Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 15, 2026
Application No. 18/932,722

METHOD FOR GENERATING A TRACK OF MOVEMENT STATES OF A TERMINAL DEVICE

Non-Final OA §101§102
Filed
Oct 31, 2024
Priority
Nov 09, 2023 — EU 23208764.3
Examiner
HAMMONDS, MARCUS C
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
u-blox AG
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 5m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allowance Rate
359 granted / 504 resolved
+11.2% vs TC avg
Strong +29% interview lift
Without
With
+29.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
527
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.3%
-35.7% vs TC avg
§103
48.7%
+8.7% vs TC avg
§102
28.5%
-11.5% vs TC avg
§112
11.7%
-28.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 504 resolved cases

Office Action

§101 §102
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 . DETAILED ACTION This Office Action is in response to the applicants' communication filed on October 31, 2024. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-15 are currently presented in the instant application. Drawings The drawings submitted on October 31, 2024 have been reviewed and accepted by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows: Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claim invention is not supported by a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Claim 15 recites “a computer program product comprising instructions which when executed on one or more processors of at least a computing device, cause the one or more processors to perform the operations of a server according to claim 1.” Ultimately, claim 15 is directed to a computer program product comprising instructions that are useable by an apparatus. However, the apparatus itself is not claimed. Therefore claim 15 is not directed to any of the statutory categories because claim 15 does not have a physical or tangible form, as it is claimed as a computer program product without any structural recitation, i.e. software per se. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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. Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pub No.: US-20150334678-A1 (herein “MacGougan”). Claims 1, 8, and 15 Consider claim 1, MacGougan teaches a method performed by a server (see MacGougan Fig. 1, [0029] note server 114) for generating a track of movement states of a terminal device moving between a first time point T0 to a second time point T, wherein the movement state comprises a position of the terminal device and T0<T, the method comprising: obtaining, via the terminal device, positioning measurements at respective time points t(k) between T0 and T, wherein k is an integer and is an index of the time points, 0≤k≤N, N is an integer and N>0, t(0)=T0, and t(N)=T (see MacGougan Fig. 4, [0030]-[0032], [0043] note receiving crowd-sourced data, i.e.e GNSS data via GPS receivers of client devices); determining for each time point t(k), the movement state of the terminal device at the time point t(k), wherein when 0≤k<N, determining the position of the terminal device at t(k) comprises using the positioning measurements between a respective third time point t(k−a) and a respective fourth time point t(k+b), wherein a and b are integers, 0≤a≤k, and 0<b≤(N−k); and when k=N, determining the position of the terminal device at t(k) comprises using the positioning measurements between the third time point t(k−a) and t(k) (see MacGougan Fig. 4, [0030]-[0032], [0045] note inputting the received data with timestamps to be processed by batch using enhanced filtering techniques including forward-backward smoothing filter including the forward pass EKF and backward recursion filter which works backward in time); and generating the track of the movement states of the terminal device by combining the determined positions (see MacGougan Fig. 4, [0032], [0045] note georeferencing using the received data). Claim(s) 8 and 15 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 1. Claims 2 and 9 Consider claim 2, MacGougan teaches wherein when 0≤k<N, determining the position of the terminal device at t(k) is based on Kalman smoothing and comprises: formulating a state vector at each t(k), wherein the state vector comprises a coarse position of the terminal device based on the positioning measurements at t(k) (see MacGougan [0026], [0030], [0031] note EKF); and computing the position at t(k) using the Kalman smoothing based on the state vectors between t(k−a) and t(k+b) (see MacGougan [0026], [0030], [0031] note smoothing filter). Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 2. Claim 3 and 10 Consider claim 3, MacGougan teaches wherein the movement state further comprises a velocity of the terminal device and/or a time corresponding to the position of the terminal device (see MacGougan [0026] note velocity). Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 3. Claims 4 and 11 Consider claim 4, MacGougan teaches wherein the positioning measurements comprises at least one of: global navigation satellite system, GNSS, measurements and sensor measurements, wherein the GNSS measurements comprise Doppler measurements and ranging measurements (see MacGougan [0032] note GNSS). Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 4. Claim 5 Consider claim 5, MacGougan teaches wherein determining the position of the terminal device at t(k) further comprises using assistant information, wherein the assistant information comprises at least one of: a position of a GNSS satellite, an orbit of a GNSS satellite, ionospheric data, troposphere models, inertial sensor data, and GNSS correction data (see MacGougan [0032], [0044] note inertial sensor measurements). Claims 6 and 12 Consider claim 6, MacGougan teaches the method further comprising: obtaining, by the terminal device, positioning measurements at each t(k) (see MacGougan [0043], [0047] note receiving raw GNSS data); recording, by the terminal device, the positioning measurements of each t(k) (see MacGougan [0043], [0047] note receiving raw GNSS data can be buffered); and providing, by the terminal device, the recorded positioning measurements to the server (see MacGougan [0047] note raw GNSS data can be sent to the server). Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 6. Claims 7 and 13 Consider claim 7, MacGougan teaches further comprising: providing by the server the track of the movement states of the terminal device to the terminal device (see MacGougan Fig. 4, [0045] note georeferencing geodata using the data received from the client device(s)); and displaying by the terminal device the track on a display of the terminal device (see MacGougan [0052] note displaying the objects and/or media). Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 7. Claim 14 Consider claim 14, MacGougan teaches further comprising a mobile phone (see MacGougan [0043] note client device can be a mobile phone), wherein the terminal device is a wearable device (see MacGougan [0043] note client device can be a wearable computers) and further configured to provide the recorded positioning measurements of each t(k) to the computing apparatus via the mobile phone (see MacGougan [0043] note GNSS data on the client device). Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 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, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. 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. /MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 31, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 15, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §101, §102 (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
71%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+29.4%)
3y 3m (~1y 5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 504 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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