Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/798,359

ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A PLURALITY OF ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCES

Non-Final OA §102§OTHER
Filed
Aug 08, 2024
Priority
Jul 23, 2019 — EU 19187813.1 +2 more
Examiner
HUSON, MONICA ANNE
Art Unit
1742
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Institut Straumann AG
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 2m
Est. Remaining
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allowance Rate
1084 granted / 1364 resolved
+14.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+13.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 12m
Avg Prosecution
38 currently pending
Career history
1401
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
63.5%
+23.5% vs TC avg
§102
2.6%
-37.4% vs TC avg
§112
12.9%
-27.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1364 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §OTHER
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 § 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) 1-7, and 10-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Sirovskiy et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 2018/0263730). Regarding Claim 1, Sirovskiy et al., hereafter “Sirovskiy,” show that it is known to have a system for manufacturing a plurality of orthodontic appliances in parallel (Abstract) comprising a build platform (assembly 10), and a plurality of plates each configured for teeth model printing or orthodontic appliance printing, respectively, whereby each plate comprises a unique machine-readable identifier and each plate is detachable and precisely fixable to the build platform (platform 12; 0013-0016). Regarding Claim 2, Sirovskiy shows the system of claim 1 above, including one wherein the unique machine-readable identifier comprise an RFID tag (0020). Regarding Claim 3, Sirovskiy shows the system of claim 1 above, including one wherein the RFID tag links to a database containing electronically stored information regarding printing parameters of the orthodontic appliance (0053: digital descriptive data). Regarding Claim 4, Sirovskiy shows the system of claim 1 above, including one wherein the unique machine-readable identifier comprises a bar code (0054). Regarding Claim 5, Sirovskiy shows the system of claim 1 above, including one wherein the teeth model printing or the orthodontic appliance printing is performed by an additive printing machine (0056). Regarding Claims 6-7 and 12-13, Sirovskiy shows the system of claim 1 above, including one wherein the build platform includes a plurality of linking features (0052: negative forms, pins, and positioning elements are interpreted to be taught by Sirovskiy’s disclosure of features which are built into the platform of separate components). Regarding Claim 10, Sirovskiy shows the system of claim 1 above, including one wherein the additive printing takes place on the plate (0056). Regarding Claim 11, Sirovskiy shows the system of claim 1 above, including one wherein the system further comprises a detection device (0053). Regarding Claim 14, Sirovskiy shows that it is known to carry out a method of manufacturing a plurality of orthodontic appliances in parallel (Abstract) comprising providing a plurality of plates each configured for teeth model printing or orthodontic appliance printing, and each plate comprising a unique machine-readable identifier (0013-0016, 0056), and detachably fixing the plates onto the build platform (0016). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 8-9, and 15 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONICA HUSON whose telephone number is (571)272-1198. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8a-4p. 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, Christina Johnson can be reached at 571-272-1176. 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. MONICA ANNE HUSON Primary Examiner Art Unit 1742 /MONICA A HUSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1742
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 08, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §OTHER (current)

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
80%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+13.6%)
2y 12m (~1y 2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1364 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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