Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 19/188,623

PROJECTION METHOD, PROJECTOR, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM STORING PROGRAM

Final Rejection §102
Filed
Apr 24, 2025
Priority
Apr 26, 2024 — JP 2024-072335
Examiner
ALATA, YASSIN
Art Unit
2426
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Seiko Epson Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
67%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
1y 5m
Est. Remaining
81%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 67% — above average
67%
Career Allowance Rate
564 granted / 846 resolved
+8.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +15% lift
Without
With
+14.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
29 currently pending
Career history
893
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.9%
-32.1% vs TC avg
§103
57.9%
+17.9% vs TC avg
§102
20.1%
-19.9% vs TC avg
§112
5.5%
-34.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 846 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 . Response to Arguments Applicant's argument filed 07/06/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant argues that Ozawa does not disclose the new added limitations. The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Ozawa discloses projecting, in response to a trigger, a guide image for guiding an operation of at least partially superimposing the projection image and the other projection image by the projector, wherein the trigger comprises determining that the projector is communicably couple to the other projector. For example, Ozawa discloses that the first projector displays an adjustment instruction display, i.e. guiding the user to adjust projection position of second projector or start execution of stacking assist and that is after the projectors are coupled to each other, therefore, the displaying of the adjustment instruction is triggered when the projectors are coupled to each other; see at least Figs. 4-5, 8 and paragraphs 0100-0102 and 0152-0162). Claims 1 and 7-8 have been amended and the rejection of claims 2-6 has been withdrawn. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-6 are 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. 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. Claims 1 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ozawa (US 2022/0210382). Regarding claim 1, Ozawa discloses a projection method for a projector that projects a projection image at least partially overlapping another projection image projected by another projector (first projector displays first marks MA as first projected image P1; see at least Fig. 4 and paragraph 0087 and a second projector displays second marks MB as a second projected image Ps; see at least Fig. 4 and paragraph 0092), the projection method comprising: determining whether the projector is communicably coupled to the other projector by one or more processors provided in the projector (a first and a second projector are communicable coupled via the cable CB according to the TCP/IP standards and the second projector is activated when detecting communicably coupling to the first projector by the cable CB; see at least paragraphs 0131 and 052-0153); and projecting, in response to a trigger, a guide image for guiding an operation of at least partially superimposing the projection image and the other projection image by the projector, wherein the trigger comprises determining that the projector is communicably couple to the other projector (the first projector displays an adjustment instruction display, i.e. guiding the user to adjust projection position of second projector or start execution of stacking assist. The adjustment instructions are displayed after the projectors are coupled to each other; see at least Figs. 4-5, 8 and paragraphs 0100-0102 and 0152-0162). Claim 7 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 1, wherein a communication interface that communicates with the other projector is met by an interface 242 that connects to the second projector through cable CB; see at least Fig. 2 and paragraph 0047; a projection section that projects the projection image is met by projection section 210; see at least Fig. 2 and paragraph 0036 Claim 8 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 1. Conclusion THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YASSIN ALATA whose telephone number is (571)270-5683. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7-4 ET. 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, Nasser Goodarzi can be reached at 571-272-4195. 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. /YASSIN ALATA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 24, 2025
Application Filed
Apr 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102
Jul 06, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 31, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12750564
INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD
2y 4m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12750466
ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING IMAGE AND OPERATING METHOD OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE
1y 6m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12744975
ENHANCED STREAMING MEDIA INTERSTITIALS WITH DYNAMIC RENDERING SUPPORT
4y 0m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12737922
EXTRINSIC CALIBRATION OF A VEHICLE-MOUNTED SENSOR USING NATURAL VEHICLE FEATURES
1y 12m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12718334
IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE, NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD
2y 11m to grant Granted Aug 25, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
67%
Grant Probability
81%
With Interview (+14.6%)
2y 11m (~1y 5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 846 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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