Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 19/005,971

ONE OR MORE NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA, INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Dec 30, 2024
Priority
Jan 30, 2024 — JP 2024-011600
Examiner
ROWLAND, STEVE
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Nintendo Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allowance Rate
843 granted / 1082 resolved
+17.9% vs TC avg
Strong +18% interview lift
Without
With
+17.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
1101
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
14.8%
-25.2% vs TC avg
§103
33.9%
-6.1% vs TC avg
§102
28.8%
-11.2% vs TC avg
§112
14.6%
-25.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1082 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
Detailed Action Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION. The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Claims 9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Regarding claims 9 and 18, the limitation “deformation event occurs again” renders the claims indefinite because it is not clear if the limitation refers to the same “deformation event” as declared in their respective parent claims or to a different event. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-8, 10-17, 19 and 20 are allowed. Claims 9 and 18 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. . Conclusion The prior art considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and not relied upon is made of record on the attached PTO-892 form. Yu (US 20250371794 A1) discloses a terrain rendering system. Li (US 20230249070 A1) discloses a terrain deformation system. Sato et al (US 20210370175 A1) discloses a player movement control system. Ratcliff et al (US 20170213394 A1) discloses an environment visualization system. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVE ROWLAND whose telephone number is (469) 295-9129. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 10-8. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Dmitry Suhol can be reached at (571) 272-4430. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300. 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. Applicant may choose, at his or her discretion, to correspond with Examiner via Internet e-mail. A paper copy of any and all email correspondence will be placed in the appropriate patent application file. Email communication must be authorized in advance. Without a written authorization by applicant in place, the USPTO will not respond via e-mail to any correspondence which contains information subject to the confidentiality requirement as set forth in 35 U.S.C. 122. Authorization may be perfected by submitting, on a separate paper, the following (or similar) disclaimer: PNG media_image1.png 18 19 media_image1.png Greyscale Recognizing that Internet communications are not secure, I hereby authorize the USPTO to communicate with me concerning any subject matter of this application by electronic mail. I understand that a copy of these communications will be made of record in the application file. PNG media_image1.png 18 19 media_image1.png Greyscale See MPEP 502.03 for more information. 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. /STEVE ROWLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3715
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 30, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 08, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12746447
SYSTEM FOR RESTRICTING USER MOVEMENTS IN AN AQUATIC MEDIUM
3y 3m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12738180
Dummy Device for Simulation of Human Respiration and Method for Operating a Dummy Device
3y 0m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12734444
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATING HUMAN-ONLY READABLE MEDIA INTO GAME PLAY
2y 6m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12731503
Automated Alignment of Education Content
2y 8m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12728355
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GENERATING NONPLAYER CHARACTERS ACCORDING TO GAMEPLAY CHARACTERISTICS
3y 0m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+17.5%)
2y 7m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1082 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month