Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/444,246

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONFIGURABLE ELECTRICAL INVERTER

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Feb 16, 2024
Examiner
MASIH, KAREN
Art Unit
2846
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
BORGWARNER, INC.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 1m
To Grant
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allow Rate
904 granted / 996 resolved
+22.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
1021
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
§103
54.1%
+14.1% vs TC avg
§102
11.2%
-28.8% vs TC avg
§112
16.9%
-23.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 996 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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, 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) 1-4,6,8-11,13,14,are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN109510446 in view of WO2022/054181 . Independent Claims 1 and 8 CN109510446 discloses system comprising an inverter configured to convert dc power from voltage source to ac owe to drive motor including a plurality of windings, wherein inverter includes first inverter to be connected to a first end of first winding of plurality of windings and fist end of third winding of plurality of winding , second inverter to be connected to fist end of second winding of plurality of windings and second end of fist winding of plurality of windings see figure. CN109519446 lacks disclosing third inverter to be connected to second end of third winding of plurality of windings and second end of second winding of plurality of windings, see #30 in fig 1 . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the two inverters of CN109510446 with third inverter of WO2022/054181 for improved control. With respect to claim 2,and 9 h bridge inverter is disclosed in CN109519466 fig 1, claim 1 . With respect to claim 3 and 10 and 11 , fig 1 of CN109519466 discloses connecting to windings . Breaker switch of claim 4 and 14 is disclosed in CN109519466 as G2 . Claim 6 and 13 is disclosed as controller #12 in WO2022/054181. Claim(s) 5,12,15,16 ,7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN109510446 in view of WO2022/054181 as applied to claim1-4,6-11,13,14,17 above, and further in view of JP710464262 . CN109510446 and WO2022054181 as disclosed above lack delta in claims 12 and 16 and and wye configuration in claims 15 and 5 as well as battery and bidirectional switch . JP710464262 discloses delta and wye configuration see abstract . Battery and bidirectional switch of claims 7 and 17 is disclosed as 70 and 54 respectively . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine the system of CN109510446 and WO2022/054181 with delta and wye configurations and battery and bidirectional switch of JP710464262 for improved control. 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)(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. Claim(s) 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP710464262. JP710464262 discloses operating an inverter circuit to configure a plurality of windings of motor in an open ended winding configuration, ( see under 1st embodiment , paragraph 31), the plurality of windings connectable to a fist multiple phase inverter of inverter circuit and second multi-phase inverter of inverter circuit, see fig 7 , #22,36, determine parameter associated with motor is beyond threshold value ( paragraph 22 under first embodiment ) , response to detecting that parameter is beyond threshold value, operating inverter circuit to configure plurality windings in a delta configuration aby connecting first end of first winding of plurality of windings with first end of third winding of plurality of windings , a first end of second wining of plurality of windings with second end of sit wing and second end of third winding with the second end of second winding, see abstract . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN MASIH whose telephone number is (571)272-2068. The examiner can normally be reached m-f 8-5 with second Friday off. 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, Eduardo Colon Santana can be reached at 571-272-2060. 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. /KAREN MASIH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 16, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 22, 2025
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
91%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+6.7%)
2y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 996 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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