Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 04, 2026
Application No. 18/271,554

WIRING MODULE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jul 10, 2023
Priority
Jan 19, 2021 — JP 2021-006349 +1 more
Examiner
MARTIN, ANGELA J
Art Unit
1727
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
68%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 2m
Est. Remaining
35%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 68% — above average
68%
Career Allowance Rate
588 granted / 870 resolved
+2.6% vs TC avg
Minimal -32% lift
Without
With
+-32.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 12m
Avg Prosecution
79 currently pending
Career history
949
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
64.4%
+24.4% vs TC avg
§102
25.9%
-14.1% vs TC avg
§112
7.9%
-32.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 870 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. The Applicant amended the claims with a preliminary amendment on claims 4, 5, 7-13, The pending claims are claims 1-13. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1-1 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ichikawa et al., US 2020/0020918 . Regarding claim 1 , Ichikawa et al., teaches a wiring module (bus bar module; 0007) (wire routing member; 0051) that is attached to a plurality of power storage elements (power source; 0048) , comprising: a circuit board (circuit body configured by a flexible board; 0009) (0051-0052 ; 0073 ) ; an electric wire (0018; 0113) ; and a protector configured to hold the circuit board and the electric wire (0045-0047) , wherein a conductive path is routed on the circuit board (0057; 0082) , and the conductive path includes a connection land (connection portion; 0013 ; 0033 ) (connector; 0052) that is electrically connected to an electrode terminal (0082) of a power storage element (power source; 0048), among the plurality of power storage elements, an electric wire land (0018) that is connected to one end of the electric wire (0018) , and a fuse portion (0084-0085; 0090-0091) provided between the connection land and the electric wire land (0006; 0018) . Regarding claim 2 , Ichikawa et al., teaches wiring module according to wherein each of the power storage elements (power source; 0048) is a laminated battery (0019-0020) , and the plurality of power storage elements (power source; 0048) are provided with a joining portion (0050; 0056; 0060) where the electrode terminals (0082) of the adjacent laminated batteries are electrically connected to each other (0082) . Regarding claim 3 , Ichikawa et al., teaches further comprising a sub-terminal (“densely connected to the connector”; 0082) that electrically connects the electrode terminal and the connection land to each other (“ wiring patterns 204a are densely connected to the connector 212 as described above, the points of contact between the terminals incorporated in the connector 212 and the upper side wiring patterns 204a are also dense ”; 0082) . Regarding claim 4 , Ichikawa et al., teaches further comprising two busbars (bus bars 25; 0051; 0060) (Fig. 3) each configured to connect a corresponding connection land to a corresponding one of the electrode terminals (0082) that are provided at two end portions of the plurality of power storage elements (0079) and do not form the joining portion (0073) . Regarding claim 5 , Ichikawa et al., teaches wherein the protector includes an electric wire locking portion configured to lock the electric wire ( “lock”; “ the portion of coupling of the front side portion 41 and the rear side portion 42 are closed so that the inside and outside of the cover 40 do not communicate with each other. ”) (0117) . Regarding claim 6 , Ichikawa et al., teaches wherein two of the electric wire locking portions are provided on each electric wire land, and are disposed on two sides of the electric wire land (“the portion of coupling of the front side portion 41 and the rear side portion 42 are closed so that the inside and outside of the cover 40 do not communicate with each other.”) (0117). Regarding claim 7 , Ichikawa et al., teaches wherein the circuit board (circuit body configured by a flexible board; 0009) (0051-0052; 0073); includes a locked portion, and the protector includes a board locking portion configured to lock the locked portion (“closed portion” is the “locked portion”) (“the portion of coupling of the front side portion 41 and the rear side portion 42 is closed so that the inside and outside of the cover 40 do not communicate with each other. As a consequence, even if the cover 40 stretches or shrinks, the condition where the circuit body 20 and the bus bars 25 are protected from the outside can be maintained.”; 0104). Regarding claim 8 , Ichikawa et al., teaches further comprising a connector connected (connection portion; 0013; 0033) (connector; 0052), wherein the connector is held to another end of the electric wire (0018; 0113); by the protector (0019; 0021; 0046-0047) . Regarding claim 9 , Ichikawa et al., teaches wherein the fuse portion is constituted by a chip fuse (0084; 0091-0094) that is soldered to the conductive path of the circuit board (0009; 0018 ; 0075-0076 ) . Regarding claim 1 0 , Ichikawa et al., teaches the circuit board is a flexible printed circuit board circuit board (circuit body configured by a flexible board; 0009) (0051-0052; 0073); and the fuse portion is constituted by a pattern fuse (0084-0085; 0090-009 4 ) . Regarding claim 1 1 , Ichikawa et al., teaches including the circuit board (circuit body configured by a flexible board; 0009) (0051-0052; 0073) provided with more than one of each of the connection land (connection portion; 0013; 0033) (connector; 0052) , the electric wire land (0018; 0113) , and the fuse portion (0084-0085; 0090-0091) . Regarding claim 1 2 , Ichikawa et al., teaches a wiring module (bus bar module; 0007) (wire routing member; 0051) that is attached to the front and rear of the plurality of power storage elements that are elongated in a front-rear direction (0039-0040; 0065; 0096) , and includes the electric wire routed extending in the front-rear direction (0018; 0096; 0102; 0113) . Thus, the claims are anticipated. 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) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichikawa et al., US 2020/0020918 , in view of Kim et al., KR 101729957 . Regarding claim 13, Ichikawa et al., teaches a vehicle wiring module (bus bar module; 0112-0113). Ichikawa does not teach vehicle wiring module to be used mounted in a vehicle. Kim et al., teaches a vehicle wiring module (0034), a bus bar module (0007 ), as a bus bar is employed in a vehicle (0005) to distribute power (0005) efficiently across multiple circuits (0013; 0037) in a vehicle (Kim et al., KR 101729957; (0007-busbar; 0034-wiring board; 0005-vehicles) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art because it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to employ “ In particular, in vehicles using batteries, the battery, a busbar for supplying power from the battery to the main board, and a circuit board formed with a switching part for supplying power to the main board are connected by lead wires (0005). Conclusio 7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT ANGELA J MARTIN whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-1288 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 7am-4pm . 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 Barbara Gilliam can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-1330 . 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. FILLIN "Examiner Stamp" \* MERGEFORMAT ANGELA J. MARTIN Examiner Art Unit 1727 /ANGELA J MARTIN/ Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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Prosecution Timeline

Jul 10, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 26, 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
68%
Grant Probability
35%
With Interview (-32.3%)
3y 12m (~1y 2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 870 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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