Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/734,526

MOUNT BOARD AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jun 05, 2024
Priority
Jun 07, 2023 — JP 2023-094122
Examiner
TRAN, BINH BACH THANH
Art Unit
2847
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
DENSO CORPORATION
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
5m
Est. Remaining
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allowance Rate
559 granted / 694 resolved
+12.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
714
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
85.9%
+45.9% vs TC avg
§102
12.3%
-27.7% vs TC avg
§112
1.2%
-38.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 694 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 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. Claim(s) 1, 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Iwatake (US 20190360879). Regarding claim 1, Iwatake discloses a mount board (substrate 12, Fig. 10) to be attached to a housing (housing 58) as an attachment target, the mount board comprising: a component (detection element 40, 42, 44, 46; Fig. 1); a mount portion (the portion of substrate 12 for mounting the detection elements) on which the component is mounted while deviating from a designed mount location of the mount portion (the rotation of the substrate 12; paragraph 56); and at least one attachment member (the connection parts 24, 26, 28) joined to the mount portion, the at least one attachment member being configured to be attached to the housing (58), the at least one attachment member comprising a configuration defined to be in conformity with information about the deviation of the component from the designed mount location of the mount portion (the connection parts 24 conform with the moving and rotating of the substrate 12). Regarding claim 4, Iwatake discloses the claimed invention as set forth in claim 1. Iwatake further suggests the component is an image sensor (the detection is related to image information; paragraph 80). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5, 6 are allowed. Claims 2, 3 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. Reasons for Allowance The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: Regarding claim 2, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to teach or fairly suggest, in combining with other limitations recited in claim 1, a combination of limitations that the housing has at least an inner peripheral face to which the mount board is attached; the at least one attachment member of the mount board has an attachment face to be attached to the inner peripheral face of the housing; the component is mounted to be inclined with respect to the designed mount location of the mount portion or linearly deviate from the designed mount location; and the attachment face of the at least one attachment member is formed to have an inclination that is in conformity with an inclination of the component with respect to the designed mount location of the mount portion or the at least one attachment member is formed to have a specific configuration that is in conformity with a linear deviation of the component with respect to the designed mount location of the mount portion. None of the reference art of record discloses or renders obvious such a combination. Regarding claim 3, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to teach or fairly suggest, in combining with other limitations recited in claim 1, a combination of limitations that a plurality of mount boards, each of the mount boards being the mount board according to claim 1; and a frame arranged to surround the mount boards and combine the mount boards with each other as an assembly, each of the mount boards including at least one joint joined to the mount portion, the at least one joint of each of the mount boards being configured to be cuttable for separation of the corresponding one of the mount boards from the assembly board, the at least one joint serving as the at least one attachment member. None of the reference art of record discloses or renders obvious such a combination. Regarding claim 5, the prior art of record, taken alone or in combination, fails to teach or fairly suggest, in combining with other limitations recited in claim 5, a combination of limitations that the cutting step comprising: cutting, in response to determination that the detected actual mount location of the component on the mount portion of the at least one mount board deviates from the designed mount location of the mount portion of the corresponding at least one mount board, the at least one joint of the at least one mount board in accordance with the calculated information about the deviation of the component of the mount portion of the at least one mount board from the designed mount location of the mount portion thereof, the at least one joint of each of the mount boards after the cutting step serving as at least one attachment member to be attached to the housing, the at least one attachment member of the at least one mount board comprising a configuration defined to be in conformity with the calculated information about the deviation of the component from the designed mount location of the mount portion of the at least one mount board. None of the reference art of record discloses or renders obvious such a combination. Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.” Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Barqueros (US 20180242461) discloses a board 12 a deviated substrate 14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BINH B TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-9289. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM. 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, Timothy J Dole can be reached at 571-272-2229. 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. /BINH B TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2848
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 05, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 09, 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
80%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+12.2%)
2y 5m (~5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 694 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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