Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/550,069

SENSING SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102§103§112
Filed
Sep 11, 2023
Priority
Mar 17, 2021 — provisional 63/162,210 +1 more
Examiner
BAGHDASARYAN, HOVHANNES
Art Unit
3645
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Sony Group Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allowance Rate
769 granted / 990 resolved
+25.7% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+16.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
64 currently pending
Career history
1067
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.0%
-39.0% vs TC avg
§103
81.0%
+41.0% vs TC avg
§102
6.5%
-33.5% vs TC avg
§112
8.8%
-31.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 990 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103 §112
CTNF 18/550,069 CTNF 90261 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 112 07-30-02 AIA 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. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-01 Claim 1 and dependents 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Limitation “a speed image based on speed point cloud information” is unclear. Examiner interpreting it as identifying the speed and position measurements for each individual scan point . Limitation “wherein the light detection and ranging device and the solid-state imaging device are arranged to acquire information from an identical side of the subject” is unclear. What does it mean identical in this scenario. Does it mean that the lidar sensor AND solid state device are the same , only in this case one can say that the images are identical. Or identical side means that lidar sensor FOV is overlapping with solid state imaging device FOV. Examiner interpretation is that lidar and solid state imaging device have overlapping FOV. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim (s) 1 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by D1 US 10627512 B1 . Regarding claim 1 D1 teaches A sensing system comprising: a light detection(104) and ranging device that outputs a speed image based on speed point cloud information based(implicit col 16 lines 22-26 velocity is obtained for different points to identify clusters ) on a reception signal reflected and received by a subject as information of the subject, the light detection and ranging device using a frequency modulated continuous wave; and(col 19 line 60-col 20 line 5) a solid-state imaging device(110 col 3 line 57-col 4 line 4 CCD) that outputs a captured image obtained by capturing an image of the subject as information of the subject,(abstract) wherein the light detection and ranging device and the device are arranged to acquire information from an identical side of the subject.(col 2 lines 8-21 ) 2. The sensing system according to claim 1, wherein a resolution of the solid-state imaging device is higher than a resolution of the light detection and ranging device.(col 2 line 22-38) Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 . Although D1 does not explicitly teach The sensing system according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of units each including the light detection and ranging device and the solid-state imaging device, each of the plurality of units is arranged to acquire information from mutually different sides of the subject. The limitation above is just simple multiplication of parts and It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 By placing multiple units like in claim 1 around the vehicle in order to cover full FOV around the vehicle . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 4 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 in view of D2 US 20170003392 A1 . Regarding claims bellow D1 does not teach but D2 teaches 4. The sensing system according to claim 1, wherein the light detection and ranging device includes a scanning control unit that controls a scan range in which the reception signal is scanned,the scanning control unit has a first scan mode in which control is performed to scan a first scan range and a second scan mode in which control is performed to scan a second scan range narrower than the first scan range as a scan mode for scanning the scan range.[0069-71](fig. 15, 16) 5. The sensing system according to claim 4, wherein the second scan range is included in the first scan range.(fig. 16 1604 scan included in 1502 scan on fig. 16 [0069-0071]) 6. The sensing system according to claim 4, wherein the light detection and ranging device acquires the speed point cloud information at a first density using the first scan mode, and acquires the speed point cloud information at a second density higher than the first density using the second scan mode.[0071] 7. The sensing system according to claim 4, wherein the second scan range includes the subject that is moving.(1609 fig. 16)[0069-0071] 8. The sensing system according to claim 4, wherein the second scan range includes the subject that is a person moving at a predetermined speed or more. (1609 fig. 16) [0069-0071] 11. The sensing system according to claim 4, wherein the scanning control unit scans the first scan range with a first scan pattern using the first scan mode, and scans the second scan range with a second scan pattern using the second scan mode. ( fig. 15+16) [0069-0071] 12. The sensing system according to claim 11, wherein the second scan pattern has a larger number of scan lines per unit area than the first scan pattern.(fig. 16 [0069-0071]) 13. The sensing system according to claim 1, further comprising:a recognition unit that recognizes a moving person based on an output of the light detection and ranging device and an output of the solid-state imaging device; and a people flow analysis unit that acquires the moving person recognized by the recognition unit in time series and analyzes people flow. ( fig. 15+16) [0069-0071] 14. The sensing system according to claim 1, further comprising: a signal processing unit that extracts a partial image including the subject from the captured image based[0069](identifying the person approaching) on the speed point cloud information;(although does not explicitly say based on speed the fact that D1 teaches obtaining the speed and position makes obvious to make the decision that human is approaching based on position and speed ) a recognition unit that recognizes an abnormal event included in the partial image; and[0069-0071](person in approaching to robot which can be dangerous) a scanning control unit that controls a scan range in which the reception signal by the light detection and ranging device is scanned,[0069-0071] wherein the scanning control unit has a first scan mode in which control is performed to scan a first scan range and a second scan mode in which control is performed to scan a second scan range narrower than the first scan range as a scan mode for scanning the scan range, and switches the scan mode for scanning the reception signal from the first scan mode to the second scan mode for scanning the second scan range corresponding to a region of the partial image in a case where the partial image does not have a sufficient amount of information for the recognition unit to recognize the abnormal event.(switch from fig. 15 scan to fig. 16 scan where partial image is scanned in more details ) It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 with teachings by D2 in order to scan in more detail the FOV associated with potential hazard . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 9 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 in view of D2 US 20170003392 A1 in view of D3 US 20190086514 A1 . Although D1 and D2 do not teach D2 teaches 9. The sensing system according to claim 4, wherein the scanning control unit switches from the first scan mode to the second scan mode based on the captured image captured by the solid- state imaging device.[0071] 10. The sensing system according to claim 9, wherein the scanning control unit switches from the first scan mode to the second scan mode based on a partial image corresponding to a region where a movement is detected based on the speed point cloud information in the captured image.[0071](as speed is detected in D1 motion detection using the speed is obvious and common sense) It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 with teachings by D3 in order to detect threats with different ways and provide alternative in case lidar for example did not identify the threat due to low resolution. 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, Yuqing Xiao can be reached at (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 Application/Control Number: 18/550,069 Page 2 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/550,069 Page 3 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/550,069 Page 4 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/550,069 Page 5 Art Unit: 3645 Application/Control Number: 18/550,069 Page 6 Art Unit: 3645
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 11, 2023
Application Filed
Jun 03, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12681151
LIDAR SENSOR SYSTEM
3y 11m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12681318
Optical Component and Laser Radar System
3y 11m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12674872
LIDAR SENSOR THAT MINIMIZES NOISE LIGHT WHEN TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING LIGHT
3y 9m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12669586
TWO-CHANNEL LIDAR SYSTEM
3y 7m to grant Granted Jun 30, 2026
Patent 12669590
PHOTODETECTION DEVICE AND PHOTODETECTION SYSTEM
3y 2m to grant Granted Jun 30, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+16.9%)
3y 0m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 990 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month