Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/920,842

PROVIDING REMOTE INTERACTIONS WITH HOST DEVICE USING A WIRELESS DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Oct 18, 2024
Priority
Mar 15, 2013 — CIP of PCTUS2013032498 +4 more
Examiner
YANG, JIANXUN
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
8m
Est. Remaining
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allowance Rate
491 granted / 663 resolved
+14.1% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+19.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
46 currently pending
Career history
700
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.6%
-35.4% vs TC avg
§103
66.2%
+26.2% vs TC avg
§102
5.9%
-34.1% vs TC avg
§112
17.4%
-22.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 663 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 2-22 are pending. Claim 1 is canceled. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: (a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim(s) 2-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rosenblatt (US20080259829A1) in view of Shearer et al (US20040203351A1). Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16. A wearable electronic device, comprising: one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: (Rosenblatt, "Peripheral devices can be portable, handheld, miniature, or wearable devices ... For example, a peripheral device may be a fashion accessory such as a watch that may display information", [0010]) establishing communication with a host device, the host device including a telephone transceiver; (Rosenblatt, "In other embodiments, peripheral devices may communicate with the host device or a hybrid host/long-range communications device (e.g., a phone including short range communications circuitry) using a short range communications protocol.", [0010]; establishing short-range communication between the wearable peripheral device and a host device, wherein the host device includes telephone communication circuitry) obtaining user input indicative of a call to be placed, the user input including an identifier of a recipient of the call to be placed; (Rosenblatt, "For example, a user may have a watch that can display a list of contacts and allows the user to select one of the names in the contact list to initiate a phone call.", [0100]; obtaining user input indicative of placing a call by receiving an identifier, specifically a contact name, selected by the user on the wearable watch interface) sending an instruction to the host device to place a phone call, the instruction including the identifier of the recipient; (Rosenblatt, "In another example, if the peripheral device instructs the host device to perform an action requiring the use of a long-range communications protocol, the host device may access the long-range communications circuitry of a wireless phone or a RF module to perform the desired action.", [0112]; the peripheral device sends a call initiation instruction to the host device so that the host device places the phone call over the long-range telephone network to the desired recipient) receiving a confirmation from the host device that the call has been placed; and (Rosenblatt, "display information (e.g., the name of the currently playing song or name of the person on the call)", [0010]; Shearer, "Once the module 120 and the chip 210 are mutually identified, the module 120 is configured to transmit control commands and data signals to the chip 210 and reciprocally the chip 210 may transmit data signals to the module 120.", [0023]; Rosenblatt teaches the wearable device displaying the name of the person actively on the call. Shearer discloses a bidirectional communication system where, following mutual identification, a module and chip exchange control commands and data signals. This configuration enables the module to transmit to the chip while allowing reciprocal data transmission from the chip to the module) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to incorporate the reciprocally transmitting data signals to the wearable device of Shearer into the system of Rosenblatt in order to provide an explicit confirmation state from the host that the call is established and placed, thereby triggering the active call display. The combination of Rosenblatt and Shearer also teaches other enhanced capabilities. in response to receiving the confirmation, presenting a control operable by a user of the wearable electronic device to terminate the call. (Rosenblatt, "also allow a user to control functions (e.g., playback, volume, or telephony features such as end call and accept call) of the host device.", [0010]; Shearer, "Likewise at the end of a call the user may terminate the call by pressing the button 160 or another equivalent button.", [0023]; Rosenblatt teaches presenting controls on the wearable device to end an active call. Shearer further details presenting a button on the wearable device specifically to terminate the call. Incorporating Shearer's physical or virtual button controls into Rosenblatt's interface would provide a reliable, operable control for the user to terminate the call in response to the call being active) Regarding claims 3, 10 and 17, the combination of Rosenblatt and Shearer teaches its/their respective base claim(s). The combination further teaches the wearable electronic device of claim 2, the one or more programs further including instructions for, after receiving the confirmation that the call has been placed: receiving a call-related audio output signal from the host device; and delivering the call-related audio output signal to a speaker. (Shearer, "The live voice data 10 received over the wireless network 300 is then diverted in step 480 to the medallion 100 ... In step 490, the