Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 19/014,936

ACTIVE PEN, SENSOR CONTROLLER, AND POSITION DETECTION DEVICE CONFIGURED FOR BIDIRECTION COMMUNICATION USING TIME SLOTS

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jan 09, 2025
Priority
Mar 19, 2021 — JP 2021-046112 +2 more
Examiner
LIN, CHUN-NAN
Art Unit
2629
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Wacom Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
87%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 87% — above average
87%
Career Allowance Rate
573 granted / 658 resolved
+25.1% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 11m
Avg Prosecution
9 currently pending
Career history
671
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
§103
74.5%
+34.5% vs TC avg
§102
0.9%
-39.1% vs TC avg
§112
20.2%
-19.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 658 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election without traverse of elect Invention I in the reply filed on 11/14/2022 is acknowledged. Priority This application, which discloses and claims only subject matter disclosed in prior Application No. 18/352868 filed 7/14/2023, appears to claim only subject matter directed to an invention that is independent and distinct from that claimed in the prior application, and names the inventor or at least one joint inventor named in the prior application. Accordingly, this application may constitute a divisional application. Should applicant desire to claim the benefit of the filing date of the prior application, attention is directed to 35 U.S.C. 120, 37 CFR 1.78, and MPEP § 211 et seq. The presentation of a benefit claim may result in an additional fee under 37 CFR 1.17(w)(1) or (2) being required, if the earliest filing date for which benefit is claimed under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) and 1.78(d) in the application is more than six years before the actual filing date of the application. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1 – 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites “the downlink signal” in line 11. Claim 1 recites “downlink signals” in line 5. Claim 1 recites “one of the downlink signals” in line 9. Claim 1 is unclear line 11 “the downlink signal” is refers back to which “downlink signal”? Therefore, claim boundary is indefinite. Claims 2 – 5 have same issue because of claim dependency. Allowable Subject Matter Claim 1 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), set forth in this Office action. Claims 2 – 5 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), set forth in this Office action and to include 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. US 20210263601 A1 discloses stylus on Fig. 3. Kim et al. (U.S. Patent Publication 20210200404 A1) discloses uplink signal on [0128]. Park et al. (U.S. Patent Publication 20180188836 A1) discloses transmit signal in time series on [0160] . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUN-NAN LIN whose telephone number is (571)272-5646. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 6pm. 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, Benjamin C Lee can be reached at 571-2722963. 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. /CHUN-NAN LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2629
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 09, 2025
Application Filed
Feb 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112
May 07, 2026
Response Filed

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12638944
ADAPTIVE ACCIDENTAL CONTACT MITIGATION
1y 10m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12641887
DISPLAY PANELS INCLUDING METAL LAYER HAVING FAN-OUT SEGMENT AND DISPLAY TERMINALS INCLUDING THE SAME
1y 6m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12632143
TOUCH SENSING APPARATUS FOR SEPARATION OF A MULTI-TOUCH AND TOUCH SENSING METHOD THEREFOR
1y 11m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12632150
TOUCH PANEL CONTROLLER AND SENSING DEVICE INCLUDING THE SAME
1y 6m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12625570
ELECTRONIC PEN AND CORE BODY FOR ELECTRONIC PEN INCLUDING CONDUCTIVE CORE ROD AND PROTECTION MEMBER THAT COVERS CORE ROD
2y 1m to grant Granted May 12, 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
87%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+16.0%)
1y 11m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 658 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