Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/908,832

AUTHENTICATION METHOD FOR EMERGENCY VEHICLES TO QUICKLY PASS THROUGH TRAFFIC LIGHTS

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Oct 08, 2024
Examiner
LITTLEJOHN JR, MANCIL H
Art Unit
2685
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Hangzhou Normal University
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allow Rate
375 granted / 517 resolved
+10.5% vs TC avg
Strong +24% interview lift
Without
With
+23.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
539
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.2%
-36.8% vs TC avg
§103
62.0%
+22.0% vs TC avg
§102
13.6%
-26.4% vs TC avg
§112
13.2%
-26.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 517 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 . Priority Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application CN 118890156, filed on 07/05/2024. Claim Status This Office Action is in response to communications filed on 10/08/2024. Claims 1-5 are pending for examination. 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 1-5 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. The claims are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical and idiomatic errors. Also, Claim 1 in lines 1-2 recites: “…Authentication method for emergency vehicles to quickly pass through traffic lights, characterized by the following…”, so it is not clear whether “characterized by” means comprising or simply including functioning structure(s) to perform the details of the claim. The current verbage introduces ambiguity in the claims regarding every aspect of the scope of the claims, thereby rendering the subject matter of the claims unclear and indefinite. Claim 1 recites the limitation "The trusted authority" in line 3, “the additive group” in lines 4-5, “the system’s private key” in line 6, “the PKTA = S*P” in line 7. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Again, the current verbage introduces ambiguity in the claims, thereby rendering the subject matter of the claims unclear. Claims 2-5 depend from claim 1, and all are also rejected for the same reasons above. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANCIL H LITTLEJOHN JR whose telephone number is (571)270-3718. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5 (CST). 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, Quan-Zhen Wang can be reached at (571) 272-3114. 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. /MANCIL LITTLEJOHN JR/Examiner, Art Unit 2685 /QUAN ZHEN WANG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2685
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 08, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12586454
USER INTERFACES FOR LOCATION TRACKING
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12572210
VIBRATION GENERATING DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12552345
REMOTE VEHICLE SYSTEM ACTUATION
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 17, 2026
Patent 12530702
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRACKING GUESTS OR COLLECTING FEEDBACK FOR AN ENTERTAINMENT ATTRACTION
2y 5m to grant Granted Jan 20, 2026
Patent 12468391
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SIDEWALK DETECTION FOR PERSONAL MOBILITY VEHICLES
2y 5m to grant Granted Nov 11, 2025
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
72%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+23.7%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 517 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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