Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/256,928

BATTERY APPARATUS, CHARGER, AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jun 12, 2023
Examiner
FANTU, YALKEW
Art Unit
2859
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Sony Group Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allow Rate
862 granted / 1075 resolved
+12.2% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+15.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
30 currently pending
Career history
1105
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.4%
-38.6% vs TC avg
§103
47.7%
+7.7% vs TC avg
§102
26.3%
-13.7% vs TC avg
§112
7.8%
-32.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1075 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
CTNF 18/256,928 CTNF 81993 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. The instant application with Application Number 18/256,928 filed on 06/12/2023 is presented for examination. Information Disclosure Statment The Information Disclosure Statement dated 06/12/2023 is acknowledged and the cited references have been considered in this examination. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a1 ) as being anticipated by Motoyama et al. (JP2018-129281)(Hereinafter, Motoyama) . With respect to claims 1, 6 and 9 , Motoyama discloses a battery apparatus (Figs. 1-10) comprising: a housing including a first exterior surface (Fig. 1, 2-3) , a second exterior surface facing the first exterior surface (Fig. 1, 4) , a third exterior surface and a fourth exterior surface provided between the first exterior surface and the second exterior surface and facing each other (Para. # 0057-0058: The housing space of the enclosure 2 contains the separator 5, cells 6, 6, connecting plates 7, 8, 8, and circuit board 9 (see Figure 1), the separator 5 is attached to the storage case 4) , and a fifth exterior surface and a sixth exterior surface provided between the first exterior surface and the second exterior surface and facing each other (Para. # 0063-0064) ; a terminal portion including a connection terminal connected to an electrode PNG media_image1.png 557 795 media_image1.png Greyscale terminal of connection equipment (Para. # 0080, 0089-0090: The connection terminals 35, 35, and 35 function as a positive terminal, a negative terminal, and an information terminal, respectively, and are arranged either from left to right as positive terminal) ; a placement recessed portion provided in one of the third exterior surface and the fourth exterior surface and being open in a connection direction between the connection terminal and the electrode terminal (Para. # 110: The terminal connection portion 59 has a holding portion 60 made of a non-conductive material and electrode terminals 61, 61, 61 made of a conductive material, and the electrode terminals 61, 61, 61 are held by the holding portion 60 in) , the terminal portion being placed in the placement recessed portion (Para. # 124) ; multiple first guide recessed portions provided in the one of the third exterior surface and the fourth exterior surface and being open in the connection direction (Para. # 120, 122); a second guide recessed PNG media_image2.png 525 774 media_image2.png Greyscale portion provided in the fifth exterior surface and being open in the connection direction; and a third guide recessed portion provided in the sixth exterior surface and being open in the connection direction ( Para. # 131-132: The first guide engagement portion 87 is formed as a projection extending in the front and rear directions; The second guide engagement portion 88 is formed as a projection extending forward and backward, and is located at the same height as the first guide engagement portion 87. The third guide engagement portion 89 consists of an engagement portion 89a extending in the front rear direction and a vertical wall portion 89 ) . With respect to claim 2, Motoyama discloses the battery apparatus as described above, wherein at least one of an opening area of the second guide recessed portion and an opening area of the third guide recessed portion increases in the connection direction (Para. # 0131: the first guide engagement portions 87, the second guide engagement portions 88, 88, and the third guide engagement portions 89, 89 all protrude from the opposing surfaces 84, 84b in a direction that brings them closer to each other). With respect to claims 3 and 7, Motoyama discloses the battery apparatus as described above, wherein an opening area of at least one of the multiple first guide recessed portions increases in the connection direction Para. # 164: in the battery 1, the arrangement recess 27 is open in the direction of connection to the electrode terminals 61 and 95 of the connection terminal 35) . With respect to claims 4 and 8, Motoyama discloses the battery apparatus as described above, wherein the multiple first guide recessed portions are provided on opposite sides of the placement recessed portion (see Fig. 7; Para. # 74: recessed area 27 is formed at the front end of the bottom portion 21) . With respect to claim 5, Motoyama discloses the battery apparatus as described above, wherein the connection equipment is a charger (Para. # 80: a positioning groove for positioning relative to a charger or the like, or a detection groove for detecting the connection status) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 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. 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-fti The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over, Motoyama in view of Harris et al. (US 2018/0190960) . With respect to claim 10 , Motoyama discloses a battery apparatus comprising: a housing including a first exterior surface, a second exterior surface facing the first exterior surface. Motoyama, however, does not expressly disclose the electronic equipment is a mobile body. Harris, on the other hand, discloses the electronic equipment is a mobile body (Para. # 0177: electrical system 100 (and/or battery pack 110 and/or interconnect assembly 120) may desirably be utilized in connection with an electric vehicle or item of mobile industrial equipment, for example an automobile, tractor, truck, trolley, train). MOTOYAMA and Harris are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor namely Battery and connection apparatus and system and method for battery structure and interconnection. At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the battery structure connected or support for mobile electronics to the battery and connection apparatus of Motoyama in view of Harris for supplying battery power to a mobile body, such as electric vehicle for the benefit of sufficient electric power without stopping on the road for refill and save time and insecurity. With respect to claim 11 , the combined references of Motoyama and Harris disclose the battery apparatus as described above, further Harris discloses wherein the mobile body is a drone ( Par. # 179: electrical system 100 (and/or battery pack 110 and/or interconnect assembly 120) may desirably be utilized in connection with an electric vehicle or item of mobile industrial equipment, for example an automobile, tractor, truck, trolley, train, van, quad, golf cart, scooter, boat, airplane, drone, forklift, telehandler, backhoe, and/or the like). Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM. 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, Taelor Kim can be reached at 571-270-7166. 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. /YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/256,928 Page 2 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/256,928 Page 3 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/256,928 Page 4 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/256,928 Page 5 Art Unit: 2859
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 12, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

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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
80%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+15.9%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1075 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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