Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 16, 2026
Application No. 19/012,122

INPUT DISPLAY DEVICE

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 07, 2025
Examiner
ELAHI, TOWFIQ
Art Unit
2625
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Alps Alpine Co., LTD.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 6m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allow Rate
565 granted / 714 resolved
+17.1% vs TC avg
Strong +52% interview lift
Without
With
+51.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
738
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.3%
-37.7% vs TC avg
§103
60.7%
+20.7% vs TC avg
§102
19.1%
-20.9% vs TC avg
§112
10.5%
-29.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 714 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim(s) 1, 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AAPA (Applicant admitted prior art) in view of Shinohara (US 20180348960). Regarding claim 1 AAPA teaches an input display device for displaying a floating image by utilizing retroreflection (fig., 1B [0006]), comprising circuitry configured to: detect a first event in which an operating object comes in proximity to the floating image ([0007] FIG. 1B, the user can perform an input operation on the floating image Q by bringing the user's finger U to the proximity of the floating image Q. For example, when the user wants to input “1”, the user brings the finger to the proximity of the “1” as if pressing a floating image Q of “1”. The proximity of the user's finger U to the floating image Q is detected by the sensor 130, and in response to this detection, the image of the floating image Q is changed or a switch sound (or operation sound) such as “beep” is output from the speaker in order to notify the user that the input operation to the floating image Q has been recognized); output a first sound signal in response to detection of the first event ([0007] FIG. 1B, the user can perform an input operation on the floating image Q by bringing the user's finger U to the proximity of the floating image Q. For example, when the user wants to input “1”, the user brings the finger to the proximity of the “1” as if pressing a floating image Q of “1”. The proximity of the user's finger U to the floating image Q is detected by the sensor 130, and in response to this detection, the image of the floating image Q is changed or a switch sound (or operation sound) such as “beep” is output from the speaker in order to notify the user that the input operation to the floating image Q has been recognized); AAPA is silent on detect a second event in which the operating object moves away from the floating image; output a second sound signal in response to detection of the second event. However, Shinohara teaches a second event in which the operating object moves away from the floating image (second event is fig. 5A as finger is away from AF, in reference to fig. 5B also see fig. 1, item 20 and item 41); output a second sound signal in response to detection of the second event ([0112] this manner, the notification controller 42 in the input device 1 according to the present embodiment changes the method of notification to the user in accordance with the distance detected by the position detection sensor 20 between a stereo image I and the pointer F. More specifically, when the notification controller 42 determines that the pointer F has reached the predetermined range from the front surface AF of the stereo image I, the notification controller 42 outputs… and (2) an instruction to the sound output 33 to output a sound having a larger volume at a smaller distance between the pointer F and the front surface AF of the stereo image I that means in fig. 5A as finger moves away from AF output a sound will obviously be smaller volume see fig. 1, item 42 and item 33). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to combine AAPA in light of Shinohara teaching so that it may include detect a second event in which the operating object moves away from the floating image; output a second sound signal in response to detection of the second event. The motivation is to provide input device that enable a user to perform an input operation by virtually touching a stereo image of a button appearing in the air. Regarding claim 2 AAPA in view of Shinohara teaches wherein the first sound signal is different from the second sound signal (Shinohara: [0112] this manner, the notification controller 42 in the input device 1 according to the present embodiment changes the method of notification to the user in accordance with the distance detected by the position detection sensor 20 between a stereo image I and the pointer F. More specifically, when the notification controller 42 determines that the pointer F has reached the predetermined range from the front surface AF of the stereo image I, the notification controller 42 outputs… and (2) an instruction to the sound output 33 to output a sound having a larger volume at a smaller distance between the pointer F and the front surface AF of the stereo image I that means in fig. 5A as finger moves away from AF output a sound will obviously be smaller volume therefore, the sound signals are different see fig. 1, item 42 and item 33). Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AAPA (Applicant admitted prior art) in view of Shinohara (US 20180348960) as claim 1 above and further in view of Bae (US 20250138776). Regarding claim 3 AAPA in view of Shinohara teaches sound source (fig. 1, item 33). AAPA in view Shinohara is silent on wherein the circuitry includes a first sound source configured to generate the first sound signal, and a second sound source configured to generate the second sound signal. However, Bae teaches wherein the circuitry includes a first sound source configured to generate the first sound signal, and a second sound source configured to generate the second sound signal ([0161] 170 may generate at least part of a first audio source file for generating a first sound source, a second audio source file for generating a second sound source,). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to combine AAPA in light of Bae teaching so that it may include wherein the circuitry includes a first sound source configured to generate the first sound signal, and a second sound source configured to generate the second sound signal. The motivation is to provide display device includes a controller that obtains a plurality of sound sources respectively corresponding to a plurality of content. Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AAPA (Applicant admitted prior art) in view of Shinohara (US 20180348960) as claim 1 above and further in view of Shim (US 20200258539). Regarding claim 4 AAPA in view of Shinohara is silent on wherein the circuitry is configured to set a silent duration between an output of the first sound signal and an output of the second sound signal. However, Shim teaches wherein the circuitry is configured to set a silent duration between an output of the first sound signal and an output of the second sound signal ([0086] the processor 160 may remove the noise signal from the first sound signal or the second sound signal based on the external noise signal analyzed for the silent period. The processor 160 may remove a pattern identical or similar to the external noise signal analyzed for the silent period from each of the first sound signal and the second sound signal). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art to combine AAPA in light of Shim teaching so that it may include the circuitry is configured to set a silent duration between an output of the first sound signal and an output of the second sound signal. The motivation is for removing noise signals from one of the first sound signal and the second sound signal. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 5-8 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. -Chan US 2013000986 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TOWFIQ ELAHI whose telephone number is (571)270-1687. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10AM-3PM. 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, William Boddie can be reached at (571)272-0666. 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. /TOWFIQ ELAHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 07, 2025
Application Filed
Dec 12, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Apr 06, 2026
Response Filed

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12602136
DISPLAY DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12579925
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING DATA, TIMING CONTROLLER, AND SOURCE DRIVER CHIP
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Patent 12572029
AIR FLOATING VIDEO DISPLAY APPARATUS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12572205
USER INTERFACE DEVICE FOR ROBOTS, ROBOT SYSTEMS AND RELATED METHODS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12566348
DISPLAY DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 03, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
79%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+51.9%)
2y 6m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 714 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

Sign in for Full Analysis

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

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month