Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/661,818

OPTICAL IMAGING SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
May 13, 2024
Examiner
VU, PHU
Art Unit
2871
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 3m
To Grant
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allow Rate
848 granted / 994 resolved
+17.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+9.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
30 currently pending
Career history
1024
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
57.3%
+17.3% vs TC avg
§102
34.5%
-5.5% vs TC avg
§112
4.2%
-35.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 994 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 . 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. Claim(s) 1, 3, 6-13 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim US 2022/0326480. Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches an optical imaging system, comprising: a first lens (fig. 5 first lens 310), a second lens (second lens 320), a third lens (third lens 330), and a fourth lens (fourth lens 340)arranged in order from an object side toward an image plane, wherein the first lens is formed of glass, and wherein a conditional expression 70<v1 (Table 20 3rd embodiment V1 = 81.6) and 0.8≤OAL/f≤0.9 (Table 20 3rd embodiment TTL/f = .8802) is satisfied, where v1 is an Abbe number of the first lens, OAL is a distance from an object-side surface of the first lens to the image plane, and f is a total focal length of the optical imaging system. Regarding claim 3, Kim teaches the optical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the fourth lens (fig. 5 340)has a convex image-side surface in a paraxial region) Regarding claim 6, Kim teaches the optical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the first lens is a D-cut lens [0071], and a conditional expression 0.5<AR1<1.0 is satisfied, where AR1 is an aspect ratio of an effective diameter of the first lens (see table 20 3rd embodiment). Regarding claim 7, Kim teaches the optical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein a conditional expression 0.4≤d2/d1≤1.0 is satisfied, where d1 is a distance between the first lens and the second lens, and d2 is a distance between the second lens and the third lens (see table 5 1.573/3.210 = .49). Regarding claim 8, Kim teaches the optical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the second lens has negative refractive power (see fig. 5 second lens 320), and the second lens has a concave object-side surface in a paraxial region (see fig. 5). Regarding claim 9, Kim teaches the optical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the third lens has positive refractive power, and a conditional expression 1.3<|f/f2+f/f3|≤2.3 is satisfied, where f2 is a focal length of the second lens, and f3 is a focal length of the third lens (see table 19 1st embodiment – 1st embodiment also meets the limitations of claim 1 see table 20). Regarding claim 10 Kim teaches the optical imaging system according to claim 1, wherein a conditional expression 0.15<R1/f≤0.25 is satisfied, where R1 is a radius of curvature of the object-side surface of the first lens (see table 5 and Table 19 3rd embodiment for F). Regarding claim 11, Kim teaches an optical imaging system, comprising: a first lens (fig. 1 first lens 110), a second lens (second lens 120), a third lens (third lens 130), and a fourth lens (fourth lens 140) arranged in order from an object side toward an image plane, wherein conditional expressions 70<v1 and 0<v2−v3<15 are satisfied, where v1 (table 1 81.6) is an Abbe number of the first lens, v2 is an Abbe number of the second lens (table 1 v2 = 23.5), and v3 is an Abbe number of the third lens (see table 1 v3 = 20.4). Regarding claim 12, Kim teaches the optical imaging system according to claim 11, wherein a conditional expression 0.5≤D4/D1≤0.8 is satisfied, where D1 is a maximum effective diameter of the first lens, and D4 is a maximum effective diameter of the fourth lens (See table 1 D1 = 3.0*2, D4= 1.8*2 D1/D4 = .529). Regarding claim 13, Kim teaches the optical imaging system according to claim 11, wherein in at least one of the second lens and the fourth lens, an object-side surface and an image-side surface thereof have a concave shape (see fig. 1). Regarding claim 15, Kim teaches the optical imaging system according to claim 11, wherein a conditional expression 0.8≤OAL/f≤0.9 is satisfied, where OAL is a distance from an object-side surface of the first lens to the image plane, and f is a total focal length of the optical imaging system (see table 20 1st embodiment). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2, 4-5, 14 and 16 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 PHU VU whose telephone number is (571)272-1562. The examiner can normally be reached 11:00 - 7:00 M-F. 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, Jennifer Carruth can be reached at 571-272-9791. 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. /PHU VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2871
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 13, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12601960
CONTROL APPARATUS, INTERCHANGEABLE LENS, CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12596217
OPTICAL ELEMENT AND DISPLAY DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12585152
DISPLAY DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12585081
OPTICAL MODULE AND VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12560841
LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREFOR
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 24, 2026
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
85%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+9.2%)
2y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 994 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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