Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/241,808

LIDAR LIGHT SOURCE AND SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Sep 01, 2023
Examiner
BAGHDASARYAN, HOVHANNES
Art Unit
3645
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Shenzhen Guangjian Technology Co. Ltd.
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, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by D1 US 20180301874 A1 . Regarding claims 1 and 9 D1 teaches 9. A lidar light source, comprising an array of edge-emitting lasers (EELs) [0067] and a cylindrical lens [0141] , wherein each of the EELs includes an active region (implicit) ; light emitting ports of the active regions are disposed adjacent to each other (fig. 15f 910 with fig. 11 for array) ; the active regions share a cathode and include separate anodes, or share an anode and include separate cathodes; [0076] the cylindrical lens is configured to collimate light beams emitted from the array of EELs in a fast axis direction; and regions on the cylindrical lens projected by the light beams emitted from the array of EELs do not overlap. (fig. 11a) 2. The lidar light source according to claim 1, wherein a light-emitting surface of each of the EELs is located on a focal point of the cylindrical lens. (fig. 11a) [0123] 3. The lidar light source according to claim 1, further comprising a controller, wherein the controller is configured to control the active regions to be in an on or off state through an addressable drive mechanism. (claim 5 implicit) 6. The lidar light source according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the array of EELs and the cylindrical lens is in a range of 0.1 mm to 1 mm. [0076] 7. The lidar light source according to claim 1, wherein each of the light beams collimated by the cylindrical lens is rectangular. (fig. 11a) 8 , 12 The lidar light source according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical lens comprises a reflecting surface for changing a direction of the light beams. (fig. 11a) 10. The lidar light source according to claim 9, wherein a light-emitting surface of each of the EELs is located on a focal point of the cylindrical lens. (fig. 11a) 13. The lidar light source according to claim 9, wherein the array of EELs are arranged in at least two rows. (fig. 6D) 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. Claims 4, 5 , 11, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1. Although D1 does not explicitly teach 4. The lidar light source according to claim 3, wherein the active regions are turned on successively, and only one of the active regions is turned on at a time. 5. The lidar light source according to claim 3, wherein all of the active regions are turned on within an emission cycle. this is just matter of the design choice in order to activate the desired emitters in the desired pattern. If one wants to illuminate the FOV point by point they will only activate one at the time, and that will save equipment from overheating. Similarly by Activation all of the during the emission cycle one can achieve full coverage of FOV. Although D1 does not explicitly teach 11. The lidar light source according to claim 9, wherein an opaque pattern is arranged at each of the regions on the cylindrical lens, and the opaque patterns are different from each other. Making some regions of the lens opaque is just matter of design choice and can be doe in order to illuminate the FOV in dot manner, or for example some parts of the lens at the edges can be made opaque in order to control the shape of the FOV Although D1 does not explicitly teach 14. The lidar light source according to claim 9, wherein surfaces of the active regions are in an arc shape. This is just a matter of design choice in order to provide desired beam broadening/ spread. Claims 15 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 in view of D2 US 20120038903 A1 . Regarding claim 15 D1 teaches 15. A lidar light source, comprising an array of edge-emitting lasers (EELs), a cylindrical lens, and a display, wherein each of the EELs includes an active region; light emitting ports of the active regions are disposed adjacent to each other; the active regions share a cathode and include separate anodes, or share an anode and include separate cathodes; the cylindrical lens is configured to collimate light beams emitted from the array of EELs in a fast axis direction; and (see rejection for claim 1, 9 ) the light beams emitted from the array of EELs are modulated into specific shapes and emitted in a form of pulses; and [0107] but does not teach while D2 teaches the display is configured to display patterns to shape the light beams, wherein the patterns do not allow the light beams to pass through. [0051] It would be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art at the time of filing to modify teachings by D1 with teaching by D2 in order to provides desired beam pattern with controllable intensities in to FOV. 16. The lidar light source according to claim 15, wherein the display comprises a plurality of sub-screens, a number of the sub-screens is equal to a number of the active regions, and a light beam emitted from each of the active regions is emitted through a corresponding sub-screen. [0051] 17. The lidar light source according to claim 15, further comprising a controller, wherein the controller is configured to control the active regions to be in an on or off state through an addressable drive mechanism. (claim 5 implicit) 18. The lidar light source according to claim 15, wherein the display is configured to dynamically adjust the displayed patterns. [0051] 19. A lidar system, comprising the lidar light source according to claim 1 and a receiving sensor, wherein the receiving sensor is synchronized with the lidar light source to receive a reflected signal of a laser for three-dimensional reconstruction. (implicit LIDAR) Although D1 or D2 do not explicitly say 20. The lidar system according to claim 19, wherein the receiving sensor is divided into n sub-regions, and n equals to a number of the active regions; the sub-regions are in a one-to-one correspondence with the active regions; and a sub-region is controlled to operate when a corresponding active region operates. This is well known feature and can be considered as a desig n choice in order to decrease or illuminate interference. For example as evidence one can see reference by US 20180167602 A1 US 20180259645 A1 which clearly talk about one to one correspondence between sources and detectors. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-7845 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Yuqing Xiao can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT (571) 270-3603 . 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

Sep 01, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §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
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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