Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/472,597

LASER DEVICE AND PROCESSING DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Sep 22, 2023
Examiner
MIKELS, MATTHEW
Art Unit
2876
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 3m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allow Rate
1044 granted / 1292 resolved
+12.8% vs TC avg
Strong +20% interview lift
Without
With
+20.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
1324
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.6%
-38.4% vs TC avg
§103
43.0%
+3.0% vs TC avg
§102
38.4%
-1.6% vs TC avg
§112
4.4%
-35.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1292 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. Claims 1-13 are pending. 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. Claims 1- 4, 8, and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Imamura (US 2013/0302002) . Regarding claim s 1 and 13 , Imamura teaches a laser device and a processing device comprising: a seed light source configured to output a laser light having a single mode (paragraph 0032: light sources) ; a multicore fiber including at least one core group having at least one core, each of the core in the core group being optically coupled to neighboring cores (paragraph 0032: multicore fiber) ; and an optical coupler configured to input the laser light to the core group (paragraph 0032: optical connector serves as a coupler) , wherein in the multicore fiber, the laser light propagates through the core group in a super mode representing propagation mode of the core group (paragraph 0039) . Regarding claim 2, Imamura teaches the laser light propagates through the core group in a fundamental mode of the super mode (paragraph 0040) . Regarding claim 3, Imamura teaches along a cross-sectional surface orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the multicore fiber, a plurality of the core included in the core group is arranged in a hexagonal close-packed state or in a circular pattern (paragraph 0034) . Regarding claim 4, Imamura teaches the multicore fiber includes a plurality of the core group (paragraph 0040) , and the cores included in mutually different of the core groups are not optically coupled to each other (paragraph 0040). Regarding claim 8, Imamura teaches the multicore fiber is a gain fiber in which the core is doped with an optical amplification medium (paragraph 0039) . Regarding claim 12, Imamura teaches the optical coupler is one of: an optical system including a single-mode optical fiber (paragraph 0033) and a spatial optical system; a tapering multicore fiber; an optical fiber bundle (paragraph 0033) ; a photonic lantern; and a deformable mirror. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-7 and 9-11 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 . Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT MATTHEW MIKELS whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-5470 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday to Thursday 7:00 AM ET - 4:30 PM ET, Friday 7:00 AM ET - 11:00 AM ET, the Examiner is on central time . 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 Michael G Lee can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-2398 . 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. /MATTHEW MIKELS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 22, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 26, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

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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
81%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+20.4%)
2y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1292 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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