Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 18, 2026
Application No. 18/969,662

INTERACTIVE QUERY SYSTEMS AND METHODS

Final Rejection §102
Filed
Dec 05, 2024
Priority
Dec 29, 2023 — provisional 63/615,881
Examiner
BULLOCK, JOSHUA
Art Unit
2153
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Allstate Insurance Company
OA Round
2 (Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
1y 4m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allowance Rate
532 granted / 644 resolved
+27.6% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
20 currently pending
Career history
675
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
16.3%
-23.7% vs TC avg
§103
35.2%
-4.8% vs TC avg
§102
37.6%
-2.4% vs TC avg
§112
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 644 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 13 has been cancelled. Claims 1-12 & 14-20 are pending. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed May 12, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. See Examiner’s response below. With respect to rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102, applicant appears to assert that Wu does not teach or suggest “generating a query interface that changes based on an interaction between a user and the user device”. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Wu illustrates [FIG. 6] the utilization of a user device to submit a request to the system. Wu further teaches [0069] information is projected onto the user device based on user input or user interaction. Thus, Wu does in fact teach “generating a query interface that changes based on an interaction between a user and the user device”. With respect to rejections under 35 U.S.C. 102, applicant appears to assert that Wu does not teach or suggest “a recommendation system having a machine learning model trained using historical conversational data relating to the at least one of the product or service”. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Wu teaches [0017-0019] past user input of conversational data for determining appropriate products to recommend to users. Thus, Wu does in fact teach “a recommendation system having a machine learning model trained using historical conversational data relating to the at least one of the product or service”. 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) 1-12 & 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US Pub. No. 2018/0189857 A1). In respect to Claim 1, Wu teaches: a query system comprising: a provider system comprising a processor and a memory device in communication with a user device over a network, the user device having one or more input systems and one or more output systems, (Wu teaches [0032] a user device with input and output.) the provider system configured to generate an interactive query interface, (Wu teaches [0018] a query interface.) the provider system receiving query input captured via the one or more input systems through interaction of a user with the interactive query interface that changes based on an interaction between a user and the user device, the provider system receiving user data from the user device; (Wu teaches [0018, 0027] reception of a query input from a user device.) (Wu illustrates [FIG. 6] the utilization of a user device to submit a request to the system. Wu further teaches [0069] information is projected onto the user device based on user input or user interaction.) a natural language processing system configured to generate a query based on the query input, the query associated with at least one of a product or a service; (Wu teaches [0004] natural language processing of a query.) and a recommendation system having a machine learning model trained using historical conversational data relating to the at least one of the product or service, (Wu teaches [0020-0021] recommendations with a machine learning model. Wu teaches [0017-0019] past user input of conversational data for determining appropriate products to recommend to users.) the recommendation system configured to generate a recommendation based on the user data and the query using the machine learning model, the provider system configured to send the recommendation to the user device to cause the recommendation to be presented with the interactive query interface using the one or more output system (Wu teaches [0004, 0021] providing recommendations associated with a query.) As per Claim 2, Wu teaches: wherein the interactive query interface includes an onboarding user interface configured to capture the user data (Wu teaches [0061] capturing data.) As per Claim 3, Wu teaches: wherein the interactive query interface is configured to capture a user selection using the one or more input systems, the user selection indicating at least one of the product or the service a user desires to purchase (Wu teaches [0036, 0061] capturing data for purchase.) As per Claim 4, Wu teaches: wherein the interactive query interface includes at least one of a plurality of selectable products or services, a price change compared to a current product or service, an input for an additional inquiry, a recommended additional product or service, a statement from a virtual employee, an explanation of at least one of the product or the service, a comparison with a product or a service used by users with similar characteristics, or an indication that a user selection is below a recommendation (Wu teaches [0036, 0061] capturing data for purchase.) As per Claim 5, Wu teaches: wherein the user data includes at least one of a name of a user, an address of the user, a birthdate of the user, or a desired coverage level (Wu teaches [0004, 0035] utilizing a user profile.) As per Claim 6, Wu teaches: wherein the one or more input systems and the one or more output systems are integrated into the user device (Wu [FIG. 1]) As per Claim 7, Wu teaches: wherein the recommendation is processed by natural language processing system before being sent to the user device (Wu [0004]) Claims 8-12 are the method claims corresponding to system claims 1-5 respectively, therefore are rejected for the same reasons noted above. As per Claim 14, Wu teaches: wherein the one or more output systems form a part of a user device (Wu [FIG. 1]) Claims 15-16 are the media claims corresponding to system claims 1 & 4 respectively, therefore are rejected for the same reasons noted above. As per Claim 17, Wu teaches: wherein the machine learning model is trained using historical conversational data relating to the at least one of selling or explaining products or services to consumers (Wu [0016]) Claims 18-19 are the media claims corresponding to system claims 6 & 5 respectively, therefore are rejected for the same reasons noted above. As per Claim 20, Wu teaches: generating an onboarding user interface in response to receiving the query; and causing the interactive query interface to present the onboarding user interface, wherein the user data is captured using the onboarding user interface (Wu teaches [0061] capturing data.) THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSHUA BULLOCK whose telephone number is (571)270-1395. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am - 4:00 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, Kavita Stanley can be reached at 571-272-8352. 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. /JOSHUA BULLOCK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2153 July 2, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 05, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102
May 12, 2026
Response Filed
Jul 07, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102 (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

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
83%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+16.1%)
3y 0m (~1y 4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 644 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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