Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 16, 2026
Application No. 17/945,715

SHAPED ELECTRODE FOR ARRESTING ELECTRODE MOVEMENT

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 15, 2022
Examiner
GODO, OLATUNJI A
Art Unit
1752
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Apple INC.
OA Round
2 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
2-3
OA Rounds
2y 3m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allow Rate
950 granted / 1106 resolved
+20.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+8.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
30 currently pending
Career history
1136
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
45.7%
+5.7% vs TC avg
§102
32.1%
-7.9% vs TC avg
§112
16.4%
-23.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1106 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 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 of this title, 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. 1. Claims 1, 2, 4, 8-12, 14, 15, 17-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kajitani et al. (US20140079984). 2. Regarding claims 1, 2, 4, 8-12, 14, 15, 17-23, Kajitani teaches a battery (see Fig. below), comprising: an enclosure that defines an interior volume; an electrode cell disposed within the interior volume, wherein a pair of notches is formed in the electrode cell; and a pair of retaining elements, wherein each retaining element of the pair of retaining elements is disposed within and extends outward from a respective notch of the pair of notches, wherein each retaining element of the pair of retaining elements is connected to the enclosure, and each retaining element of the pair of retaining elements is configured to engage with the respective notch of the pair of notches to arrest movement of the electrode cell with respect to the enclosure (see Fig. below). PNG media_image1.png 728 984 media_image1.png Greyscale 3. Although Kajitani does not use the same language as claimed, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kajitani for the benefit of battery with enhanced energy density [0004]. 4. Claims 3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kajitani et al. (US20140079984) as applied to claim 1 in view of Byun et al. (US20150072173) 5. Regarding claims 3 and 5, the complete discussion of Kajitani as applied to claim 1 is incorporated herein. However, they are silent about the limitations of claims 3 and 5. 6. Byun teaches an additional notch and retaining element in addition to the first pair of notches and first pair of retaining element (see Fig. below) and it would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art as of the filing of the present application, elements (notches and retaining element) described in connection with a particular embodiment may be used (a second pair) with features [0072] for the benefit of rechargeable battery pack that may have enhanced durability with respect to external impacts of the rechargeable battery pack [0071]. PNG media_image2.png 768 854 media_image2.png Greyscale 7. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kajitani’s teachings with Byun’s second pair of notches and second pair of retaining element for the benefit of rechargeable battery pack that may have enhanced durability with respect to external impacts of the rechargeable battery pack [0071] 8. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kajitani et al. (US20140079984) as applied to claim 1 in view of Hur et al. (US20190326567) 9. Regarding claim 7, the complete discussion of Kajitani as applied to claim 1 is incorporated herein. However, they are silent about the limitations of claim 7. 10. Hur teaches adhesive member 151 may include, for example, a first adhesive layer attached to a lower surface of the battery 150 that faces a second direction, a second adhesive layer attached to the first surface 10 of the battery mounting part 121, and a base layer disposed between the first adhesive layer and the second adhesive layer [0044] for the benefit of a battery mounted in a battery mounting part that is provided as a physical fixing means in the electronic device [0002]. 11. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kajitani with the teachings of Hur for the benefit of a battery mounted in a battery mounting part that is provided as a physical fixing means in the electronic device. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLATUNJI GODO whose telephone number is (571)272-3104. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am - 5:30 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, Nicholas Smith can be reached on 571-272-8760. 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. /OLATUNJI A GODO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 15, 2022
Application Filed
Jan 17, 2023
Response after Non-Final Action
Apr 17, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Jul 30, 2025
Interview Requested
Aug 11, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Aug 19, 2025
Response Filed
Oct 02, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Nov 29, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103
Mar 03, 2026
Interview Requested

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12603346
THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12603318
DISTRIBUTED LARGE-SCALE SYSTEM OF ALL-VANADIUM REDOX FLOW BATTERY
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12597591
ELECTRODE FOR SECONDARY BATTERIES, AND SECONDARY BATTERY
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12597623
GENERATING POWER FROM RECYCLED HYDROCARBON GAS
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12597616
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING HYDROGEN STACK CURRENT AND LOAD
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

2-3
Expected OA Rounds
86%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+8.9%)
2y 3m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1106 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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