Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/727,648

METHOD, COMPUTER PROGRAM, DEVICE AND USER INTERFACE FOR RESTORING AUTOMATICALLY RESET SETTINGS OF A MACHINE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jul 09, 2024
Priority
Jan 12, 2022 — DE 102022200235.0 +1 more
Examiner
SILVERMAN, SETH ADAM
Art Unit
2174
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Volkswagen AG
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
73%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
8m
Est. Remaining
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 73% — above average
73%
Career Allowance Rate
342 granted / 467 resolved
+18.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+13.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
28 currently pending
Career history
504
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
§103
93.9%
+53.9% vs TC avg
§102
2.2%
-37.8% vs TC avg
§112
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 467 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/9/2024 was filed before the first office action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejection Notes 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. 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) 15-19, 22-28, 30, 31, and 33, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Lipman et al. (US 20080104145 A1, published: 5/1/2008). Claim 15: Lipman teaches a method for restoring automatically reset settings of a machine, comprising: generating a display of a list of reset settings on a display device (means for displaying a list of the plurality of versions of the at least one file [Lipman, Claim 13]; [Lipman, 0079]); detecting an actuation of at least one operating element for restoring at least one reset setting from the list (means for receiving an input specifying at least one of the plurality of versions of the at least one file to be restored [Lipman, Claim 13]); and restoring the at least one reset setting in response to the detected actuation of the at least one operating element (as with the file list illustrated in FIG. 4, the listing under the restoration interface provides a tree structure 250, retrieved from the file tree 152 of the index 150, which allows the user to expand or collapse the tree. With each file is an indication 251 of when the file was last backed up, including the date and time. If more than one version of a file has been backed up, the tree 250 is expandable to list all versions. One or more versions of a file can be restored. If multiple versions of a file are restored, each will be given a filename which indicates when it was backed up [Lipman, 0079]). Claims 24 and 33, sharing similar elements to claim 15, are likewise rejected. Claim 16: Lipman teaches the method of claim 15. Lipman further teaches further comprising: displaying an indication of a presence of the reset settings; and displaying the list of the reset settings in response to an actuation of a trigger operating element (the process for restoring data commences with this interface. The restore process has three screens for setting options, which are selected by tabs 241-243. In the first screen, selected by tab 241, a listing of files 250 which have been backed up is displayed. As with the file list illustrated in FIG. 4, the listing under the restoration interface provides a tree structure 250, retrieved from the file tree 152 of the index 150, which allows the user to expand or collapse the tree. With each file is an indication 251 of when the file was last backed up, including the date and time. If more than one version of a file has been backed up, the tree 250 is expandable to list all versions. One or more versions of a file can be restored [Lipman, 0079]). Claims 25 and 34, sharing similar elements to claim 16, are likewise rejected. Claim 17: Lipman teaches the method of claim 16. Lipman further teaches wherein the indication is configured as the trigger operating element ([Lipman, 0079-0080]). Claim 26, sharing similar elements to claim 17, is likewise rejected. Claim 18: Lipman teaches the method of claim 16. Lipman further teaches further comprising automatically displaying the indication or the list of the reset settings upon a startup of the machine or a user login (the administrator must enter an ID and password to get access to information on the backup device [Lipman, 0032]. The removable copies may be used for accessing certain login information, such as usernames and passwords, which have been forgotten or lost. [Lipman, 0087]). Claim 27, sharing similar elements to claim 18, is likewise rejected. Claim 19: Lipman teaches the method of claim 18. Lipman further teaches wherein the automatically displaying of the indication or the list is selectively deactivatable via a user setting (it is common for software products, in particular backup products, to use a three-state model to indicate the selection status of nested folders in a file system or other tree-like hierarchies. In such systems, one state indicates that the folder and its contents are selected, a second state indicates that the folder and its contents are not selected, and a third state ("partially selected") indicates that some of the contents of the folder are selected and some are not selected. [Lipman, 0034]). Claim 28, sharing similar elements to claim 19, is likewise rejected. Claim 22: Lipman teaches the method of claim 15. Lipman further teaches wherein the at least one operating element is configured to restore exactly one reset setting, a defined selection of reset settings, or all reset settings in the list via a single actuation (it is common for software products, in particular backup products, to use a three-state model to indicate the selection status of nested folders in a file system or other tree-like hierarchies. In such systems, one state indicates that the folder and its contents are selected, a second state indicates that the folder and its contents are not selected, and a third state ("partially selected") indicates that some of the contents of the folder are selected and some are not selected. Typically, these states are indicated graphically with a white square with a checkmark, an empty white square, and a gray square with a checkmark. [Lipman, 0034]; [Lipman, 0079-0080]). Claim 31, sharing similar elements to claim 22, is likewise rejected. Claim 23: Lipman teaches the method of claim 15. Lipman further teaches further comprising providing access to explanatory information regarding a reason for the reset of the settings via a secondary operating element (with each file is an indication 251 of when the file was last backed up, including the date and time [Lipman, 0079]). Claim 32, sharing similar elements to claim 23, is likewise rejected. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim(s) 20, 21, 29, and 30, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lipman et al. (US 20080104145 A1, published: 5/1/2008), in view of Bangalore et al. (US 20180285201 A1, published: 10/4/2018). Claim 20: Lipman teaches the method of claim 15. Lipman does not teach wherein the display device is configured as a touch-sensitive interface. However, Bangalore teaches wherein the display device is configured as a touch-sensitive interface (the interactive user interfaces may be displayed on, for example, electronic displays (including, for example, touch-enabled displays), consoles, etc. [Bangalore, 0107]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the automatic restore settings interface invention of Lipman to include the generic computer touch and scroll input features of Bangalore. One would have been motivated to make this modification to give users the familiar computer interface features, such as touch input and scroll input, which have been present in the computing field for the past 3 and a half decades. Such input features have become standard for graphical user interfaces. Claim 29, sharing similar elements to claim 20, is likewise rejected. Claim 21: The combination Lipman and Bangalore, teaches the method of claim 20. Bangalore further teaches wherein the at least one operating element is configured as a button or a slider control displayed on the touch-sensitive interface (a user may define a classification policy by indicating criteria, parameters or descriptors of the policy via a graphical user interface, such as a form or page with fields to be filled in, pull-down menus or entries allowing one or more of several options to be selected, buttons, sliders, hypertext links or other known user interface tools for receiving user input, etc. [Bangalore, 0217]). Claim 30, sharing similar elements to claim 21, is likewise rejected. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SETH A SILVERMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-9783. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thur, 8AM-4PM MST. 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, Adam Queler can be reached at (571)272-4140. 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. /Seth A Silverman/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2172
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 09, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (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
73%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+13.6%)
2y 8m (~8m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 467 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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