Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/595,826

VEHICLE BODY LOWER STRUCTURE

Non-Final OA §102§Other
Filed
Mar 05, 2024
Examiner
RESTIFO, JEFFREY J
Art Unit
3613
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 6m
To Grant
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allow Rate
832 granted / 1051 resolved
+27.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
6 currently pending
Career history
1057
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
48.1%
+8.1% vs TC avg
§102
46.4%
+6.4% vs TC avg
§112
3.6%
-36.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1051 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §Other
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 § 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) 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Uranaka et al. (US9,868,343 B2). With respect to claim 1, Uranaka et al. discloses a vehicle comprising a frame defined by a pair of side rails 24, a motor/generator 42 able to provide regenerative braking, a brake register or resistors 48 located below said rails and able to be air cooled by the outside air, as shown in figures 1 and 9. PNG media_image1.png 683 445 media_image1.png Greyscale PNG media_image2.png 467 675 media_image2.png Greyscale With respect to claim 2, Uranaka et al. discloses bracket 85, 86 for securing said brake registers to said frame rails below and spaced, as shown in figure 10. PNG media_image3.png 455 617 media_image3.png Greyscale With respect to claim 3, Uranaka et al. discloses radiators 44, 46 disposed outside the register, wherein refrigerant can flow to said registers or resistors, as shown in figure 1 and recited in col. 7, lines 55-67. Allowable Subject Matter Claim 4 is 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY J RESTIFO whose telephone number is (571)272-6697. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11am-8pm. 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, J. Allen Shriver can be reached at (303) 297-4337. 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. JEFFREY J. RESTIFO Primary Examiner Art Unit 3613 /JEFFREY J RESTIFO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 05, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §Other (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12594844
ELECTRIC WORK VEHICLE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12592445
ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM, VEHICLE, METHOD FOR FIXING AND POSITIONING A COMPONENT, AND PAIR OF WEDGE BODIES
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12589810
ENGINE COMPARTMENT MOUNTED STRUCTURE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12583333
BATTERY-POWERED DOLLY
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12573702
BRACKET ASSEMBLY FOR BATTERY PACK AND BATTERY PACK INCLUDING THE SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
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
79%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+10.5%)
2y 6m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1051 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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