Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/754,864

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DEPOSITING MATERIAL DURING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Jun 26, 2024
Priority
Mar 24, 2022 — continuation of 11/618,209 +1 more
Examiner
AHMED ALI, MOHAMED K
Art Unit
1743
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Thermwood Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allowance Rate
308 granted / 436 resolved
+5.6% vs TC avg
Strong +27% interview lift
Without
With
+26.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
458
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
70.3%
+30.3% vs TC avg
§102
11.3%
-28.7% vs TC avg
§112
6.8%
-33.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 436 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 . Status of the application This is a final rejection in response to the applicant's remarks and amendment filed on 04/21/2026. Claim(s) 1-20 is/are cancelled, claim(s) 21, 25, 30, 34, 36 and 38 is/are currently amended and claim(s) 22-24,26-29,31-33,35, 37 and 39-40 are previously presented. Accordingly claims 21-40 are examined herein. Note Examiner notes that the term “about” in claim 25 is examined below in light of the specification according to [0020]: as ±10% of the specified amount or value . 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim(s) 21-22 and 26-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Susnjara (US 2018/0222118 - of record) in view of Gifford (US 2015/0174824) and Nakamura (JP 2020/151986 with English Machine Translation Attached - Both of record). Regarding claim 21, Susnjara teaches an additive manufacturing system (1) (see Fig. 1; [0021]) comprising: an extruder (61) configured to receive and heat a material (see [0032]); a nozzle (51) defining a longitudinal axis .. fluidly connected to the extruder for depositing the heated material (see Figs. 1-2; [0016-0017] and [0028]); a horizontally-fixed plate (42) positioned adjacent to the nozzle (see Fig. 4;[0042]); a movable surface (i.e. upper surface of movable conveyor belts (38 and /or 48) for receiving the deposited material (see Fig. 4; [0042-0043]); and a controller operably coupled to the extruder (see [0027]); the controller capable to be configured to: control the extruder to deposit a first layer of the heated material (first layer of molten bead (44)) from the nozzle (51) onto the movable surface (see Fig. 4; [0027], [0031], [0044] and [0058]), cause the movable surface (upper surface of movable conveyor belts (38 and/or 48)) to translate the first layer of heated material in a horizontal direction away from the nozzle (see Fig. 4; [0042] and [0044]). Susnjara does not explicitly teach that the nozzle defining the longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between about 10 degrees and about 80 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction and the controller control the extruder such that the first layer forms anon-zero angle with the horizontal direction. In the same field of endeavor, 3D printing systems, Gifford teaches a 3D printer system comprises a printhead includes at least one nozzle (1441,1442,1443, 1510 and/or 1520) defining a longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between about 10 degrees and about 80 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction (see (Figs. 14A-14D and Figs. 15A-15D; [0165-0174]). Gifford teaches a controller configured to control the nozzles to move in a vertical direction (1320) to form a vertical wall and the nozzles moved in a horizontal direction to form a horizontal wall (1360) (see [0165-0166]). Gifford further teaches that the nozzle that forms an angle of less than 45 or less than 30 degrees can be used, with smaller angle resulting in better adhesion of the printed lines, e.g., non-collapsed overhang feature (see [0173]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the apparatus as taught by Susnjara in view of Gifford by configuring the nozzle defining a longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between about 10 degrees and about 80 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction and the controller control the extruder such that the first layer forms anon-zero angle with the horizontal direction as such is known in the art of additive manufacturing given the discussion of Gifford above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would allow for better adhesion of the printed lines (see [0173] of Gifford). Susnjara in view of Gifford further teaches control the extruder to deposit a second layer of heated material (44) onto the first layer to form a desired article (see [0018], [0052] and [0054] of Susnjara), but Susnjara in view of Gifford does not teach control the extruder to deposit a second layer of heated material onto the first layer to form to form at least part of a hollow article. In the same field of endeavor, 3D printing apparatus, Nakamura teaches a 3D shaped object production apparatus (10) (see Fig. 1; [0018] of English Machine Translation attached), comprises a head part (50) that ejects a melt (92) obtained by heating a thermoplastic material (91) from a nozzle (52), a movable table (20) configured to receive the molten material (92) from the nozzle; a rotation mechanism (30) that rotates the table (20) (see Fig. 1;[0018-0020] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura); and