Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/551,914

SUPPORT JACK COMPRISING A SUPPORT FOOT AND A FORCE MEASURING ELEMENT

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 22, 2023
Examiner
WILSON, LEE D
Art Unit
3723
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
Jost-Werke Deutschland GmbH
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 11m
To Grant
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allow Rate
1458 granted / 1824 resolved
+9.9% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+18.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
34 currently pending
Career history
1858
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
25.7%
-14.3% vs TC avg
§102
48.9%
+8.9% vs TC avg
§112
19.9%
-20.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1824 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim(s) 1-2 and 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peverler 6099016 in view Schmucker et al 2009/0194751 A1. Peveler discloses the claimed invention except for a force measuring element. 1. (Currently Amended) A support jack comprising;a support foot 54 [[(60)]] and a force measuring element [[(10)]], wherein the support jack has an outer tube 20 [[(20)]] and an inner tube 22 [[(30)]] movably mounted therein, and the support foot [[(60)]] is pivotably secured to the inner tube [[(30)]] by wherein the force measuring element [[(10)]] is attached to the foot receiving element [[(40)]]. 2. (Currently Amended) The support jack according to claim 1, wherein a force is determined by This is the natural function of a strain gauge displacement. 14. (Currently Amended) The support jack according to claim 1,wherein the force measuring element [[(10)]] is a strain gauge application 35 [[(12)]]. 15. (Currently Amended) The support jack according to claim 14, 35 [[(12)]] is applied to an upper and/or lower side Schmucker et al disclose a support jack having a force measuring element 35 which determines the force and weight of a workpiece and it would have been obvious to place the force measuring element of the base on the base by modifiying the Peverler device which allows the device to measure the force and weight to the yield the predictable result of measuring weight. KSR Claim(s) 3-4 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the modified Peverler 6099016 as applied to claims 1-2 above, and further in view of Alguera Gallego et al 6513783. The modified Peverler discloses the claimed invention except two bearing pins. Alguera Gallego et al disclose a support jack having a foot including two bearings projecting outward which show an alternative holder for a rotating foot and it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time invention filed to have modified the Modified Peverler device by providing a substitute alternative structure for holding the foot yielding the predictable result having holder with two bearing.KSR PNG media_image1.png 690 750 media_image1.png Greyscale PNG media_image2.png 691 750 media_image2.png Greyscale Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4-13, 16, and 18-20 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 claims are allowed because of the combination of limitations found in the claims and configuration and components that are required in the combination of limitations. The isolation of limitations would NOT portray accurately the patentability of the claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The 892 form discloses prior art being made of record. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LEE D WILSON whose telephone number is (571)272-4499. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 6;30-4;30. 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, BRIAN KELLER can be reached at 571-272-8548. 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. LEE D. WILSON Examiner Art Unit 3723 Ldw /LEE D WILSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723 November 5, 2025
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 22, 2023
Application Filed
Nov 05, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §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
80%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+18.6%)
2y 11m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1824 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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