Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/736,743

SEMIAUTOMATED RELAY METHOD AND APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jun 07, 2024
Examiner
HASHEM, LISA
Art Unit
2692
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
ULTRATEC, INC.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 4m
To Grant
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allow Rate
263 granted / 355 resolved
+12.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+12.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 4m
Avg Prosecution
11 currently pending
Career history
366
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.0%
-33.0% vs TC avg
§103
18.1%
-21.9% vs TC avg
§102
32.5%
-7.5% vs TC avg
§112
30.5%
-9.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 355 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on: 8-28-2025, 1-3-2025, 1-3-2025, 1-3-2025, 1-3-2025, 1-3-2025, 1-3-2025, 1-3-2025, and 1-3-2025 are considered by the examiner. 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. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the first text segments in the presented first text string" in line 17. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 12 recites the limitation "the first word in the first location as displayed by the first device" in line 17. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 19 recites the limitation "the first word in the first location as displayed by the first device" in line 21. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1, 12, and 19 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. Claims 2-11 depend on claim 1, claims 13-18 depend on claim 12, and claim 20 depends on claim 19. The prior art of: U.S. Pat. No. 8,265,671 by Gould et al, U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. No. 2005/0226398 by Bojeun, U.S. Pat. No. 11,935,540 by Thomson, U.S. Pat. No. 9,917,939 by Stimpson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 12,482,458 by Engelke et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 12,488,799 by Engelke et al do not disclose the claimed limitations in claims 1, 12, and 19. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 Form. Any response to this action should be mailed to: Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 Or faxed to: (571) 273-8300 (for formal communications intended for entry) Or call: (571) 272-2600 (for customer service assistance) Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA HASHEM whose telephone number is 571-272-7542. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn Edwards can be reached on 571-270-7136. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). 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) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form. /LISA HASHEM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692 /CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 07, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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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
74%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+12.7%)
3y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 355 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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