Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/362,841

MATERIAL SELECTION FOR A LOADING OPERATION PERFORMED BY A MACHINE

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Jul 31, 2023
Examiner
RAMESH, KRISHNAN
Art Unit
3663
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Caterpillar Inc.
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allowance Rate
450 granted / 558 resolved
+28.6% vs TC avg
Strong +18% interview lift
Without
With
+17.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
8 currently pending
Career history
570
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.1%
-35.9% vs TC avg
§103
66.3%
+26.3% vs TC avg
§102
18.0%
-22.0% vs TC avg
§112
2.9%
-37.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 558 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 . 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. Status of Claims Claims 1-5, 7-10, 12, 16-18 and 20-26 are pending and have been examined below. Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments and amendments with respect to 35 USC 101 and 103 have been considered and are persuasive. The rejections are withdrawn. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 USC 112(b): (B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 USC 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1-5, 7-10, 12, 16-18 and 20-26 are rejected under 35 USC 112(b) or 35 USC 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claims 1, 7 and 16 The term/phrase “prevent, based on receiving the response denying the identification selection, modification of the data structure” renders the claim indefinite. Since it is not necessarily the case that modification of the data structure occurs, specifically in the “denying” response, there doesn’t appear to be any need for prevention of modification of the data structure. Given the context, the following language appears to be more appropriate for the limitation: “maintain, based on receiving the response denying the identification selection, the data structure”. In the instance(s) above, one of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to determine the metes and bounds of the claims, thus rendering the claimed invention vague and indefinite. Correction is required. Claims dependent on the above claims do not remedy their deficiencies, so they are rejected for similar reasons. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner KRISHNAN RAMESH whose telephone number is (571)272-6407. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm. 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, Abby Flynn, can be reached at (571)272-9855. 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. /KRISHNAN RAMESH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3663
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 7 earlier events
Sep 10, 2025
Interview Requested
Sep 16, 2025
Examiner Interview Summary
Sep 16, 2025
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Sep 24, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 18, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Mar 25, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
May 07, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12680275
ACTIVATION SYSTEM OF WORK MACHINE AND ACTIVATION METHOD OF WORK MACHINE
2y 11m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12682412
BOAT RAMP OCCUPANCY INDICATOR SYSTEM AND METHOD
2y 5m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12677120
APPARATUSES, COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHODS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR CLEAR AIR TURBULENCE DETECTION
2y 3m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12660734
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF AN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT
3y 1m to grant Granted Jun 23, 2026
Patent 12643378
VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD, AUTOMATIC DOOR CONTROL METHOD, VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE, AND AUTOMATIC DOOR CONTROL DEVICE
1y 7m to grant Granted Jun 02, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
81%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+17.6%)
2y 5m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 558 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month