Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/935,172

FEEDBACK FOR MULTI-LEVEL SIGNALING IN A MEMORY DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Nov 01, 2024
Priority
Mar 22, 2021 — continuation of 11/543,995 +2 more
Examiner
HAILEGIORGIS, FITWI Y
Art Unit
2827
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Lodestar Licensing Group LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
90%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
4m
Est. Remaining
74%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 90% — above average
90%
Career Allowance Rate
439 granted / 485 resolved
+22.5% vs TC avg
Minimal -16% lift
Without
With
+-16.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
9 currently pending
Career history
498
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
§103
82.4%
+42.4% vs TC avg
§102
4.1%
-35.9% vs TC avg
§112
5.6%
-34.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 485 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/20/2024 has been considered and placed on record. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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, 10 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang et al. (US 2015/0372803 A1, hereinafter, “Jiang”) in views of Riani et al. (US 9,258,155 B1, hereinafter, “Riani”) and Dallaire et al. (US 9,559,877 B1, hereinafter, “Dallaire”). Consider claim 10, Jiang teaches an apparatus (see at least figures 1, 8, 9 and description thereof), comprising: processing circuitry associated with one or more memory devices (see at least figure 9) and configured to cause the apparatus to: receive a signal having inter-symbol interference (see at least figure 1, 8 and 9 and para. 2, Jiang teaches receiving data signal which inherently includes inter-symbol interference (ISI)), wherein the signal has been modulated using a modulation scheme that includes two or more voltage levels (see at least figure 8 and para. 56, Jiang teaches modulating signal using a modulation scheme that includes two or more voltage levels (2-PAM)); reduce, using a receiver circuit, the inter-symbol interference of clock signal phase of the signal (see at least paras. 2 and 56, Jiang teaches reducing ISI of clock signal phase); and adaptive loop filter suppressing excess ISI (figure 8, paras. 56-58). Jiang teaches wherein the signal has been modulated using a modulation scheme that includes two or more voltage levels (see above), however, did not particularly teach the signal has been modulated using a modulation scheme that includes three or more voltage levels. Riani teaches said technique (see at least col. 2 lines 16-26, col. 8 line 34- col. 9 line 5, where Riani teaches signal being modulated in 4-PAM levels). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the application to modify the invention of Jiang and teach the signal has been modulated using a modulation scheme that includes three or more voltage levels, as taught by Riani, thereby having efficient transmission technique. Jiang teaches reduce, using a receiver circuit, the inter-symbol interference of clock signal phase of the signal (see above), however, did not particularly teach the inter-symbol interference of between a plurality of clock signal phases of a signal. Dallaire teaches (see at least abstract, where Dallaire teaches clock phases of a signal having ISI, thus ISI between clock phases). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the application to modify the invention of Jiang and teach the inter-symbol interference of between a plurality of clock signal phases of a signal, as taught by Dallaire, thereby having efficient transmission technique. Jiang teaches adaptive loop filter suppressing excess ISI (figure 8, paras. 56-58), however, did not particularly teach decode one or more symbols of the signal based at least in part on reducing the inter-symbol interference. Riani teaches (see at least figure (508), col. 10 lines 30-47 and 56-64, Riani teaches decode symbols after the reduction of ISI, thus decode the symbols based on the reduced ISI). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the application to modify the invention of Jiang and teach decode one or more symbols of the signal based at least in part on reducing the inter-symbol interference, as taught by Riani, thereby having efficient transmission technique. Consider claim 1, all the limitations of method claim 1 are included in the apparatus claim 10, therefore, claim 1 is subjected to the same rejection. Consider claim 17, all the limitations of non-transitory computer-readable medium (see at least para. 71), are included in the apparatus claim 10, therefore, claim 17 is subjected to the same rejection. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-9, 11-16 and 18-20 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FITWI Y HAILEGIORGIS whose telephone number is (571)270-1881. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM. 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, Chieh Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. 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. FITWI Y. HAILEGIORGIS Primary Examiner Art Unit 2632 /FITWI Y HAILEGIORGIS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2632
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 01, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 08, 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
90%
Grant Probability
74%
With Interview (-16.0%)
2y 1m (~4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 485 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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