Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/970,311

DETERMINING PERIODIC DATA BASED ON DISCARD PATTERNS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Dec 05, 2024
Examiner
NGUYEN, THAN VINH
Art Unit
2138
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Micron Technology, Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allow Rate
725 granted / 799 resolved
+35.7% vs TC avg
Minimal +4% lift
Without
With
+4.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
14 currently pending
Career history
813
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.3%
-35.7% vs TC avg
§103
19.4%
-20.6% vs TC avg
§102
42.4%
+2.4% vs TC avg
§112
19.4%
-20.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 799 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 . Claims 1-20 are pending. 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) 1-3, 6, and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al (US20080198671, “Wang”). As to claim 1, 17, 20: Wang teaches a system (system of circuitry; Fig. 1; 0017) comprising: a set of memory components of a memory sub-system (host with processor and memory system; 0017, 0019; RAM; 0030), associated method of operation (0009, claims), and medium storage for storing instructions to perform the method (computer memory, such as RAM; 0017, 0019, 0030); and at least one processing device operatively coupled to the set of memory components (write control logic, the at least one processing device being configured to perform operations comprising: receiving a request to store a set of data to the set of memory components (write control logic receive write requests; 0020-0024); determining whether the set of data corresponds to a periodic commit stream or other operations (interpret commit stream operation as a write operation; determine the command type from three possible command types; 0021, 0024); selecting one or more write cursors from a plurality of write cursors to associate with the set of data in response to determining whether the set of data corresponds to the periodic commit stream or the other operations (select write pointer based on command type; 0021, 0023, 0024); and programming the set of data to one or more of the set of memory components according to a data layout associated with the selected one or more write cursors (schedule command for execution based on write cursor, such as write event; 0040, 0041, 0023, 0024). As to claim 2, 18: Wang teaches a first write cursor of the plurality of write cursors corresponds to a first data layout, and wherein a second write cursor of the plurality of write cursors corresponds to a second data layout (different data type have different assigned layout/section in queue, write event indicate the data type; 0009, 0032). As to claim 3, 19: Wang teaches the first write cursor is selected in response to determining that the set of data corresponds to the periodic commit stream, and wherein the second write cursor is selected in response to determining that the set of data corresponds to the other operation (select write pointer based on command type; 0021, 0023, 0024). As to claim 6: Wang teaches the operations comprising: tracking patterns of discard commands received from a host to determine whether the set of data corresponds to the periodic commit stream or the other operations (track read/write events, determine data associated with command type, select write pointer based on command type; 0024). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4, 5, and 7-16 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. As to claim 4, the prior art does not further suggest the system of claim 2, wherein the first write cursor groups a first collection of data on the one or more of the set of memory components together into a first set of block stripes, and wherein the second write cursor stores a second collection of data on the one or more of the set of memory components in a second set of block stripes. As to claim 5, the prior art does not further suggest the system of claim 1, wherein the periodic commit stream corresponds to a circular buffer maintained by a host, the host invalidating data associated with the circular buffer in response to the other operation. As to claim 7, the prior art does not further suggest the system of claim 6, wherein each discard command comprises an identification of a set of logical block addresses (LBAs) that are invalid. As to claim 8, the prior art does not further suggest the system of claim 6, the operations comprising: dividing an entire logical address space associated with the set of memory components into a plurality of regions, each region of the plurality of regions representing a different portion of the logical address space; and storing a table that associates each region of the plurality of regions with a respective discard counter. Claims 9-16 are allowable for incorporating the limitations of claim 8, and further limitations. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAN NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4198. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00am -4:00pm. 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, Tim Vo can be reached at (571)272-3642. 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. /THAN NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2138
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 05, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12602185
MAINTAINING SYNCHRONISATION BETWEEN MEMORY WRITING AND READING BLOCKS USING AN INTERNAL BUFFER AND A CONTROL CHANNEL
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12602170
WRITE BUFFER FLUSH TECHNIQUES
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12602171
STORAGE DEVICE AND METHOD WITH FLEXIBLE POWER LOSS PROTECTION
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12585398
SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND DEVICES FOR PARTITION MANAGEMENT OF STORAGE RESOURCES BASED ON WORKLOAD
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12585400
BLOCK WRITE CACHE REPLICATION MODEL
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 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
91%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+4.3%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 799 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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