a controller (80) configured to control the nozzle and the movable table to form a hollow article (100) with a hollow interior that is entirely enclosed by the deposited material (i.e. without depositing any support material) (Fig. 1 and Figs. 5-6; [0006], [0014], [0018], [0024], [0033] and [0043] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the apparatus as taught by Susnjara in view of Nakamura by configuring the controller control the extruder to deposit a second layer of heated material onto the first layer to form to form at least part of a hollow article as such is known in the art of additive manufacturing given the discussion of Nakamura above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would allow for easily producing a hollow shaped object without using a support material (see [0014] of Nakamura). Regarding claim 22, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the movable surface is part of a conveyance means that comprises a conveyor belt (38) (see Figs. 3-4; [0014] and [0031] of Susnjara). Regarding claim 26, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the horizontally-fixed plate (42) is configured to cool the heated material (see Fig. 4;[0042] of Susnjara). Regarding claim 27, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the controller (80) is further configured to control the extruder (head part 50) and the movable surface (i.e. upper surface of movable table (20)) to form the hollow article (100) with a hollow interior that is entirely enclosed by the deposited material (see Figs. 7-9; [0006], [0014], [0018], [0024], [0027] and [0043] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). Regarding claim 28, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the controller (80) is further configured to control the extruder (head part 50) and the movable surface (i.e. upper surface of movable table (20)) to form the hollow article (100) without depositing any support material interior to the hollow article (Fig. 1 and Figs. 5-6; [0006], [0014], [0018], [0024], [0027] and [0043] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). Regarding claim 29, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, further comprising a melt pump (gear pump 74) fluidly connected between the extruder (61) and the nozzle (51), wherein the controller is further configured to control the melt pump to selectively deliver the heated material from the extruder to the nozzle (see Fig. 2; [0027], [0032] and [0058] of Susnjara). Claim(s) 23-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Susnjara (US 2018/0222118) in view of Gifford (US 2015/0174824) and Nakamura (JP 2020/151986 with English Machine Translation attached – both of record) as applied to claim 21 above, and further in view of Isobe (US 2019/0240903 – of record). Regarding claim 23, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura teaches the additive manufacturing system as discussed in claim 21 above. Susnjara further teaches wherein the movable surface (upper surface of conveyor belt (38)) is part of a conveyance means (conveyor belt (38)) (see Fig. 4; [0042-0043] of Susnjara). However, Susnjara does not teach the conveyance means comprises an angled plate. In the same field of endeavor, 3D printing, Isobe teaches a three-dimensional shaping device, comprising an extruder (9) configured to receive/heat material; a nozzle (2a) for depositing heated material on an angled plate (3a) that is part of a moving mean (rotation unit (6)) (see Fig. 1, Figs. 5-8; [0052], [0059], [0063] and [0068]). Isobe further teaches that tilting the angled table (3a) will allow for producing a 3D object having a complicated shape by having the shaping table tilted relative to the discharge head (see [0013] of Isobe). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the apparatus as taught by Susnjara in view of Isobe with an angled plate as part of conveyance means as such is known in the art of additive manufacturing given the discussion of Isobe above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would allow for producing a 3D object having a complicated shape (see [0013] of Isobe). Regarding claim 24, Susnjara in view of Gifford, Nakamura and Isobe teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the angled plate (3) forms an acute angle with the horizontal direction (see Figs. 6-8; [0059-0063] of Isobe). Regarding claim 25, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura teaches the additive manufacturing system as discussed in claim 21 above. Susnjara does not teach that the movable surface is an angled plate that forms an angle of about 45 degrees with the horizontal direction. In the same field of endeavor, 3D printing, Isobe teaches a three-dimensional shaping device, comprising an extruder (9) configured to receive/heat material; a nozzle (2a) for depositing heated material on an angled plate (3a) that is moved by a moving mean (rotation unit 6); wherein the angled plate forms an angle of about 45 degrees with the horizontal direction (see Fig. 1, Figs. 7-8; [0052], [0059], [0063] and [0068]). Isobe further teaches that tilting the angled table (3a) will allow for producing a 3D object having a complicated shape by having the shaping table tilted relative to the discharge head (see [0013] of Isobe). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the apparatus as taught by Susnjara in view of Isobe with an angled plate that forms an angle of about 45 degrees with the horizontal direction as such is known in the art of additive manufacturing given the discussion of Isobe above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would allow for producing a 3D object having a complicated shape (see [0013] of Isobe). Claim(s) 30-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Susnjara (US 2018/0222118 – of record) in view of Gifford (US 2015/0174824) and Nakamura (JP 2020/151986 with English Machine Translation attached - both of record). Regarding claim 30, Susnjara teaches an additive manufacturing system (1) (see Fig. 1; [0021]) comprising: an extruder (61) for heating a material (see Fig. 1; [0032]); a melt pump (74) fluidly connected to the extruder (61) for receiving the heated material (see Fig. 2; [0032] and [0041]); a nozzle (51) .. fluidly connected to the melt pump for depositing the heated material (see Figs. 2-3; [0032]); a conveyor (conveyor belt (38)) positioned to receive the heated material deposited from the nozzle (see Figs. 3-4; [0033], [0044] and [0053]); and a controller operably coupled to the extruder, the melt pump, and the conveyor (see [0027]), the controller capable to be configured to: control the extruder and the melt pump to deposit a first layer of the heated material from the nozzle (see Fig. 5; [0027], [0041] and [0044]); control the conveyor to translate the first layer of heated material in a horizontal direction away from the nozzle (see Fig. 5; [0027] and [0053-0054]); and control the extruder and the melt pump to deposit additional layers of heated material onto the first layer to produce a desired article (see Fig. 5 [0017-0018], [0027], [0052] and [0054] of Susnjara) Susnjara does not explicitly teach that the nozzle defining a longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between about 10 degrees and about 80 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction and the controller control the extruder such that the first layer forms anon-zero angle with the horizontal direction In the same field of endeavor, 3D printing systems, Gifford teaches a 3D printer system comprises a printhead includes at least one nozzle (1441,1442,1443, 1510 and/or 1520) defining a longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between about 10 degrees and about 80 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction (see (Figs. 14A-14D and Figs. 15A-15D; [0165-0174]). Gifford teaches a controller configured to control the nozzles to move in a vertical direction (1320) to form a vertical wall and the nozzles moved in a horizontal direction to form a horizontal wall (1360) (see [0165-0166]). Gifford further teaches that the nozzle that forms an angle of less than 45 or less than 30 degrees can be used, with smaller angle resulting in better adhesion of the printed lines, e.g., non-collapsed overhang feature (see [0173]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the apparatus as taught by Susnjara in view of Gifford by configuring the nozzle defining a longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between about 10 degrees and about 80 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction and the controller control the extruder such that the first layer forms anon-zero angle with the horizontal direction as such is known in the art of additive manufacturing given the discussion of Gifford above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would allow for better adhesion of the printed lines (see [0173] of Gifford). Susnjara in view of Gifford does not teach control the extruder and melt pump to deposit additional layers of heated material onto the first layer to form at least part of a hollow article. In the same field of endeavor, 3D printing apparatus, Nakamura teaches a 3D shaped object production apparatus (10) (see Fig. 1; [0018] of English Machine Translation attached), comprises a head part (50) that ejects a melt (92) obtained by heating a thermoplastic material (91) from a nozzle (52), a movable table (20) configured to receive the molten material (92) from the nozzle; a rotation mechanism (30) that rotates the table (20) (see Fig. 1; [0018-0020] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura); and a controller (80) configured to control the nozzle and the movable table to form a hollow article (100) with a hollow interior that is entirely enclosed by the deposited material (i.e. without depositing any support material) (Fig. 1 and Figs. 5-6; [0006], [0014], [0018], [0024], [0033] and [0043] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the apparatus as taught by Susnjara in view of Nakamura by configuring the controller to control the extruder and melt pump to deposit additional layers of heated material onto the first layer to form at least part of a hollow article as such is known in the art of additive manufacturing given the discussion of Nakamura above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would allow for easily producing a hollow shaped object without using a support material (see [0014] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). Regarding claim 31, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the controller is further configured to control the extruder (61) and the melt pump (74) to deposit the additional layers