Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/821,322

CONTROL METHOD, CONTROL APPARATUS, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 30, 2024
Examiner
LUBIT, RYAN A
Art Unit
2626
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Lenovo (Beijing) Limited
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
63%
Grant Probability
Moderate
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 63% of resolved cases
63%
Career Allow Rate
476 granted / 756 resolved
+1.0% vs TC avg
Strong +39% interview lift
Without
With
+38.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
774
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.3%
-35.7% vs TC avg
§103
45.3%
+5.3% vs TC avg
§102
19.9%
-20.1% vs TC avg
§112
23.1%
-16.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 756 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Status of the Application 1. Applicant’s Amendment to the Claims filed December 5, 2025 and Request for Continued Examination filed January 7, 2025 are received and entered. 2. Claims 1 – 3, 6 – 9, 13 – 15, and 19 – 20 are amended. Claims 1 – 20 are pending and are under examination in this action. 3. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Response to Arguments / Amendment 4. The objection to the Drawings are WITHDRAWN. 5. On page 21 of the Response, Applicant argues that “Cho fails to disclose or suggest receiving, via a touch driver interface or a configuration interface of an application, configuration update information representing that a touch display parameter includes a touch area size and/or a touch resolution, as recited in amended claim 1”. Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered and are persuasive in view of the subject matter newly added via amendment. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Nam (U.S. Pub. 2013/0307801). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 6. 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. 7. Claims 1 – 5, 8 – 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (U.S. Pub. 2014/0285449) in view of Nam (U.S. Pub. 2013/0307801). Regarding claim 1, Cho teaches: a control method, performed at an electronic device, comprising: obtaining screen change information of the electronic device (FIGS. 1, 9; paragraphs [0025], [0066], [0074] – [0077]; in steps s20 and s30, a state of foldable display unit 12 of foldable display device 11 is detected as being in a folded state or an unfolded state. Additionally, a change in orientation between portrait and landscape may also be detected. The folding state and orientation are both “screen change information” of foldable display device 11), the electronic device comprising a first touch display screen and at least one second touch display screen (FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 9; paragraphs [0025], [0043], [0075]; foldable display unit 12 is interpreted as having a first screen [left side to the left of the folding center axis 14] and a second screen [right side to the right of the folding center axis 14] due to foldable display unit 12 being foldable along the folding center axis 14); and configuring a target touch display area of ​​the electronic device at least based on the screen change information to respond to a target touch operation using the configured target touch display area (FIGS. 3, 4, 9; paragraphs [0037], [0038], [0043], [0075], [0077]; touch sensor units of first, second, and third touch areas of the foldable display unit 12 are activated and deactivated in steps s40 – s70 based on whether the foldable display device 11 is folded or unfolded. Additionally, the particular location and size of the first through third touch areas are changed based on orientation. The touch sensor units and corresponding areas that are activated constitute the “target touch display area”); wherein, the target touch display area is at least a part of a display area of ​​the first touch display screen and/or a display area of the at least one second touch display screen, and the target touch display area is configured differently based on different screen change information (FIGS. 3, 4; paragraphs [0026], [0037] – [0043]; foldable display unit 12 may be a touch sensitive display unit in which displayed content is provided. Accordingly, the “target touch display area”, as determined by the folded state and orientation of the foldable display device 11, is at least part of a display area of the device. For example, the ”target touch display area” may have a first configuration of activated areas 32 and 33 when the device is unfolded and horizontal [first screen change information]. The “target touch display area” may have a second configuration of activated areas 35 and 36 when the device is unfolded and vertical [second screen change information]. The “target touch display area” may have a third configuration of activated area 43 when the device is folded and horizontal [third screen change information]), and wherein in response to the screen change information comprising configuration update information representing that a touch display parameter of the electronic device changes to a new value (FIG. 3; paragraphs [0036] – [0041]; a change in orientation [configuration update information] of the foldable display unit 12 results in different configurations of touch sensor areas as illustrated), the configuration the target touch display area comprises determining, based on the screen change information and sizes and/or resolutions of the first touch display screen and the at least one second touch display screen, a target touch display screen or a target combination of the first touch display screen