and the second circuit board assembly is electrically connected to the first circuit board assembly (Fig. 1 item 3). CHEN do not disclose well-known details of power supply. a second circuit board assembly, the housing is provided with a cavity, and the second circuit board assembly is at least partially accommodated in the cavity, the second circuit board assembly is attached to the side of the chassis through the heat conduction layer, wherein the second circuit board assembly comprises a substrate, a heat generating device, and a heat sink, the heat generating device is installed on a side of the substrate facing away from the heat conduction layer, the heat sink is connected to the substrate, and the heat sink abuts against the heat generating device. However in analogues art Facusse, disclose, a second circuit board assembly, (Fig. 26 2520) the housing is provided with a cavity (for mounting assembly), and the second circuit board assembly is at least partially accommodated in the cavity (Fig. 26), the second circuit board assembly is attached to the side of the chassis through the heat conduction layer (Item 140), wherein the second circuit board assembly comprises a substrate, a heat generating device (Fig. 26 item 2530, 2540), and a heat sink (140), the heat generating device is installed on a side of the substrate facing away from the heat conduction layer (Fig. 26), the heat sink is connected to the substrate (2520), and the heat sink abuts against the heat generating device (2530). Thus, it would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art that applying the known technique taught by Facusse to the device of CHEN would have yielded predicable results and resulted in an improved assembly, that would allows using well-known details of power supply. Claim(s) 10-12are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHEN in view of Ralph E. Petri (Petri) US 3,909,679. As per Claim 10 CHEN do not teach well-known in the art to use, the heat conduction layer is a heat-conducting silicone grease coated and molded on an outer surface of the chassis and/or an outer surface of the power supply; or, the heat conduction layer is a heat-conducting adhesive coated and molded on the outer surface of the chassis and/or the outer surface of the power supply. However in analogues art Petri disclose well-known, use of, the heat conduction layer is a heat-conducting silicone grease (Col. 4 line 25) a heat conducting sealant, such as silicone grease, is provided at the inner face between the bottom wall 48 of the heat sink and the inside face of the base wall 23 to provide an intimate heat conductive seal therebetween. (Col. 4 lines 24-30) Above is also apply to claim 11-12 (same claim subject matter) Thus, it would have been recognized by one of ordinary skill in the art that applying the known technique taught by Facusse to the device of CHEN would have yielded predicable results and resulted in an improved assembly, that would allows using well-known details of power supply.. Regarding claims 11-12, claims 11-12 are rejected for the same reason as claim 10, as claim 10 recites similar to claims 11-12. See rejection of claim 10 above. Allowable Subject Matter Claim 4-9, 13-14, 18-19 and 23-24 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Prior art CN 212112326 U Fig. 1-6 disclose related structural arrangement of apparatus, e.g. power supply attached to the chassis. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUKUNDBHAI G PATEL whose telephone number is (571)270-1364. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thu 7Am-6pm Fri 7-12 pm (Flex). 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, Jayprakash P Gandhi can be reached at (571) 272-3740. 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 /MUKUNDBHAI G PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2835
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 12, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 18, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103
Mar 30, 2026
Response Filed

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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+65.2%)
2y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 780 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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