Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/332,900

MULTILAYER, FLEXIBLE, IMPACT AND PUNCTURE RESISTANT, FLUID IMPERVIOUS, DIELECTRIC INSULATOR SHEET FOR AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY PACK AND MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT THEREWITH

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jun 12, 2023
Priority
Jun 13, 2022 — provisional 63/351,616
Examiner
GODO, OLATUNJI A
Art Unit
1752
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allowance Rate
964 granted / 1121 resolved
+21.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+9.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 3m
Avg Prosecution
20 currently pending
Career history
1145
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
75.6%
+35.6% vs TC avg
§102
16.9%
-23.1% vs TC avg
§112
5.6%
-34.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1121 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schmidlin et al. (US 20220275249 filed 2/25/22) 2. Regarding claims 1-20, Schmidlin teaches multilayer, flexible, impact and puncture resistant, dielectric insulator sheet for an electric vehicle battery pack (As a flexible surround, the adhesive tape is able to wrap two or more leads at the same time and to conform to the shape of the cable bundle in the installation scenario [0192]; FIG. 2a shows a hybrid vehicle 201, HEV, FIG. 2b a plug-in hybrid 201, PHEV [0202]), comprising: a textile layer having generally planar opposite first and second sides (carrier 301 of woven fabric [0206]; textile carrier [0066]; It is noted that carrier 301 as textile layer in Fig. 4a has first and second sides); and a fluid impervious film fixed to said first side with an adhesive laminate including a polymeric film (second carrier on the adhesive layer (see claim 2); second carrier, where used, are more particularly synthetic polymers…such as polyethylene terephthalate [0067]; It is noted that second carrier comprising synthetic polymers is fluid impervious film) sandwiched between opposite first and second layers of adhesive material (If there are further layers of adhesive on the exposed surfaces of the first or second carrier [0113]), said first layer of adhesive material bonded to said textile layer (adhesive coated on the carrier material [0168]; first carrier 301 protrudes, with the adhesive layer 302 applied preferably over the full area [0205]) and said second layer of adhesive material bonded to said fluid impervious film (adhesive layer bearing a second carrier (abstract); second carrier on the adhesive layer (see claim 2); second carrier 303 [0207-0208]; second carrier, where used, are more particularly…made from synthetic polymers…such as polyethylene terephthalate [0067]; It is noted that second carrier comprising synthetic polymers is fluid impervious film). 3. Regarding claims 4, 5, 8, 17, Schmidlin teaches synthetic polymers…such as polyethylene terephthalate [0067]. Where the claimed and prior art products are identical or substantially identical in structure or composition, or are produced by identical or substantially identical processes, a prima facie case of either anticipation or obviousness has been established. In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977). (MPEP 2112.01) 4. Regarding claim 7, Schmidlin teaches wherein said woven layer includes weft direction multifilament yarn and warp direction multifilament yarn (In the case of woven fabrics, it is possible to use individual threads made from a blended yarn. Generally speaking, the warp threads and the weft threads are each made of a single type [0068]). 5. Regarding claim 9, Schmidlin teaches wherein said weft direction multifilament yarn is air texturized, and said warp direction multifilament yarn is air texturized and twisted (The filament may be textured or smooth and may have point strengthening or no strengthening [0070]; On twisting, the filaments may in particular have a number of turns, based on one meter of length (T/m) [0073]; Where the filaments are broken up while still in liquid form by a stream of hot air [0063]). 6. Regarding claims 10 and 19, Schmidlin teaches wherein said woven layer is woven having a densely woven plain weave pattern (The woven fabric may take the form of a plain weave, twill weave or satin weave, and also in the form of ripstop [0046]). 7. Regarding claims 11 and 18, Schmidlin teaches wherein said weft direction multifilament yarn and said warp direction multifilament yarn are polyamide 6 (Further possible variants include woven polyamide fabrics [0043]; Flexural stiffness, MD: the longer side of the test specimen extends parallel to the machine direction of the material or warp direction of the woven fabric [0232]). 8. Regarding claims 12 and 20, Schmidlin further including a self-adhesive layer bonded to a side of said fluid impervious film facing away from said textile layer (The bondability of the adhesive derives from its adhesive properties, and the redetachability from its cohesive properties [0114]; a further layer of adhesive, without offset, so that the side edges of the layers finish flush [0008]). 9. Regarding claims 13, Schmidlin wherein said self-adhesive layer is a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, and further including a release film releasably bonded to said pressure-sensitive adhesive layer (The adhesive is preferably a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA), in other words an adhesive which even under relatively weak applied pressure allows durable bonding to virtually all substrates and which after use can be detached from the substrate again substantially without residue [0114]). 10. Regarding claims 14 and 15, Schmidlin teaches an electric vehicle battery pack mounting arrangement (A hybrid electric vehicle is a vehicle with hybrid drive, namely an electrical vehicle which is driven by at least one electrical motor and also by a further energy converter and which draws energy both from its electrical store (battery) and from a fuel which is carried additionally [0018]; (FIG. 2a shows a hybrid vehicle 201 [0202]), comprising: a body member (see Fig. 2A); an electric vehicle battery pack (Both concepts have a high-voltage battery 204 [0203]); a metal mount bracket (inverter 203 [0203]) disposed between said body member and said electric vehicle battery pack; a fastener (motor lead harness 205 [0203]) disposed through said body member and through said metal mount bracket (inverter 203 [0203]) into fastened engagement with said electric vehicle battery pack (see Fig. below); and a multilayer insulator sheet (As a flexible surround, the adhesive tape is able to wrap two or more leads at the same time and to conform to the shape of the cable bundle in the installation scenario [0192]) comprising: a textile layer having generally planar opposite first and second sides (carrier 301 of woven fabric [0206]; textile carrier [0066]; It is noted that carrier 301 as textile layer in Fig. 4a has first and second sides); and a fluid impervious film fixed to said first side with an adhesive laminate including a polymeric film (second carrier on the adhesive layer (see claim 2); second carrier, where used, are more particularly synthetic polymers…such as polyethylene terephthalate [0067]; It is noted that second carrier comprising synthetic polymers is fluid impervious film) sandwiched between opposite first and second layers of adhesive material (If there are further layers of adhesive on the exposed surfaces of the first or second carrier [0113]), said first layer of adhesive material bonded to said textile layer (adhesive coated on the carrier material [0168]; first carrier 301 protrudes, with the adhesive layer 302 applied preferably over the full area [0205]) and said second layer of adhesive material bonded to said fluid impervious film (adhesive layer bearing a second carrier (abstract); second carrier on the adhesive layer (see claim 2); second carrier 303 [0207-0208]; second carrier, where used, are more particularly…made from synthetic polymers…such as polyethylene terephthalate [0067]; It is noted that second carrier comprising synthetic polymers is fluid impervious film). 11. Although the figures in Schmidlin do not show all the claimed component arrangements, 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 modify the arrangement of Schmidlin’s components for the benefit of safety-relevant systems in the motor vehicle [0020]. 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
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 12, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 31, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §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
86%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+9.1%)
2y 3m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1121 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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