Prosecution Insights
Last updated: September 17, 2026
Application No. 18/842,696

COMPUTER CASE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Aug 29, 2024
Priority
May 13, 2022 — CN 202210520583.5 +1 more
Examiner
NGO, HUNG V
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Beijing Deepcool Sci-Tech Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1m
Est. Remaining
46%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allowance Rate
776 granted / 957 resolved
+21.1% vs TC avg
Minimal -35% lift
Without
With
+-34.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
966
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
56.3%
+16.3% vs TC avg
§102
36.7%
-3.3% vs TC avg
§112
2.9%
-37.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 957 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Drawings The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the airflow path, guiding airflow direction, mounting liners, mounting holes must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Figures 1-4 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1, 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Huang (US 2020/0326761). Re claim 1, Huang discloses a computer case (10), comprising: a case body, which comprises a first side wall (13) and a second side wall (11), the first side wall and the second side wall being opposite each other (Fig 2), the first side wall comprising a first cooling position (30) and the second side wall comprising a second cooling position (20)(Fig 2), a ratio of cooling area of ventilation and cooling devices (Fan) mounted at the first and second cooling positions is not less than 2:3, or a ratio of projected area of the ventilation and cooling devices (Fan) mounted at the second and first cooling positions is not less than 2:3 (Fig 2); wherein a high-efficiency through-type airflow path is formed inside the case body (Fig 2), when a guiding airflow direction of the ventilation and cooling devices mounted at the first and second cooling positions are configured to be consistent with each other (Fig 2). Re claim 2, wherein, the first and second side walls comprises a complete opening or a plurality of individual ventilation holes (Fig 3), and mounting liners are provided at edges of the complete opening or the individual ventilation holes (Fig 2), the mounting liner is provided with mounting holes to form the first and second cooling positions (Fig 2). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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(s) 3, 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 2020/0326761) in view of Chen (US 11,259,440) Re claim 3, wherein, the case body further comprises: a top wall (12), provided at top of the case body; a bottom plate, provided at bottom of the case body and detachably provided on a bottom frame (Fig 2), but does not disclose a lower chamber cover, provided between the top wall and the bottom plate; a main mounting plate, provided between the lower chamber cover and the top wall and between back edges on the same side of the first and second side walls. The teaching as discussed above does not disclose wherein, the top wall comprises a complete opening or a plurality of individual ventilation holes, and mounting liners are provided at edges of the complete opening or the plurality of individual ventilation holes, the mounting liner is provided with mounting holes to form a third cooling position configured to mount ventilation and cooling devices (re claim 4). Chen teaches a lower chamber cover (221), provided between a top wall (17) a bottom plate; a main mounting plate (11), provided between the lower chamber cover and the top wall and between back edges on the same side of the first and second side walls (Fig 2), top wall comprises a complete opening or a plurality of individual ventilation holes (171), and mounting liners are provided at edges of the complete opening or the plurality of individual ventilation holes, the mounting liner is provided with mounting holes to form a third cooling position configured to mount ventilation and cooling devices (Fig 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to include the chamber cover and the main mounting plate with the case body of Huang and other features as discussed above for mounting a fan. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-11 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. Communication Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUNG V NGO whose telephone number is (571)272-1979. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5:30 M-F. 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, Imani Hayman can be reached at (571) 270-5528. 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. /HUNG V NGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 29, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 11, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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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
81%
Grant Probability
46%
With Interview (-34.9%)
2y 2m (~1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 957 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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