Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/609,568

APPARATUS, SENSOR SYSTEM, ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Mar 19, 2024
Examiner
MAKHDOOM, SAMARINA
Art Unit
3648
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Infineon Technologies AG
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
70%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 70% — above average
70%
Career Allow Rate
71 granted / 101 resolved
+18.3% vs TC avg
Strong +27% interview lift
Without
With
+26.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
77 currently pending
Career history
178
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.7%
-37.3% vs TC avg
§103
75.1%
+35.1% vs TC avg
§102
21.4%
-18.6% vs TC avg
§112
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 101 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
DETAILED ACTION This action is in response to the initial filing filed on March 19, 2024 Claims 1-20 havebeen examined in this application. Information Disclosure Statement The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 3/19/2024 have been acknowledged. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. 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 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. Claims 1-3, 5-7, 13, 15-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Yuen et al (US 2010/0130873 A1). Regarding Claim 1, Yuen discloses a method, comprising: receiving data indicating a receive signal of a sensor [0006-0007 for receiving sensing motion data]; processing the data by isolating a locally stationary signal component of the receive signal from at least one of a stochastic or a deterministic signal component of the receive signal [0006-0007 for distinguish desired data components corresponding to various physiological activity from undesired data (undesired motion is deterministic) and noise (stochastic)]; and determining a vital sign of a living being based on the isolated locally stationary signal component of the receive signal [0006-0007 to determine if the person is sitting down or reclining (stationary) using isolated physiological movement]. Regarding Claim 13, Yuen discloses an apparatus comprising a processor, and a memory with instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, enable the apparatus to perform the steps of [0006-0007 for processing signals and motion]: receiving data indicating a receive signal of a sensor [0006-0007 for receiving sensing motion data]; processing the data by isolating a locally stationary signal component of the receive signal from at least one of a stochastic or a deterministic signal component of the receive signal [0006-0007 for distinguish desired data components corresponding to various physiological activity from undesired data (undesired motion is deterministic) and noise (stochastic)]; and determining a vital sign of a living being based on the isolated locally stationary signal component of the receive signal [0006-0007 to determine if the person is sitting down or reclining (stationary) using isolated physiological movement]. Regarding Claim 20, Yuen discloses an apparatus, comprising processing circuitry configured to [0006-0007 for processing signals and motion]: receive data indicating a receive signal of a sensor [0006-0007 for receiving sensing motion data]; process the data by isolating a locally stationary signal component of the receive signal from at least one of a stochastic or a deterministic signal component of the receive signal [0006-0007 for distinguish desired data components corresponding to various physiological activity from undesired data (undesired motion is deterministic) and noise (stochastic)]; and determine a vital sign of a living being based on the isolated locally stationary signal component of the receive signal [0006-0007 to determine if the person is sitting down or reclining (stationary) using isolated physiological movement]. Regarding Claim 2, Yuen discloses isolating the locally stationary signal component of the receive signal from the at least one of the stochastic and the deterministic signal component comprises extracting the locally stationary signal component of the receive signal [0007 for extracting a Doppler shifted signal from the scattered radiation]. Regarding Claim 3 and 15, Yuen discloses isolating the locally stationary signal component of the receive signal from the at least one of the stochastic and the deterministic signal component comprises [0006-0007 for distinguish desired data components corresponding to various physiological activity from undesired data] at least one of attenuating, filtering, suppressing or removing the at least one of the stochastic and the deterministic signal component of the receive signal [0007 and 0038 for filtering the frames using a low-pass filter, and obtaining a complex constellation plot of the filtered frames]. Regarding Claim 5, Yuen discloses the at least one of the stochastic and the deterministic signal component indicates at least one of a random motion and a vibration in a field of view of the sensor [0006-0007 for filtering noise (random) and undesired data (motions)]. Regarding Claim 6 and 16, Yuen discloses the locally stationary signal component indicates a breathing motion in a field of view of the sensor [0006-0007 for medical parameters such as, for example, respiratory rates, cardiac rates, respiratory effort, depth of breath, tidal volume, vital signs]. Regarding Claim 7, Yuen discloses the data is processed based on a predefined breathing rate assumed for the breathing motion [0027-0029]. Regarding Claim 18, Yuen discloses sensor system, comprising [0006-0007]; and the sensor, wherein the sensor is configured to: transmit a transmit signal into a field of view of the sensor [0006-0007 for medical parameters such as, for example, respiratory rates, cardiac rates, respiratory effort, depth of breath, tidal volume, vital signs], and generate the receive signal based on received reflections of the transmitted transmit signal [0007 for using transmitters and receiving scattered (reflected) data]. Regarding Claim 19, Yuen discloses and control circuitry configured to control an operation of the electronic device based on the processed data [0006-0007]. 