Prosecution Insights
Last updated: September 17, 2026
Application No. 18/929,965

Information Processing Apparatus, Information Processing Method, And Information Processing Program

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Oct 29, 2024
Priority
Jun 27, 2023 — JP 2023-105206 +1 more
Examiner
LAFONTANT, GARY
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Science Arts Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
73%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
6m
Est. Remaining
74%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 73% — above average
73%
Career Allowance Rate
346 granted / 472 resolved
+13.3% vs TC avg
Minimal +1% lift
Without
With
+1.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
497
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.3%
-35.7% vs TC avg
§103
56.0%
+16.0% vs TC avg
§102
27.3%
-12.7% vs TC avg
§112
10.5%
-29.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 472 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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, 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. Claim(s) 1, 2, 9, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon (US 2006/0154682 A1) in view of Shim (US 2006/0154682 A1). Regarding Claim 1, 9, 11 Yoon discloses an information processing apparatus (See Fig.1(130); PTT Server) for one-to-many communications (See [Abstract]; PPT technology for group communication)) from one of a plurality of terminals (Fig.1(101, 102, 103)) belonging to a talk group to a remaining one or more of the plurality of terminals belonging to the talk group (See [Abstract]; [0027]; a PTT server for performing a general control for a PTT subscriber group and a real time management for the PTT subscriber group, managing PTT subscriber information and group lists setup by each subscriber), the plurality of terminals being associated with the talk group (See Fig.1(101, 102, 103); [Abstract]; All terminals belonging to a talk group)), comprising: a storage (Fig.130); a PPT server merely comprises a storage to store instructions)) configured to store a correspondence relationship between one or more talk groups (See [Abstract]; performing a general control for a PTT subscriber group and a real time management for the PTT subscriber group, managing PTT subscriber information and group lists setup by each subscriber) and one or more group location information items about an area defining the one or more talk groups (See [Abstract]; allocating predetermined location based groups to add the allocated location groups to the group lists which have been established by each subscriber); and a processor (See [0045]; PTT server merely comprises a processor) configured to obtain terminal location information about a location of each of the plurality of terminals (See [Abstract]; requesting subscriber information corresponding to the location information for the allocated location groups to the positioning server, receiving the subscriber information from the positioning server), determine, based on the terminal location information (See [Abstract]; receiving the subscriber information from the positioning server) and the correspondence relationship (See [Abstract]; performing a general control for a PTT subscriber group and a real time management for the PTT subscriber group, managing PTT subscriber information and group lists setup by each subscriber), a talk group to which each of the plurality of terminals is to belong (See [0045]; the PTT server establishes the subscribers based on the received state information of the subscribers to form a subscriber group), and switch a talk group to which each of the plurality of terminals currently belongs (See [0044-0045]; predetermined regional group which corresponds to an area previously occupied) to the determined talk group (See [Abstract]; [0044-0045]; join a subscriber talk group according to the subscription and current subscribers present in selected location area), But Yoon fails to explicitly recite wherein the processor switches the talk group to which each of the plurality of terminals currently belongs to a default talk group if a group location information item covering a location indicated by the terminal location information is absent. However in an analogous art, Shim teaches about a PPT server that switch group occupied by terminal into default group after determination of new location associated with new group (See [0045]; [0055]). Yoon and Shim are analogous art because they all pertain to wireless communication using talk group technology. Yoon teaches about a terminal switching talk group based on location of the terminal. Shim teaches about a PPT server that switch group occupied by terminal into default group after determination of new location associated with new group. Yoon could use Shim features to change a talk group into default group with regard to location change of a terminal which previously belong to another group associated with a previous location. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling on the claim to combine Yoon and Shim as to obtain an efficient talk group system. Regarding Claim 2, 12 Yoon and Shim teach all the features with regard to claim 1, 11 and Yoon further teaches that the apparatus (Fig.1(130)) comprises a notification unit (See Fig.4(419); capability to send notice to other terminals) configured, if switching of the talk group has been accomplished (See [0045]; the PTT server establish a new talk group upon approval), by the setting unit (See [0045]; PTT Sever establish new group), to notify each of the plurality of terminals that the switching of the talk group has been accomplished (See Fig.4(419); [0045]; each of the terminal in the new group is notify of the new group and new terminal). Claim(s) 3, 4, 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon (US 2006/0154682 A1) in view of Shim (US 2006/0154682 A1) and further in view of Hirahoka (US 2019/0347331 A1). Regarding Claim 3, 13 Yoon and Shim teach all the features with regard to claim 1, 11 But Yoon and Shim fail to explicitly recite wherein the processor is further configured to: generate text data based on speech data transmitted from each of the plurality of terminals; and manage the generated text data according to the talk group to transmit the generated text data to at least one of the plurality of terminals belonging to the talk group. However in an analogous art, Hirahoka teaches about a processor server that comprises a communication control unit adapted to control communications so that text data converted from voice data is transmitted to the communication terminals for users participating in a talk group (See [0049]; [0054]). Yoon, Shim and Hirahoka are analogous art because they all pertain to wireless communication using talk group technology. Yoon teaches about a terminal switching talk group based on location of the terminal. Shim teaches about a PPT server that switch group occupied by terminal into default group after determination of new location associated with new group. Hirahoka teaches about a processor server that comprises a communication control unit adapted to control communications so that text data converted from voice data is transmitted to the communication terminals for users participating in a talk group. Yoon and Shim could use Horahoka features in order to change voice communication into text as to verify voice communication. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling on the claim to combine Yoon, Shim and Horahoka as to obtain an efficient talk group system. Regarding Claim 4, 14 Yoon and Shim teach all the features with regard to claim 1, 11 But Yoon and Shim fail to explicitly recite wherein the processor is further configured to: wherein, if the switching of the talk group has been accomplished by the processor, a previous talk group and a new talk group are discriminably displayed on each of the plurality of terminals. However in an analogous art, Hirahoka teaches about display on terminal where talk groups can be seen and selected according to UE (See [0077]; The display here may show two or more talk groups open for participation). Yoon, Shim and Hirahoka are analogous art because they all pertain to wireless communication using talk group technology. Yoon teaches about a terminal switching talk group based on location of the terminal. Shim teaches about a PPT server that switch group occupied by terminal into default group after determination of new location associated with new group Hirahoka teaches about display on terminal where talk groups can be seen and selected according to UE. Yoon and Shim could use Horahoka features in order for the terminal to see their location on screen and which group they are in contact with now. Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time of the filling on the claim to combine Yoon, Shim and Horahoka as to obtain an efficient talk group system. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-8, 10 and 15-18 are allowed in view of the primary reference Yoon (US 2006/0046759 A1) and secondary reference like Shim (US 2006/0046759 A1), Taguchi (US 2017/0201510 A1) and Dunko (US 2008/0004038 A1). None of the above references teaches about measuring, for each of the plurality of terminals, a moving speed and a number of times the talk group has been switched; and transmitting, if at least one of the moving speed and the number of times the talk group has been switched is equal to or greater than a threshold value, a request signal to each of the plurality of terminals to make a transmission interval of the terminal location information shorter than a currently set transmission interval. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY LAFONTANT whose telephone number is (571)272-3037. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00AM -6:00PM. 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, Jeanette Parker can be reached at 571-2703647. 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. /GARY LAFONTANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 29, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
73%
Grant Probability
74%
With Interview (+1.2%)
2y 5m (~6m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 472 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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