Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 27, 2026
Application No. 18/897,649

ACQUIRING AND ENCODING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE GENERATED IMAGES

Final Rejection §102§103
Filed
Sep 26, 2024
Examiner
NOH, JAE NAM
Art Unit
2481
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
FEI Company
OA Round
2 (Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
77%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allowance Rate
414 granted / 479 resolved
+28.4% vs TC avg
Minimal -9% lift
Without
With
+-9.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
508
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.5%
-35.5% vs TC avg
§103
45.2%
+5.2% vs TC avg
§102
34.7%
-5.3% vs TC avg
§112
7.2%
-32.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 479 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
DETAILED ACTION This action is in response to the response filed on 6/12/2026. Claims 1- 25 are pending. 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 . Response to Arguments Claim Rejections 35 USC §102 & 103 Applicant's amendment filed 6/12/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant states: 1. Page “Applicant submits, however, that Bammes is completely silent with respect to chronologically reconfiguring acquisition settings of a transmission electron microscope across sequential time periods while imaging a single sample. At most, Bammes appears to collect an image using first acquisition settings (e.g., "the pixelated detector may acquire the image in integrating mode" (id. at [0056]). But, the similarities between Bammes and the claim limitations stop there. As noted above, the claimed process continues, after the first time period, to "configur[e] the transmission electron microscope according to second acquisition settings," then operate the electron microscope using the second acquisition settings on the same sample previously imaged. Bammes, on the other hand, describes an entirely different approach that, after collecting an image using the "integrated mode" using "a pixelated detector," processes that image using image processing techniques to "obtain a sparsity map of the acquired image, the sparsityPage map indicating low-flux regions of the acquired image and high-flux regions of the acquired image." Because Bammes processes high-flux and low-flux regions within the exact same frame scan using software-based spatial segmentations on an active sensor array, the reference does not disclose or suggest "after the first time period, configuring the transmission electron microscope according to second acquisition settings" and "operating, during a second time period, the transmission electron microscope to image the radiation-sensitive sample in accordance with the second acquisition settings," as claim 1 recites. This deficiency of Bammes is further highlighted when the last limitation of claim 1 is considered, which recites "generating image data based on first data and second data respectively collected during the first time period and the second time period." Simply put, Bammes does not disclose collecting data over two sequential time periods, much less generating image data based on data collected in each of the two periods.”, any emphasis not shown. Examiner’s response: Under the BRI, the claim does not make clear that the two sequential time periods are limited to parts of a single imaging event. Claim Mapping Notation In this office action, following notations are being used to refer to the paragraph numbers or column number and lines of portions of the cited reference. In this office action, following notations are being used to refer to the paragraph numbers or column number and lines of portions of the cited reference. [0005] (Paragraph number [0005]) C5 (Column 5) Pa5 (Page 5) S5 (Section 5) Furthermore, unless necessary to distinguish from other references in this action, “et al.” will be omitted when referring to the reference. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 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 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. (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. Claims 1-4, 7, 9, 12 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) and (a2) as being anticipated by BAMMES et al. (US 20200336646). 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: configuring a transmission electron microscope according to first acquisition settings that comprises at least one of a first dose rate or a first operating mode; “[0003] Aspects of this technology are described in an article “4D STEM with a direct electron detector”, published in Microscopy and Analysis, on Jan. 30, 2020, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.” “[0048] Many current detectors allow users to switch between operating in counting mode or integrating mode based on whether the particle flux incident on the detector is low or high.” One of ordinary skilled in the art understands that flux is real time dose rate. operating, during a first time period, the transmission electron microscope to image a radiation-sensitive sample in accordance with the first acquisition settings; “[0047]…Therefore, when the flux of particles is high, event counting is generally abandoned and, instead, integrating mode is relied upon, where the total signal deposited on each pixel of the detector may be used without trying to normalize the behavior of each individual detection event.” Low flux state. after the first time period, configuring the transmission electron microscope according to second acquisition settings that comprises at least one of a second dose rate different than the first dose rate or a second operating mode different than the first operating mode; “[0047]…Therefore, when the flux of particles is high, event counting is generally abandoned and, instead, integrating mode is relied upon, where