Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 19/072,601

ELECTRO-OPTIC DISPLAYS WITH COLOR FILTER ARRAYS FOR REDUCING VISIBLE TEXTURE PATTERNS IN DISPLAYED IMAGES

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 06, 2025
Priority
Mar 06, 2024 — provisional 63/561,909
Examiner
JONES, JAMES
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
E Ink Holdings Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
1182 granted / 1337 resolved
+28.4% vs TC avg
Minimal +4% lift
Without
With
+4.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
32 currently pending
Career history
1349
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
18.2%
-21.8% vs TC avg
§102
63.2%
+23.2% vs TC avg
§112
5.6%
-34.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1337 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/9/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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) 1-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bouchard (2009023776) hereafter Bouchard. Regarding claims 1 and 12 Bouchard discloses in fig. 1, 3, par. [0013][0030]-[0033] a color electro-optic display, comprising: a layer of electro-optic material (106) having a viewing side for facing a viewer; a light-transmissive electrode (112, ITO) on the viewing side of the layer of electro-optic material; an array of pixel electrodes (104) on a side on the layer of electro-optic material opposite to the viewing side, each of said pixel electrodes being independently addressable to apply a driving voltage to an adjacent portion of the layer of electro-optic material associated therewith to drive such portion of the electro-optic material between a first substantially white optical state and a second substantially black optical state at the viewing side of the electro-optic layer; and a color filter array (110) disposed on the viewing side of the layer of electro-optic material, said color filter array comprising an array of pixels, each of said pixels having at least three color filter elements, each of said at least three color filter elements having a different color, each color filter element being aligned with a different one of the pixel electrodes such that the color of any color filter element is visible to the viewer when the pixel electrode aligned with that color filter element drives an adjacent portion of the electro-optic material to the substantially white optical state, and wherein the color of any color filter element is not visible to the viewer when the pixel electrode aligned with that color filter element drives an adjacent portion of the electro-optic material to a substantially black optical state (par. [0013][0030]-[0033]); wherein the colors of the color filter elements in the color filter array have the same lightness or a lightness difference no greater than 10 L* to substantially eliminate visible color filter array texture patterns (see par. [0035] and fig. 3). Regarding claims 2 and 13, Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 1, wherein the colors of the color filter elements in the color filter array have a luminance contrast of less than 1.6 (fig. 1, 3, par. [0013][0030]-[0033]. Regarding claims 3 and 14, Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 1, wherein the colors of the color filter elements in the color filter array are red, green, and blue (par. [0031]). Regarding claims 4 and 15, Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 1, wherein the colors of the color filter elements in the color filter array have lightness values between 45 L* and 55 L* (fig. 3). Regarding claims 5 and 16 Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 1, wherein the layer of electro-optic material is monochrome (par. [0030]). Regarding claims 6 and 17, Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 1, wherein the layer of electro-optic material comprises an encapsulated electrophoretic medium (par. [0024][0025]). Regarding claims 7 and 18, Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 6, wherein the encapsulated electrophoretic medium comprises an electrophoretic medium encapsulated in microcapsules or microcups (fig. 1, par. [0024][0025]). Regarding claims 8 and 19, Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 1, wherein the layer of electro-optic material comprises charged pigment particles dispersed in a non-polar solvent (fig. 1, par. [0013]). Regarding claims 9 and 20, Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 8, wherein the charged pigment particles comprise black and white pigment particles (fig. 1, par. [0013]). Regarding claims 10 and 21, Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 1, wherein the layer of electro-optic material is bistable (par. [0069]). Regarding claims 11 and 22 Bouchard discloses the color electro-optic display of claim 1, wherein the colors of the color filter elements each have a given ink concentration configured to provide the same lightness, wherein each ink concentration is determined utilizing a Kubelka-Munk model (fig. 1, 3, par. [0013][0030]-[0033]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES JONES whose telephone number is (571)270-1278. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 am - 4:00 pm. 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, Pinping Sun can be reached at (571) 270-1284. 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. /JAMES C. JONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 06, 2025
Application Filed
Sep 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12742966
HEAD-UP DISPLAY
2y 9m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12742991
DIMMING DEVICE AND DIMMING APPARATUS
2y 1m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12724223
OPTICAL MODULE
3y 3m to grant Granted Sep 01, 2026
Patent 12687718
HUD INTELLIGENT COLOR CORRECTION (HUD ICC)
3y 5m to grant Granted Jul 21, 2026
Patent 12687703
CAMERA OPTICAL LENS
2y 1m to grant Granted Jul 21, 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
88%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+4.5%)
2y 1m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1337 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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