Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/865,709

COMPOSITION, ITS USE AND A PROCESS FOR CLEANING SUBSTRATES COMPRISING COBALT AND COPPER

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Nov 14, 2024
Priority
May 31, 2022 — EU 22176555.5 +2 more
Examiner
NGUYEN, CHI Q
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
BASF SE
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
5m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allowance Rate
1688 granted / 2050 resolved
+22.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
42 currently pending
Career history
2074
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
§103
26.2%
-13.8% vs TC avg
§102
28.5%
-11.5% vs TC avg
§112
31.9%
-8.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 2050 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 . This non-final Office action is in response to Applicant’s patent application number 18/865,709 filed on 11/14/2024. Currently, claims 1-20 are pending and examined. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/14/2024 and 1/17/2025 are being considered by the examiner. Specification The following guidelines illustrate the preferred layout for the specification of a utility application. These guidelines are suggested for the applicant’s use. Arrangement of the Specification As provided in 37 CFR 1.77(b), the specification of a utility application should include the following sections in order. Each of the lettered items should appear in upper case, without underlining or bold type, as a section heading. If no text follows the section heading, the phrase “Not Applicable” should follow the section heading: (a) TITLE OF THE INVENTION. (b) CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS. (c) STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT. (d) THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT. (e) INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A READ-ONLY OPTICAL DISC, AS A TEXT FILE OR AN XML FILE VIA THE PATENT ELECTRONIC SYSTEM. (f) STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR. (g) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION. (1) Field of the Invention. (2) Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. (h) BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION. (i) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S). (j) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION. (k) CLAIM OR CLAIMS (commencing on a separate sheet). (l) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE (commencing on a separate sheet). (m) SEQUENCE LISTING. (See MPEP § 2422.03 and 37 CFR 1.821 - 1.825). A “Sequence Listing” is required on paper if the application discloses a nucleotide or amino acid sequence as defined in 37 CFR 1.821(a) and if the required “Sequence Listing” is not submitted as an electronic document either on read-only optical disc or as a text file via the patent electronic system. Claim Objections Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities: claim 1, part (b) line 3; there is a closed parenthesis “)” before “-methyl-imino-“ but missing an opened parenthesis “(“?. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 2-20 depending upon the objected claim 1 are also objected. 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 1-20 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. Re claim 1, part (a); last three lines, a phrase “which” renders the claim indefinite and confusing because it’s unclear whether “which” referring to which structure? Claims 2-20 depending upon the rejected claim 1 are also rejected. And a phrase “may” renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (see attached PTO-892. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communication from the examiner should be directed to CHI Q. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 272-6847. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7AM-5PM or email: chi.nguyen@uspto.gov. If attempt to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Brian Mattei can be reached at (571) 270-3238. 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://pairdirect.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866) 217-9197. /CHI Q NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3635 PNG media_image1.png 323 328 media_image1.png Greyscale
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 14, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12703276
MULTI-FUNCTION REAR SEAT STRUCTURE WITH STOW TO FLOOR
2y 4m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12691847
SEATBELT RETRACTOR ATTACHMENT STRUCTURE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF RETRACTOR BRACKET
3y 5m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12691657
FLAME-RESISTANT SHIELD FOR PROTECTED MEMBRANE ROOFS
3y 1m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12693778
INSULATABLE, INSULATIVE FRAMEWORK APPARATUS AND METHODS OF MAKING AND USING SAME
2y 9m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12692709
PANEL
2y 9m to grant Granted Jul 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
82%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+12.4%)
2y 2m (~5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 2050 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