the total signal deposited on each pixel of the detector may be used without trying to normalize the behavior of each individual detection event.” High flux state. operating, during a second time period, the transmission electron microscope to image the radiation-sensitive sample in accordance with the second acquisition settings; and “[0047]…Therefore, when the flux of particles is high, event counting is generally abandoned and, instead, integrating mode is relied upon, where the total signal deposited on each pixel of the detector may be used without trying to normalize the behavior of each individual detection event.” generating image data based on first data and second data respectively collected during the first time period and the second time period. “[0003] Aspects of this technology are described in an article “4D STEM with a direct electron detector”, published in Microscopy and Analysis, on Jan. 30, 2020, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.” “[0008] Many current detectors allow users to switch between operating in counting mode or operating in integrating mode based on whether the particle flux incident on the detector is low or high. This means that users are presently limited to choosing one mode or the other for the entire acquired image.” 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first operating mode comprises a counting mode or an integrating mode. “[0047]…Therefore, when the flux of particles is high, event counting is generally abandoned and, instead, integrating mode is relied upon, where the total signal deposited on each pixel of the detector may be used without trying to normalize the behavior of each individual detection event.” 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first acquisition settings comprise the first dose rate, and wherein the second acquisition settings comprise the second dose rate. “[0047]…Therefore, when the flux of particles is high, event counting is generally abandoned and, instead, integrating mode is relied upon, where the total signal deposited on each pixel of the detector may be used without trying to normalize the behavior of each individual detection event.” 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second dose rate is greater than the first dose rate. “[0047]…Therefore, when the flux of particles is high, event counting is generally abandoned and, instead, integrating mode is relied upon, where the total signal deposited on each pixel of the detector may be used without trying to normalize the behavior of each individual detection event.” 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first time period is determined based on at least one of the first dose rate or the first operating mode. “[0047]…Therefore, when the flux of particles is high, event counting is generally abandoned and, instead, integrating mode is relied upon, where the total signal deposited on each pixel of the detector may be used without trying to normalize the behavior of each individual detection event.” Under BRI the changing of the mode at a certain timing based on flux meets the limitation of the claim. 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first acquisition settings or the second acquisition settings further comprises at least one of: a duration or a magnification. “[0047]…Therefore, when the flux of particles is high, event counting is generally abandoned and, instead, integrating mode is relied upon, where the total signal deposited on each pixel of the detector may be used without trying to normalize the behavior of each individual detection event.” Regarding the claims 12 and 21, they recite elements that are at least included in the claims 1 and 1 above but in a different claim form and/or encoding/decoding counterpart that are reciprocal. Therefore, the same rationale for the rejection of the claims 1and 1 applies. Regarding the processor, memory and storage medium in the claims, see [0124-0126] of the reference. 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 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 of this title, 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. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAMMES in view of Deng et al. (US 20230040558). Regarding the claim 5, BAMMES discloses the invention substantially as claimed as mentioned above for the claim 1. BAMMES does not disclose, 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second acquisition settings is determined according to at least one of: a time-dependent function or an expected radiation damage characteristic of the radiation-sensitive sample. Deng discloses, 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second acquisition settings is determined according to at least one of: a time-dependent function or an expected radiation damage characteristic of the radiation-sensitive sample. “[0029] The mode configuration module 256 can be executable by the processors 252 to select a frequency and/or the time the beam remains in the iteration of each mode. For example, the mode configuration module 256 may select the frequency and/or the time the beam remains in the iteration such that they are optimal for the sample type, the detector type, desired imaging characteristics, or a combination thereof. For example, the frequency may be selected based on a particular number of interactions occur before the first region 220 sustains substantial irradiation damage. Alternatively, or in addition, the time of irradiations may be selected such that enough electrons/emission 222 are generated for the microscope detector system 224 to create quality detector data while ensuring that the amount of charge built up during each individual irradiation of the first region 220 is not enough to substantially effect the quality or resolution of the detector data.” It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Deng and apply them on the teachings of BAMMES to incorporate acquisition setting based on either of the time dependence or damage consideration when performing imaging in BAMMES as taught by Deng. One would have been motivated for the benefit of increasing quality of the imaging. Unless stated otherwise, the same explanation for the rationale for the following dependent claims applies as given for the independent claim. 