and the at least one second touch display screen whose display area size and/or resolution matches the changed touch display parameter, and configuring, as the target touch display area, at least a part of a display area of the determined target touch display screen or the determined target combination, the touch display parameter comprising a touch area size and/or a touch resolution (FIGS. 3, 4; paragraph [0038], [0044], [0055], [0065]; a size of the foldable display device 11, and therefore a size of each touch display screen, may be used to determine the particular size of the touch areas, such as areas 44 and 45 in FIG. 4. Accordingly, a size of each touch display screen is determined as part of the process to determine the particular size of the touch areas. The particular touch sensor units of foldable display unit 12 which are activated, and thus what touch inputs the “touch controller” can detect, are determined by the orientation of the device. When the device is rotated from horizontal [FIG. 3] to vertical [FIG. 3], the “target screen” would include touch areas 34 – 36 that matches the orientation [touch display parameter], where touch areas 34 – 36 would have sizes based on the determined size of each touch display screen). Cho fails to explicitly disclose: the configuration update information being received via a touch driver interface or a configuration interface of an application. However, Cho discloses a display device that has touch areas that change sizes according to user input (FIG. 3; paragraphs [0036] – [0041]). Additionally, in a related field of endeavor, Nam discloses a display device that allows a user to change the sizes of a touch area according to user input (FIG. 4C; paragraph [0065]). With regard to claim 1, Nam teaches: the configuration update information being received via a touch driver interface or a configuration interface of an application (FIG. 4C; paragraphs [0045], [0051], [0065]; a user may change the size of an active touch area between boundaries 443 and 445 by, for example, touching boundary 445 for a predetermined amount of time and dragging the boundary 445 to intended position 449. This process allows a user to set a range in which their thumb can reach displayed objects for touch interaction which would ensure more accurate touch detection. The boundaries 443 and 445 are a type of interface [touch driver interface or configuration interface of an application] due to their ability to be interacted with by a user to set a touch sensing area). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s claimed invention to combine the known teachings of Cho and Nam to yield predictable results. More specifically, the teachings of a foldable display device that changes the size and arrangement of active touch areas based on the size of the device and other information, as taught by Cho, are known. Additionally, the teachings of a display device that changes the size and arrangement of an active touch area based on user specific adjustments to the touch area size, as taught by Nam, are known as well. The combination of the known teachings of Cho and Nam would yield the predictable results of a foldable display device that changes the size and arrangement of active touch areas based on the size of the device and other information including user specific adjustments to the touch area size. In other words, it would have been obvious to incorporate the additional parameter of user customization to determine the size and/or location of active touch areas, as taught by Nam, into the device of Cho. Such a modification merely provides an additional parameter or type of information to determine the size and location of active touch areas. Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s claimed invention to combine the known teachings of Cho and Nam to yield the aforementioned predictable results. Regarding claim 9, a control apparatus (FIG. 1; paragraph [0025]; foldable display device 11) comprising: a processor (FIG. 8; paragraphs [0065], [0068]; controller 103 controls sensor unit 102 and display unit 101 and may activate or deactivate touch sensors corresponding to touch areas). Cho fails to explicitly disclose: a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform functions. However, it was well-known and conventional in electronic devices for a memory to store instructions that are executed by a processor to perform disclosed functions. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s claimed invention to include such a memory in the device of Cho to execute instructions to perform the functions described therein. Such a feature is inherent / implicit in the disclosure of Cho in order for Cho to function as described. The remainder of claim merely includes functional recitations of the control method steps of claim 1 rejected above. Accordingly, the remainder of this claim is rejected for at least the same reasons set forth above with regard to claim 1. A duplication of the above rejection is not provided in this Office Action for the purpose of brevity. Regarding claim 13, Cho teaches: an electronic device (FIG. 1; paragraph [0025]; foldable display device 11) comprising: a display screen (FIG. 8; paragraph [0062]; foldable display unit 101); a target touch controller (FIG. 8; paragraph [0065]; sensor unit 102 may sense user touch input and transmit corresponding information to controller 103); and a processor configured to perform operations (FIG. 8; paragraphs [0065], [0068]; controller 103 controls sensor unit 102 and display unit 101 and may activate or deactivate touch sensors corresponding to touch areas). The remainder of