Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/691,099

IMAGE GENERATION APPARATUS AND HEAD-UP DISPLAY

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 12, 2024
Priority
Sep 15, 2021 — JP 2021-150464 +1 more
Examiner
WASHINGTON, TAMARA Y
Art Unit
2872
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
5m
Est. Remaining
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allowance Rate
470 granted / 577 resolved
+13.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
625
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.6%
-39.4% vs TC avg
§103
65.6%
+25.6% vs TC avg
§102
17.4%
-22.6% vs TC avg
§112
7.7%
-32.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 577 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 . Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement Acknowledgement is made of receipt of Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO-1449) filed 03/12/2024. An initialed copy is attached to this Office Action. Response to Amendment The amendment to Claim(s) 3 and 5-7, filed 03/12/2024, is acknowledged and accepted. 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) 1-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhu (CN206773300U), of record. With respect to Claim 1, Zhu discloses an image generation apparatus (Figure 1) comprising: a light source unit (5, Figure 1); an optical member (6, Figure 1) configured to emit light emitted from the light source unit (5, Figure 1) in a predetermined direction (up and down through the light guide, ¶[0004]); a liquid crystal device (2, Figure 1) configured to generate an image (liquid crystal panel 2 is projected and further improve the display quality, ¶[0007]) by the light emitted (light guide plate 6 is provided with LED light bars 5, ¶[0005]) from the optical member (6, Figure 1); and a housing (1, Figure 1) having a heat dissipation function (1 improves heat dissipation, Figure 1; see also ¶[0005]), wherein the light source unit (5, Figure 1) and the liquid crystal device (2, Figure 1) are attached to the housing (1, Figure 1). With respect to Claim 2, Zhu further discloses wherein the light source unit (5, Figure 1) comprises a light source (5 is a LED light bar, Figure 1; see also ¶[0005]) and a substrate (5 includes a substrate, Figure 1; see also ¶[0005]) on which the light source is mounted (¶[0005]), and wherein the substrate (5 includes a substrate, Figure 1) is attached to the housing (1, Figure 1). With respect to Claim 3, Zhu further discloses wherein the optical member (6, Figure 1) is configured to emit the light (the light guide plate 6 are provided with LED light bars 5, ¶[0005]) emitted from the light source unit (5, Figure 1) in a direction intersecting (see Figure 1) with an optical axis of the light source unit (5, Figure 1). With respect to Claim 4, Zhu further discloses wherein the optical member (6, Figure 1) is a light guide plate (6 is a light guide plate, Figure 1; see also ¶[0005]), and wherein the light guide plate (6, Figure 1) has an incident surface (surface of 6 where light enters, Figure 1) on which the light emitted (light guide plate 6 is provided with LED light bars 5, ¶[0005]) from the light source unit (5, Figure 1) is incident (light enters and exits 6, Figure 1) and an emission surface (light enters and exits 6, Figure 1) intersecting with the incident surface (surface of 6 where light enters, Figure 1) and configured to emit light toward the liquid crystal device (2, Figure 1). With respect to Claim 5, Zhu further discloses wherein the liquid crystal device (2, Figure 1) has an incident surface (surface of 2 where light enters, Figure 1) on which the light emitted (light guide plate 6 is provided with LED light bars 5, ¶[0005]) from the optical member (6, Figure 1) is incident, and wherein the light source unit (5, Figure 1) is attached to the housing (1, Figure 1) so as not to face the incident surface (surface of 2 where light enters, Figure 1) of the liquid crystal device (2, Figure 1). With respect to Claim 6, Zhu further discloses wherein the light source unit (5, Figure 1) is attached (see where 5 is attached on the sides of 1 in Figure 1) to the housing (1, Figure 1) so as not to overlap (5 does not overlap 2, Figure 1) the liquid crystal device (2, Figure 1) in a plan view (see Figure 1) of the liquid crystal device (2, Figure 1). With respect to Claim 7, Zhu discloses a head-up display comprising: an image generation apparatus comprising: a light source unit (5, Figure 1); an optical member (6, Figure 1) configured to emit light emitted (light guide plate 6 is provided with LED light bars 5, ¶[0005]) from the light source unit (5, Figure 1) in a predetermined direction: a liquid crystal device (2, Figure 1) configured to generate an image (liquid crystal panel 2 is projected and further improve the display quality, ¶[0007]) by the light emitted (light guide plate 6 is provided with LED light bars 5, ¶[0005]) from the optical member (6, Figure 1); and a housing (1, Figure 1) having a heat dissipation function (1 improves heat dissipation, Figure 1; see also ¶[0005]), wherein the light source unit (5, Figure 1) and the liquid crystal device (2, Figure 1) are attached to the housing (1, Figure 1); and at least one reflector (7, Figure 1) configured to reflect light (7 is reflecting film, Figure 1) emitted by the image generation apparatus (Figure 1). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAMARA Y WASHINGTON whose telephone number is (571)270-3887. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thur 730-530 EST. 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, Stephone Allen can be reached at 571-272-2434. 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. /TYW/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872 /STEPHONE B ALLEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 12, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 15, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (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
82%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (+7.9%)
2y 8m (~5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 577 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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