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first time period is determined based on a rate of radiation damage to the radiation-sensitive sample. Deng “[0029] The mode configuration module 256 can be executable by the processors 252 to select a frequency and/or the time the beam remains in the iteration of each mode. For example, the mode configuration module 256 may select the frequency and/or the time the beam remains in the iteration such that they are optimal for the sample type, the detector type, desired imaging characteristics, or a combination thereof. For example, the frequency may be selected based on a particular number of interactions occur before the first region 220 sustains substantial irradiation damage. Alternatively, or in addition, the time of irradiations may be selected such that enough electrons/emission 222 are generated for the microscope detector system 224 to create quality detector data while ensuring that the amount of charge built up during each individual irradiation of the first region 220 is not enough to substantially effect the quality or resolution of the detector data.” Claims 8, 10, 11, 13-20 and 22-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BAMMES in view of Na et al. (US 20210021823). Regarding the claim 8, BAMMES discloses the invention substantially as claimed as mentioned above for the claim 1. BAMMES does not disclose, 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first data was collected using a first frame rate and the second data was collected using a second frame rate lower than the first frame rate. Na discloses, 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first data was collected using a first frame rate and the second data was collected using a second frame rate lower than the first frame rate. “[0005] Recently, with a rapidly increasing demand for video content such as high-capacity games and 360-degree video, the size, resolution, and frame rate of video are increasing. Accordingly, the amount of data to be compressed is also rapidly increasing, and there is an increasing need for a new high-efficiency compression technique.” It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Na and apply them on the teachings of BAMMES to incorporate encoding of images including varying the resolution and quality of compression (degree of loss) of videos depending upon the needed quality as taught by Na. One would have been motivated for the benefit of capturing more details for higher quality captured images (counting mode as well known in the art) and encoding for decreasing the size of the image data as taught by Na. Unless stated otherwise, the same explanation for the rationale for the following dependent claims applies as given for the independent claim. 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the image data comprises a plurality of electron counted frames, the method further comprising: BAMMES “[0003] Aspects of this technology are described in an article “4D STEM with a direct electron detector”, published in Microscopy and Analysis, on Jan. 30, 2020, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.” encoding the image data using an image encoding-decoding model trained to define encoded image data. Na “[0149] First, in the training process, the coefficients of the CNN-based filter, that is, the coefficients of the convolution kernel are trained such that the YUV difference 621 output at the output layer becomes the difference between the original YUV and the YUV whose image quality is to be improved…” 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the image data comprises an image resolution represented using a first number of bits and the encoded image data comprises the image resolution using a second number of bits less than the first number of bits. Na “[0004] The data volume of video data is larger than that of audio data or still image data. Accordingly, storing or transmitting original data as it is greatly consumes hardware resources such as a memory. For this reason, it is common that video data is stored or transmitted after being compressed using an encoder, and compressed video data is played after being decompressed using a decoder.” 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise: computing a first dynamic representation to represent the first data based on at least the first acquisition settings; BAMMES “[0008] Many current detectors allow users to switch between operating in counting mode or operating in integrating mode based on whether the particle flux incident on the detector is low or high. This means that users are presently limited to choosing one mode or the other for the entire acquired image.” converting the first data to a first spatio-temporal resolution representation using the first dynamic representation; Na “[0062] FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a video coding apparatus capable of implementing techniques of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, a video encoding apparatus and elements of the apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 1.” computing a second dynamic representation to represent the second data based on at least the second acquisition settings; BAMMES “[0008] Many current detectors allow users to switch between operating in counting mode or operating in integrating mode based on whether the particle flux incident on the detector is low or high. This means that users are presently limited to choosing one mode or the other for