Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/216,732

VEHICLE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jun 30, 2023
Examiner
RESTIFO, JEFFREY J
Art Unit
3613
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Ncr Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 6m
To Grant
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allow Rate
832 granted / 1051 resolved
+27.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
6 currently pending
Career history
1057
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
48.1%
+8.1% vs TC avg
§102
46.4%
+6.4% vs TC avg
§112
3.6%
-36.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1051 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 . Election/Restrictions Claims 7-9 and 19 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species and invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 1/20/26. 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) 1, 6, 10, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 1021 as being anticipated by Romary (US 7,475,809 B2). With respect to claims 1, 10, 11, Romary discloses a vehicle 14 with ATM 118, vehicle body 28, and ATM power source or battery (inherent), said ATM is supported by a floor of the vehicle, as shown in figures 1-3. PNG media_image1.png 362 746 media_image1.png Greyscale PNG media_image2.png 366 768 media_image2.png Greyscale With respect to claim 6, the facia of the ATM forms an outer surface of the body, as shown in figure 3. PNG media_image3.png 416 466 media_image3.png Greyscale 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) 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Romary, as applied to claim 11 above. With respect to claim 12, Romary does not disclose the vehicle as having an electric motor. The use of electrically driven vehicles are conventional in the art. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a motor in place of the engine in order to power the vehicle electronically and remove the need for gas. With respect to claim 13, Romary discloses a driver cabin 36 inherently with steering and brake control, as shown in figure 1. With respect to claim 14, Romary discloses a transparent windscreen in front of cabin 36, as shown in figure 1. With respect to claim 15, Romary discloses front and rear set of wheels 12, 16, as shown in figure 1. Claim(s) 2-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Romary, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Losi (US 4,861,049 A). Claims 2-5 recite specific dimension of width and height of the vehicle being similar to a conventional ATM. Romary discloses a vehicle as being a conventional road vehicle or truck width and height. Losi discloses a vehicle being dimensioned of a smaller size to accommodate a conventional ATM, specifically about two feet, as shown in figures 3 and 4, and recited in col. 2, lines 32-52. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have sized the vehicle of Romary similar to a conventional ATM size, or 1 meter-by-2.5 meters, as taught by Losi, in order to park the vehicle in smaller spaces for patrons. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY J RESTIFO whose telephone number is (571)272-6697. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11am-8pm. 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, J. Allen Shriver can be reached at (303) 297-4337. 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. JEFFREY J. RESTIFO Primary Examiner Art Unit 3613 /JEFFREY J RESTIFO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 30, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12594844
ELECTRIC WORK VEHICLE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12592445
ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM, VEHICLE, METHOD FOR FIXING AND POSITIONING A COMPONENT, AND PAIR OF WEDGE BODIES
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12589810
ENGINE COMPARTMENT MOUNTED STRUCTURE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12583333
BATTERY-POWERED DOLLY
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12573702
BRACKET ASSEMBLY FOR BATTERY PACK AND BATTERY PACK INCLUDING THE SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
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
79%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+10.5%)
2y 6m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1051 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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