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. Claims 4, 8, 10-12, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuen et al (US 2010/0130873 A1), as applied to Claims 1 and 13 above in view of O’Brien (US 4,688,044 A). Regarding Claim 4, Yuen fails to explicitly teach processing the data comprises using at least one of a linear predictor, a trained machine-learning model or a moving target indicator. O’Brien has a multiple range interval clutter cancellation circuit for MTI radars (abstract) and teaches processing the data comprises using at least one of a linear predictor, a trained machine-learning model or a moving target indicator [col 2, lines 50-65]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the motion sensing techniques, as disclosed by Yuen, further including the moving target calculations as taught by O’Brien for the purpose to cancel clutter in different range intervals (O’Brien, col 2, lines 50-65). Regarding Claim 8 and 17, Yuen teaches processing the data further comprises: selecting at least two frames from a plurality of frames of the data based on the predefined breathing rate [0007, 0037]. Yuen fails to explicitly teach and feeding the selected frames into a moving target indicator. O’Brien has a multiple range interval clutter cancellation circuit for MTI radars (abstract) and teaches and feeding the selected frames into a moving target indicator [col 2, lines 50-65]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the motion sensing techniques, as disclosed by Yuen, further including the moving target calculations as taught by O’Brien for the purpose to cancel clutter in different range intervals (O’Brien, col 2, lines 50-65). Regarding Claim 10, Yuen teaches selecting at least three frames from the plurality of frames based on the predefined breathing rate [0006-0007]. Yuen fails to explicitly teach wherein the moving target indicator is a double delay line canceller. O’Brien has a multiple range interval clutter cancellation circuit for MTI radars (abstract) and teaches wherein the moving target indicator is a double delay line canceller [col 3, lines 30-55]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the motion sensing techniques, as disclosed by Yuen, further including the moving target calculations as taught by O’Brien for the purpose to provide a target signal indication only when the threshold is crossed (O’Brien, col 3, lines 50-65). Regarding Claim 11, Yuen fails to explicitly teach feeding the selected frames into a moving target indicator comprises feeding the selected frames into a first channel of a plurality of channels of the moving target indicator; and the method further comprises: selecting at least two further frames from the plurality of frames of the data based on the predefined breathing rate, and feeding the selected further frames into a second channel of the plurality of channels. O’Brien has a multiple range interval clutter cancellation circuit for MTI radars (abstract) and teaches feeding the selected frames into a moving target indicator comprises feeding the selected frames into a first channel of a plurality of channels of the moving target indicator [col 2, lines 50-65 and figure 1]; and the method further comprises: selecting at least two further frames from the plurality of frames of the data based on the predefined breathing rate, and feeding the selected further frames into a second channel of the plurality of channels [col 3, lines 30-55 with figure 1 elements 12 and 14]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the motion sensing techniques, as disclosed by Yuen, further including the moving target calculations as taught by O’Brien for the purpose to provide a target signal indication only when the threshold is crossed (O’Brien, col 3, lines 50-65). Regarding Claim 12, Yuen teaches selecting one of the at least two further frames from frames in between the at least two frames [0037-0038]. Claims 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuen et al (US 2010/0130873 A1) in view of O’Brien (US 4,688,044 A), as applied to Claim 8 above, and further in view of Zhang (US 2023/0023965 A1). Regarding Claim 9, Yuen fails to explicitly teach selecting one of the at least two frames from a first subset of the plurality of frames that represents an inhale interval of the breathing motion and another one of the at least two frames from a second subset of the plurality of frames that represents an exhale interval of the breathing motion based on the predefined breathing rate. Zhang has a transmitter to emit electromagnetic waves; a first sensor to output signals representative of the electromagnetic waves reflected by a subject (abstract) and teaches selecting one of the at least two frames from a first subset of the plurality of frames that represents an inhale interval of the breathing motion and another one of the at least two frames from a second subset of the plurality of frames that represents an exhale interval of the breathing motion based on the predefined breathing rate [0024, 0072]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the motion sensing techniques, as disclosed by Yuen, further including the breathing calculations as taught by Zhang for the purpose to transmit the reflected signal to the heart rate detection circuitry (Zhang, 0025). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Zhang et al (US 2019/0178980 A1) has a system for monitoring a repeating motion in a venue. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMARINA MAKHDOOM whose telephone number is (703)756-1044. The examiner can normally be reached Monday – Thursdays from 8:30 to 5:30 pm eastern time. 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, William Kelleher can be reached on 571-272-7753 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. /SAMARINA MAKHDOOM/ Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 19, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 17, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103
Apr 01, 2026
Interview Requested
Apr 13, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Apr 13, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary

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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
70%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+26.6%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 101 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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