Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/651,867

Combined Air Waveguide Antenna and Housing

Final Rejection §103
Filed
May 01, 2024
Examiner
PHAN, THO GIA
Art Unit
2845
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Aptiv Technologies AG
OA Round
2 (Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allowance Rate
943 granted / 1032 resolved
+23.4% vs TC avg
Minimal +4% lift
Without
With
+4.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
1053
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.7%
-38.3% vs TC avg
§103
56.4%
+16.4% vs TC avg
§102
24.4%
-15.6% vs TC avg
§112
6.5%
-33.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1032 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Remarks A response filed on 4/13/26 had been entered in the application. 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. Claims 1-4 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Rodriquez-Garcia et al (12,401,129) in view of Gustafson et al (11,450,962). Regarding claim 1, Rodriquez-Garcia et al disclose a first fin 110 arranged in the first side 107 and defining a first (middle portion) long curve and a first (end portions) short curve and disposed on the first side of a substrate 105; a microstrip feed line 112,141 connected to the first fin. Regarding claims 2-4, Rodriquez-Garcia et al disclose the first long curve is defined by a first exponential function; and the first short curve is defined by a second exponential function different than the first exponential function (figs1-3), further comprising a second fin 111 arranged in the second side and defining a second long curve and a second short curve and disposed on the second side of the PCB 105, the second long curve matches the first long curve; and the second short curve matches the first short curve (figs4-5). Rodriquez-Garcia et al had been discussed but fail to teach a PCB including a first side and a second side, the first side including a first plurality of components arranged in a first circuit, the second side opposing the first side and including a second plurality of components arranged in a second circuit, the first fin extending parallel to the first side of the PCB and a matching section disposed between the first fin and the microstrip feed line. However, Gustafson et al in figure 1 teach a radiator element 110 extending parallel to a first side of the PCB (micro-PCB), the PCB including the first side and the second side, the first side including a first plurality of components 106 arranged in a first circuit, the second side opposing the first side and including a second plurality of components 108 arranged in a second circuit and a matching section 134-1,134-2. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skilled in the art to provide Rodriquez-Garcia et al with a PCB including a first side and a second side, the first side including a first plurality of components arranged in a first circuit, the second side opposing the first side and including a second plurality of components arranged in a second circuit, the first fin extending parallel to the first side of the PCB and a matching section disposed between the first fin and the microstrip feed line for the purpose of impedance matching so as to improve the antenna gain. Claims 8, 12-13, 15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Rodriquez-Garcia et al (12,401,129) in view of Gustafson et al (11,450,962) and further in view of Morimoto et al (12,355,140). Rodriquez-Garcia et al had been discussed and also teach an additional PCB 117,118 coupled to the second side of the PCB 105 (fig1). However, Rodriquez-Garcia et al in view of Gustafson et al fail to teach a parasitic fin disposed on the first or second side of the PCB and wherein the parasitic fin is spaced apart from the first fin. However, Morimoto et al disclose a parasitic element 115 disposed on the first side of the PCB and wherein the parasitic is spaced apart from the first driven element 110 (fig.16). It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skilled in the art to provide Rodriquez-Garcia et al with a parasitic fin disposed on the first or second side of the PCB and wherein the parasitic fin is spaced apart from the first fin so that directivity oriented toward the outside of the electronic device is achieved by the antenna element. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-6, 9-11 and 16-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. 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 THO GIA PHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-1826. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F (8-430). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dimary Lopez can be reached on (571) 270-7893. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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 http://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). /THO G PHAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 01, 2024
Application Filed
Nov 14, 2025
Non-Final Rejection (signed) — §103
Jan 20, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Mar 25, 2026
Interview Requested
Apr 08, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Apr 08, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Apr 13, 2026
Response Filed
Jun 05, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12683287
3D PRINTED REFLECTING SURFACE FOR MILLIMETER-WAVE COVERAGE EXPANSION
1y 9m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12676412
ANTENNA MODULE AND COMMUNICATION DEVICE MOUNTED WITH THE SAME
1y 8m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12671188
REFLECT ARRAY, DESIGN METHOD FOR REFLECT ARRAY, AND REFLECT ARRAY SYSTEM
2y 11m to grant Granted Jun 30, 2026
Patent 12665298
DECOUPLING APPARATUS, RADIATION UNIT AND ANTENNA
3y 1m to grant Granted Jun 23, 2026
Patent 12656451
DIMENSIONALLY-TOLERANT, COMPACT, WIDEBAND, WAVEGUIDE-TO-MONOLITHIC MICROWAVE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT UPWARD VERTICAL TRANSITION
2y 6m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
91%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+4.0%)
2y 1m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1032 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month