Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/776,767

SKID ATTACHMENT

Non-Final OA §102§103§112
Filed
Jul 18, 2024
Priority
Jan 15, 2019 — provisional 62/792,403 +2 more
Examiner
GRAY, SUNGHEE Y
Art Unit
2877
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Wyatt Technology LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allowance Rate
439 granted / 526 resolved
+15.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
16 currently pending
Career history
542
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§103
66.1%
+26.1% vs TC avg
§102
2.9%
-37.1% vs TC avg
§112
23.1%
-16.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 526 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103 §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 . 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 1-6 are 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. AS to the claim 1, the claim further recites “an enclosure configured to house at least a multi-angle light scattering instrument comprising a read head”. However, it is not clear whether the applicant tries to claim the multiangle light scattering instrument comprising a read head or it is claimed as a part of intended use of the enclosure (i.e., currently, multiangle light scattering instrument comprising a read head are not positively claimed structure). Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. For the examination purposes, it would be interpreted as the claim does not require to have “multiangle light scattering instrument comprising a read head”. Clarification of above recited limitations are required. Claims 2-6 have been rejected also based upon their dependencies. 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. Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Graham et al. (US 20160011098 hereinafter Graham). As to claim 1, Graham teaches a skid (examiner’s notes: a skid was understood as a chemical injection skid) attachment (optical and physical arms directed to 62, 70, 85 LSD1 and LSD3, P1-P6 etc.in FIG.3) comprising: a plurality of arms (physical and optical arms directed to 62, 70, 85 LSD1 and LSD3, P1-P6 etc.) connected to an enclosure (dumbbell shape outside of T or 18 in FIG. 3) configured to house at least a multi-angle light scattering instrument ([0071] and [0085]) comprising a read head ([0083] electrodes 34 and 35 is for reading the signal, and is internal as described in “[0083] As shown in FIG. 3, within the interior chambers in cap elements 34 and 35 are respective internal electrodes 40 and 38 that are operationally connected to a DC/RF circuit 41. Materials for electrodes, and electrode extensions through the walls of said chambers in cap elements 34 and 35 to form operative connections with DC/RF circuit 41” so the electrodes are working as a read head for the system.”, and the examiner interpret a read head as ‘That part of several electromechanical devices that converts digital or analog information stored on a magnetic or optical medium into electrical signals’ from yourdictionary.com). As to claim 2, Graham teaches the skid attachment of claim 1. Graham further teaches the plurality of arms comprise at least four arms (arms directed to 62, 70, 85 LSD1 and LSD3, P1-P6 etc.). Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Graham in view of Phillips et al. (US 4616927 hereinafter Phillips). As to claim 3, Graham teaches the skid attachment of claim 2. Graham further teaches the plurality of arms comprise at least two sets of arms wherein each of the at least two sets of arms comprise two arms (there are at least 4 arms in FIG.3) However, Graham does not explicitly disclose, two arms connected to an enclosure holder configured to be connected to the enclosure. Phillips teaches two arms (7 and 6 in each side) connected to an enclosure holder (3) configured to be connected to the enclosure (FIGURE 2) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the attachment of Graham by having the plurality of arms comprise at least two sets of arms, wherein each of the at least two sets of arms comprise two arms connected to an enclosure holder configured to be connected to the enclosure for the benefit including secure and protected positioning of connected parts. As to claim 4, Graham when it modified by Phillips teaches the skid attachment of claim 3. However, Graham does not explicitly disclose, the enclosure being configured to be connected to a skid via the plurality of arms. Phillips teaches the enclosure (3) being configured to be connected to a skid (9) via the plurality of arms (7 and 6 in each side) (FIGURE 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the attachment of Graham by having the enclosure being configured to be connected to a skid via the plurality of arms for the benefit of using a conventional way of connecting tubing from one side of enclosure to the other side. As to claim 5, Graham when it modified by Phillips teaches the skid attachment of claim 4. Graham further teaches the skid is configured to house chemical processing equipment (16 in FIG. 3). Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Graham in view of Phillips and in further view of Janik et al. (US 5404217 hereinafter Janik). As to claim 6, Graham when it modified by Phillips teaches the skid attachment of claim 4 and connecting the plurality of arms and the enclosure to the skid as in the claim 4. However, Graham does not explicitly disclose at least two pins are configured to couple together the at least two sets of arms. Janik teaches at least two pins (39 and 41 in Fig. 1) are configured to couple together the at least two sets of arms (abstract and Fig.1). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the attachment of Graham by having at least two pins are configured to couple together the at least two sets of arms for the benefit of utilizing a conventional compact and secure connection method. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUNGHEE Y GRAY whose telephone number is (571)270-3211. The examiner can normally be reached on T-R, 8:00 am-4:00 pm and F 8 :00 to 2:00 pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kara Geisel can be reached on (571) 272-2416. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-4211. 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. /SUNGHEE Y GRAY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2886
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 18, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12638390
PLANAR WAVEGUIDE-BASED OPTOFLUIDIC SENSOR AND USE THEREOF
2y 10m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12631556
SAMPLE HOLDER FOR PRISM-BASED ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS
3y 7m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12633722
LIGHT-EMITTING APPARATUS, LIGHT-EMITTING DEVICE, AND MEASURING APPARATUS
3y 7m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12625064
SPLIT PRISM SILICON-BASED LIQUID IMMERSION MICROCHANNEL MEASURING DEVICE AND METHOD
2y 1m to grant Granted May 12, 2026
Patent 12613132
SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF SENSOR CALIBRATION USING SWITCHABLE IN-PATH OPTICAL DIFFUSER
3y 9m to grant Granted Apr 28, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
84%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+10.5%)
2y 5m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 526 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month