Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 19/064,713

CONTROL DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Final Rejection §103§112
Filed
Feb 27, 2025
Priority
Mar 27, 2024 — JP 2024-050836
Examiner
COOLEY, CHASE LITTLEJOHN
Art Unit
3662
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Final)
67%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
1y 5m
Est. Remaining
84%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 67% — above average
67%
Career Allowance Rate
127 granted / 190 resolved
+14.8% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+16.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
234
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
12.2%
-27.8% vs TC avg
§103
52.6%
+12.6% vs TC avg
§102
19.2%
-20.8% vs TC avg
§112
14.9%
-25.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 190 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
CTNF 19/064,713 CTNF 94863 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 12-151 AIA 26-51 12-51 Status of Claims Claims 1-9 of US Application No. 19/064,713, filed on 02/27/2025, are currently pending and have been examined. Information Disclosure Statement The information Disclosure Statements filed on 02/27/2025 and 12/31/2025 have been considered. An initialed copy of form 1449 for each is enclosed herewith. 07-30-03-h AIA Claim Interpretation 07-30-03 AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f): (f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof. The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph: An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof. 07-30-05 The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked. As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph: (A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function; (B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and (C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function. Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function. Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function. Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) are: “…a control device for a moving object…”in claims 1-7; “…an external environment recognition unit configured to acquire external environment recognition data…” in claims 1, 8, and 9; “…a storage unit configured to store a route history…” in claims 1 and 9 “…a movement control unit configured to perform movement control…” in claims 1-9; “…a first control unit configured to control garage entry and exit…” in claims 3; “…a second control unit configured to control traveling of the moving object…” in claims 3; Because these claim limitation(s) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, they are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. In the instant application these terms will be interpreted in light of the specification as follows: “…a control device for a moving object…” will be interpreted as “a computer executing a control program prepared in advance” ¶ [0086]; “…an external environment recognition unit configured to acquire external environment recognition data…” will be interpreted as “t he external environment recognition unit 110 acquires, from the object recognition device 16, external environment recognition data for recognizing an external environment of the vehicle 1 that is acquired by the camera 10, the radar device 12, and the LIDAR 14.” ¶ [0033]; “…a storage unit configured to store a route history…” will be interpreted as; “A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” ¶ [0106]; “…a movement control unit configured to perform movement control…” will be interpreted as; “the movement control unit 130 includes an advanced driver assistance system electronic control unit (ADAS_ECU) 131 and an automatic driving electronic control unit (AD ECU) 132. The ADAS_ECU 131 is an example of a "first control unit" in the present10 disclose. The AD_ECU 132 is an example of a "second control unit" in the present disclosure. Each of the ADAS_ECU 131 and the ADECU 132 is implemented by, for example, a hardware processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be implemented by hardware (including circuitry) such as a large scale integration (LSI), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and a graphics processing unit (GPU), or may be implemented by cooperation of software and hardware.” ¶ [0035]-[0036]; “…a first control unit configured to control garage entry and exit…” will be interpreted as “ADAS_ECU 131 is an example of a "first control unit" in the present10 disclosure” ¶ [0035] “…a second control unit configured to control traveling of the moving object…” will be interpreted as “The AD_ECU 132 is an example of a "second control unit" in the present disclosure.”; If applicant does not intend to have these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 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. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-01 Claims 1-9 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. 07-34-03 AIA The term “ difficult ” in claim s 1, 8, and 9 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “ difficult ” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. For the purposes of this examination the term “difficult” will be interpreted as any movement different than the route based movement. Appropriate clarification is required . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-5 and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugano (US 2022/0212657 A1, “Sugano”) in view of Kuno (JP 2011025754 A [Machine Translated], “Kuno”) . Regarding claim 1, 8, and 9 , Sugano discloses automated valet parking system, control method of automated valet parking system, and autonomous driving vehicle and teaches: A control device for a moving object, the control device comprising: (As illustrated in FIG. 8, the autonomous driving vehicle 2 includes an autonomous driving ECU 20 as an example. The autonomous driving ECU 20 is an electronic control unit including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. In the autonomous driving ECU 20, for example, a program recorded in the ROM is loaded into the RAM, and various functions are implemented by the CPU executing the program loaded into the RAM. The autonomous driving ECU 20 may include a plurality of electronic units – See at least ¶ [0087]) an external environment recognition unit configured to acquire external environment recognition data of the moving object; (The external sensor 22 is an in-vehicle sensor that detects an external environment of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 – See at least ¶ [0090]) a storage unit configured to store a [target] route of the route used when the moving