Last updated: July 15, 2026

Application No. 18/708,243

IMPORTANT AREA SPECIFICATION SYSTEM, IMPORTANT AREA SPECIFICATION DEVICE, IMPORTANT AREA SPECIFICATION METHOD, AND PROGRAM

Non-Final OA

Filed

May 08, 2024

Priority

Nov 22, 2021 — nonprovisional of PCTJP2021042774

Examiner

MORSE, GREGORY ALLAN

Art Unit

2663

Tech Center

2600 — Communications

Assignee

NEC Corporation

OA Round

1 (Non-Final)

This examiner grants 36% of cases after interview

— +41.6% interview lift. A telephonic interview to clarify the technical implementation could significantly improve the outcome.

Based on 11 resolved cases, 2023–2026

Examiner Intelligence

MORSE, GREGORY ALLAN View full profile →

Grants only 36% of cases

Career Allowance Rate

4 granted / 11 resolved

-25.6% vs TC avg

Strong +42% interview lift

Without

With

+41.6%

Interview Lift

resolved cases with interview

Typical timeline

3y 4m

Avg Prosecution

17 currently pending

Career history

Total Applications

across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101

2.6%

-37.4% vs TC avg

§103

80.5%

+40.5% vs TC avg

§102

2.6%

-37.4% vs TC avg

§112

13.0%

-27.0% vs TC avg

Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 11 resolved cases

Prosecution Timeline

May 08, 2024

Application Filed

Apr 08, 2026

Non-Final Rejection mailed

Jun 24, 2026

Interview Requested

Jul 06, 2026

Response Filed

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

18/322,605

Patent 12536648

INTELLIGENT RECOGNITION METHOD FOR TIME SEQUENCE IMAGE OF CONCRETE DAM DEFECT

2y 8m to grant Granted Jan 27, 2026

18/051,229

Patent 12522172

Method and System for Seat Belt Status Detection

3y 2m to grant Granted Jan 13, 2026

18/227,338

Patent 12412384

AUTOMATED IMAGE DETECTION UTILIZING A CONVOLUTIONAL XGBOOST IMAGE RECOGNITION MACHINE LEARNING MODEL ON EDGE COMPUTING WITH BLOCKCHAIN MOBILE AUTHENTICATION

2y 1m to grant Granted Sep 09, 2025

11/603,527

Patent 7902528

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROXIMITY EFFECT AND DOSE CORRECTION FOR A PARTICLE BEAM WRITING DEVICE

4y 3m to grant Granted Mar 08, 2011

12/830,389

Patent null

METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR PROCESSING A CONTEXTUAL CHANNEL IDENTIFIER

Granted

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

1-2

Expected OA Rounds

36%

Grant Probability

78%

With Interview (+41.6%)

3y 4m (~1y 2m remaining)

Median Time to Grant

Low

PTA Risk

Based on 11 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.