Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 04, 2026
Application No. 18/762,208

SOUND FIELD ADJUSTMENT

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jul 02, 2024
Priority
Jul 12, 2023 — provisional 63/513,297
Examiner
MEI, XU
Art Unit
2695
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 5m
Est. Remaining
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allowance Rate
708 granted / 830 resolved
+23.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
15 currently pending
Career history
845
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.5%
-34.5% vs TC avg
§103
37.3%
-2.7% vs TC avg
§102
29.1%
-10.9% vs TC avg
§112
16.8%
-23.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 830 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 . Status of Application This communication is responsive to the applicant's application filed 07/02/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending. 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, 6-15, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Fersch et al (US-2020/0094141, hereinafter, Fersch). Regarding claims 1 and 20, Fersch discloses a device, or a computer readable device (Figs. 1-3, and 7, and para [0005]) comprising: a memory configured to store audio data associated with an immersive audio environment (see para [0027]); and one or more processors (see para [0032]-[0034]) configured to: obtain a listener pose in the immersive audio environment associated with a first time (para [0053]); determine whether the listener pose is associated with a pre-rendered asset (para [0054]); obtain a rendered asset by selecting, based on the determination, between obtaining the pre-rendered asset and performing a rendering operation to generate the rendered asset (para [0055]); and generate an output audio signal based on the rendered asset para [0056]). Regarding claims 6-7, see para [0051]. Regarding claims 8 and 10, see para [0055]. Regarding claim 9 and 12, see para [0057]. Regarding claim 11, see para [0061]. Regarding claim 13, see para [0051] and [0055] regarding binaural audio output. Regarding claim 14, see para [0055]. Method claims 15, and 19 are rejected for the same reasoning as set forth for the rejection of apparatus claim 1, and 6-7 since the apparatus claim perform the same functions as the method claim. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-5, and 16-18 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. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Jahnke, Lee et al, Thagadur Shivappa, Layton et al, Heinemann et al, Thagadur Shivappa, and Ehara et al disclose various sound field adaption devices with listener position information, listener pose information, and HRTF information for spatial audio processing to generate binaural sound output that is pertinent to the instant application. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XU MEI whose telephone number is (571)272-7523. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 10-6:30 est. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivian Chin can be reached on 571-272-7848. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /XU MEI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695 01/09/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 02, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102
Apr 07, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Apr 07, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Apr 21, 2026
Response Filed

Precedent Cases

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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
91%
With Interview (+6.0%)
3y 3m (~1y 5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 830 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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