Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/925,046

FLASH MEMORY TESTING MECHANISM CAPABLE OF OPTIMALLY MATCH ERROR BIT CORRECTION CAPABILITY OF DECODER WITH REAL NOISE

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Oct 24, 2024
Priority
Mar 04, 2024 — TW 113107688
Examiner
BEGUM, SULTANA
Art Unit
2824
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Silicon Motion Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
93%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 93% — above average
93%
Career Allowance Rate
507 granted / 543 resolved
+25.4% vs TC avg
Minimal +0% lift
Without
With
+0.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 9m
Avg Prosecution
14 currently pending
Career history
566
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
§103
82.0%
+42.0% vs TC avg
§102
4.0%
-36.0% vs TC avg
§112
5.5%
-34.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 543 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Status of claim(s) to be treated in this office action: a. Independent: 1, 6, 11 and 16 b. Pending: 1-20 Per MPEP 2111 and 2111.01, the claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation and the words of the claims are given their plain meaning consistent with the specification without importing claim limitations from the specification. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) is submitted on 11/6/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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, 4-6, 8-11, 14-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential structural cooperative relationships of elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the necessary structural connections. See MPEP § 2172.01. The omitted structural cooperative relationships are: All the independent claims 1, 6, 11 and 16 recite a term “statistical description parameter” without any further clarification. All the dependent claims 4-5, 8-10, 14-15 and 18-20 carry the same deficits and henceforth are rejected. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-3, 7, 12-13 and 17 are 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. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Wu (US 11641213) --- IDS AKKARAKARAN et al. (US 20210368027) Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SULTANA BEGUM whose telephone number is (571)431-0691. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 5 pm. 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, Richard Elms can be reached at 571272 1869. 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. /SULTANA BEGUM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824 6/15/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 24, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12665017
ENHANCED VALLEY TRACKING WITH TRIM SETTING UPDATES IN A MEMORY DEVICE
2y 9m to grant Granted Jun 23, 2026
Patent 12658234
DYNAMIC WRITE SELECTION FOR SHELF-LIFE RETENTION IN NON-VOLATILE MEMORIES
3y 10m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12658235
Runtime Memory Services in Physical Layer
3y 1m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12658222
MEMORY DEVICE AND OPERATING METHOD WITH TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION CIRCUIT
2y 9m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12658258
EVEN/ODD WORD LINE DRIVING IN 3D MEMORY
2y 7m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
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
93%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+0.4%)
1y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 543 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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