Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026
Application No. 18/938,600

OCCUPANCY DETECTOR AND OCCUPANCY DETECTION METHOD

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Nov 06, 2024
Priority
May 21, 2024 — TW 113118820
Examiner
BRAINARD, TIMOTHY A
Art Unit
3648
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
National Sun Yat-sen University
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allowance Rate
1037 granted / 1202 resolved
+34.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+5.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
16 currently pending
Career history
1225
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.0%
-32.0% vs TC avg
§103
46.0%
+6.0% vs TC avg
§102
18.0%
-22.0% vs TC avg
§112
21.2%
-18.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1202 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 § 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) 1-2, 8-9, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pulley (US 12169251). Regarding claim 1 and 9, Pulley teaches an occupancy detector (abs) comprising: a radar configured to output a radar background signal and a radar detection signal (fig 6, item s604 and s603), wherein the radar background signal is detected by the radar from an area when an absence of a subject is known (figure 6, items s602 and s603), the radar detection signal is detected by the radar from the area when a presence of the subject is unknown (fig 6, items s604), and the radar background signal and the radar detection signal are time- domain signals (col 2, lines 1-27); and an occupancy analyzer electrically connected to the radar to receive the radar background signal and the radar detection signal (fig 6, items s605), the occupancy analyzer is configured to determine the presence or absence of the subject in the area based on the radar background signal and the radar detection signal through generalized likelihood ratio test (col 12, lines 3-17). Regarding claim 2, Pulley teaches the occupancy analyzer is configured to evaluate a test statistic between the radar background signal and the radar detection signal through GLRT and configured to compare the test statistic to a threshold to determine the presence or absence of the subject in the area (col 12, lines 34-39) Regarding claim 8 and 12, Pulley teaches the radar includes an antenna array which is configured to receive a signal reflected from the area as a plurality of received signals, the occupancy analyzer is configured to receive the plurality of received signals from the radar, evaluate a test statistic between the plurality of received signals through GLRT and determine whether the plurality of received signals are correct based on the test statistic (fig 11 and 13 and col 12). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3-7 and 10-11 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY A BRAINARD whose telephone number is (571)272-2132. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. 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, Resha Desai can be reached at (571) 270-7792. 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. TIMOTHY A. BRAINARD Primary Examiner Art Unit 3648 /TIMOTHY A BRAINARD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 06, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 14, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12742875
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVED WLAN SENSING MEASUREMENT REPORT
3y 1m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12742852
DEVICE, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR TRACKING AN OBJECT USING RADAR DATA AND IMAGER DATA
2y 11m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12736612
RESOLVING A MULTIPATH AMBIGUITY IN A TDM-MIMO RADAR
1y 10m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12732248
System and Method for Sensing an Environment
4y 0m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12716997
RADAR TARGET SIMULATION WITH RANGE MIGRATION
2y 7m to grant Granted Aug 25, 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
86%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+5.6%)
2y 9m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1202 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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