Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/501,247

METHOD OF MONITORING ASSEMBLY OF AN ELEVATOR AND APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §102§112
Filed
Nov 03, 2023
Priority
Jun 17, 2021 — continuation of PCTEP2021066468 +1 more
Examiner
COLON SANTANA, EDUARDO
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
KONE Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
71%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
6m
Est. Remaining
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 71% — above average
71%
Career Allowance Rate
153 granted / 215 resolved
+11.2% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+17.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
1 currently pending
Career history
216
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.4%
-37.6% vs TC avg
§103
70.9%
+30.9% vs TC avg
§102
21.0%
-19.0% vs TC avg
§112
5.1%
-34.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 215 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/3/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 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 U.S.C. 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 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 12 recites the limitation "the predefined assembly plan" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. 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) 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over AU 5708690A to Boral Johns Perry Industries provided in IDS filed. Claim 8 is directed to an apparatus as shown by AU 5708690A which teaches a lift shaft construction for an elevator (see figure 1). AU 5708690A discloses a prefabricated hoistway section (20) forming a hoistway space for an elevator car (see description), each hoistway section comprises at least one of a lower attachment interface and an upper attachment interface (see figure 1, row 10B) for attachment to a respective upper or lower hoistway section of an elevator hoistway. Furthermore, AU 5708690A discloses that the hoistway sections comprises a sensor device (sensing equipment (see page 4, lines 25-31) producing sensor data and inherently transmitting the sensor data. Examiner takes official notice that if the sensor is place in the prefabricated hoistway section it will inherently transmit data when the sensor is activated. On the other hand, if AU 5708690A is silent as to the transmitter being active during prefabrication of the hoistway section to transmit the sensor data, this feature would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention faced with a problem related to how to improved efficiency during prefabrication of the hoistway section, to provide the sensor apparatus with a sensor generating sensor data and a transmitter activated during prefabrication to transmit the sensor data, since this would constitute a conventional and routing implementation in the relevant technical field related to modular prefabricated hoistway sections. In regards to claim 9, AU 5708690A discloses that the sensor device has a positioning module producing sensor data including a position of the hoistway section (see page 4, lines 25-31). Referring to claim 10, since AU 5708690A discloses that the sensor device produces sensor data including a position, deriving acceleration based on the position of an object as a function of time would have been obvious, since finding the sensor data for acceleration only involves routine skill in the art. As to claim 11, the examiner takes official notice that the sensor data is stored in a data storage for use by either a general computer or server that will process the information as user demand related to elevator control installation. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-7 are allowed. Claim 15-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Claims 12-14 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure to further show the general state of the art. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDUARDO COLON SANTANA whose telephone number is (571)272-2060. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm. 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, Andrea Wellington can be reached at 571-272-4483 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. /EDUARDO COLON SANTANA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2837
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 03, 2023
Application Filed
Jun 17, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12617654
BRIDGE DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ELEVATOR
3y 6m to grant Granted May 05, 2026
Patent 12503336
OPERATING METHOD FOR AN ELEVATOR OPERATING DEVICE WITH A TOUCH-SENSITIVE SCREEN SYSTEM
3y 10m to grant Granted Dec 23, 2025
Patent 12341336
RELIABILITY IMPROVEMENT FOR SWITCH CONTROLLED MOTOR OPERATED DEVICES
9y 2m to grant Granted Jun 24, 2025
Patent 11858128
RAPID BRAKING SYSTEM FOR AN AUTONOMOUS MOBILE DEVICE
5y 6m to grant Granted Jan 02, 2024
Patent 11850947
Motor Vehicle
2y 1m to grant Granted Dec 26, 2023
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
71%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (+17.4%)
3y 3m (~6m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 215 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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