Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/960,096

ELECTRONIC APPARATUS WITH ROTATABLE FINDER

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Nov 26, 2024
Priority
Jun 20, 2022 — JP 2022-098703 +1 more
Examiner
PHAN, MINH Q
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Canon Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
71%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allowance Rate
639 granted / 842 resolved
+15.9% vs TC avg
Minimal -5% lift
Without
With
+-4.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
867
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.4%
-38.6% vs TC avg
§103
72.6%
+32.6% vs TC avg
§102
8.9%
-31.1% vs TC avg
§112
11.2%
-28.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 842 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 Objections Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 2 of claim 12, remove “biasing pat”, replace with -- biasing part --. Appropriate correction is required. 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being antipated by Kei et al. (JP 2021-043340, cited by applicant). Regarding claim 1, Kei teaches an electronic apparatus comprising: an apparatus body (9, 10 and 16) a finder having a lens (20); and a support mechanism (49, 51) provided in the apparatus body, supporting the finder so as to transition between a plurality of states, and having a rotation shaft (50) serving as a rotation center of the finder, wherein the plurality of states include a housed state in which the finder is housed in the apparatus body (Fig. 1a-1b), a pulled-out state (2a) in which the finder is pulled out from the apparatus body, a rotatable state (2c) in which the finder can be rotated from the pulled-out state, and a tilt-lock state in which the finder is locked at a tilted position from the pulled-out state (i.e. rotation locked state), and wherein the rotation shaft is located outside the apparatus body in a case where the finder is in any of the pulled-out state, the rotatable state, and the tilt-lock state, and moves from the outside of the apparatus body into the apparatus body as the finder transitions to the housed state (the rotating shaft 50 is located inside the main body in the housed state and moves outside of the main body in the pulled-out state). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-23 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 claims 2-23, applicant has sufficiently defined and claimed an electronic apparatus, whereby the prior art does not teach or suggest a rectilinear plate that is held by the fixed plate so as to be linearly movable with respect to the fixed plate; and a rotation plate that is rotatable around the rotation shaft with respect to the rectilinear plate, wherein each of the fixed plate, the rectilinear plate, and the rotation plate includes a first plane part and a second plane part that face each other in an axial direction of the rotation shaft, and wherein the first plane part and the second plane part of the rectilinear plate are arranged between the first plane part and the second plane part of the fixed plate, and the first plane part and the second plane part of the rotation plate are arranged between the first plane part and the second plane part of the rectilinear plate, in combination with all other limitations set forth in the claim. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINH Q PHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3898. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm. 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, Stephanie Bloss can be reached at 571-272-3555. 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. MINH Q. PHAN Primary Examiner Art Unit 2852 /MINH Q PHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 26, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 10, 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
76%
Grant Probability
71%
With Interview (-4.6%)
2y 2m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 842 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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