claim is identical in scope to the control method steps of claim 1 rejected above. Accordingly, the remainder of this claim is rejected for at least the same reasons set forth above with regard to claim 1. A duplication of the above rejection is not provided in this Office Action for the purpose of brevity. Regarding claims 2, 10, and 14, Cho teaches: wherein obtaining the screen change information of the electronic device includes: determining pose change information of the at least one second touch display screen that moves relative to the first touch display screen of the electronic device, the at least one second touch display screen moving relative to the first touch display screen from an edge of the first touch display screen, and determining the pose change information as the screen change information (FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 9; paragraphs [0025], [0043], [0075]; foldable display unit 12 is interpreted as having a first screen [left side to the left of the folding center axis 14] and a second screen [right side to the right of the folding center axis 14] due to foldable display unit 12 being foldable along the folding center axis 14 thereby requiring a physical separation between the first screen [left side] and second screen [right side]. A change in folded state [pose] is determined in steps s20 and s30 where, when the foldable display unit 12 changes from an unfolded state [FIG. 3] to a folded state [FIG. 4]. This occurs when the second screen [right side] moves relative to the first screen [left side] away from an edge thereof by being rotated backwards to the position of FIG. 4); and wherein configuring the touch display area of ​​the electronic device based on the screen change information includes in response to the screen change information indicating that the at least one second touch display screen of the electronic device moves from a first pose to a second pose, configuring at least a part of display area of ​​the second touch display screen and/or the first touch display screen as the target touch display area of ​​the electronic device (FIGS. 3, 4, 9; paragraphs [0043], [0045], [0075]; when the foldable display unit 12 changes from an unfolded state [FIG. 3, first pose] to a folded state [FIG. 4, second pose] in steps s20 and s30, touch sensors in the first area 41 and second area 42 are deactivated as are touch sensors on the back of the foldable display device 11 in step s40. Only touch sensors in the third area 43 on the front of the foldable display device 11 are activated in steps s50. Accordingly, a part of the first screen including third area 43 is configured as the “target touch display area” while all other touch sensors on the first and second screens are deactivated). Regarding claims 3, 11, and 15, Cho teaches: wherein configuring the display area matching the touch display parameter as the target touch display area of the electronic device includes: configuring the target touch display area using a target touch controller of the electronic device (FIGS. 3, 4; paragraphs [0038], [0055], [0065]; sensor unit 102 [touch controller] may sense user touch input and transmit corresponding information to controller 103. The particular touch sensor units of foldable display unit 12 which are activated, and thus what touch inputs the “touch controller” can detect, are determined by the orientation of the device. When the device is rotated from horizontal [FIG. 3] to vertical [FIG. 3], the “target screen” would include touch areas 34 – 36 that matches the orientation [touch display parameter], where touch areas 34 – 36 would have sizes based on the determined size of each touch display screen), the target touch controller belonging to or not belonging to the target touch display screen (This last recitation is meaningless and non-limiting because it covers all possible arrangements of the target touch controller relative to the target touch display screen). Regarding claims 4, 12, and 16, Cho teaches: wherein configuring at least a part of display area of ​​the at least one second touch display screen and/or the first touch display screen as the target touch display area of ​​the electronic device includes obtaining the target reference information and hardware configuration information of the second screen, and configuring at least a part of display area of ​​the at least one second touch display screen and/or the first touch display screen as the target touch display area based on the target reference information and the hardware configuration information (FIGS. 4, 6; paragraphs [0038], [0043], [0044], [0055]; the determined folding state of the foldable display device 11 is the “target reference information” that determines the particular size and location of the “target touch display area” set forth above. Additionally, a size [hardware configuration information] of the foldable display device 11 may be used to determine the particular size of the areas 44 and 45. Accordingly, the particular configuration of the “target touch display area” is based on both the “target reference information” and the “hardware configuration information” set forth above). Regarding claims 5 and 17, Cho teaches: wherein configuring at least a part of display area of the at least one second touch display screen and/or the first touch display screen as the target touch display area of the electronic device includes obtaining target reference information and configuring at least part of the display area of ​​at least one second touch display screen and/or the first touch display screen as the target touch display area based on the target reference