object moves to a target position; and (The autonomous driving controller 35 executes the autonomous driving of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving controller 35 generates a trajectory of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 based on, for example, the target route, the position of the autonomous driving vehicle 2, the external environment of the autonomous driving vehicle 2, and the traveling state of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The trajectory corresponds to a travel plan for autonomous driving. The trajectory includes a path along which the vehicle travels by autonomous driving and a vehicle speed plan in autonomous driving – See at least ¶ [0104]) a movement control unit configured to perform movement control of moving the moving object to the target position along a section to the target position, (The actuator 25 is a device used for controlling the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The actuator 25 includes at least a drive actuator , a brake actuator, and a steering actuator. The drive actuator controls the supply amount of air to the engine (throttle opening degree) according to a control signal from the autonomous driving ECU 20 to control a driving force of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 – See at least ¶ [0095]) wherein the movement control unit switches a usage mode of the [target] route in the movement control in a first section included in the section in which it is difficult to move without referring to the [target] route (The parking plan generation unit 12 generates a parking plan, which is a traveling plan for parking the autonomous driving vehicle 2, based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 11. The parking plan includes a target parking space in which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 is parked and a target route to the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0050]) and a second section that is included in the section and that is different from the first section, and generates a travel route. (When it is determined that the autonomous driving vehicle 2 has arrived near the target parking space or when the autonomous driving vehicle 2 notifies the start of the automated valet parking for the target parking space, the second movement permission area setting unit 15 sets a movement permission area for automated valet parking – See at least ¶ [0061]; The movement permission area for automated valet parking is an area set for the automated valet parking of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving vehicle 2 executes the automated valet parking for the target parking space by moving such that the autonomous driving vehicle does not deviate from the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The movement permission area for automated valet parking includes the target parking space and a part of the traveling path near the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0063]) Sugano does not explicitly teach that the target routes are stored as a route history of the route. However, Kuno discloses device and method for supporting traveling and teaches: a storage unit configured to store a route history of the route used when the moving object moves to a target position; (In this embodiment, during the point calculation path generation process, for each virtual movement point Sn, it is determined whether the virtual movement point Sn is located within the no-movement area AR0 and whether the parking conditions are met (steps S36-1, S36-5 to S36-8, S36-11 to S36-19). Then, if a predetermined virtual movement point is not located within the no-movement area AR0 and the conditions for parking are met, the route generation determination processing means determines that a route can be generated for the virtual movement point (step S36 10) – See at least ¶ [0135]) In summary, Sugano disclose generating a target route within allowable travel areas. Sugano does not explicitly teach that the routes are determined based on a stored route history. However, Kuno discloses a device and method for supporting travelling in a parking garage and teaches generating a virtual travel route from the vehicles location to a target parking location. Kuno further teaches that if the virtual route stays within a designated travel area, similar to the travel areas of Sugano, then the virtual route is stored and used to generate the actual route of the vehicle from its current location to the parking location. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the automated valet parking system, control method of automated valet parking system, and autonomous driving vehicle of Sugano to provide for the virtual route creation, as taught in Kuno, to easily and reliably automatically drive a vehicle from its current location to a predetermined location. (At Kuno ¶ [0006]) Regarding claim 2 , Sugano further teaches: wherein the movement control unit performs the movement control by referring to the [target] route in the first section, (The parking plan generation unit 12 generates a parking plan, which is a traveling plan for parking the autonomous driving vehicle 2, based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 11. The parking plan includes a target parking space in which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 is parked and a target route to the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0050]) and performs the movement control based on the external environment recognition data without referring to the [target] route in the second section. (When it is determined that the autonomous driving vehicle 2 has arrived near the target parking space or when the autonomous driving vehicle 2 notifies the start of the automated valet parking for the target parking space, the second movement permission area setting unit 15 sets a movement permission area for automated valet parking – See at least ¶ [0061]; The movement permission area for automated valet parking is an area set for the automated valet parking of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving vehicle 2 executes the automated valet parking for the target parking space by moving such that the autonomous driving vehicle does not deviate from the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The movement permission area for automated valet parking includes the target parking space and a part of the traveling path near the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0063]; Examiner notes that the target parking space is determined and monitored using sensors on the vehicle and within the parking garage.) Sugano does not explicitly teach, but Kuno further teaches: [] route history [] (In this embodiment, during the point calculation path generation process, for each virtual movement point Sn, it is determined whether the virtual movement point Sn is located within the no-movement area AR0 and whether the parking conditions are met (steps S36-1, S36-5 to S36-8, S36-11 to S36-19). Then, if a predetermined virtual movement point is not located within the no-movement area AR0 and the conditions for parking are met, the route generation determination processing means determines that a route can be generated for the virtual movement point (step S36 10) – See at least ¶ [0135]) Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the automated valet parking system, control method of automated valet parking system, and autonomous driving vehicle of Sugano to provide for the virtual route creation, as taught in Kuno, to easily and reliably automatically drive a vehicle from its current location to a predetermined location. (At Kuno ¶ [0006]) Regarding claim 3 , Sugano further teaches: wherein the movement control unit includes a first control unit (The parking plan generation unit 12 sets a target route on the traveling path in the parking place. The target route does not necessarily have to be a shortest distance, and a route that does not interfere with or has less interference with a target route of another autonomous driving vehicle 2 may be preferentially selected. A method for setting the target route is not particularly limited, and various well known methods can be employed. The target route may be set by the first movement permission area setting unit 13 to be described later – See at least ¶ [0053]) configured to control garage entry and exit of the moving object, and (The parking plan generation unit 12 generates a parking plan, which is a traveling plan for parking the autonomous driving vehicle 2, based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 11. The parking plan includes a target parking space in which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 is parked and a target route to the target parking space. For example, when a vehicle entrance request is received from the autonomous driving vehicle 2 that has entered the parking place, the parking plan generation unit 12 starts generating the parking plan – See at least ¶ [0050]; The first movement permission area setting unit 13 sets a movement permission area for autonomous traveling in which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 travels toward the target parking space. The movement permission area for autonomous traveling is an area set for autonomous traveling of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving vehicle 2 executes autonomous traveling such that the autonomous driving vehicle does not deviate from the movement permission area for autonomous traveling. The movement permission area for autonomous traveling is an area in which the target parking space includes a part of the traveling path along which the autonomous driving vehicle 2 reaches and does not include the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0056]) a second control unit (When the movement permission area for auto mated valet parking is set by the second movement permission area setting unit 15, the second movement permission area instruction unit 16 instructs the autonomous driving vehicle 2 about the movement permission area for auto mated valet parking. The second movement permission area instruction unit 16 may instruct the autonomous driving vehicle 2 about an automated valet parking mode together with the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The automated valet parking mode is, for example, head-in parking, back-in parking with head swing, or parking by turn-back movement – See at least ¶ [0078]) configured to control traveling of the moving object different from the garage entry and exit, (The movement permission area for automated valet parking is an area set for the automated valet parking of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The autonomous driving vehicle 2 executes the automated valet parking for the target parking space by moving such that the autonomous driving vehicle does not deviate from the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The movement permission area for automated valet parking includes the target parking space and a part of the traveling path near the target parking space – See at least ¶ [0063]) the first control unit performs the movement control in the first section, and (The parking plan generation unit 12 sets a target route on the traveling path in the parking place. The target route does not necessarily have to be a shortest distance, and a route that does not interfere with or has less interference with a target route of another autonomous driving vehicle 2 may be preferentially selected. A method for setting the target route is not particularly limited, and various well known methods can be employed. The target route may be set by the first movement permission area setting unit 13 to be described later – See at least ¶ [0053]) the second control unit performs the movement control in the second section. (When the movement permission area for auto mated valet parking is set by the second movement permission area setting unit 15, the second movement permission area instruction unit 16 instructs the autonomous driving vehicle 2 about the movement permission area for auto mated valet parking. The second movement permission area instruction unit 16 may instruct the autonomous driving vehicle 2 about an automated valet parking mode together with the movement permission area for automated valet parking. The automated valet parking mode is, for example, head-in parking, back-in parking with head swing, or parking by turn-back movement – See at least ¶ [0078]) Regarding claim 4 , Sugano further teaches: wherein when an obstacle is detected based on the external environment recognition data even during execution of the movement control in the first section, the movement control unit switches the movement control performed by the first control unit to the movement control performed by the second control unit. (The parking place map database 4 is a database that stores parking place map information. The parking place map information includes positional information of the parking frame in the parking place and information on the traveling path in the parking place. The parking place map information may include positional information of a land a mark used for position recognition of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The landmark includes at least one of a white line, a pole, a safety cone, a pillar of the parking place, and the like – See at least ¶ [0040]; Here, the system determines the parking spots based on landmarks, e.g., an object. At the point of reaching the parking spot, e.g., at the recognized positional relationship between the vehicle and the object, the system switches from the first movement control to the second movement control.) Regarding claim 5 , Sugano further teaches: wherein the movement control unit sets the first section and the second section based on the external environment recognition data. (As illustrated in FIG. 9A , the parking place control server 10 of the automated valet parking system 1 generates the parking plan including the target parking space and the target route by the parking plan generation unit 12 in S10. The parking plan generation unit 12 generates the parking plan based on the empty information of the parking place, the positional information of the autonomous driving vehicle 2 acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 11, the positional information of the target parking space, and the parking place map information of the parking place map database 4 – See at least ¶ [0116]) Regarding claim 7 , Sugano further teaches: wherein when an obstacle is detected during execution of the movement control in the first section, the movement control unit performs the movement control based on at least one of a type of the obstacle and a movement state of the obstacle. (The parking place map database 4 is a database that stores parking place map information. The parking place map information includes positional information of the parking frame in the parking place and information on the traveling path in the parking place. The parking place map information may include positional information of a land a mark used for position recognition of the autonomous driving vehicle 2. The landmark includes at least one of a white line, a pole, a safety cone, a pillar of the parking place, and the like – See at least ¶ [0040]) 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sugano in view of Kuno, as applied to claim 1, and in further view of Tokuhiro (US 2023/0082770 A1, “Tokuhiro”) . Regarding claim 6 , the combination of Sugano and Kuno does not explicitly teach wherein the movement control unit sets the first section and the second section based on a travel history generated when a user drives the moving object. However, Tokuhiro discloses parking assist method and parking assist device and teaches: wherein the movement control unit sets the first section and the second section based on a travel history generated when a user drives the moving object. (FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of travel route recording processing executed by the parking assist device 100 according to the first embodiment. First, the reception unit 101 determines whether or not an operation by the user to start teacher driving has been received (S101). When the operation by the user to start teacher driving has not been received (S101 "No"), the reception unit 101 repeats the processing of S101 and stands by. In response to determining that the reception unit 101 receives the operation by the user to start teacher driving (S101 "Yes"), the processing to record the teacher driving starts. After the operation to start the teacher driving, the driver manually causes the vehicle 1 to travel so as to move to the parking space 910. Then, during teacher driving by the driver, the acquisition unit 102 acquires peripheral images from the imaging devices 16a to 16c. In addition, the acquisition unit 102 acquires the speed, the steering angle, and the braking operation of the vehicle 1 from various sensors or other ECUs of the vehicle 1. Moreover, the acquisition unit 102 acquires, from the transceivers 15, a measurement result as to the distance between the vehicle 1 and peripheral obstacles (S102). The extraction unit 103 extracts feature points from the acquired peripheral images (S103). The route recording unit 104 then estimates the position of the vehicle 1 during teacher driving on the basis of changes in feature points extracted from the peripheral images, and the speed, the steering angle, the braking operation, and the distance measurement result, and records, as the travel route 80, temporal changes in the position (S104) – See at least ¶ [0097]-[0102]) Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to have modified the automated valet parking system, control method of automated valet parking system, and autonomous driving vehicle of Sugano and Kuno to provide for the parking assist method and parking assist device, as taught in Tokuhiro, to provide a technology utilized for a case when a user repeatedly parks in a fixed parking position, such as a parking lot of his/her home or office. (At Tokuhiro ¶ [0003]) Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHASE L COOLEY whose telephone number is (303)297-4355. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7-5MT. 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, Aniss Chad can be reached at 571-270-3832. 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. /C.L.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3662 /ANISS CHAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 2 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 3 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 4 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 5 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 6 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 7 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 8 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 9 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 10 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 11 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 12 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 13 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 14 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 15 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 16 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 17 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 18 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 19 Art Unit: 3662 Application/Control Number: 19/064,713 Page 20 Art Unit: 3662
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Prosecution Timeline

Feb 27, 2025
Application Filed
Apr 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112
Jul 07, 2026
Response Filed
Sep 28, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
67%
Grant Probability
84%
With Interview (+16.9%)
3y 0m (~1y 5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 190 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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