Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/730,173

INTERMEDIATE, TOOL AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A DEFORMATION BULLET WITH DEFINED TERMINAL BALLISTICS

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jul 18, 2024
Examiner
TILLMAN, JR, REGINALD S
Art Unit
3641
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
SwissP Defence AG
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 0m
To Grant
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allow Rate
1065 granted / 1367 resolved
+25.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 0m
Avg Prosecution
33 currently pending
Career history
1400
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
32.1%
-7.9% vs TC avg
§102
39.1%
-0.9% vs TC avg
§112
20.9%
-19.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1367 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 Objections Claims 1-28 objected to because of the following informalities: previously claimed elements in the dependent claims should be preceded by “the” instead of “a.” Dependent claim 2 (for example) recites: “a bullet body”, “a nose wall”, “a central cavity”, but all of these elements have previously been claimed in claim 1. Appropriate correction is required. In the second line of claim 27, it appears that “…and/or a bullet…” should be deleted. 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 1-28 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. Regarding claims 1-28, the phrases "for example", “such as”, “in particular” render the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-28 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to REGINALD S TILLMAN, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-7010. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 830-530. 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, Troy Chambers can be reached at 571-272-6874. 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. /REGINALD S TILLMAN, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3641
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 18, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 24, 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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (+11.0%)
2y 0m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1367 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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