Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 04, 2026
Application No. 18/687,949

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING A JOINT IN A VIRTUAL KINEMATIC DEVICE

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Feb 29, 2024
Priority
Aug 30, 2021 — nonprovisional of PCTIB2021057901
Examiner
NGUYEN, THUY-VI THI
Art Unit
3656
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Siemens Industry Software Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
52%
Grant Probability
Moderate
2-3
OA Rounds
1y 0m
Est. Remaining
63%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 52% of resolved cases
52%
Career Allowance Rate
406 granted / 787 resolved
At TC average
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 8m
Avg Prosecution
20 currently pending
Career history
806
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
21.2%
-18.8% vs TC avg
§103
35.3%
-4.7% vs TC avg
§102
17.8%
-22.2% vs TC avg
§112
21.8%
-18.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 787 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 . Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/20/26 has been entered. This is in response to Applicant’s communication filed on 8/20/26, wherein: Claims 19-25 overcome the prior of record. Claims 33-38, 41-44 have been cancelled. Claims 26-32, 39-40 are allowed. 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. Claims 19-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 19 recites in the forth step “applying the selected specific joint descriptor analyzer to the input data….”. There are insufficient antecedent and basis for “the selected specific joint descriptor analyzer” in the claim. Noted that the previous step is silent about selecting a specific joint descriptor analyzer. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kira Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)270-1614. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday 9:00-5:00 ET. 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, Khoi Tran can be reached on 571-272-6919. 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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /KIRA NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3656
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 29, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Jun 10, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 20, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Aug 21, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Sep 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM
2y 6m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12746674
TASK EXECUTION METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE, AND COMPUTER MEDIUM
1y 10m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12741366
Robot System for Lead-Through Programming
2y 0m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12722285
MANIPULATOR ROBOT
2y 4m to grant Granted Sep 01, 2026
Patent 12702502
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMIC ADJUSTMENTS BASED ON LOAD INPUTS FOR ROBOTIC SYSTEMS
2y 6m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
52%
Grant Probability
63%
With Interview (+11.4%)
3y 8m (~1y 0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 787 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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