Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/535,872

COMPONENT FOR HUMAN-POWERED VEHICLE AND ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLYING SYSTEM FOR HUMAN-POWERED VEHICLE

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
Dec 11, 2023
Examiner
ENGLISH, JAMES A
Art Unit
3614
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Shimano Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
89%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allowance Rate
944 granted / 1166 resolved
+29.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+8.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 0m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
1183
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
48.7%
+8.7% vs TC avg
§102
22.8%
-17.2% vs TC avg
§112
25.5%
-14.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1166 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 . Election/Restrictions Claims 2 and 7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06/04/2026. 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 and 19 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 1 states the “component comprising … a first battery and an electric power supply source”. Claim 12 then states “electric power from both of the first battery and the electric power supply source is receivable by the component”. Since the first battery and electric power supply source are the component, the claims reads electric power from both of the first battery and the electric power supply source is receivable by itself which renders the claim vague and indefinite. Claim 1 states the “component comprising … a first battery and an electric power supply source”. Claim 19 then states “the operating device sends an operation signal for operating the component via the electric power supply source to the component”. Since the electric power supply source is the component, the claims reads the operating device sends an operation signal for operating the component via the electric power supply source to itself which renders the claim vague and indefinite. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1, 3-6, 8-11 and 13-18 are allowed. Claims 12 and 19 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 1 includes the limitations of the first controller (74) being further configured to control the notification unit (72) and restrict notification of the first battery information and second battery information related to a second battery level of the second battery (44) in a case where the electrical part is supplied with electric power from the electric power supply source (50). (Figs. 8, 12.) The state of the prior art in Ichida et al. (US 2021/0061413) discloses changing the power supply from one battery to another when the first battery’s electric level is too low (paragraph 90) and Terada (JP 2001-114153 A; Machine Translation of Description ‘MTD’) discloses preventing from displaying average energy consumption value and the instantaneous energy consumption value simultaneously to prevent confusion but no prior art alone or in combination teaching restricting notification of the first battery information and second battery information related to a second battery level of the second battery in a case where the electrical part is supplied with electric power from the electric power supply source. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The references cited on the PTO-892 form disclose similar features of the claimed invention. Takeshita (JP 2019-137104 A) discloses a notification unit having two separate notification units where if the first notification into (14A) is turned off, the system uses the second notification unit (14B). (MTD paragraph 44.) Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES A ENGLISH whose telephone number is (571)270-7014. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Saturday. 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, Jason Shanske can be reached at 571-270-5985. 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. /JAMES A ENGLISH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3614
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 11, 2023
Application Filed
Aug 31, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
81%
Grant Probability
89%
With Interview (+8.0%)
2y 0m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1166 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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