Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/642,598

DYNAMIC PROCESS CRITICALITY SCORING

Non-Final OA §Other
Filed
Apr 22, 2024
Priority
Mar 31, 2021 — continuation of 11/966,787
Examiner
CAO, DIEM K
Art Unit
2196
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
McAfee LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 2m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allowance Rate
542 granted / 675 resolved
+25.3% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+19.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 5m
Avg Prosecution
15 currently pending
Career history
697
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.1%
-35.9% vs TC avg
§103
75.5%
+35.5% vs TC avg
§102
5.5%
-34.5% vs TC avg
§112
12.4%
-27.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 675 resolved cases

Office Action

§Other
DETAILED ACTION Claims 51-70 are presented for examination. Applicant has canceled claims 1-50 and added claims 51-70 in the preliminary amendment. Examiner note: the parent application should be updated in the specification to include the latest status of the application, i.e., patent number. 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 . Priority Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Applicant has not complied with one or more conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) or under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) as follows: The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or original nonprovisional application or provisional application). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994). The disclosure of the prior-filed application, Application No. 17/219,620, fails to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. For instance, independent claims 51, 66 and 69, recite the limitations “determine a user engagement value for the first process, wherein the user engagement value is based on a user's focus time on the first process and number of user interface (UI) interactions with the first process; based on the prediction and the user engagement value, computing a resource priority score for the first process”. Accordingly, claims 51-70 are not entitled to the benefit of the prior application. Examiner note: Final rejection from parent application 17/219,620 can be used to reject this application if the limitation “determine a user engagement value for the first process, wherein the user engagement value is based on a user's focus time on the first process and number of user interface (UI) interactions with the first process” is not included in the claims 51, 66 and 69. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kuhne (US 10,007,555 B1) teaches techniques for dynamic resource management are provided. An example method includes identifying one or more applications executing on a computing device, wherein one or more user interface elements representing the applications allow switching between interaction with the applications, determining an application of the one or more applications that is presently not receiving interaction from a user, selectively reducing resources allocated to the determined application based at least on a past usage pattern of the application or predicted future interaction with the application while continuing display of a user interface element representing the application, and when the determined application is predicted to receive future interaction by the user, increasing resources allocated to the determined application prior to the predicted future interaction. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIEM K CAO whose telephone number is (571)272-3760. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:00pm. 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, April Blair can be reached at 571-270-1014. 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. /DIEM K CAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2196 DC June 17, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 22, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §Other (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12681764
RECONCILING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLATFORMS
2y 4m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12657058
DYNAMICALLY SELECTING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODELS AND HARDWARE ENVIRONMENTS TO EXECUTE TASKS
2y 0m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12632298
METHOD TO DYNAMICALLY REGULATE VOLATILE AND NON-VOLATILE MEMORY POOLS ON PERSISTENT MEMORY ACROSS CLOUD
3y 7m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12625715
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR A COMMON-ATTRIBUTE VIRTUAL DESKTOP INFRASTRUCTURE (VDI) ENVIRONMENT WITH TIERED MEMORY CAPABILITIES
4y 0m to grant Granted May 12, 2026
Patent 12625726
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING A MULTI-ACCESS EDGE COMPUTING (MEC) NETWORK
3y 9m to grant Granted May 12, 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
80%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+19.2%)
3y 5m (~1y 2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 675 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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