Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/907,118

OPTICAL ELEMENT DRIVING MECHANISM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Oct 04, 2024
Priority
Oct 06, 2023 — provisional 63/588,441
Examiner
CHOUDHURY, MUSTAK
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
TDK Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allowance Rate
687 granted / 812 resolved
+24.6% vs TC avg
Strong +22% interview lift
Without
With
+22.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
829
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
82.7%
+42.7% vs TC avg
§102
15.6%
-24.4% vs TC avg
§112
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 812 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. 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 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. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by HU et al. (US PUB 2020/0393641; herein after “HU”). Regarding claim 1, HU teaches an optical element driving mechanism (an optical element driving mechanism 5100, FIG. 1 to FIG. 4), comprising: a fixed assembly (F5 = a case 5200 + a base 5210); a first optical module (an optical module 5900) (see FIG. 2, para. [0035]), including a first movable part (a moving assembly, para. [0043]), configured to be connected to a first optical element (an optical element 5990, see FIGS. 3-5, para. [0042]), wherein the first movable part is movable relative to the fixed assembly (see para. [0043]); and a driving assembly (D5), configured to drive the first movable part to move relative to the fixed assembly (e.g., a driving assembly D5 to drive the movable portion 5300 moving relative to the fixed portion F5, see para. [0038] and [0043]). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-20 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claim 2-20, the prior art does not teach, or renders obvious, regarding the fixed assembly includes a casing and a supporting base; the casing and the supporting base are arranged along a main axis; the casing is fixedly connected to the supporting base; the supporting base is configured to carry a second optical element and a third optical element; the casing has a casing opening, and an external light is emitted from a light incident end into the casing opening; and the external light enters the second optical element through the casing opening, and then passes through the third optical element to be received by the first optical element. Claims 3-20 depend upon allowable claim 2. Cited prior art The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sue et al. US 7298562 teaches “a lens drive unit which displaces and drives the lens in the optical axis direction to form the image of a subject”, column 1, lines 5-7. U.S. Pre Grant Publication No. 2020/0333555, WU et al. teaches “An optical system is provided and includes a fixed assembly, an optical module, a first movable assembly and a first driving assembly. The optical module has an optical axis. The first movable assembly is configured to be connected to the optical module. The first driving assembly is configured to drive the first movable assembly to move relative to the fixed assembly, and a gap is formed between the first movable assembly and the fixed assembly.”, see Abstract. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUSTAK CHOUDHURY whose telephone number is (571)272-5247. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8AM-5PM EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Mack can be reached on 5712722333. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MUSTAK CHOUDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 July 6, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 04, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 09, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
85%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+22.1%)
2y 6m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 812 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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