Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 15, 2026
Application No. 19/132,197

A METHOD OF WINDING A WEB

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
May 22, 2025
Priority
Dec 15, 2022 — SE 2230416-6 +1 more
Examiner
KIM, SANG K
Art Unit
3654
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Valmet Oyj
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 1m
Est. Remaining
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allowance Rate
1449 granted / 1780 resolved
+29.4% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
52 currently pending
Career history
1814
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
34.9%
-5.1% vs TC avg
§102
29.0%
-11.0% vs TC avg
§112
29.4%
-10.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1780 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 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. 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. Claims 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Malmqvist et al., US 2020/0148494 A1. Regarding claim 10, Malmqvist ‘494 shows a method of using the apparatus in figures 1-15. Malmqvist ‘494 discloses a flexible web W to form a parent roll 19, engaging a rotatable engagement member 6 against a first reel spool 3, rotating the first reel spool 3, rotating the engagement member 6 with the first reel spool 3 to create a nip (no reference number), advancing a first web W into the nip and directing the first web around the first reel spool to form a first parent roll 19 of increasing diameter, during said step of advancing the first web into the nip, determining one or more values of a caliper of the rolled-up web in the first parent roll (i.e., using 10, and see paragraph [0002], which controls the diameter by the sensor, claim 11); and a deflection D of or a load on the engagement member 6 (see figure 2, claims 12-13), see figures 1-15. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. 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. Claims 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Malmqvist et al., US 2020/0148494 A1, in view of Malmqvist et al., US 2019/0077624 A1. Regarding claims 14 and 17, Malmqvist ‘494 discloses a controller (i.e., using 32, a computer with software to control other units, measurement devices 10 sending signals, see paragraph [0028], claims 15-16) for an apparatus for winding a flexible web W into a parent roll 19, a first reel spool 3 (i.e., a drive motor, not shown), a rotatable engagement member 6 positioned adjacent to said first reel spool 3 to engage the first web W against said first reel spool 3 during said winding, an actuating arrangement 11 for positioning said first reel spool 3 and said engagement member 6 relative to each other, wherein the controller (i.e., using 32) is configured to determine, during said winding, one or more values of a caliper of the rolled-up in the first parent roll 19, wherein the controller (i.e., using 32) is configured to at least one of control, during the winding of the first web W, said actuating arrangement 11 independence of said determined values of the caliper of the roll-up web in the first parent roll 19 (i.e., using 10, and see paragraph [0002], which controls the diameter by the sensor, claim 18); and a deflection D of or a load on the engagement member 6 (see figure 2, claims 19-20), see figures 1-15. Malmqvist ‘624 shows a separate drive 4 for the reel spool 3, see figure 1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the apparatus of Malmqvist ‘494 to include a drive for the reel spool as suggested by Malmqvist ‘624, to show a separate drive for the reel spool to help wind the reel. Furthermore, since all of the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANG K KIM whose telephone number is 571-272-6947. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 9 P.M or Tuesday through Thursday from 10:30 A.M. to 7 P.M. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Robert Hodge, can be reached on (571) 272-2097. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). SK 7/17/26 /SANG K KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3654
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 22, 2025
Application Filed
Jul 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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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
81%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+10.3%)
2y 4m (~1y 1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1780 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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