Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 04, 2026
Application No. 18/415,650

VEHICLE, PREDETERMINED FACILITY, AND PROCESSING SYSTEM

Final Rejection §112
Filed
Jan 18, 2024
Priority
Jan 20, 2023 — JP 2023-007450
Examiner
TROOST, AARON L
Art Unit
3666
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
OA Round
3 (Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
4-5
OA Rounds
1m
Est. Remaining
85%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allowance Rate
543 granted / 729 resolved
+22.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
37 currently pending
Career history
766
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
15.6%
-24.4% vs TC avg
§103
44.7%
+4.7% vs TC avg
§102
17.9%
-22.1% vs TC avg
§112
18.7%
-21.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 729 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 . Status of Claims Claims 1-8 of US Application No. 18/415,650 are currently pending and have been examined. Applicant amended claims 1, 2, 7, and 8. Response to Arguments/Amendments The previous rejections of claims 1, 2, 4, and 7 under 35 U.S.C. 102 are withdrawn in consideration of amended independent claims 1, 7 and 8. The previous objections to claims 3, 5, and 6 as depending upon a rejected base claim are withdrawn. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a): (a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112: The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. The claim recites “wherein cooling or heating of the power storage device using the snow and ice heat or waste heat energy from the predetermined facility is cooling or heating of the power storage device by supplying power from the predetermined facility to the temperature control device”. However, the specification does not disclose, nor does a broadest reasonable interpretation support, supplying power to the temperature control device from the predetermined facility as a subset of using snow and ice heat or waste heat. Rather, the specification describes using ice/snow/waste heat from the facility as an alternative to providing power from the facility and consistently distinguishes using ice/snow/waste heat as supplying energy, not power. See ¶ [0012], [0054]. Therefore, claim 2 is new matter. Claim 3 is also rejected because it depends from claim 2. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1 and 4-8 are allowed. Conclusion Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AARON L TROOST whose telephone number is (571)270-5779. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30am-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, Anne Antonucci can be reached at 313-446-6519. 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. /AARON L TROOST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3666
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jan 18, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 27, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Aug 31, 2025
Response Filed
Dec 13, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §112
Mar 11, 2026
Response Filed
Apr 03, 2026
Final Rejection — §112 (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

4-5
Expected OA Rounds
74%
Grant Probability
85%
With Interview (+10.5%)
2y 5m (~1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 729 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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