Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/695,427

DRONE PROTECTION SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 26, 2024
Priority
Oct 11, 2021 — nonprovisional of PCTJP2021037542
Examiner
NGUYEN, DANNY
Art Unit
2838
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
90%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 90% — above average
90%
Career Allowance Rate
1217 granted / 1351 resolved
+22.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
21 currently pending
Career history
1373
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
55.6%
+15.6% vs TC avg
§102
33.5%
-6.5% vs TC avg
§112
2.3%
-37.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1351 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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. 1. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Riedel (USPN 2019/0161204). Regarding claim 1, Riedel discloses a drone protection system (see figure 6) that protects a drone (a drone 10) from lightning strike (see par. 0021, 0130), the drone protection system comprising: a Faraday cage (a faraday cage 42, see par. 0139) enclosing the drone; and a wire (a cable 13) capable of moving along the Faraday cage (see par. 0012) while maintaining connection with the Faraday cage (42) with an end portion (one end of the cable 13) connecting to the Faraday cage (42)(see figure 6). Allowable Subject Matter 2. Claims 2-3 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 3. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANNY NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2054. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM. 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, Monica Lewis can be reached at 571-271-1838. 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. /DANNY NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 26, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 08, 2025
Non-Final Rejection (signed) — §102
Jan 08, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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Patent 12626841
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2y 5m 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
90%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+6.4%)
2y 4m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1351 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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