information (FIGS. 3, 4, 6; paragraphs [0038], [0043], [0055]; the determined folding state of the foldable display device 11 is the “target reference information” that determines the particular size and location of the “target touch display area” set forth above. Specifically, when the foldable display device 11 is unfolded [FIG. 3], the “target touch display area” includes second area 32 and third area 33. Additionally, when the foldable display device 11 is folded [FIG. 4], only third area 43 on the front of the foldable display device 11 is activated. The area in which content is displayed is thus configured to be presented only in the “target touch display area”), and wherein configuring the at least a part of display area of the ​​at least one second screen and/or the first screen as the target touch display area includes at least one of: in response to the target reference information representing that target to-be-displayed content has a first attribute parameter, configuring the display area of ​​the first touch display screen as the target touch display area; in response to the target reference information representing that the target to-be-displayed content has a second attribute parameter, configuring the display area of ​​the first touch display screen and the at least one second screen as the target touch display area (FIG. 3; as set forth above, different folding states lead to different configurations. The unfolded state is interpreted as the “second attribute parameter” and includes a display area of both the “first screen” and the “second screen” as the “target touch display area”); in response to the target reference information representing that the target to-be-displayed content has a third attribute parameter, configuring a first display area of ​​the at least one second screen as the target touch display area, the first display area being a part of display area of the second screen and being configured to display a controllable object of the target to-be-displayed content; in response to the target reference information representing that the target to-be-displayed content has a fourth attribute parameter, configuring ​​the first touch display screen and a second display area of one second screen as the target touch display area, the second display area including a part of display area of ​​the first touch display screen and a part of display area of ​​the second screen and being configured to control an output parameter of the target to-be-displayed content; or based on attribute parameters of the target to-be-displayed content represented by the target reference information and display configuration parameter of the second screen, configuring at least a part of display area of the at least one second touch display screen and/or the first touch display screen as the target touch display area (The remainder of this claim is recited in the alternative and is therefore optional and not required). Regarding claims 8 and 20, Cho teaches: wherein the target touch display screen includes the at least two touch display screens of the first touch display screen and the at least one second touch display screen (FIG. 3; paragraphs [0037], [0038], [0043], [0075], [0077]; as set forth above with regard to claim 1, the touch sensor units and corresponding areas that are activated constitute the “target touch display area” which may include both the “first touch display screen” and the “second touch display screen” as illustrated in FIG. 3), wherein configuring the touch display area of ​​the electronic device at least based on the screen change information includes at least one of: adjusting a control range of a first touch controller of the first touch display screen of the electronic device based on a size and/or resolution of the target touch display screen to obtain the target touch display area, wherein the target screen includes the first screen and the at least one second screen of the electronic device, the target touch display area includes at least two touch areas, and the first touch controller simultaneously responds to touch operations applied on the at least two touch areas (FIGS. 3, 4; paragraphs [0038], [0055], [0065]; sensor unit 102 [touch controller] may sense user touch input and transmit corresponding information to controller 103. The particular touch sensor units of foldable display unit 12 which are activated, and thus the “control range” of the “touch controller”, is determined by whether the device is folded or unfolded. When the device is unfolded [FIG. 3], the “target screen” includes the “first screen” [left side] and the “second screen” [right side]. The “target screen” thus includes second area 32 and third areas 33. Additionally, sensor unit 102 [touch controller] would simultaneously monitor and respond to touch inputs in each of the active touch areas); or providing a size and/or resolution of the target touch display screen of the electronic device to second touch controllers of the target touch display screen to allow the second touch controllers to adjust a control range of the second touch controllers to obtain the target touch display area, wherein the target touch display area includes at least two touch areas, and the at least two touch areas respond to the touch operations applied on the at least two touch areas through the second touch controllers, respectively (The remainder of this claim is recited in the alternative and is therefore optional and not required). 