Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 19/108,112

OPTICAL OUTPUT CONTROL SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Feb 28, 2025
Priority
Sep 01, 2022 — JP 2022-139227 +1 more
Examiner
CHAI, RAYMOND REI-YANG
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Ushio Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
5m
Est. Remaining
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allowance Rate
419 granted / 561 resolved
+14.7% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 10m
Avg Prosecution
42 currently pending
Career history
589
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
§103
79.9%
+39.9% vs TC avg
§102
6.1%
-33.9% vs TC avg
§112
9.5%
-30.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 561 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 . Priority Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy of JP2022-139227 filed on 09/01/2022 has been received/retrieved by the office. Acknowledgment is made of this application’s status as a 371 of PCT/2023/028092 filed on 08/01/2023. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/28/2025, 12/29/2025 has been considered by the examiner. 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. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US2017/0347419A1 hereinafter “Cusey” Regarding claim 1, Cusey discloses an optical output control system (¶15L2: an optical sensing system [10]) comprising: a light source unit including a light-emitting element (¶15L4: an LED [12]); a current supply unit (¶15L6: a current source [28]) that supplies current to the light source unit (¶15L7-8: a forward current goes through the LED and causes it to produce a light); and a temperature detecting unit (¶52L3-4: the operation use thermal detectors) that detects an environmental temperature of the light source unit (¶18L6-8: the current Is increase (or decrease) in response to increase (or decrease) in ambient temperature); and a control unit (¶21L2: a control unit) that controls a current amount supplied from the current supply unit to the light source unit on a basis of an execution control function (¶42L1-5: current multiplier is implemented to produce the current IA such that: IA = ACTRL*IB = ACTRL (WR*IR + WS*IS) in which a relationship among a first variable (¶18L5-6: a current [IR]; ¶20L6: a second weight [WR]) corresponding to a target value related to optical output of the light source unit (¶19L1-5: current [IR] is independent of ambient temperature) (Note: since current [IR] is independent of temperature, it is the desired output current of the operation of the optical system), a second variable (¶18L4-5: a current [Is]; ¶20L5-6: a first weight [Ws]) corresponding to the environmental temperature detected by the temperature detecting unit (¶18L8: the current Is increase (or decrease) in response to increase (or decrease) in ambient temperature; ¶52L3-4: the operation use thermal detectors), and a third variable (¶22L3-4: a control vector [ACTRL]) corresponding to the current amount supplied to the light source unit is defined by using one or a plurality of coefficients (¶51L1-15: ACTRL may be set such that the LED and photodiode work properly for desired detection sensitivity at a nominal operation operating temperature), wherein the control unit is configured to be able to update at least one of the coefficients constituting the execution control function on a basis of coefficient update information that is input. (¶23L1-12: a user may manually step through a set of values of the ACTRL, the value is store in a non-volatile memory and is used by optical system in subsequent operations) Regarding claim 2, Cusey discloses the optical output control system according to claim 1, wherein the light source unit includes a first storage unit in which the coefficient update information is recorded, and the control unit reads the coefficient update information recorded in the first storage unit and updates the execution control function. (¶57L1-10: stores various control information into a non-volatile memory (e.g. at control unit or at another appropriate place) including the amplitude control ACRTL and the wights WS and WR) Regarding claim 3, Cusey discloses the optical output control system according to claim 1, further comprising a storage medium attaching unit that can be attached with a storage medium in which the coefficient update information is recorded, wherein the control unit reads the coefficient update information recorded in the storage medium attached to the storage medium attaching unit and updates the execution control function. (¶57L1-10: stores various control information into a non-volatile memory (e.g. at control unit or at another appropriate place) including the amplitude control ACRTL and the wights WS and WR) Regarding claim 4, Cusey discloses the optical output control system according to claim 1, further comprising an update information transmission device configured to be able to transmit the coefficient update information to the control unit via an electrical communication line. (¶57L1-10: stores various control information into a non-volatile memory (e.g. at control unit or at another appropriate place) including the amplitude control ACRTL and the wights WS and WR) (Note: inherently disclose as storing data in a memory requires transmission of data to storage) Regarding claim 5, Cusey discloses the optical output control system according to claim 4, wherein the update information transmission device includes a second storage unit in which the coefficient update information is recorded, and transmits the coefficient update information recorded in the second storage unit to the control unit. (¶57L1-10: stores various control information into a non-volatile memory (e.g. at control unit or at another appropriate place) including the amplitude control ACRTL and the wights WS and WR) Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND R CHAI whose telephone number is (571)270-0576. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30AM-5:00PM. 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, Alexander Taningco can be reached at 571-242-8048. 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. /Raymond R Chai/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 28, 2025
Application Filed
Jun 17, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
75%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+16.0%)
1y 10m (~5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 561 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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