medallion 100 is configured to render the live voice data 10 via a loudspeaker 180.", [0027]; Incorporating Shearer's reception and loudspeaker rendering of diverted live voice data into Rosenblatt's wearable device would allow the user to hear the phone call directly from the wearable device without reaching for the host phone) Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18, the combination of Rosenblatt and Shearer teaches its/their respective base claim(s). The combination further teaches the wearable electronic device of claim 2, the one or more programs further including instructions for, after receiving the confirmation that the call has been placed: obtaining a call-related audio input signal from a microphone; and sending the call-related audio input signal to the host device. (Shearer, "the microphone 140 on the medallion 100 captures the user's voice. The module 120 transmits the user's voice to the cell-phone for transmission over the network 300.", [0028]; Incorporating Shearer's microphone input capture and transmission to the host phone into Rosenblatt's wearable device would facilitate full two-way, hands-free voice communication directly through the wearable device) Regarding claims 5, 12 and 19, the combination of Rosenblatt and Shearer teaches its/their respective base claim(s). The combination further teaches the wearable electronic device of claim 2, wherein obtaining the user input indicative of a call to be placed includes: presenting a list of contacts; and receiving a user input selecting a contact from the list of contacts to be the recipient of the call. (Rosenblatt, "For example, a user may have a watch that can display a list of contacts and allows the user to select one of the names in the contact list to initiate a phone call.", [0100]; presenting a list of contacts on the wearable device display and receiving user selection of a specific contact from the list to be the recipient of the call) Regarding claims 6, 13 and 20, the combination of Rosenblatt and Shearer teaches its/their respective base claim(s). The combination further teaches the wearable electronic device of claim 2, wherein obtaining the user input indicative of a call to be placed includes: presenting a virtual keypad; and receiving a user input comprising a sequence of digits selected from the virtual keypad as a phone number of the recipient of the call. (Rosenblatt, "User interface 208 may emulate a rotary phone or a multi-button keypad, which may be implemented on a touch screen or the combination of a click wheel or other user input device and a screen.", [0054]; teaches the user interface implementing a virtual multi-button keypad on a touch screen to emulate a phone, allowing the user to select a sequence of digits for a phone number) Regarding claims 7, 14 and 21, the combination of Rosenblatt and Shearer teaches its/their respective base claim(s). The combination further teaches the wearable electronic device of claim 2, the one or more programs further including instructions for: detecting user operation of the control operable by the user of the wearable electronic device to terminate the call; and sending a notification to the host device to end the call. (Shearer, "Likewise at the end of a call the user may terminate the call by pressing the button 160 or another equivalent button. The module 120 transmits a termination control command to the chip 120 and in response to the received termination control command the chip 120 controls the cell-phone 200 to hang up.", [0023]; Rosenblatt teaches controlling the "end call" function, while Shearer teaches detecting the button press and sending a termination control command to the host phone to hang up. Incorporating Shearer into Rosenblatt would be an obvious way to provide a concrete, responsive mechanism for ending the call remotely) Regarding claims 8, 15 and 22, the combination of Rosenblatt and Shearer teaches its/their respective base claim(s). The combination further teaches the wearable electronic device of claim 2, the one or more programs further including instructions for: subsequent to receiving the confirmation that the call has been placed, receiving a notification from the host device that the call has ended; and presenting an alert indicating that the call has ended. (Rosenblatt, "When the phone call ends, the stereo system may resume displaying what was originally displayed prior to the call, as shown in screen 1940.", [0129]; when the call ends, the host device notifies the peripheral display to resume displaying the original screen, which acts as a visual alert/indication that the call has terminated. It would be obvious to apply Rosenblatt's resumption of the previous display state to the wearable watch peripheral to alert the user that the call has ended) Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIANXUN YANG whose telephone number is (571)272-9874. The examiner can normally be reached on MON-FRI: 8AM-5PM Pacific Time. 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, Amandeep Saini can be reached on (571)272-3382. 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. /JIANXUN YANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2662 8/8/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 18, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 30, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Oct 09, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Aug 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §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
74%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+19.3%)
2y 7m (~8m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 663 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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