Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/861,267

METHOD OF CALCULATING INDICATOR OF THIN WIRE, METHOD OF EVALUATING QUALITY OF OPTICAL CABLE, AND OPTICAL CABLE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Oct 29, 2024
Priority
Jun 01, 2022 — JP 2022-089834 +1 more
Examiner
LEE, HWA S
Art Unit
2877
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
73%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 3m
Est. Remaining
76%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 73% — above average
73%
Career Allowance Rate
535 granted / 737 resolved
+4.6% vs TC avg
Minimal +3% lift
Without
With
+2.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 12m
Avg Prosecution
30 currently pending
Career history
783
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.3%
-37.7% vs TC avg
§103
49.0%
+9.0% vs TC avg
§102
16.8%
-23.2% vs TC avg
§112
24.0%
-16.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 737 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 . 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 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kikuchi et al. (WO 2019/240037). Kikushi shows : [Claim 1] A method of calculating an indicator of a thin wire, the method comprising: obtaining X-ray images of a plurality of cross sections of a cable having a plurality of thin wires, each of the plurality of cross sections being perpendicular to a long-side direction of the cable (Abstract: "a plurality of cross-sectional images are formed from information about the three-dimensional absorption coefficient distribution of an optical fiber cable as generated by an X-ray CT apparatus."); finding a central position of each of the plurality of thin wires from each of the X-ray images of the plurality of cross sections (Abstract: "In step S3, cross-sectional center positions of optical fiber strands are determined for at least two of the formed cross-sectional images"); and finding an indicator representing a curve of each thin wire based on the central position of the thin wire (Abstract: "In step S4, the trajectories of the optical fiber strands are calculated for an image pair composed of at least two neighboring cross-sectional images by identifying the two optical fiber strands having the shortest distance between the cross-sectional center positions as the same optical fiber strand. In step S5, the twisting of an optical fiber core is calculated on the basis of the calculated trajectories of the optical fiber strands."; Fig. 4: "As shown in FIG. 4, the bending radius of the optical fiber strand is calculated by calculating the radius of an arc passing through three points"). [Claim 3] The method of calculating an indicator of a thin wire according to claim 2, wherein the finding the indicator representing the curve of each thin wire includes finding a locus of the thin wire by connecting central positions of the thin wire in the plurality of cross sections and calculating a local curvature radius of the thin wire based on the locus (Step S5: "As shown in FIG. 4, the bending radius of the optical fiber strand is calculated by calculating the radius of an arc passing through three points Pm , Pm+1 , and Pm+2 adjacent in the axial direction located on the locus of the optical fiber strand "). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 7, 8, 10-12, and 14 are allowed. Claims 2, 4-6, 9 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 The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Shimada (JP 2012122906) shows a curvature distribution generation system for cable using the center position of the cable cross section. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hwa Andrew S Lee whose telephone number is (571)272-2419. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5:30pm. 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, Michelle Iacoletti can be reached at (571) 270-5789. 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. /Hwa Andrew Lee/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 29, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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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
73%
Grant Probability
76%
With Interview (+2.9%)
2y 12m (~1y 3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 737 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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