Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/619,812

DISPLAY METHOD, DISPLAY DEVICE, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM STORING PROGRAM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 28, 2024
Examiner
DEBROW, JAMES J
Art Unit
2174
Tech Center
2100 — Computer Architecture & Software
Assignee
Seiko Epson Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
70%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 3m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 70% — above average
70%
Career Allow Rate
351 granted / 504 resolved
+14.6% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+25.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
529
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
11.1%
-28.9% vs TC avg
§103
52.5%
+12.5% vs TC avg
§102
23.9%
-16.1% vs TC avg
§112
6.4%
-33.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 504 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 . This Office Action is responsive to: Application filed 28 Mar. 2024 Claims 1-10 are pending in this case. Claims 1, 9 and 10 are independent claims 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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JEONG et al. (Pub. No.: US 2016/0035074 A1; Filed: Jul. 31, 2015) (hereinafter “JEONG”). Regarding independent claims 1, 9 and 10, JEONG disclose a display method comprising: receiving, via a first user interface image, an operation of determining a first combination of partial images including one of a plurality of first candidate images that are candidates for a first partial image and one of a plurality of second candidate images that are candidates for a second partial image (0022; 0023; 0026; 0027; 0185; 0203-0205; 0241-0243); and displaying a second image including the first partial image and the second partial image corresponding to the first combination and disposed along an outline of a first image (0016; 0023; 0226; 0234; 0241-0243; 0250). Regarding dependent claims 2, JEONG disclose the display method according to claim 1, wherein the first user interface image includes an image indicating the first combination including the one of the plurality of first candidate images and the one of the plurality of second candidate images (0016; 0023; 0226; 0234; 0241-0243; 0250-0252), and an image indicating a second combination including one of the plurality of first candidate images and one of the plurality of second candidate images, the second combination being different from the image indicating the first combination (0016; 0023; 0226; 0234; 0241-0243; 0250-0252), and the operation is an operation of selecting the image indicating the first combination (0022; 0023; 0026; 0027; 0185; 0203-0205; 0241-0243). Regarding dependent claims 3, JEONG disclose the display method according to claim 1, wherein the first user interface image includes an image for receiving an operation of selecting one of the plurality of first candidate images as a candidate for the first partial image and an operation of selecting one of the plurality of second candidate images as a candidate for the second partial image (0022; 0023; 0026; 0027; 0185; 0203-0205; 0241-0243). Regarding dependent claims 4, JEONG disclose the display method according to claim 2, wherein the one of the plurality of first candidate images in the image indicating the first combination and the one of the plurality of first candidate images in the image indicating the second combination have different appearances (0016; 0023; 0226; 0234; 0243). Regarding dependent claims 5, JEONG disclose the display method according to claim 2, wherein the one of the plurality of first candidate images in the image indicating the first combination and the one of the plurality of first candidate images in the image indicating the second combination have a same color and a same pattern (0108; 0165; 0336), the one of the plurality of second candidate images in the image indicating the first combination and the one of the plurality of second candidate images in the image indicating the second combination have a same color and a same pattern (0016; 0023; 0108; 0165; 0226; 0234; 0243), and a disposition of the one of the plurality of first candidate images in the image indicating the first combination is different from a disposition of the one of the plurality of first candidate images in the image indicating the second combination (0016; 0023; 0108; 0165; 0226; 0234; 0243). Regarding dependent claims 6, JEONG disclose the display method according to claim 1, further comprising: displaying a second user interface image for selecting any one of a first method and a second method (0016; 0023; 0226; 0234; 0241-0243; 0250), wherein when the first method is selected, the first user interface image includes an image indicating the first combination including the one of the plurality of first candidate images and the one of the plurality of second candidate images (0016; 0023; 0226; 0234; 0241-0243; 0250), and an image indicating a second combination including one of the plurality of first candidate images and one of the plurality of second candidate images, the second combination being different from the image indicating the first combination (0016; 0023; 0108; 0165; 0226; 0234; 0241-0243; 0250), and when the second method is selected, the first user interface image includes an image for receiving an operation of selecting one of the plurality of first candidate images as a candidate for the first partial image and an operation of selecting one of the plurality of second candidate images as a candidate for the second partial image (0016; 0023; 0226; 0234; 0241-0243; 0250). Regarding dependent claims 7, JEONG disclose the display method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, via a third user interface image, an operation of determining a third combination of partial images including one of a plurality of third candidate images that are candidates for a third partial image and one of a plurality of fourth candidate images that are candidates for a fourth partial image, wherein (0251-0252) displaying the second image includes displaying the second image and a third image that includes the third partial image and the fourth partial image corresponding to the third combination and that is disposed along the outline of the first image (0251-0252). Regarding dependent claims 8, JEONG disclose the display method according to claim 1, wherein the first partial image is disposed in a first region of the second image (0016; 0023; 0226; 0234; 0241-0243; 0250), and the second partial image is disposed in a second region of the second image that does not overlap the first region (0241-0243). NOTE It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES J DEBROW whose telephone number is (571)272-5768. The examiner can normally be reached on 09:00 - 06:00. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Bashore can be reached on 571-272-4088. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center and the Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center or Private PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center or Private PAIR to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center or the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). 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) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form. /James J Debrow/ Primary Patent Examiner Art Unit 2174 571-272-5768
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 28, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12602148
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIAGNOSIS AND ANALYSIS OF MEDICAL IMAGES
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12591734
BULK ENVELOPE MANAGEMENT IN DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12572731
INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, TERMINAL, AND STORAGE MEDIUM
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12566917
SERVER APPARATUS AND CLIENT APPARATUS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 03, 2026
Patent 12561357
DOCUMENT PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE, AND MEDIUM
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 24, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
70%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+25.7%)
3y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 504 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow 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