Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 19/145,782

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING CONTINUOUS CARDBOARD WEB

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jul 03, 2025
Priority
Jan 05, 2023 — DE 10 2023 100 223.6 +1 more
Examiner
NICHOLSON III, LESLIE AUGUST
Art Unit
3653
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Homag Automation GmbH
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
1192 granted / 1349 resolved
+36.4% vs TC avg
Moderate +5% lift
Without
With
+5.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
1360
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.7%
-38.3% vs TC avg
§103
36.7%
-3.3% vs TC avg
§102
34.4%
-5.6% vs TC avg
§112
27.0%
-13.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1349 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 . Priority 1. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. Claims 1,2,5,11,13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dahl et al. USP 8,334,979. Dahl discloses, regarding claim 1, A device for processing continuous cardboard web and for detecting creases therein, including Leporello creases, said device comprising: a conveying device configured to convey continuous cardboard web in a conveying direction (implicit from at least C3/L59-63); at least one sensor (5,6) configured to at least partially detect a surface of the continuous cardboard web during conveying; and a controller configured to detect creases (2), including Leporello creases, present in the continuous cardboard web by means way of data relating to the surface that is collected by the sensor (see at least C4/L44-61), wherein the sensor is furthermore configured to at least partially detect the surface of the continuous cardboard web in a linear manner (by way of movable bracket 9 in rail 10 as shown in at least fig.4), or the controller is furthermore configured to at least partially approximate the surface of the continuous cardboard web in a linear manner by way of data collected by the sensor. Regarding claim 2, wherein the sensor is further configured to carry out linear detection of the surface (by way of movable bracket 9 in rail 10 as shown in at least fig.4) or wherein linear approximation of the surface by the controller at least not perpendicular to the conveying direction. Regarding claims 5,13, wherein the sensor is a laser sensor (5) and is configured to project a laser line onto a section of the surface of the continuous cardboard web in order to detect the surface (see at least C4/L14-19). Regarding claim 11, wherein the sensor is further configured to carry out linear detection of the surface (by way of movable bracket 9 in rail 10 as shown in at least fig.4) or wherein linear approximation of the surface by the controller that is substantially parallel to the conveying direction. Allowable Subject Matter 5. Claims 8-10 are allowed. Claims 3,4,6,7,12,14-19 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record does not fairly disclose or suggest detecting a Leporello crease (as defined by Applicant in at least fig.3C,4C and Page 13 of the Specification), or distinguishing between Leporello creases and creases that are not Leporello creases. Conclusion 6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Ahlen (USP 5,767,975) discloses a laser (3) and photodetectors (5) to detect the position of a crease line (2) in a web (1). 7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESLIE A. NICHOLSON III whose telephone number is (571)272-5487. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4. 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, Michael C McCullough can be reached at 571-272-7805. 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. /LESLIE A NICHOLSON III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3653 8/17/2026
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Prosecution Timeline

Jul 03, 2025
Application Filed
Aug 19, 2026
Non-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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+5.1%)
2y 1m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1349 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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