Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/994,665

IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §101
Filed
Jan 15, 2025
Priority
Aug 16, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTJP2022030982
Examiner
LIU, XIAO
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
NEC Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
10m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
279 granted / 318 resolved
+27.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
349
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.6%
-32.4% vs TC avg
§103
53.1%
+13.1% vs TC avg
§102
17.4%
-22.6% vs TC avg
§112
16.3%
-23.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 318 resolved cases

Office Action

§101
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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/25/2025 has/have been considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows: Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because “recording medium” may include transitory medium which do not fall within at least one of four categories of patent eligible subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 16 is drawn to a computer program for carrying out the instructions/functionality of the claimed invention, which is no more than just a software computer program (i.e. software per se). The software computer program is non-statutory since it cannot be interpreted to fall into any of the four patentable categories of process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. If Applicant is going to change the claims to cover the recording medium, Applicant is suggested to exclude transitory embodiments. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-16 are allowed on condition to overcome claim rejections in above section of “Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101”. Based on prior arts search, Zhang et al (CN 112116745 A), hereinafter Zhang, Sogo ( US 20050205668 A1), hereinafter Sogo, and Hanna et al (US 20090274345 A1), hereinafter Hanna appear to be the closest prior arts on record. Regarding independent claims 1 and 15-16, Zhang discloses a biological identification gate control method with two gate channel and a gate head wherein the gate head comprises two display screens, two cameras and two flash lamps. Sogo teaches a gate system identifying a registered user who is matched with a user who wants to pass through a gate from registered users. Hana teaches a method determining the identity of a subject while the subject is walking or being transported in an essentially straight direction. However, the closest prior arts, either alone or in combination do not teach or suggest the following subject matter or the claimed limitations in combination with the rest of the independent claims as a whole, such as, inter alia, a rotating mirror that rotates about a first rotation axis and is capable of changing an image capturing direction of the image capturing unit; and a control unit that controls the image capturing unit to capture an image of the target moving in a first direction in a first lane after causing the rotating mirror to rotate to a first angle and controls the image capturing unit to capture an image of the target moving in a second direction in a second lane after causing the rotating mirror to rotate to a second angle, the second direction being different from the first direction. Claims 2-14 are dependent upon claim 1. These claims are allowable for at least the same reasons given for independent claim 1. Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.” Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIAO LIU whose telephone number is (571)272-4539. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday and Alternate Fridays 8:30-4:30. 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, Jennifer Mehmood can be reached at (571) 272-2976. 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. /XIAO LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2664
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 15, 2025
Application Filed
Sep 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §101 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12749321
Method and System for Avoiding Wildlife Accidents
2y 5m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12731389
VIDEO-BASED SURGICAL SKILL ASSESSMENT USING TOOL TRACKING
3y 5m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12731415
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING A SOFT POINT ON A ROAD USING A HARD POINT
2y 7m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12730190
OBJECT DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION USING LIDAR RANGE IMAGES FOR AUTONOMOUS MACHINE APPLICATIONS
2y 9m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12726581
METHOD FOR REPRESENTING A HARMONIZED OBSCURED AREA OF AN ENVIRONMENT OF A MOBILE PLATFORM
4y 9m to grant Granted Sep 01, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+12.0%)
2y 6m (~10m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 318 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month