Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/834,763

CAMERA SWITCHING METHOD AND RELATED ELECTRONIC DEVICE

Final Rejection §102
Filed
Jul 31, 2024
Examiner
SPINKS, ANTOINETTE T
Art Unit
2639
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Honor Device Co., Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allow Rate
654 granted / 913 resolved
+9.6% vs TC avg
Strong +20% interview lift
Without
With
+20.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
39 currently pending
Career history
952
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.8%
-37.2% vs TC avg
§103
49.0%
+9.0% vs TC avg
§102
27.9%
-12.1% vs TC avg
§112
14.5%
-25.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 913 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 . Response to Amendment The amendment filed on March 4, 2026 in response to the previous Office Action (12/10/2025) is acknowledged and has been entered. Claims 1 – 9 and 20 – 29 are currently pending. Claims 10 – 19 are cancelled. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed March 4, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant submits that He does not disclose, teach, or suggest a combination including displaying, by the first electronic device, “a second image that replaces the first image in the preview area” and displaying, by the electronic device, “a third image that replaces the second image in the preview area” (see Remarks, p.13). Examiner respectfully disagrees. He teaches displaying an image from the second electronic device on the first electronic device, wherein the default live mode is picture-in-picture mode, the picture-in-picture mode is respectively larger first area and a smaller second area respectively the display video image. However, the interface 404A on the display user can select the play mode list 3104A the play mode list 3104A a transverse double-picture, a vertical double-picture, picture-in-picture, single picture (¶102-103), which is shown in 4-4A. 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 – 3 and 20 – 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by He (CN 114466131A machine translation) . Regarding claim 20, He discloses an electronic device, comprising: a memory, a processor (¶47), and a touch control screen, wherein the touch control screen is configured to display content (¶88: touch operation on display screen 194); the memory is configured to store a computer program (¶47), and the computer program comprises program instructions; and the processor is configured to invoke the program instructions, so that the electronic device performs the following operations: displaying, by the first electronic device, a first interface, wherein the first interface comprises a preview area and a switching control, the preview area displays a first image, the first image is an image acquired by a first camera, the first camera is a camera of the first electronic device, and the first image is acquired by the first camera based on a parameter value of an image acquisition parameter (¶93: As shown in FIG. 3-1A , when the user selects option 3105 on the interface 301 shown in FIG. 3-1 , the first electronic device displays an application interface 301A, and the interface 301A displays an image 3001 captured by the rear camera A20 of the first electronic device."; fig. 3-1A; it is considered as implicitly disclosed that a value of an image acquisition parameter (e.g exposure time, gain, frame rate ... ) is used to acquire the first image); switching, by the first electronic device, a camera for image acquisition to a second camera at a first moment in response to a first input operation, wherein the second camera is a camera of a second electronic device (¶97-98: As shown in FIG4-1, after the user selects the "Select Camera" option 3102 on the interface 301 shown in FIG3-1, the first electronic device displays an application interface 401, and the interface 401 displays a device list 3102A that the user can select, and the device list 3102A includes the front camera A19 of the A mobile phone (the first electronic device), the rear camera A19 of the A mobile phone (the first electronic device), the front camera B16 of the B mobile phone (the second electronic device), the rear camera B17 of the B mobile phone (the second electronic device), and the C camera (the third device). As shown in FIG. 4-2 , a display interface 402 is shown in which a user selects the front camera A19 of mobile phone A (first electronic device) and the front camera B16 of mobile phone B (second electronic device) on the interface 401 shown in FIG. 4-1", figs. 4.1-4.2); displaying, by the first electronic device, a second image that replaces the first image in the preview area at a second moment, wherein the second image is an image acquired by the second camera (¶102: "as shown in the figure, video image 4021 is displayed in the first area 4001 and video image 4022 is displayed in the second area, the video image 4021 is the image taken by the front camera A19 of mobile phone A, and the video image 4022 is the image taken by the front camera B16 of mobile phone B", fig. 4-4A; § [0109]:"single screen"), and during image acquisition by the second camera, a data frame cached in a buffer carries the image acquisition parameter (¶155, 156: obtains capture parameters during imaging); responding to a second input operation performed on the switching control at a third moment (¶155, 156); and displaying, by the first electronic device, a third image that replaces the second image in the preview area at a fourth moment, wherein the third image is an image acquired by a third camera, and the third camera is a camera of the second electronic device (¶155-156: B17 is third camera of second device). Regarding claim 21, He discloses the limitations of claim 20. He also teaches wherein the image acquisition parameter comprises at least one of the following: a maximum frame rate, an exposure compensation value, and a coding scheme that are of an acquired image (¶161, 163: maximum frame rate supported by the current resolution). Regarding claim 22, He discloses the limitations of claim 20. He also teaches wherein the second electronic device is an electronic device that establishes a multi-screen collaboration connection to the first electronic device (fig. 4-4). Claims 1 – 3 are rejected as applied to claims 20 – 22 above. The method steps as claimed would have been implied by the apparatus of He. Claims 29 rejected as applied to claim 20 above. The method steps as claimed would have been implied by the apparatus of He. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4 – 9 and 23 – 28 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 THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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. Contact Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTOINETTE SPINKS whose telephone number is (571)270-3749. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7am - 5pm 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, Twyler Haskins can be reached at 571-272-7406. 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. /ANTOINETTE T SPINKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 31, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 05, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102
Mar 04, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 24, 2026
Final Rejection — §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

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
72%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+20.4%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 913 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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