Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/013,281

METHOD FOR TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRIC ENERGY, SUPPLY FACILITY, HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE AND SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jun 07, 2023
Examiner
PELTON, NATHANIEL R
Art Unit
2859
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Bsh Hausgeräte GmbH
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allow Rate
546 granted / 729 resolved
+6.9% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+18.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
33 currently pending
Career history
762
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.1%
-38.9% vs TC avg
§103
53.5%
+13.5% vs TC avg
§102
23.5%
-16.5% vs TC avg
§112
13.0%
-27.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 729 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. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/28/2022 and 09/04/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. Response to Amendment Acknowledgement is made of the preliminary amendment filed on 12/28/2022 in which claims 1-14 were canceled and claims 15-28 added. Therefore, claims 15-28 are pending for examination below. 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) 15-19, 21-26, and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Jung et al. [US 2016/0064959] . With respect to claims 15, 25-26, and 28 , Jung discloses a system [ Fig. 2 ] , comprising: a supply facility [ 200 ] for a household appliance [ par. 0176 ] and a household appliance for connection to said supply facility [ 100 ] ; said supply facility including: a terminal of an electrical connection to said household appliance [ 210 ] ; a controllable power source for providing electrical energy through said connection [ 220 ] ; and a processing facility configured: to delimit the electrical energy provided through said connection to a first predetermined amount [ fig. 3, transmission of 5V, par. 0128 ] , to determine a temporal progression of the electrical energy transmitted through said connection [ fig. 3; time gaps 320 and 330, i.e. an interval is a temporal progression ] , and to terminate the delimitation to the first predetermined amount when the temporal progression corresponds to a predetermined temporal progression [ fig. 3 during interval 340 the transmission of 5V ends and switches to 9V ] ; and said household appliance including: a terminal of said electrical connection to said supply facility [ 187 ] ; an electrical energy storage device [ 190 ] ; a controllable electric consumer configured to be operated with electrical energy from said connection [ 180 ] ; and a processing facility configured: to operate said consumer according to a predetermined sequence with electrical energy from said connection [ fig. 2 shows multiple consumers inside 180 at the VBUS, par. 0176 operating according to the sequence as shown in Fig. 3 ] , resulting in electrical energy transmitted through said connection following a temporal progression [ i.e. Fig. 3 is a timing diagram of signals and power transmitted from the power supply to the appliance ] ; and to charge said energy storage device by using the electrical energy from said connection [ par. 0124-0127 ] . With respect to claim 16 , Jung further discloses comprises delimiting the electrical energy provided through the connection to at least one of a predetermined electrical current or a predetermined electrical voltage [ fig. 3 shows 5V and/or 9V ] . With respect to claim 1 7 , Jung further discloses operating multiple electrical consumers of the household appliance according to the predetermined sequence [ Fig. 2 depicts multiple energy consumers inside of 180 and also battery 190 ] . With respect to claim 1 8 , Jung further discloses delimitating a current strength of the electrical energy provided through the connection to a predetermined value during the delimitation [ par. 0128 ] . With respect to claim 1 9 , Jung further discloses comprises increasing an electrical energy absorption of the consumer in a time delayed manner after switching-on the consumer [ as depicted in Fig. 3 the timing diagram shows an increase in power after an interval of time ] . With respect to claim 21 , Jung further discloses recognizing a type of the household appliance based on the temporal progression and adapting the electrical energy provided through the connection to the type of the household appliance after the termination of the delimitation to the first predetermined amount [ par. 0066 ] . With respect to claim 22 , Jung further discloses delimiting the electrical energy provided through the connection to a second predetermined amount during the adaptation of the electrical energy [ i.e. based on the type a fast charge is enable from 5V to 9V ] . With respect to claim 23 , Jung further discloses moving the household appliance to the supply facility to produce the connection [ i.e. fig. 2 depicts a physical connection and therefor the appliance needs to be moved to the supply in order to receive charging power ] . With respect to claim 24 , Jung further discloses charging an electrical energy storage device of the household appliance by using electrical energy transmitted through the connection, after terminating the delimitation to the first amount [ i.e. see battery 190 and “charging” ] . 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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. [US 2016/0064959] as applied above, and further in view of Yoon et al. [US 2021/0218070]. With respect to claim 20 , Jung fails to explicitly disclose switching-on the consumer during the predetermined sequence only during a predetermined duration. However, Yoon relates charging control for batteries and teaches switching-on the consumer during the predetermined sequence only during a predetermined duration [ par. 0017, 0039-0040, 0063; i.e. utilizes a wake-up signal/switch based on external connection ]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to modify Jung to include the switching on as taught by Yoon for the benefit of promotion power conservation (i.e. only consuming when connected). Claim(s) 2 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. [US 2016/0064959] as applied above, and further in view of Cohen et al. [US 2005/0156562]. With respect to claim 27 , Jung does not explicitly disclose wherein the household appliance is an autonomously drivable floor treatment machine. However, Cohen relates to an autonomous robot auto-docketing system wherein output contacts have voltage limited [ par. 0077, 0080-0081 ]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the instant invention to utilize Jung’s charging system including delimiting, operating, determining, and terminating with an autonomously drivable floor machine for the benefit of incorporating a fast charging operation without generating communication malfunctions as explicitly stated by Jung [ par. 0012-0015 ]. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT NATHANIEL R PELTON whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-1761 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 9am to 5pm . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Julian Huffman can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-2147 . 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. /NATHANIEL R PELTON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 07, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 11, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (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
94%
With Interview (+18.7%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 729 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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