Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/720,823

COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHODS AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING MALIGNANCY

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jun 17, 2024
Examiner
JACOB, OOMMEN
Art Unit
3797
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 11m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allow Rate
692 granted / 880 resolved
+8.6% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+17.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
37 currently pending
Career history
917
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.8%
-37.2% vs TC avg
§103
52.6%
+12.6% vs TC avg
§102
15.2%
-24.8% vs TC avg
§112
25.6%
-14.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 880 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 . Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments, see remarks pages 9-11, filed 12/17/2025, with respect to the 103 rejection under Sheth in view of Sjöstrand and Boroczky have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, new grounds of 112 rejection is made as discussed below. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a): (a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112: The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Claims 1-11, 13-18 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Amended claim 1 recites “exemplary medical-history parameters”. This is new matter with respect to the original disclosure. Examiner’s inspection of the specification does not find this term used. The term exemplary is interpreted to mean serving as a desirable model; very good, best or synonyms. Original disclosure does not have reference to anything related to this nor pre-training using these parameters as recited in the claim. Further, applicant does not point out in the remarks where the support for this amended subject matter is. See remarks pages 7 last section to page 8 beginning section. Claims 2-11, 13-18 recite or encompass this limitation and are rejected for same reasons as above. 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 1-11, 13-18 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. Amended claim 1 recites “exemplary medical-history parameters”. Firstly, as noted above, the term Is not described in the original disclosure, and hence it is not clear what is being meant. Secondly, the term “exemplary” is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. For search and prosecution purposes, examiner interprets as parameters related to the received plurality of medical-history parameters Claims 2-11, 13-18 recite or encompass this limitation and are rejected for same reasons as above. Status of claims and prior art Claims 1-11, 13-18 do not have any a prior art rejections. The references recited in the PTO 892, are related to the applicant’s invention. Examiner updated search and consideration of claims, does not find any of the references anticipating the claims, nor find it obvious to modify references to show all limitations as claimed. However, the claims are not allowable / objected to in view of the pending 112 rejections. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OOMMEN JACOB whose telephone number is (571)270-5166. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-4:00. 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, ANNE M KOZAK can be reached at 571-270-0552. 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. /Oommen Jacob/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 17, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 09, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Oct 07, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 17, 2025
Final Rejection — §112
Dec 17, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 20, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Feb 18, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
79%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+17.4%)
2y 11m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 880 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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