Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/624,655

PLASMA GENERATING DEVICE, SUBSTRATE PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Apr 02, 2024
Examiner
LIU, XIAOMING
Art Unit
2812
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Kokusai Electric Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allow Rate
495 granted / 576 resolved
+17.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
39 currently pending
Career history
615
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
61.5%
+21.5% vs TC avg
§102
24.9%
-15.1% vs TC avg
§112
3.3%
-36.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 576 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/2/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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. Claim 1 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite in that it fails to point out what is included or excluded by the claim language. This claim is an omnibus type claim. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIAOMING LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-0384. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-8pm, EST. 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, Christine S Kim can be reached on (571)272-8458. 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. /XIAOMING LIU/Examiner, Art Unit 2812
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 02, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 13, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Sep 18, 2025
Response Filed

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12604495
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE WITH MULTI-THRESHOLD GATE STRUCTURE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12604467
SEMICONDUCTOR WITH EXTENDED LIFE TIME FLASH MEMORY
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12588442
METHOD FOR FABRICATING MULTIPLE WORK FUNCTION LAYERS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12575145
MONOLITHIC STACKED FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR (SFET) WITH DUAL MIDDLE DIELECTRIC ISOLATION (MDI) SEPARATION
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12563813
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 24, 2026
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
86%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+11.0%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 576 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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