the entire acquired image.” converting the second data to a second spatio-temporal resolution representation using the second dynamic representation; Na “[0062] FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a video coding apparatus capable of implementing techniques of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, a video encoding apparatus and elements of the apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 1.” generating first compressed image data using a first compression scheme with the first spatio-temporal resolution representation; and Na “[0004] The data volume of video data is larger than that of audio data or still image data. Accordingly, storing or transmitting original data as it is greatly consumes hardware resources such as a memory. For this reason, it is common that video data is stored or transmitted after being compressed using an encoder, and compressed video data is played after being decompressed using a decoder.” Na “[0062] FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a video coding apparatus capable of implementing techniques of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, a video encoding apparatus and elements of the apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 1.” generating second compressed image data using a second compression scheme with the second spatio-temporal resolution representation. Na “[0004] The data volume of video data is larger than that of audio data or still image data. Accordingly, storing or transmitting original data as it is greatly consumes hardware resources such as a memory. For this reason, it is common that video data is stored or transmitted after being compressed using an encoder, and compressed video data is played after being decompressed using a decoder.” Na “[0062] FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a video coding apparatus capable of implementing techniques of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, a video encoding apparatus and elements of the apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 1.” 14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein a first resolution of the first spatio-temporal resolution representation is greater than a second resolution of the second spatio-temporal resolution representation. Na “[0005] Recently, with a rapidly increasing demand for video content such as high-capacity games and 360-degree video, the size, resolution, and frame rate of video are increasing. Accordingly, the amount of data to be compressed is also rapidly increasing, and there is an increasing need for a new high-efficiency compression technique.” 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the first compression scheme is determined based on the first dynamic representation and the second compression scheme is determined based on the second dynamic representation. Na “[0004] The data volume of video data is larger than that of audio data or still image data. Accordingly, storing or transmitting original data as it is greatly consumes hardware resources such as a memory. For this reason, it is common that video data is stored or transmitted after being compressed using an encoder, and compressed video data is played after being decompressed using a decoder.” Na “[0062] FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a video coding apparatus capable of implementing techniques of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, a video encoding apparatus and elements of the apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 1.” 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the second compression scheme is more lossy than the first compression scheme. Na “[0005] Recently, with a rapidly increasing demand for video content such as high-capacity games and 360-degree video, the size, resolution, and frame rate of video are increasing. Accordingly, the amount of data to be compressed is also rapidly increasing, and there is an increasing need for a new high-efficiency compression technique.” 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein converting the first data to the first spatio-temporal resolution representation using the first dynamic representation comprises: performing an encoding using at least one of: an electron event representation, a dose fractionation scheme, or an entropy coder and a probability model; and Na “[0105] The encoder 150 generates a bitstream by encoding the quantized transform coefficients using an encoding scheme such as CABAC. In addition, the encoder 150 encodes and signals information such as a CTU size, a QT split flag, a BTTT split flag, a split direction, and a split type related to block splitting, such that the video decoding apparatus may split the block in the same manner as the video encoding apparatus.” wherein converting the second data to the second spatio-temporal resolution representation using the second dynamic representation comprises: performing a second encoding using at least one of: the electron event representation, the dose fractionation scheme, or the entropy coder and the probability model. Na “[0105] The encoder 150 generates a bitstream by encoding the quantized transform coefficients using an encoding scheme such as CABAC. In addition, the encoder 150 encodes and signals information such as a CTU size, a QT split flag, a BTTT split flag, a split direction, and a split type related to block splitting, such that the video decoding apparatus may split the block in the same manner as the video encoding apparatus.” 