Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/806,161

COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 15, 2024
Priority
May 24, 2021 — JP 2021-087004 +1 more
Examiner
PHAM, TIMOTHY X
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Tokai Rika Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allowance Rate
830 granted / 962 resolved
+26.3% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+16.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
981
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.2%
-37.8% vs TC avg
§103
79.5%
+39.5% vs TC avg
§102
8.9%
-31.1% vs TC avg
§112
4.1%
-35.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 962 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/13/2024; 09/20/2024; 11/15/2024 have been considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hasegawa (US 2022/0286809; Cited in IDS) in view of Li et al. (US 2023/0029683; Cited in IDS). Regarding claim 1, Hasegawa discloses a communication device comprising a communication control section (Fig. 1 vehicle control device 1) configured to control wireless communication with another communication device that is different from the communication device, in conformity with a designated communication standard (paragraphs [0008], [0029]; e.g., The vehicle control device 10 controls the first communication unit 50 to perform BLE communication polling, and establishes the BLE communication between the vehicle 1 and the user terminal 90). Hasegawa fails to specifically disclose in a case where a trigger signal received from the other communication device includes no unique information that is necessary to identify a mobile object, the communication control section does not start a subsequent process to be triggered by the reception of the trigger signal but maintains a reception standby state for receiving another trigger signal. However, Li discloses in a case where a trigger signal received from the other communication device includes no unique information that is necessary to identify a mobile object, the communication control section does not start a subsequent process to be triggered by the reception of the trigger signal but maintains a reception standby state for receiving another trigger signal (paragraph [0135], [0197]). Therefore, taking the teachings of Hasegawa in combination of Li as a whole, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention by applicant where a trigger signal received from the other communication device includes no unique information that is necessary to identify a mobile object, the communication control section does not start a subsequent process to be triggered by the reception of the trigger signal but maintains a reception standby state for receiving another trigger signal in order to improve security of the imperceptible unlock service (Li: paragraph [0196]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY X PHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7115. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 8:30-5:00. 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, Resha Desai can be reached at 571-270-7792. 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. /TIMOTHY X PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 15, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (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
86%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+16.9%)
2y 8m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 962 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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