Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 18, 2026
Application No. 19/158,973

EXCITER AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Aug 22, 2025
Priority
Feb 24, 2023 — CN 202310182771.6 +1 more
Examiner
MACARTHUR, VICTOR L
Art Unit
3618
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Goertek Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
66%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 0m
Est. Remaining
79%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 66% — above average
66%
Career Allowance Rate
712 granted / 1076 resolved
+14.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+13.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
41 currently pending
Career history
1112
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
32.1%
-7.9% vs TC avg
§102
33.2%
-6.8% vs TC avg
§112
31.2%
-8.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1076 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . 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. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1 and 4-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and/or (a)(2) as being anticipated by Scott US2950088. Claim 1. An exciter, comprising: a housing (41) having an installation cavity (cavity in 41) [and] a first side wall (43) and a second side wall (44) arranged at an angle to each other; a driving member (54) disposed within the installation cavity; and a rotating part (57) connected to an output end (34) of the driving member and being arranged eccentrically; wherein the driving member is configured to drive the rotating part to rotate and strike the first side wall or the second side wall, thereby forming an impact point (points where surfaces of 47 impacts surfaces of 43/44) on the first side wall or the second side wall, the impact point being non-coincident with a center of mass of the exciter (center of mass of exciter comprised by parts bolded above). Claim 4. The exciter according to claim 3, wherein the driving member is disposed adjacent to a junction (junction receiving 34 therein) between the first side wall and the second side wall; and/or, a distance (radius from a first of the impact points to center of rotation) from the impact point on the first side wall to the junction between the first side wall and the second side wall is equal to a distance (radius from a second of the impact points to center of rotation) from the impact point on the second side wall to the junction between the first side wall and the second side wall. Claim 5. The exciter according to claim 1 further comprises a cushioning part (surface part of 43, 44 and/or 57); wherein, the cushioning part is disposed on the first side wall and/or the second side wall, and is located at the impact point; or, the cushioning part is disposed on the rotating part, and when the driving member drives the rotating part to rotate, the cushioning part abuts against the impact point. Claim 6. The exciter according to claim 1, wherein the driving member comprises a rotor motor (54), the rotor motor being provided with a rotation shaft (34), the rotating part being provided with a shaft hole, the shaft hole being eccentrically arranged on the rotating part, the rotation shaft being inserted into the shaft hole. Claim 7. The exciter according to claim 1, wherein the rotating part comprises at least one mass block; the mass block is made of metal or non-metal. Claim 8. The exciter according to claim 7, wherein the rotating part comprises a first mass block (56), a second mass block (54), and a third mass block (57), the first mass block being connected to the output end of the driving member and being arranged eccentrically; the second and third mass blocks are sequentially connected and arranged along a radial direction of the rotating part; or, the second and the third mass blocks are sequentially connected and arranged along a circumferential direction of the first mass block. Claim 9. An electronic device comprising: a device body (21) having an installation space (space within 21) therein; and the exciter according to claim 1, the exciter being disposed within the installation space and coupled to the device body. Claim 10. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the impact point of the exciter is non-coincident with the center of mass of the electronic device. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 of this title, 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 2 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Scott US2950088. Claims 2 and 3. The exciter according to claim 1, wherein a rotation angle (42) of the rotating part driven by the driving member appears to be nearly 90˚ and the walls are nearly perpendicular; and when the driving member drives the rotating part to rotate along a forward direction, the rotating part strikes the first side wall; and when the driving member drives the rotating part to rotate along a reverse direction, the rotating part strikes the second side wall. Scott does not expressly state what the exact rotation angle is although figure 3 appears to depict that the angle (42) is nearly/about 90˚ such that the walls are nearly/about perpendicular. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Scott rotation angle to be 90˚ such that the walls are perpendicular since there is no criticality or unexpected result from the claimed 90˚ perpendicular angle as opposed to the disclosed nearly/about 90˚ perpendicular angle. See MPEP 2144.04 IV regarding legal precedent support for the obviousness of changes in size/shape/proportion. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VICTOR L MACARTHUR whose telephone number is (571)272-7085. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /VICTOR L MACARTHUR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3618
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 22, 2025
Application Filed
Jun 26, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (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
66%
Grant Probability
79%
With Interview (+13.1%)
3y 0m (~2y 0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1076 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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