Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/348,378

THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING DEVICE, LIGHT CONTROL MODULE AND OPERATION METHOD OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING DEVICE

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jul 07, 2023
Priority
Aug 12, 2022 — provisional 63/397,389 +1 more
Examiner
SMITH JR., JIMMY R
Art Unit
1745
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Innolux Corporation
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
65%
Grant Probability
Moderate
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 65% of resolved cases
65%
Career Allowance Rate
286 granted / 441 resolved
At TC average
Strong +43% interview lift
Without
With
+42.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
486
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
71.5%
+31.5% vs TC avg
§102
2.2%
-37.8% vs TC avg
§112
24.8%
-15.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 441 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
The arguments and amendments submitted 12/22/2025 have been considered. The merits of the claims are discussed below. Election/Restrictions Claim 10 is directed to an allowable product. Pursuant to the procedures set forth in MPEP § 821.04(B), claims 15-20, directed to the process of making or using an allowable product, previously withdrawn from consideration as a result of a restriction requirement, are hereby rejoined and fully examined for patentability under 37 CFR 1.104. In view of the withdrawal of the restriction requirement, applicant(s) are advised that if any claim presented in a continuation or divisional application is anticipated by, or includes all the limitations of, a claim that is allowable in the present application, such claim may be subject to provisional statutory and/or nonstatutory double patenting rejections over the claims of the instant application. Once the restriction requirement is withdrawn, the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 121 are no longer applicable. See In re Ziegler, 443 F.2d 1211, 1215, 170 USPQ 129, 131-32 (CCPA 1971). See also MPEP § 804.01. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Claims 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claims 21 and 22 each recite "an orthogonal projection of the side wall of the first substrate on the second substrate". It is unclear what the orientation of the recited orthogonal projection is on the second substrate and which surface on the second substrate has the orthogonal projection on it. For the purpose of examination, claims 21 and 22 each read on “an orthogonal projection of the side wall of the first substrate on an outer surface of the second substrate". Claims 21 and 22 each recite "an orthogonal projection of a side wall of the adhesive layer on the second substrate". It is unclear what the orientation of the recited orthogonal projection is on the second substrate and which surface on the second substrate has the orthogonal projection on it. For the purpose of examination, claims 21 and 22 each read on “an orthogonal projection of a side wall of the adhesive layer on the outer surface of the second substrate". Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-4 and 7-20 are allowed. Claims 21-22 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action. Claims 1, 10, and 15 are allowed in view of the present amendments, which distinguish over the prior art of record. Goldman (US PG Pub 2023/0150200), Yamada (US PG Pub 2019/0310507), and Park (US PG Pub 2023/0292563), each made of record previously, are the closest prior art of record for claims 1, 10 and 15. The teachings of these references which are relevant to claims 1, 10, and 15 are discussed in sections 6 and 17 of the previous office action. Response to Arguments The previous 103 rejections of the claims have been withdrawn in view of the present amendment of claims 1 and 10 for the reasons given above. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIM R SMITH whose telephone number is (303)297-4318. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 9-6 MST. 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, Phillip Tucker can be reached at 571-272-1095. 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. /JRS/ Examiner Art Unit 1745 /JIMMY R SMITH JR./Examiner, Art Unit 1745
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 1 earlier event
Mar 27, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Jun 18, 2025
Response Filed
Sep 25, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §112
Nov 14, 2025
Interview Requested
Dec 22, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Dec 28, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 14, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
Apr 14, 2026
Response Filed

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING AN OPTICALLY REACTIVE MATERIAL
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Patent 12617162
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3y 5m to grant Granted May 05, 2026
Patent 12611841
METHOD FOR PRODUCING REGENERATED CELLULOSE-BASED THREADS AND FELTED CLOTHS
3y 0m to grant Granted Apr 28, 2026
Patent 12600091
OPTICAL SHAPING DEVICE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD
2y 8m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12598895
DISPLAY APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME
2y 9m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
65%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+42.9%)
2y 10m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 441 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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