Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/488,156

SECONDARY BATTERY SYSTEM OF VEHICLE

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Oct 17, 2023
Priority
Nov 24, 2022 — JP 2022-187706
Examiner
DESTA, ELIAS
Art Unit
1725
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Toyota Motor Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allowance Rate
895 granted / 1066 resolved
+19.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+9.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
29 currently pending
Career history
1100
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
26.1%
-13.9% vs TC avg
§103
41.0%
+1.0% vs TC avg
§102
16.2%
-23.8% vs TC avg
§112
11.5%
-28.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1066 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 . IDS The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on October 17, 2023 and July 9, 2024 are being considered by the Examiner. Drawing The drawing filed on October 17, 2023 is accepted by the Examiner. Specification The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification. Claim rejection – 35 U.S.C. 112 In reference to claims 1-13: the instant claims are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document. For instance, the last step should read: “a processor controls a temperature of the battery based on information related to an average of external atmospheric pressure of the battery, traveling history of the vehicle, and information related to a present external pressure of the battery at the present position of the vehicle. With regard to claim 2: all the variables noted in the instant claim should be referred to claim 1 of the instant application as “said” or “the” variables as they are already been defined in the base claim 1. For instance, “the secondary battery system of a vehicle” should read “the secondary battery system”, and “an average of external atmospheric pressure” should be “said an average of external atmospheric pressures” or “the average of external atmospheric pressures” in order to form a proper antecedent bases in the claim(s). Similar amendment is appropriate for the other variables. With regard to claims 3-7: the instant claims depend on claim 2 and inherit the attributes of claim 2 and/or include similar issues. With regard to claim 8: all the variables noted in the instant claim should be referred to claim 1 of the instant application as “said” or “the” variables as they are already been defined in the base claim 1. For instance, “a traveling history of the vehicle” should be “said traveling history of the vehicle” or “the traveling history of the vehicle” in order to form a proper antecedent bases in the claim(s). Similar amendment is appropriate for the other variables. With regard to claims 9 and 10: the instant claims depend on claim 8 and inherit the attributes of claim 8 and/or include similar issues. With regard to claims 11-13: all the variables noted in the instant claim should be referred to claim 1 of the instant application as “said” or “the” variables as they are already been defined in the base claim 1. For instance, “The secondary battery system of a vehicle” should be “said the secondary battery of said vehicle” or “the secondary battery of the vehicle” in order to form a proper antecedent bases in the claim(s). Similar amendment is appropriate for the other variables. Art of Interest In reference to claims 1-13: Komiyama et al. (U.S. Patent No. 10,601,083, hereon Komiyama) discloses a discharging control system for a battery includes temperature sensing means configured to provide a temperature value associated with the battery. The system also includes voltage sensing means configured to provide a voltage value associated with the battery, pressure sensing means configured to provide a pressure value associated with an internal portion of the battery, and a controller. The controller is configured to determine, before a discharging process is started, a threshold pressure change associated with a discharge of the battery based on map data selected from a predetermined data map associated with the battery, monitor, during the discharging process, a present voltage value obtained by the voltage sensing means, a current pressure value, and a total pressure change based on the current pressure value obtained by the pressure sensing means. As a result, the system, permits continuation of the discharging process when the present voltage value falls below a first lower limit voltage value if the total pressure change is less than the threshold pressure change and the current pressure value is greater than a predetermined minimum threshold pressure (see Komiyama, abstract). The instant application differs in that “the differential pressure” is maintained between internal pressure between an internal pressure and external atmospheric pressure, the processor that controls a temperature of the battery based on information related to an average of external atmospheric pressure of the battery based on a traveling history of the vehicle, information related to a present external atmospheric pressure of the battery at a present position of the vehicle” Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Hermann et al. (U.S. Patent No. 8,059,007) a method and apparatus for determining when a battery, or one or more batteries within a battery pack, undergoes an undesired thermal event such as thermal runaway. Yoshida (U.S. Patent No. 8,173,315) discloses a method for detecting gas leakage in a fuel battery system including a fuel battery to which a reactive gas is supplied to generate power, and a gas passage which communicates with the fuel battery and in which a plurality of adjoining closed spaces are formed. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELIAS DESTA whose telephone number is (571)272-2214. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:30 to 5:00 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, Andrew M Schechter can be reached at 571-272-2302. 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. /ELIAS DESTA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Oct 17, 2023
Application Filed
May 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12681202
Determining Invaded Zones In Resistivity Logging
2y 10m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12657455
COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED PRE-PROCESSING METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING MACHINE LEARNING SIGNAL CLASSES SEPARABILITY, AND, NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM
4y 4m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12656515
Noise Reduction for Micro-Seismic Monitoring Using Deep Learning
3y 6m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12655744
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING A STATE OF A JOINT OF A DRILL STRING
3y 0m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12650529
METHOD OF DETERMINING EARTHQUAKE BY TIME SERIES INTERSECTION OF A PLURALITY OF SEISMOGRAPHS
3y 4m to grant Granted Jun 09, 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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
84%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+9.8%)
2y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1066 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