Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/468,777

STORAGE METHOD

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Sep 18, 2023
Examiner
WALKER, KEITH D
Art Unit
1735
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Isuzu Motors Limited
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
35%
Grant Probability
At Risk
1-2
OA Rounds
5y 1m
To Grant
59%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants only 35% of cases
35%
Career Allow Rate
121 granted / 343 resolved
-29.7% vs TC avg
Strong +24% interview lift
Without
With
+23.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
5y 1m
Avg Prosecution
9 currently pending
Career history
352
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
53.7%
+13.7% vs TC avg
§102
17.2%
-22.8% vs TC avg
§112
22.0%
-18.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 343 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
DETAILED ACTION The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claims 1-6 are pending examination as discussed below. Priority Applicant’s claim of foreign priority of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119 (b) is acknowledged. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement s filed ha ve been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered as to the merits. Drawings The drawings received on 09/18/2023 are acceptable for examination purposes. 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. (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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being FILLIN "Insert either—clearly anticipated—or—anticipated—with an explanation at the end of the paragraph." \d "[ 3 ]" anticipated by JP2001-057711 (Fumio, cited in IDS) . Regarding claim 1, Fumio teaches a battery supply system where vehicle batteries in the vehicle are swapped at a storage site for charged batteries (Abstract). The storage space for the plurality of batteries is located underground and therefore since underground areas are known to be constant in their temperatures, the space is kept at a constant temperature ([0040-0042]). Note, the claims do not have any parameters for the constant temperature. Regarding claim s 2 -4 , the batteries are charged in the storage space and therefore are managed to be in a certain charged state . The removed batteries from the vehicles are charged in storage to be ready for use again ([0040-0042], [0052-0055] , [0062] ). Regarding claim 5, the charging method includes maintaining the charge of the battery and therefore measures the charge deterioration state of the battery ([0062, 0064]). The process also maintains various states of the battery, as in the disposal standard, which then would be another deterioration state. Regarding claim 6, the status of the batteries is monitored, including charge status and other predetermined characteristics, and if the characteristics are outside the allowable range, then the battery is disposed of or recycled. As such a battery that is deemed unfit and recycled is not selected to be installed in the vehicle and another charged battery is selected ([0044]). 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 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2001-057711 (Fumio, cited in IDS ) in view of US 2021/0132153 (Izumi). The teachings of Fumio as discussed above are incorporated herein. This alternative rejection is provided if the underground storage is not seen as anticipating the “constant temperature” limitation of claim 1. Regarding claim 1, Fumio teaches a battery supply system where vehicle batteries in the vehicle are swapped at a storage site for charged batteries (Abstract). The storage space for the plurality of batteries is located underground and therefore since underground areas are known to be constant in their temperatures, the space is kept at a constant temperature ([0040-0042]). Note, the claims do not have any parameters for the constant temperature. Fumio does not explicitly state that the storage site is kept at a constant temperature. Izumi teaches a battery storage and management system for vehicles, where the storage system is maintained at a constant temperature (Abstract, [0080, 0081, 0135]). This temperature regulation improves the life of the battery system and charging process. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the constant temperature storage feature of Izumi for the process of Fumio to improve the battery system maintenance. Regarding claims 2-4, the batteries are charged in the storage space and therefore are managed to be in a certain charged state. The removed batteries from the vehicles are charged in storage to be ready for use again ([0040-0042], [0052-0055], [0062]). Regarding claim 5, the charging method includes maintaining the charge of the battery and therefore measures the charge deterioration state of the battery ([0062, 0064]). The process also maintains various states of the battery, as in the disposal standard, which then would be another deterioration state. Regarding claim 6, the status of the batteries is monitored, including charge status and other predetermined characteristics, and if the characteristics are outside the allowable range, then the battery is disposed of or recycled. As such a battery that is deemed unfit and recycled is not selected to be installed in the vehicle and another charged battery is selected ([0044]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEITH WALKER whose telephone number is (571)272-3458 . The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday 8am - 4pm . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /KEITH WALKER/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1735
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 18, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 19, 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
35%
Grant Probability
59%
With Interview (+23.9%)
5y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 343 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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