Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 18, 2026
Application No. 18/703,403

HIGH-RESOLUTION 3D SCANNING METHOD USING REAL-TIME ACQUISITION OF SURFACE NORMALS AND THE SYSTEM THEREOF

Final Rejection §112
Filed
Apr 22, 2024
Priority
Feb 10, 2022 — RE 10-2022-0017271 +1 more
Examiner
BEE, ANDREW W.
Art Unit
2677
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
OA Round
2 (Final)
73%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
1m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 73% — above average
73%
Career Allowance Rate
507 granted / 693 resolved
+11.2% vs TC avg
Strong +32% interview lift
Without
With
+31.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
719
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.2%
-33.8% vs TC avg
§103
46.9%
+6.9% vs TC avg
§102
15.6%
-24.4% vs TC avg
§112
19.1%
-20.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 693 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Response to Amendment This Office Action is in response to reply filed 5/12/2026. Claims 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 14 have been amended. Claims 2, 3, 5, 12, and 16 have been canceled, and claims 1, 4, 6-11, 13-15, and 17-20 are currently pending in the application. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 5/12/2016, with respect to the rejection under 35 USC 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a): (a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112: The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Claims 1, 4, 6-11, 13-15, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claims 1 and 14 recite “wherein the third stage further comprises updating the photometric normal and the diffuse albedo in the texture space based on a previously stored normal texture in the texture space. the updating including rotation of the normal texture based on a directional property of the normal texture.” However, the original disclosure does not have written description support for these limitations. The original disclose has support for refining the photometric normal and the diffuse albedo through geometry-aware texture warping and original claim 12 uses a normal texture in performing real-time multiview SfS. However, the disclosure does not provide support for updating the photometric normal and the diffuse albedo based on a previously stored normal texture with the updating including rotation of the normal texture based on a directional property of the normal texture. Claims 4, 6-11, 13, 15, and 17-20 are rejected due to their dependency on claims 1 and 14. NOTE: An updated search did not yield prior art sufficient to teach the claimed invention as a whole. Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW W BEE whose telephone number is (571)270-5183. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 - 7:00 M-Th. 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. 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. /ANDREW W BEE/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2677
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 22, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
May 12, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 06, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
73%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+31.8%)
2y 5m (~1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 693 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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