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the first data represents low dose image frames or electron events and the second data represents low dose image frames or electron events. BAMMES “[0048] Many current detectors allow users to switch between operating in counting mode or integrating mode based on whether the particle flux incident on the detector is low or high.” One of ordinary skilled in the art understands that flux is real time dose rate. 19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein an indication of at least one of the first dynamic representation or the second dynamic representation is received from a graphical user interface of a user device. Na “[0005] Recently, with a rapidly increasing demand for video content such as high-capacity games and 360-degree video, the size, resolution, and frame rate of video are increasing. Accordingly, the amount of data to be compressed is also rapidly increasing, and there is an increasing need for a new high-efficiency compression technique.” Na “[0062] FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a video coding apparatus capable of implementing techniques of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, a video encoding apparatus and elements of the apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 1.” 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: generating an encoded image dataset by encoding second image data including at least one of: the first spatio-temporal resolution representation or the second spatio-temporal resolution representation; Na “[0005] Recently, with a rapidly increasing demand for video content such as high-capacity games and 360-degree video, the size, resolution, and frame rate of video are increasing. Accordingly, the amount of data to be compressed is also rapidly increasing, and there is an increasing need for a new high-efficiency compression technique.” generating an encoded dataset descriptor using the encoded image dataset and at least one of: a drift correction, a contrast transfer function correction, particle picking, feature segmentation, particle classification, three-dimensional reconstruction, or an artificial intelligence model; Na “[0005] Recently, with a rapidly increasing demand for video content such as high-capacity games and 360-degree video, the size, resolution, and frame rate of video are increasing. Accordingly, the amount of data to be compressed is also rapidly increasing, and there is an increasing need for a new high-efficiency compression technique.” Na “[0149] First, in the training process, the coefficients of the CNN-based filter, that is, the coefficients of the convolution kernel are trained such that the YUV difference 621 output at the output layer becomes the difference between the original YUV and the YUV whose image quality is to be improved…” generating a three-dimensional reference image using the encoded dataset descriptor and the encoded image dataset; and Na “[0149] First, in the training process, the coefficients of the CNN-based filter, that is, the coefficients of the convolution kernel are trained such that the YUV difference 621 output at the output layer becomes the difference between the original YUV and the YUV whose image quality is to be improved. Here, the convolution kernel is available in both 2D (dimension) and 3D forms. The CNN-based filter 611 is configured to improve the image quality of the input YUV, and the final output of the CNN-based filter 611 is called YUV, that is, the YUV 631 with improved image quality.” generating compressed second image data using the three-dimensional reference image, the encoded dataset descriptor, and an entropy encoder. Na “[0149] First, in the training process, the coefficients of the CNN-based filter, that is, the coefficients of the convolution kernel are trained such that the YUV difference 621 output at the output layer becomes the difference between the original YUV and the YUV whose image quality is to be improved. Here, the convolution kernel is available in both 2D (dimension) and 3D forms. The CNN-based filter 611 is configured to improve the image quality of the input YUV, and the final output of the CNN-based filter 611 is called YUV, that is, the YUV 631 with improved image quality.” Na “[0105] The encoder 150 generates a bitstream by encoding the quantized transform coefficients using an encoding scheme such as CABAC. In addition, the encoder 150 encodes and signals information such as a CTU size, a QT split flag, a BTTT split flag, a split direction, and a split type related to block splitting, such that the video decoding apparatus may split the block in the same manner as the video encoding apparatus.” Regarding the claims 22 and 23, they recite elements that are at least included in the claims 20 and 20 above but in a different claim form and/or encoding/decoding counterpart that are reciprocal. Therefore, the same rationale for the rejection of the claims 1and 1 applies. Regarding the processor, memory and storage medium in the claims, see [0124-0126] of the reference. 24. The transmission electron microscope of claim 23, wherein the three-dimensional reference image includes an expected number of electrons for one or more points in space-time. BAMMES “[0003] Aspects of this technology are described in an article “4D STEM with a direct electron detector”, published in Microscopy and Analysis, on Jan. 30, 2020, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conclusion THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAE N. NOH whose telephone number is (571) 270-0686. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 8:30AM-5PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Vaughn can be reached on (571) 272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /JAE N NOH/ Primary Examiner Art Unit 2481
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 26, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 11, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103
Jun 12, 2026
Response Filed
Sep 02, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
86%
Grant Probability
77%
With Interview (-9.4%)
2y 3m (~2m remaining)
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Moderate
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