Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/721,765

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING RADIOTHERAPY EQUIPMENT, DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jun 19, 2024
Examiner
KIM, KIHO
Art Unit
2884
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Our United Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 0m
To Grant
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allow Rate
1419 granted / 1661 resolved
+17.4% vs TC avg
Minimal +4% lift
Without
With
+4.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 0m
Avg Prosecution
27 currently pending
Career history
1688
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.1%
-36.9% vs TC avg
§103
54.1%
+14.1% vs TC avg
§102
25.4%
-14.6% vs TC avg
§112
12.6%
-27.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1661 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 . Specification Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details. The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided. The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it contains more than 150 words. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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. Claim(s) 1 – 6 and 10 – 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li (WO 2018/ 090195A1, cited in the IDS; see provided a translation copy). With respect to independent claim 1, Li teaches in Figs. 1 – 2 a method for controlling radiotherapy equipment, applicable to control dual-head radiotherapy equipment comprising a focused treatment head 10; see paragraph [0031] and a conformal treatment head 20; see paragraph [0031], wherein the method comprises: acquiring a plurality of target treatment plans for a target object 313,314, wherein the plurality of target treatment plans comprise a treatment plan for the focused treatment head 10 and a treatment plan for the conformal treatment head 20; performing an examination based on patient’s body image (see paragraphs [0035 – 0036]), Li determine whether these focused treatment head and a conformal treatment head are suitable as in the case of Fig. 7 (see paragraph [0062]) on the plurality of target treatment plans; and controlling treatment drive mode disclosed in paragraphs [0082 and 0095], in a case that the plurality of target treatment plans pass the examination, the focused treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the focused treatment head and the conformal treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the conformal treatment head. With respect to independent claim 10, as discussed in the rejection justification to claim 1 above, Li teaches A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in paragraph [0133] storing one or more computer programs therein, wherein the one or more computer programs, when loaded and run by a processor 200 in paragraph [0133], cause the processor to perform: acquiring a plurality of target treatment plans for a target object, wherein the plurality of target treatment plans comprise a treatment plan for a focused treatment head and a treatment plan for a conformal treatment head; performing an examination on the plurality of target treatment plans; and controlling, in a case that the plurality of target treatment plans pass the examination, the focused treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the focused treatment head and the conformal treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the conformal treatment head as discussed above. With respect to independent claim 16, as discussed above in the rejection justification to claims 1 and 10, Li teaches a computer device, comprising: a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores one or more computer programs executable by the processor, and the processor, when loading and running the one or more computer programs, is caused to perform: acquiring a plurality of target treatment plans for a target object, wherein the plurality of target treatment plans comprise a treatment plan for a focused treatment head and a treatment plan for a conformal treatment head; performing an examination on the plurality of target treatment plans; and controlling, in a case that the plurality of target treatment plans pass the examination, the focused treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the focused treatment head and the conformal treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the conformal treatment head. With respect to dependent claims 2, 11, and 17, Li teaches wherein the acquiring the plurality of target treatment plans comprises: displaying a treatment plan list for the target object in Fig. 7; see paragraph [0062] on a radiotherapy control; acquiring a plan-select operation input by a user, and identifying, based on the plan-select operation, the plurality of target treatment plans in the treatment plan list for subtargets 313 and 314 a user determines which head shall be used depending upon the target areas in Fig. 7; and downloading, based on identifiers as in paragraph [0063] different treatment heads can be used, and therefore, the processor in paragraph [0010] should perform this limitation of the plurality of target treatment plans, the plurality of target treatment plans from corresponding storage positions. With respect to dependent claims 3, 12 and 18, Li teaches in paragraphs [0062 – 0063] wherein the performing the examination on the plurality of target treatment plans comprises: respectively performing an identifier examination of the target object and a treatment parameter examination on each of the plurality of target treatment plans; determining, in a case that the target treatment plan passes both the identifier examination and the treatment parameter examination, that the target treatment plan passes the examination; and determining, in a case that the target treatment plan fails to pass at least one of the identifier examination or the treatment parameter examination, that the target treatment plan fails to pass the examination. With respect to dependent claims 4, 13 and 19, Li teaches in paragraph [0063] choosing different treatment heads for different sub-target, and therefore teaches reacquiring, in a case that at least one of the plurality of target treatment plans fails to pass the examination, the plurality of target treatment plans, and examining the plurality of target treatment plans as reacquired. With respect to dependent claims 5, 14, and 20, Li teaches in paragraph [0063] acquiring, in a case that an interrupted treatment plan is present in any of the plurality of target treatment plans, a treatment record corresponding to the target treatment plan. With respect to dependent claims 6 and 15, Li teaches in paragraph [0062] wherein the controlling the focused treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the focused treatment head and the conformal treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the conformal treatment head comprises: displaying the plurality of target treatment plans on a radiotherapy control interface; controlling the focused treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the focused treatment head and the conformal treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the conformal treatment head; and executing, in a case that a current target treatment plan is accomplished or interrupted, a next target treatment plan and displaying an accomplishment identifier of the current target treatment plan. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 7 and 21 – 22 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: With respect to dependent claim 7, the prior art of record fails to teach or reasonably suggest: transmitting, in a case that an execution of the plurality of target treatment plans is accomplished, treatment records of the plurality of target treatment plans to an external storage device; wherein the execution of the target treatment plan being accomplished comprises that the target treatment plan is accomplished or the target treatment plan is interrupted. With respect to dependent claim 21, the prior art of record fails to teach or reasonably suggest: wherein the processor, when loading and running the one or more computer programs, is caused to perform: displaying the plurality of target treatment plans on a radiotherapy control interface; controlling the focused treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the focused treatment head and the conformal treatment head to execute the treatment plan for the conformal treatment head; and executing, in a case that a current target treatment plan is accomplished or interrupted, a next target treatment plan and displaying an accomplishment identifier of the current target treatment plan. With respect to dependent claim 22, the prior art of record fails to teach or reasonably suggest: wherein the processor, when loading and running the one or more computer programs, is caused to perform: transmitting, in a case that an execution of the plurality of target treatment plans is accomplished, treatment records of the plurality of target treatment plans to an external storage device; wherein the execution of the target treatment plan being accomplished comprises that the target treatment plan is accomplished or the target treatment plan is interrupted. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIHO KIM, Ph.D. whose telephone number is (571)270-1628. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8-5 EST. 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, David Makiya can be reached at (571)272-2273. 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. KIHO KIM, Ph.D. Primary Examiner Art Unit 2884 /Kiho Kim/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 19, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 04, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
85%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+4.2%)
2y 0m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1661 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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