Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 17/802,007

SMOKESTACK INCLINATION DETECTION DEVICE, SMOKESTACK INCLINATION DETECTION METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Aug 24, 2022
Examiner
BAGHDASARYAN, HOVHANNES
Art Unit
3645
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
NEC Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 1m
To Grant
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allow Rate
759 granted / 971 resolved
+26.2% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
85 currently pending
Career history
1056
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.6%
-37.4% vs TC avg
§103
45.7%
+5.7% vs TC avg
§102
21.5%
-18.5% vs TC avg
§112
23.9%
-16.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 971 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. Claim(s) 1,6, 10, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by D1 JP-2013217807-A. Regarding claims 1, 6, 10, 12 D1 teaches A smokestack inclination detection system comprising a light source(1 fig. 8) and a smokestack(smokestack interpreted as any tubular shape structure as identification of the smokestack is not present and device itsel does not know what is it maybe other than the shape) inclination detection device(30 fig. 10), wherein the light source includes an light illuminator configures to illuminate laser light on a smokestack, (fig. 8) an light receiver(1) configured to receive reflected laser light being light resulting from the laser light reflected by the smokestack(fig. 8), and an information generator configured to generate smokestack shape (trapezoidal shape measurement)information being information relating to a shape of the smokestack, based on reflected light of the laser light being received by the light receiver,(page 7) and the smokestack inclination detection device includes an inclination detector configured to detect inclination of the smokestack, based on the smokestack shape information generated by the information generator.(page 7) Claim 2 (page 7) Claim 3, 7 (page 7) (trapezoidal shape measurement) Claim 4, 5, 6, 9 (fig. 8) 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, 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. Claim(s) 7, 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1. Although D1 does not explicitly teach subject matter of claims 7 and 8 using display to indicate the inclination is obvious modification in order to notify the user regarding the degree of the inclination. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7845. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7am - 5 pm. 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, Isam Alsomiri can be reached at 5712726970. 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. /HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3645
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Aug 24, 2022
Application Filed
Sep 02, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
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2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12585000
RECEIVING DEVICE FOR AN OPTICAL MEASUREMENT APPARATUS FOR CAPTURING OBJECTS, LIGHT SIGNAL REDIRECTION DEVICE, MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A RECEIVING DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12569880
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Patent 12560721
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2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 24, 2026
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
78%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+16.1%)
3y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 971 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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