8. Claims 6 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of Nam, as applied to claims 1 and 13 above, in view of Kim (U.S. Pub. 2017/0357473). Regarding claims 6 and 18, neither Cho nor Nam explicitly disclose: wherein obtaining the screen change information of the electronic device includes obtaining running application change information of the electronic device, and determining the screen change information based on the running application change information; wherein configuring the touch display area of the electronic device based on the screen change information includes in response to a target application running on the electronic device changing, configuring the target touch display area of the electronic device based on an operation parameter of the target application. However, Kim teaches: wherein obtaining the screen change information of the electronic device includes obtaining running application change information of the electronic device, and determining the screen change information based on the running application change information (FIGS. 4D, 5A, 6A; paragraphs [0176], [0192], [0206]; the particular size and arrangement of touch reception areas 420, 520, and 620 depends on a particular application being executed [running application change information]. For example: touch reception area 420 corresponds to a camera application, touch reception area 520 corresponds to a video call application, and touch reception 620 corresponds to a web browser application); and wherein configuring the touch display area of the electronic device based on the screen change information includes in response to a target application running on the electronic device changing, configuring the target touch display area of the electronic device based on an operation parameter of the target application (FIGS. 4D, 5A, 6A; paragraphs [0176], [0192], [0206]; when the application currently being executed changes, the touch reception area changes as well. For example, when the executed application changes from the camera application to the web browser application, the touch reception area changes from 420 to 620. The particular application being executed [target application] determines the size [operation parameter] of the current touch reception area [target touch display area]). The combination of Cho and Kim teaches: wherein configuring the target touch display area of the electronic device based on the operation parameter of the target application includes obtaining touch configuration parameters of screens of the electronic device, determining the target screen matching the operation parameter of the target application based on the touch configuration parameter to configure the target touch display area and a touch parameter of the target touch display area using a target touch controller of the electronic device (Kim; FIGS. 4D, 5A, 6A; paragraphs [0176], [0192], [0206]; as set forth above, current touch reception area [target touch display area] is configured based on the size [operation parameter] thereof and the particular application being executed [target application]. Cho; FIG. 4; paragraphs [0044], [0065]; a size of the foldable display device 11, and therefore a size [touch configuration parameter] of each touch display screen, may be used to determine the particular size of the touch areas, such as areas 44 and 45 in FIG. 4. Sensor unit 102 [touch controller] may sense user touch input and transmit corresponding information to controller 103. When these teachings are combined, the particular touch sensor units of foldable display unit 12 which are activated, the size thereof, and thus what touch inputs the “touch controller” can detect, are determined by what application is currently being executed), the target touch controller belonging to or not belonging to the target screen (This last recitation is meaningless and non-limiting because it covers all possible arrangements of the target touch controller relative to the target touch display screen). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s claimed invention to combine the known teachings of Cho, Nam, and Kim to yield predictable results. More specifically, the teachings of a foldable display device that changes the size and arrangement of active touch areas based on the size of the device and other information, as taught by Cho, are known. Additionally, the teachings of a display device that changes the size and arrangement of an active touch area based on a current application being executed, as taught by Kim, are known as well. The combination of the known teachings of Cho and Kim would yield the predictable results of a foldable display device that changes the size and arrangement of active touch areas based on the size of the device and other information including a current application being executed. In other words, it would have been obvious to incorporate the additional parameter of a current application to determine the size and/or location of active touch areas, as taught by Kim, into the device of Cho. Such a modification merely provides an additional parameter or type of information to determine the size and location of active touch areas. Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s claimed invention to combine the known teachings of Cho, Nam, and Kim to yield the aforementioned predictable results. 