Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/565,866

POSITION ESTIMATION METHOD, POSITION ESTIMATION DEVICE, AND PROGRAM

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Nov 30, 2023
Examiner
LU, TOM Y
Art Unit
2667
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
826 granted / 941 resolved
+25.8% vs TC avg
Minimal +3% lift
Without
With
+3.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
964
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
12.6%
-27.4% vs TC avg
§103
28.7%
-11.3% vs TC avg
§102
37.2%
-2.8% vs TC avg
§112
11.6%
-28.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 941 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/30/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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. 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. Claims 1-20 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. As per claim 1, the claim calls for “estimating a direction of the moving object by match a plurality of images …” and “the estimated change in the direction of the moving object”. However, it is not clear what direction is to be estimated since the claim calls for different types of direction, ie. first direction, second direction and third direction, or the claimed “direction” is a trajectory. Additionally, there is no computation related to “the estimated change in the direction of the moving object”. Therefore, it is difficult to understand how to estimate “the first position of moving object in the first direction based on … the estimated change in the direction of the moving object”. As per claim 2, there seems be some typographical error that the denominator portion of the third equation should be x’(t)+x’(t-1) not y’(t)+y’(t-1). Please review math equation 1 in specification, paragraph [0029]. claims 3 and 6-10 are rejected as being dependent upon claim 1. As per claim 4, see explanation in claim 1 above. As per claim 5, see explanation in claim 1 above. As per claim 11, see explanation in claim 2 above. Claims 12-15 are rejected as being dependent upon claim 4. As per claim 16, see explanation in claim 2 above. Claims 17-20 are rejected as being dependent upon claim 5. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOM Y LU whose telephone number is (571)272-7393. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM. 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, Matthew Bella can be reached at (571) 272 - 7778. 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. /TOM Y LU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2667
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 30, 2023
Application Filed
Oct 30, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
88%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+3.0%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 941 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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