Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/985,764

SHOVEL AND SHOVEL CONTROL SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Dec 18, 2024
Priority
Dec 28, 2023 — JP 2023-222736
Examiner
POPE, DARYL C
Art Unit
2686
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allowance Rate
1093 granted / 1280 resolved
+23.4% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
1297
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.4%
-37.6% vs TC avg
§103
60.6%
+20.6% vs TC avg
§102
15.5%
-24.5% vs TC avg
§112
2.8%
-37.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1280 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 . ART REJECTION: 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 anticipated by Onuma et al(KR 20140009148 A). -- With regards to claim 1, the claimed subject matter that is met by Onuma et al(Onuma) includes: 1) a lower traveling body is met by the lower traveling body(1e) as seen in figure 1 2) an upper turning body turnably mounted on the lower traveling body is met by the upper swing body(1d) as seen in figure 1 3) an imaging device attached to the upper turning body is met by the camera(13a) 4) a display device is met by the display device(1300) in the cab(1f) 5) circuitry configured to display, on the display device, position information representing a relationship between positions of a person detected by the imaging device and the shovel is met by the obstacle detecting unit(400), in conjunction with position calculating unit(500), dangerous range calculating unit(700), and CPU which processes the information from each unit(see: paragraph 4 of the “DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS), WHEREIN THE obstacle detector(400) detects the presence of obstacles around the hydraulic excavator using images captured by the cameras(13a,13b,13c), and the position calculator(500) detects the obstacle detector so as to calculate the relative position of the objects with respect to the hydraulic excavator; 6) and when the person whose position is represented in the position information is no longer detected by the imaging device, continue to display the position of the person who is no longer detected in the position information in a case where a predetermined condition is satisfied is met by the computed distance calculated determining a circumscribed rectangle located in an area near the camera and assumed to be part of a detected obstacle, such that the imaged is checked wither or not a circular shape indicative of a human helmet exists. And when it is determined that the circle does not exist, the extraction area is determined as an object, even when the human is no longer being detected by the camera(see: paragraph 29). -- With regards to claim 2, 1) the predetermined condition is a condition based on a positional relationship between a detection range in which the person can be detected by the imaging device and a position of the person who is no longer detected is met since the condition is based on the detected object being included in an area that constitutes a risk area in relation to the excavator as discussed in claim 1 above, wherein the object is determined to no longer constitute a human in the image. -- With regards to claim 4, 1) when the imaging device is a camera, the circuitry is configured to display, on the display device, an image captured by the camera, or an image captured by a different camera provided in the upper turning body separately from the camera, together with the position information is met by the display device displaying the images presented by the cameras as discussed in claim 1 above. -- With regards to claim 5, 1) wherein the circuitry is configured to display, on the image, an area in which a person is detected and associate the area with a position of the person represented in the position information is met by the images on the display showing positions of the detected objects on the camera image, as discussed in claim 1 above. -- With regards to claim 7, 1) when the person whose position is represented in the position information is no longer detected by the imaging device, the circuitry changes a display mode of display information representing the position of the person who is no longer detected in a case where the predetermined condition is satisfied -- Claim 8 recites subject matter that substantially corresponds to the subject matter of claim 1, and therefore, is met for the reasons as discussed in the rejection of claim 1 above. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3 and 6 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DARYL C POPE whose telephone number is (571)272-2959. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM - 5PM M-F. 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, BRIAN ZIMMERMAN can be reached at 571-272-3059. 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. /DARYL C POPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 18, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12639995
PARKING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
1y 5m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12633217
CONTROL DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM
1y 10m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12620311
INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM
2y 7m to grant Granted May 05, 2026
Patent 12617338
VEHICULAR LAMP
1y 9m to grant Granted May 05, 2026
Patent 12617277
DISPLAY DEVICE
1y 10m to grant Granted May 05, 2026
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
92%
With Interview (+6.4%)
2y 3m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1280 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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