9. Claims 7 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho and Nam, as applied to claims 1 and 13 above, in view of Kang (U.S. Pub. 2021/0255766). Regarding claims 7 and 19, neither Cho nor Nam explicitly disclose: wherein obtaining the screen change information of the electronic device includes obtaining use object change information of the electronic device, and determining the screen change information based on the use object change information; wherein configuring the touch display area of the electronic device based on the screen change information includes in response to the use object of the electronic device changes, configuring the target touch display area of the electronic device based on user portrait information and/or a quantity of at least one target use object; and wherein configuring the target touch display area of the electronic device based on user portrait information and/or quantity of the at least one target use object includes at least one of: in response to the at least one target use object being unique, configuring the target touch display area based on the user portrait information of the at least one target use object; or in response to the at least one target use object being not unique, configuring the first touch display screen and the at least one second touch display screen of the electronic device as the target touch display area. However, Kang teaches: wherein obtaining the screen change information of the electronic device includes obtaining use object change information of the electronic device, and determining the screen change information based on the use object change information (FIG. 5; paragraphs [0080], [0086], [0088]; a particular user’s use history is received to determine output layout information 20. Output layout information 20 includes a particular size or width of a touch area based on the particular user’s touch history. Each user may have different size or width of touch areas based on their own personal touch history); wherein configuring the touch display area of the electronic device based on the screen change information includes in response to the use object of the electronic device changes, configuring the target touch display area of the electronic device based on user portrait information and/or a quantity of at least one target use object (FIG. 5; paragraphs [0080], [0086], [0088]; as set forth above, a particular user’s use history is received to determine output layout information 20 which includes a particular size or width of a touch area. When a different user utilizes the device, the output layout information 20, and thus the particular size or width of a touch area, changes based on the different user’s personalized use history [user portrait information]); and wherein configuring the target touch display area of the electronic device based on user portrait information and/or quantity of the at least one target use object includes at least one of: in response to the at least one target use object being unique, configuring the target touch display area based on the user portrait information of the at least one target use object (FIG. 5; paragraphs [0080], [0086], [0088]; each user has a unique personalized use history. Accordingly, when the user changes, the particular size or width of a touch area [target touch display area] of the output layout information 20 is based on the current user’s personalized use history [user portrait information]); or in response to the target use object being not unique, configuring the first touch display screen and the at least one second touch display screen of the electronic device as the target touch display area (The remainder of this claim is recited in the alternative and is therefore optional and not required). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s claimed invention to combine the known teachings of Cho, Nam, and Kang to yield predictable results. More specifically, the teachings of a foldable display device that changes the size and arrangement of active touch areas based on certain information, as taught by Cho, are known. Additionally, the teachings of a display device that changes the size and arrangement of a touch area based on a current user’s personalized use history, as taught by Kang, are known as well. The combination of the known teachings of Cho and Kang would yield the predictable results of a foldable display device that changes the size and arrangement of active touch areas based on the certain information including a current user’s personalized use history. In other words, it would have been obvious to incorporate the additional parameter of a current user’s personalized use history to determine the size of active touch areas, as taught by Kang, into the device of Cho. Such a modification merely provides an additional parameter or type of information to determine the size of active touch areas. Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of Applicant’s claimed invention to combine the known teachings of Cho, Nam, and Kang to yield the aforementioned predictable results. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN A LUBIT whose telephone number is (571)270-3389. The examiner can normally be reached M - F, ~6am - 3pm. 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, Temesghen Ghebretinsae can be reached at 571-272-3017. 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. /RYAN A LUBIT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2626
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 30, 2024
Application Filed
May 19, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Aug 20, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 06, 2025
Final Rejection — §103
Dec 05, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 07, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jan 22, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
63%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+38.6%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 756 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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