Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/613,052

SIGNAL TRANSMISSION DEVICE AND QUANTUM COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR QUANTUM BIT

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Mar 21, 2024
Priority
Dec 26, 2023 — TW 112150824
Examiner
TRA, ANH QUAN
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Industrial Technology Research Institute
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
73%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
78%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 73% — above average
73%
Career Allowance Rate
818 granted / 1123 resolved
+12.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +5% lift
Without
With
+5.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
38 currently pending
Career history
1158
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
58.8%
+18.8% vs TC avg
§102
24.0%
-16.0% vs TC avg
§112
8.4%
-31.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1123 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 . 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) 1-3, 12, 13, 16 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tuttle (US 20200409438) in view of Ioffe et al. (US 20190324846). As to claim 1, Tuttle’s figures 4A-4C, 5 and 7 shows a signal transmission device for a quantum bit (it is inherent that quantum processor in figure 7 comprises quantum bit. ¶0039 teaches that the circuit figure 7 is in communication with memory operatable at ambient or near-ambient temperature, see figures 4A-4C. Figure 5 shows inductive coupling link ICL between high temperature device, i.e., memory, and low temperature device, i.e., quantum processor), comprising: a transceiver circuit (coupled to the Memory, see figures 4A-4C); a first sensing circuit board (primary coil of ICL shown in figure 5) coupled to the transceiver circuit. The figures fail to show a thermal insulation shell for separating a thermal insulation area. However, figure 1 shows a thermal insulator arranged between device 1 and device 2. Furthermore, Ioffe et al.’s figure 1 shows that its quantum processor 14 is shield with thermal insulation 18. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to shield Tuttle’s quantum processor (device 2) with thermal insulation for the purpose of cooling the quantum processor more precisely. The modified Tuttle’s figure further shows a second sensing circuit board (secondary coil of the ICL in figure 5) coupled to the quantum bit, wherein the second sensing circuit board and the quantum bit are located in the thermal insulation area of the thermal insulation shell (since the coil conducts heat, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to arrange the second sensing circuit board in the thermal insulation for the purpose of stabling temperature within the insulation shell), and the transceiver circuit is located outside the thermal insulation area of the thermal insulation shell (since it is arranged within ambient temperature environment), the first sensing circuit board and the second sensing circuit board perform mutual induction to produce energy changes, and the transceiver circuit transmits and receives a signal with the quantum bit through the mutual induction between the first sensing circuit board and the second sensing circuit board. As to claims 2 and 3, it is known that the distance between the primary coil and secondary coil determines the transmitting/receiving power between the coils. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to arrange the first sensing circuit board in or on the thermal insulation area of the thermal insulation shell for the purpose of achieving desired power. As to claim 12, the modified Tuttle’s figures show that the transceiver circuit transmits and receives the signal with the quantum bit through near-field coupling through the mutual induction between the first sensing circuit board and the second sensing circuit board. As to claim 13, the modified Tuttle’s figures show that the first sensing circuit board and the second sensing circuit board each comprises a sensing coil. Claims 16-17 recite similar limitations in claims above. Therefore, they are rejected for the same reasons., wherein Memory is considered as a computer (see Tuttle’s figure 4A-4C or Ioffe et al.’s 30-39) Claim(s) 4-11, 18 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tuttle (US 20200409438) in view of Ioffe et al. (US 20190324846) and Khlat (US 12658889). As to claim 4, the modified Tuttle’s figures show that a read input circuit providing a read input signal to the first sensing circuit board; a read output circuit receiving a read output signal from the first sensing circuit board. The figures fail to show a tuning circuit for controlling and adjusting an impedance of the first sensing circuit board to adjust a frequency of the read input signal or the read output signal. However, Khlat’s figure 2 shows that inductor 48 is controlled by impedance tuning circuit 50. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to impedance tunning circuit 50 to Tuttle ‘s primary coil for the purpose of achieving desire impedance. As to claim 5, the modified Tuttle’s figures show that the first sensing circuit board comprises: a first inductor, wherein a first terminal of the first inductor serves as a read input terminal, and a second terminal of the first inductor is coupled to a balance terminal (that the coupled to the added impedance tunning circuit), the read input terminal being coupled to the read input circuit, and the balance terminal being coupled to the tuning circuit; and a second inductor), a first terminal of the second inductor is coupled to the balance terminal, and a second terminal of the second inductor is coupled to a read output terminal, the read output terminal being coupled to the read output circuit (see Khlat’s figure 2). As to claim 6, since the coils are within the insulation shell, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to connect the coil to external devices through via holes for the purpose of providing more precise connections. Thus, the modified circuit shows that the read input terminal, the balance terminal, and the read output terminal correspond to a plurality of via holes on the thermal insulation shell, respectively. As to claim 7, the modified Tuttle’s figures show that the second sensing circuit board comprises a third inductor, a first terminal of the third inductor being coupled to the quantum bit, and a second terminal of the third inductor being coupled to a reference voltage terminal (coil coupled to ground is well known in the art, see Ioffle’s 64. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to couple one terminal of the secondary coil to ground for the purpose of achieving desire transmitting/receiving signal amplitude). As to claim 8, the modified Tuttle’s figures show that the tuning circuit is an electrical-balance duplexer. As to claim 9, the modified Tuttle’s figures show that the tuning circuit comprises: a resistor (Khlat’s R and SW in figure 3A), wherein a first terminal of the resistor is coupled to a balance terminal, and a second terminal of the resistor is coupled to a reference voltage terminal; and a capacitor (Khlat’s 64 in figure 3A), wherein a first terminal of the capacitor is coupled to the balance terminal, and a second terminal of the capacitor is coupled to the reference voltage terminal. As to claim 10, the modified Tuttle’s figures show that the resistor is a variable resistor, and the capacitor is a variable capacitor. As to claim 11, the modified Tuttle’s figures show that the first sensing circuit board is disposed on an inner layer of the thermal insulation shell, and the transceiver circuit is disposed on an outer layer of the thermal insulation shell (see the rejection of claims 2 and 3), the transceiver circuit being coupled to the first sensing circuit board through via holes penetrating the thermal insulation shell (see the rejection of claim 6). Claims 18-19 recite similar limitations in claims above. Therefore, they are rejected for the same reasons. Claim(s) 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tuttle (US 20200409438) in view of Ioffe et al. (US 20190324846) in view of Chen et al. (US 20220045714). The modified Tuttle’s figures fail to show an analog interference cancellation circuit coupled between the transceiver circuit and the first sensing circuit board for reducing interference in a read input path. However, Chen et al.’s figure 1 shows an analog interference cancellation circuit (Radio frequency interference cancellation) coupled between the receiver (Digital receiving signal) and sensing circuit board (receive antenna) for reducing interference in a read input path. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to add analog interference cancellation circuit between Tuttle’s transceiver and first sensing circuit for the purpose of reducing noise. As to claim 15, Chen et al.’s figure 1 also shows a digital interference cancellation circuit coupled to the transceiver circuit for reducing interference in a read input path. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to add a digital interference cancellation circuit coupled to Tuttle’s transceiver circuit for the purpose of reducing noise. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANH-QUAN TRA whose telephone number is (571)272-1755. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri from 8:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M. 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, Andrea Lindgren Baltzell can be reached at 571-272-5918. 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. /QUAN TRA/ Primary Examiner Art Unit 2843
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 21, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 30, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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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
73%
Grant Probability
78%
With Interview (+5.4%)
2y 4m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1123 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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