Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/688,317

DIRECTIONAL AUDIO SOURCE SEPARATION USING HYBRID NEURAL NETWORK

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Feb 29, 2024
Priority
Oct 21, 2021 — provisional 63/270,315 +1 more
Examiner
JEREZ LORA, WILLIAM A
Art Unit
2695
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allowance Rate
511 granted / 611 resolved
+21.6% vs TC avg
Strong +15% interview lift
Without
With
+15.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
628
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§103
88.9%
+48.9% vs TC avg
§102
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§112
4.0%
-36.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 611 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
DETAILED ACTION Allowable Subject Matter Claim 12-20 are allowed. While US PG-Pub 2022/0232342 and US PG-Pub 2019/0139563 are the closest art. While they teach most of the claim invention, they failed to teach a second intermediate signals that will be used to create a directional output signal in a way that the combination would be hindsight reasoning. 35 USC § 112 - Claim Rejections 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 1-11 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 1 recites the limitation "the plurality of intermediate signals" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM A JEREZ LORA whose telephone number is (571)270-5519. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am-9am and 11am-6pm. 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, Vivian Chin can be reached at 571-272-7848. 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. /WILLIAM A JEREZ LORA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 29, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 01, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12641367
MICROPHONE SIGNALBEAMFORMING PROCESSING METHOD, ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM
2y 1m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12634620
DIGITAL LAVALIER MICROPHONE
2y 7m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12634619
APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF ACOUSTIC FEEDBACK (AFB) MITIGATION
2y 6m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12626682
Directionality Induced Robust Acoustic Echo Canceler Adaptation
1y 12m to grant Granted May 12, 2026
Patent 12621627
SIGNAL PROCESSING DEVICE, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM
1y 11m to grant Granted May 05, 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
84%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+15.4%)
2y 2m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 611 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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