Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 15, 2026
Application No. 18/556,368

AMPLITUDE SHIFT KEYING LIDAR

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Oct 20, 2023
Priority
Apr 23, 2021 — DE 10 2021 110 495.5 +1 more
Examiner
BAGHDASARYAN, HOVHANNES
Art Unit
3645
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Osram GmbH
OA Round
2 (Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allowance Rate
772 granted / 995 resolved
+25.6% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+16.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
74 currently pending
Career history
1071
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.9%
-37.1% vs TC avg
§103
50.8%
+10.8% vs TC avg
§102
14.4%
-25.6% vs TC avg
§112
25.8%
-14.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 995 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 . Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed 07/16/2026 with respect to claim 15 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. See the mapping bellow. Official Notice Using “subtractive combination ” or “additive combination ” for signal modulation(according to interpretation above) is well known in the art as evidenced by You CN 107728156 A (for additive see fig. 2 and fig. 3a-d ) and Bai US 20200292663 A1 fig. 5, 6 where power splitting of signal at 541 occurs and final generated output code is based on split signals which share the power of initial signal. This is just different ways to obtain coded signal. Also using different sources to transmit different portions of the transmit signal is well known as evidenced by Bai US 20200292663 (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) 15 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 US 20090059201 A1 in view of Official Notice. 15 (Currently Amended) A LIDAR module comprising: a light emitting device (205) configured to emit a light signal (251) in accordance with a combination of a plurality of partial signals(261); and one or more processors (201+223)-configured to:encode a sequence of symbols(261), wherein each symbol of the sequence of symbols is associated with a respective combination of the plurality of partial signals, and(fig. 2) control the light emitting device to combine the plurality of partial signals as a function of the encoded sequence of symbols to emit the light signal(fig. 2) wherein the emitted light signal(fig. 7) comprises one or more light pulses(pulse 2-7, 8-10), wherein at least one light pulse(2-7) comprises a plurality of pulse portions(portion 2, 3, 4, 5,6 ,7), each pulse portion having a respective signal level(fig. 7)l, and wherein the signal levels of the plurality of pulse portions are defined by the one but does not teach 15 wherein the combination of the plurality of partial signals comprises one of an additive combination of the plurality of partial signals, or a subtractive combination of the plurality of partial signals. Official Notice teaches Different well known ways to provide encoded signal by using subtractive or additive methods. It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 with teachings by Official notice in order to generate required coded signal in different well known methods. (also Applicant provided with IDS prior art by Bondy which also teaches amended limitation in much narrower sense than Examiner BRI) Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-3, 5-8, 10-11, 13, 20-22, 16-17 are allowed. Conclusion THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. 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
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 20, 2023
Application Filed
Apr 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 16, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 03, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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Patent 12704713
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Patent 12693394
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2y 10m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12681151
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Patent 12681318
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3y 11m to grant Granted Jul 14, 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
78%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+16.7%)
3y 0m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 995 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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