Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/672,706

LIGHT BLOCKING MEMBER AND PROJECTION VIDEO DISPLAY DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
May 23, 2024
Examiner
LE, BAO-LUAN Q
Art Unit
2882
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
52%
Grant Probability
Moderate
3-4
OA Rounds
3y 0m
To Grant
70%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 52% of resolved cases
52%
Career Allow Rate
503 granted / 963 resolved
-15.8% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+17.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
62 currently pending
Career history
1025
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
52.1%
+12.1% vs TC avg
§102
30.4%
-9.6% vs TC avg
§112
13.0%
-27.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 963 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Status The filing on 12/12/2025 amended claim 1. Claims 1 and 3-7 are rejected on new grounds of rejections necessitated by the amendments of claim 1. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/12/2025 has been entered. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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. (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1 and 3-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ruan (US 20100053563 A1). Regarding claim 1, Ruan teaches projection video display device comprising: an optical system (150) that projects video light; a projection lens (180) on which the video light is incident; a light blocking member (160, 170) that absorbs and converts into heat a part of unnecessary light unnecessary for the projection lens (180) in the video light, the light blocking member (160, 170) including a reflector (162b/c); and a light absorber (174) which absorbs a light reflected by the light blocking member (160, 170), wherein the reflector (162b/c) is disposed on an external surface of the light blocking member (160, 170) to be inclined at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the external surface of the light blocking member (160, 170). Regarding claim 3, Ruan further teaches the light blocking member (160, 170) has a curved surface (162) having a predetermined curvature (Fig. 1). Regarding claim 5, Ruan further teaches the light blocking member (160, 170) is disposed at a position where a light from the optical system (150) enters (Fig. 1-5). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ruan in view of Kase (US 20180275497 A1). Regarding claim 4, Ruan does not teach a heat dissipator that dissipates heat of the light absorber to outside air. Kase teaches a heat dissipator (90a, 92, 92a, 921) that dissipates heat of the light absorber (94) to outside air ([0060], [0064]). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the invention to combine Ruan with Kase; because it prevents overheating that shorten the life of the projector. Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ruan in view of Kase and in further view of Kang (US 20070268593 A1). Regarding claims 6 and 7, Ruan does not explicitly teach the projection lens (180) and the light blocking member (160, 170) are made of a same material. Kase teaches the blocking member (90, 91, 92, 921, and/or 93) being made of aluminum ([0060]). Kang teaches the projection lens being made of aluminum ([0049], Abstract). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skills in the art at the time of the invention to having the projection lens and the blocking member being made of aluminum; because it allows efficient heat dissipation. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Conclusion The prior art references cited in PTO-892 are made of record and considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAO-LUAN Q LE whose telephone number is (571)270-5362. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday; 9:00AM-5:00PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Minh-Toan Ton can be reached on (571) 272 230303. 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 the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. Any response to this action should be mailed to: Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 Or faxed to: (571) 273-8300, (for formal communications intended for entry) Or: (571) 273-7490, (for informal or draft communications, please label “PROPOSED” or “DRAFT”) Hand-delivered responses should be brought to: Customer Service Window Randolph Building 401 Dulany Street Alexandria, VA 22314 /BAO-LUAN Q LE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 23, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 15, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103
Jul 17, 2025
Response Filed
Sep 09, 2025
Final Rejection — §102, §103
Dec 12, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Dec 31, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 26, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12603977
PROJECTION IMAGE CORRECTION METHOD AND PROJECTION SYSTEM
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12601963
EXTERNAL ELECTRIC ADJUSTING MODULE AND LENS DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12591146
PROJECTOR AND PROJECTION METHOD FOR FORMING IMAGES ON AERIAL PROJECTION REGION AND REAL PROJECTION SURFACE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12574482
MULTI-HALF-TONE IMAGING AND DUAL MODULATION PROJECTION/DUAL MODULATION LASER PROJECTION
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12560749
COMMUNAL OPTICAL FILTER AND OTHER OPTICAL FILTERS ON SUBSTRATE
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

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
52%
Grant Probability
70%
With Interview (+17.3%)
3y 0m
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 963 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