Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/611,441

DETERMINING BERLEKAMP DISCREPANCY VALUES

Final Rejection §112
Filed
Mar 20, 2024
Priority
Mar 20, 2023 — provisional 63/491,257
Examiner
NGUYEN, STEVE N
Art Unit
2111
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Microchip Technology Incorporated
OA Round
4 (Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
4m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allowance Rate
480 granted / 643 resolved
+19.7% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+19.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
16 currently pending
Career history
668
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
9.7%
-30.3% vs TC avg
§103
52.8%
+12.8% vs TC avg
§102
10.2%
-29.8% vs TC avg
§112
24.4%
-15.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 643 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Election/Restrictions Claim 16 is withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1, 2, 4-7-11, and 13-15 are allowed for the reasons provided by Applicant on pages 9-10 of the Remarks filed 12/9/2025. Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.” Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed 6/10/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive in view of the new 112 rejections below. Claims 3 and 12 as amended recite what the intended purpose of the polynomial expression is. However, the polynomial expression itself is not recited, so it is impossible to determine what “a portion” of that expression is. 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 3 and 12 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. Claims 3 and 12 recite, “a portion of a polynomial expression”. The claim is incomplete for omitting essential elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the elements. See MPEP § 2172.01. It is unclear what the polynomial expression is because it is not recited. Therefore, it is impossible to determine “a portion” of an unknown expression since it is relative to the unknown expression. Claims 3 and 12 as amended recite what the intended purpose of the polynomial expression is. However, the polynomial expression itself is not recited, so it is impossible to determine what “a portion” of that expression is. Claims 3 and 12 further recite, “wherein the portion of the polynomial expression, implemented via the second computational circuit, to determine the intermediate value.” This limitation is grammatically incomprehensible. Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 STEVE N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7214. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5. 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, Mark Featherstone can be reached at 571-270-3750. 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. /STEVE N NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2111
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 2 earlier events
Sep 23, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 07, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §112
Dec 09, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 07, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 23, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Jun 10, 2026
Response Filed
Jul 14, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12682979
MEMORY DEVICE FOR SUPPORTING TRIPLE ADJACENT ERROR DETECTION, MEMORY SYSTEM HAVING THE SAME, AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF
2y 2m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12675366
RECOVERING DATA FROM DE-SEQUENCED ENCODED DATA SLICES
1y 10m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12665614
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOW DENSITY PARITY CHECK (LDPC) CODE WITH 5/6 CODE RATE
2y 1m to grant Granted Jun 23, 2026
Patent 12657082
INFORMATION TRANSMISSION METHOD, CONTROL APPARATUS, ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNAL TRANSCEIVER APPARATUS, AND SIGNAL PROCESSING DEVICE
3y 1m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12658275
DETECTING ERRORS WITHIN DATA PATH CIRCUITRY OF A MEMORY DEVICE
1y 11m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+19.1%)
2y 9m (~4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 643 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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