Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 19/231,438

IMAGING DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jun 07, 2025
Priority
Aug 02, 2021 — JP 2021-126849 +1 more
Examiner
CHEN, CHIA WEI A
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
77%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 5m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 77% — above average
77%
Career Allowance Rate
509 granted / 660 resolved
+17.1% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+19.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
682
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.8%
-36.2% vs TC avg
§103
51.9%
+11.9% vs TC avg
§102
26.9%
-13.1% vs TC avg
§112
9.8%
-30.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 660 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 . Claim Objections Claim 10 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 10, line 6 should end in a semicolon instead of a colon. Appropriate correction is required. 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. Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hosoe (US 2019/0154949 A1). Claim 1, Hosoe teaches an imaging device (camera 10001; paragraph 0175 and Fig. 82A) comprising: a lens attachment portion to which a lens can be attached or detached (lens mount 105; Fig. 1); a heat source (heat source elements; paragraph 0295); a main body including the heat source and the lens attachment portion (camera 10001; see Fig. 76 and paragraph 0475, 0294-0295); a heat transfer member that transfers heat of the heat source (duct 10164 formed with fin shaped portions for increasing heat transfer efficiency; paragraph 0488); and a fan housing provided on an upper portion of the main body (fan unit 10053; paragraph 0495 and Fig. 79-82), the fan housing including a fan (fans 10531; paragraph 0511 and Fig. 80), a heat sink that dissipates the heat from the heat transfer member (cover portion 10052 adjacent to ventilation ports of camera 10001; paragraph 0493), an intake port for drawing air (ventilation ports 10163 as air inlet port; paragraph 0499 and Fig. 75B), and an exhaust port for discharging air (see airflow path C through fans 10531; Fig. 82B), wherein the fan housing is a protruding portion having multiple surfaces protruding from the main body (see fans protruding from housing; Fig. 82), and wherein the intake port and the exhaust port are provided on different surfaces from each other among the multiple surfaces (see air inlet ventilation ports 10163 and fans 10531; paragraph 84B and Fig. 80B, respectively). Claim 2 Hosoe further teaches wherein the protruding portion has a forward protruding portion which protrudes in a direction in which the lens attached to the lens attachment portion extends, at the upper portion of the lens attachment portion (see base portion 10051 protruding in the direction of an attached lens at an upper portion of the lens attachment portion, see Figs. 81 and 82A). Claim 4, Hosoe further teaches wherein the plurality of surfaces includes an upper surface, a side surface, and a lower surface (see Figs. 82, 90A). Claim 5, Hosoe further teaches wherein the plurality of surfaces includes an upper surface, a side surface, and a lower surface, and wherein the lower surface is a lower surface of the forward protruding portion (see Figs. 82, 90A). Claim 7, Hosoe further teaches wherein the intake port intakes air toward a first axial direction and the exhaust port exhausts air toward a second axial direction which is 90 degrees different from the first axial direction (see Fig. 5). Claim 9, Hosoe further teaches wherein the number of the intake port is one and the number of the exhaust port is two (see vent 10163 and dual fans 10531 in Figs. 76 and 79A, respectively). 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) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosoe in view of Nozaki (US 2009/0016710 A1). Claim 10, Hosoe teaches an imaging device (camera 10001; paragraph 0175 and Fig. 82A) comprising: a lens attachment portion to which a lens can be attached or detached (lens mount 105; Fig. 1); a heat source (heat source elements; paragraph 0295); a main body including the heat source and the lens attachment portion (camera 10001; see Fig. 76 and paragraph 0475, 0294-0295); a heat transfer member that transfers heat from the heat source (duct 10164 formed with fin shaped portions for increasing heat transfer efficiency; paragraph 0488); and a fan housing provided on an upper center portion of the main body (fan unit 10053; paragraph 0495 and Fig. 79-82), the fan housing including a fan (fans 10531; paragraph 0511 and Fig. 80), and a heat sink that dissipates the heat from the heat transfer member (cover portion 10052 adjacent to ventilation ports of camera 10001; paragraph 0493), an intake port for drawing air, and an exhaust port for discharging air (ventilation ports 10163 as air inlet port; paragraph 0499 and Fig. 75B), wherein the fan housing protrudes from the body housing portion (see fans protruding from housing; Fig. 82) and is a protruding portion having a plurality of surfaces including an upper surface and a side surface (see Fig. 82), but Hosoe is silent regarding a grip provided on a side of the main body. Nozaki teaches a grip provided on a side of a main body (grip portion G; paragraph 0214 and Fig. 15). It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have used the teaching of Nozaki with that of Hosoe in order to allow a user to easily hold a camera (see paragraph 0192 of Hosoe). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3, 6, and 8 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. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 attached. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHIAWEI A CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1707. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 12:00pm - 9:00pm EST. 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, Sinh Tran can be reached at (571)272-7564. 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. /CHIAWEI CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 07, 2025
Application Filed
Aug 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12684207
OPEN FRAME CAMERA SUPPORT ASSEMBLY FOR SELF-SERVICE CHECKOUT TERMINALS
3y 0m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12677078
HYBRID IMAGE SENSORS WITH MULTIPLE OPERATING MODES
1y 8m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12647668
IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, AND CONTROL METHODS FOR THOSE APPARATUSES
1y 7m to grant Granted Jun 02, 2026
Patent 12632989
CAMERA CALIBRATION FOR AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS
2y 10m to grant Granted May 19, 2026
Patent 12627767
ELECTRONIC APPARATUS
2y 5m 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
77%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+19.3%)
2y 8m (~1y 5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 660 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