of heated material capable to form the hollow object with an enclosed hollow interior (see Figs. 2-3 and Fig. 5; [0027], [0044] and [0053-0054] of Susnjara; and [0006] and [0014] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). Regarding claim 32, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the controller is further configured to control the extruder (61) and the melt pump (74) (see Fig. 2; [0017], [0027], [0032] and [0058] of Susnjara) and Nakamura discloses the controller control the extruder to form the hollow object without depositing any support material in a hollow interior of the hollow object (100) (see Fig. 1 and Figs. 5-6; [0006], [0014], [0018], [0024], [0027] and [0043] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). Regarding claim 33, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, further comprising a heater configured to heat the material in the extruder (i.e. the extruder (61) configured to heat/melt the plastic material, thus, the extruder inherently has a heater to form the molten plastic material) (see Fig. 2; [0032] of Susnjara). Nakamura also discloses a heater (53) configured to heat the material in the head part (50) (see Fig. 1; [0019-0021] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). Regarding claim 34, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, further comprising: a fixed build plate (42) adjacent to the nozzle (51) (see Fig. 4; [0042-0043] of Susnjara), wherein the controller is further configured to: control the extruder (61) and the melt pump (74) to deposit a first layer of the heated material from the nozzle partially onto the fixed build plate (molten beads 44 rests on top of chill plate 42) (see Figs. 2-4; [0032] and [0042] of Susnjara) and control the conveyor (38) to translate the first layer of heated material in a horizontal direction away from the nozzle (51) (see Fig. 4; [0042] and [0044] of Susnjara). Regarding claim 35, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the controller capable to further be configured to control the extruder (61) and the melt pump (74) to deposit a final layer of heated material (i.e. applicator head (43) continuously depositing layers of molten material (44), and any necessary subsequent layers, until the desired article is completely printed) (see Fig. 2; [0027], [0032], [0041], [0044] and [0054] of Susnjara) to seal the hollow object (100) (see Figs. 6-9; [0033] and [0042-0044] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura), and control the conveyor (38) to translate the sealed hollow object completely off a fixed build plate (42) (see Fig. 4; [0027], [0042-0044] and [0054]). Regarding claim 36, Susnjara teaches an additive manufacturing system comprising: a material supply unit (see annotated Fig. 3 below); an extruder (61) receiving material from the supply unit (see Fig. 1, annotated Fig. 3 below; [0032]); a nozzle (51) .. receiving heated material (44) from the extruder and depositing the heated material (see Fig. 2; [0032]); a build platform (horizontal worktable (27) and work table (37)) (see Fig. 1; [0029] and [0033]); and a controller operably coupled to the extruder (see [0027] and claim 1), the controller configured to: control the extruder to deposit a first layer of heated material from the nozzle (51) onto a portion (conveyor 38) of the build platform (see [0013], [0027] and [0044]); control the portion of the build platform (37) to move horizontally away from the nozzle, thereby translating the first layer of heated material horizontally (see [0027], [0044] and [0052]); and control the extruder to deposit multiple additional layers of heated material (44) onto the first layer to form a desired article (see Fig. 5; [0027], [0044] and [0052-0054]). However, Susnjara does not explicitly teach that the nozzle defining a longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between about 10 degrees and about 80 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction and the controller control the extruder such that the first layer forms anon-zero angle with the horizontal direction In the same field of endeavor, 3D printing systems, Gifford teaches a 3D printer system comprises a printhead includes at least one nozzle (1441,1442,1443, 1510 and/or 1520) defining a longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between about 10 degrees and about 80 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction (see (Figs. 14A-14D and Figs. 15A-15D; [0165-0174]). Gifford teaches a controller configured to control the nozzles to move in a vertical direction (1320) to form a vertical wall and the nozzles moved in a horizontal direction to form a horizontal wall (1360) (see [0165-0166]). Gifford further teaches that the nozzle that forms an angle of less than 45 or less than 30 degrees can be used, with smaller angle resulting in better adhesion of the printed lines, e.g., non-collapsed overhang feature (see [0173]). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the apparatus as taught by Susnjara in view of Gifford by configuring the nozzle defining a longitudinal axis that forms an angle of between about 10 degrees and about 80 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction and the controller control the extruder such that the first layer forms anon-zero angle with the horizontal direction as such is known in the art of additive manufacturing given the discussion of Gifford above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would allow for better adhesion of the printed lines (see [0173] of Gifford). Susnjara in view of Gifford does not teach the controller configured to control the extruder and melt pump to form a hollow part. In the same field of endeavor, 3D printing apparatus, Nakamura teaches a 3D shaped object production apparatus (10) (see Fig. 1; [0018] of English Machine Translation attached), comprises a head part (50) that ejects a melt (92) obtained by heating a thermoplastic material (91) from a nozzle (52), a movable table (20) configured to receive the molten material (92) from the nozzle; a rotation mechanism (30) that rotates the table (20) (see Fig. 1;[0018-0020] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura); and a controller (80) configured to control the nozzle and the movable table to form a hollow article (100) with a hollow interior that is entirely enclosed by the deposited material (i.e. without depositing any support material) (Fig. 1 and Figs. 5-6; [0006], [0014], [0018], [0024], [0033] and [0043] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the apparatus as taught by Susnjara in view of Nakamura by configuring the controller to control the extruder and melt pump to deposit additional layers of heated material onto the first layer to form a hollow part as such is known in the art of additive manufacturing given the discussion of Nakamura above; and doing so is combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, with the added benefits of doing so would allow for easily producing a hollow shaped object without using a support material (see [0014] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). PNG media_image1.png 666 483 media_image1.png Greyscale Regarding claim 37, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the portion of the build platform (27, 37) includes a conveyor (38) configured to receive at least a portion of the deposited heated material (44) (see Fig. 4; [0044] and [0053-0054] of Susnjara). Regarding claim 38, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the build platform (27,38) further comprises a fixed build plate (42) positioned adjacent to the nozzle (51) and a worktable (38) situated adjacent to the fixed build plate (see Fig. 4; [0042] and [0044] of Susnjara), and wherein the controller is further configured to: control the extruder to deposit a portion of the first layer of heated material (44) from the nozzle onto the fixed build platform (see Figs. 4-5; [0042], [0044] and [0053] of Susnjara); and control the portion (38) of the build platform to move horizontally (see Fig. 4;[0053-0054]). Regarding claim 39, Susnjara in view Gifford and of Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the controller is further configured to control the extruder (61) to deposit the multiple additional layers to form the hollow part with an enclosed hollow interior (see Figs. 2-3 and Fig. 5; [0027], [0044] and [0053-0054] of Susnjara). Regarding claim 40, Susnjara in view of Gifford and Nakamura further teaches the additive manufacturing system, wherein the controller is further configured to control the extruder to deposit the multiple additional layers (see Figs. 2-4; [0017], [0027], [0032] and [0058] of Susnjara) without depositing any support material in a hollow interior of the part (100) (see Figs. 5-9; [0006], [0014], [0018], [0024], [0027] and [0043] of English Machine Translation attached of Nakamura). Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments/remarks filed on 04/21/2026 have been fully considered. With respect to the claim objection(s), applicant’s amendment(s) to the claim(s) has/have overcome the objection(s). With respect to the claim rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a), applicant's amendment(s) to the claim(s) has/have overcome the claim rejection(s). With respect to the claim rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant’s amendment(s) to the claim(s) has/have overcome the claim rejection(s). Therefore, the rejections are withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of Gifford (US 2015/0174824). Applicant’s arguments are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection. Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMED K AHMED ALI whose telephone number is (571)272-0347. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 AM-7:30 PM. 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, Galen Hauth can be reached at 571-270-5516. 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. /MOHAMED K AHMED ALI/ Examiner, Art Unit 1743 /GALEN H HAUTH/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1743
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 26, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 25, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Mar 26, 2026
Interview Requested
Apr 08, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Apr 09, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Apr 21, 2026
Response Filed
Jun 08, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 10, 2026
Interview Requested

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
71%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+26.7%)
2y 8m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
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