Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 16, 2026
Application No. 18/640,081

WIRE DAMPER OF LOUDSPEAKER WITH PERIODIC SPAN WIRES AND THE METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Apr 19, 2024
Examiner
DEANE JR, WILLIAM J
Art Unit
2693
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Unknown
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allow Rate
705 granted / 853 resolved
+20.6% vs TC avg
Minimal +4% lift
Without
With
+4.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
871
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.2%
-29.8% vs TC avg
§103
43.0%
+3.0% vs TC avg
§102
14.8%
-25.2% vs TC avg
§112
12.3%
-27.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 853 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
18640DETAILED 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 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 – 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 11,317,229 (Chen). With respect to claim 1, Chen teaches: A method for manufacturing a wire damper of a loudspeaker with periodic span wires, comprising the following steps: arranging a plurality of warp yarns and a plurality of wire assemblies at intervals in a manner that the warp yarns and the wire assemblies extend straightly along a first direction and are parallel to each other, wherein each wire assembly is composed of a plurality of wires, and each wire is a monofilament thread (see Col. 5, lines 23 – 28); (b) interweaving a plurality of weft yarns with the warp yarns and the wire assemblies along a second direction to weave a base material, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, at least two adjacent weft yarns are defined as a weft yarn assembly, each wire assembly periodically spans above and below the weft yarn assemblies along the first direction, and an area where the weft yarn assemblies are interwoven with each wire assembly is defined as a wire disposing area (see Col. 5, lines 38 – 46 and Figs. 5, 11 and 14 – 16); (c) impregnating the base material in a resin solution (see Col. 5, lines 49 – 53); (d) drying the base material to form a solid resin layer on the base material (see Col. 5, lines 54 -63; (e) forming a wire damper of a loudspeaker on the base material by thermoforming (Col. 6, lines 11 - 12; and (f) separating the wire damper of the loudspeaker from the base material (see Col. 6, lines 37 – 40). With respect to claim 2, note Col. 3, lines 5 – 6. With respect to claims 3 - 4, note Col. 2, lines 35 – 39 (interweaving is braiding) and Col. 8, lines 15 - 22. With respect to claim 5, note Col. 6, lines 13 – 34. With respect to claim 6, Chen teaches: A wire damper of a loudspeaker with periodic span wires, comprising: a main body, which includes a plurality of warp yarns and a plurality of weft yarns, the warp yarns are arranged at intervals and extend straightly along a first direction and are parallel to each other, the weft yarns are interwoven with the warp yarns along a second direction, the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, and at least two adjacent weft yarns are defined as a weft yarn assembly (see Col. 3, lines 5 – 18) (a weft yarn assembly is what one would have via the interwoven warp and weft yarns. In this arrangement there are always at least 2 adjacent weft yarns) (see Figs. Figs. 5, 11and 13 – 17); a plurality of wire assemblies, which are arranged at intervals with the warp yarns, extend straightly along the first direction, are parallel to the warp yarns, and periodically span above and below the weft yarn assemblies along the first direction (Figs. 5, 10, 13 – 17 and 19 - 20, wherein each wire assembly is composed of a plurality of wires, each wire is a monofilament thread (Col. 5, lines 23 – 28), and an area where the weft yarn assemblies are interwoven with each wire assembly is defined as a wire disposing area (Col. 3, lines 5 – 18); and a solid resin layer, which covers surfaces of the warp yarns, the weft yarns and the wires (Col. 5, lines 54 – 63). With respect to claim 7, note Col. 5, lines 23 – 25. With respect to claims 8 – 9, note Col. 2, lines 35 – 39 (interweaving is braiding) and Col. 8, lines 15 - 22. With respect to claim 10, note Col. 3, lines 23 – 35 and Col. 6, lines 13 – 34. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Note the Abstracts and Figs. of the additional references cited on the accompanying 892. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to William Deane whose telephone number is 571 - 272- 7484. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - FRIDAY from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Ahmad Matar, can be reached on 571-272-7488. The official fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571 -273-8300. However, unofficial faxes can be direct to the examiner's computer at 571 273 -7484. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://pair-direct.uspto.gov Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). 26Dec2025 /WILLIAM J DEANE JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 19, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 27, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102
Mar 30, 2026
Response Filed

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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
83%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+4.0%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 853 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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