Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/600,450

CONTROLLER FOR A PERMANENT MAGNET MACHINE

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Mar 08, 2024
Examiner
MASIH, KAREN
Art Unit
2846
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 1m
To Grant
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allow Rate
904 granted / 996 resolved
+22.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
1021
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
§103
54.1%
+14.1% vs TC avg
§102
11.2%
-28.8% vs TC avg
§112
16.9%
-23.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 996 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Drawings The drawings are objected to because Figure 3 boxes 310,320,300,330 and figure 4 boxes 400, 410,420,430,440 need to be labelled descriptively with text. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. Claim(s) 1-6, 10,11,12,14,16,17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Popek et al (11509255) in view of CN102539988. Popek et al discloses an apparatus comprising a controller for a permanent magnet machine, the controller configured to monitor a characteristic value of power transfer to permanent magnet machine and compare monitored characteristic value, see abstract and detailed description paragraph 7 and claim 8. Popek et al lacks disclosing characteristic threshold and indicate short circuit error in response to monitored characteristic value meeting characters threshold. CN102539988 discloses threshold and indicate short circuit error in response to monitored characteristic value meeting characteristic threshold, see abstract and claim. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the apparatus of Popek et al with characteristic threshold for short circuit error for improved control. With respect to claim 2 , claim 8 of Popek et al discloses permanent magnet machine to rest in response to short circuit error, claim 3 disconnect permanent magnet in disclosed in claim 8 popek et al , claim 4 current is disclosed in paragraph 7 of Popek et al, claim 5 total current is disclosed in paragraph 7 of Popek et al, claim 6, q axis current is disclosed in paragraph 7 of Popek et al, claim 10 machine is motor, is disclosed paragraph 8 Popek et la, claim 11 motor torque is a function of current , claim 12 motor ca act as generators , claim 14 paragraph 4 of Popek et al discloses aircraft power system, claim 16 as well paragraph 4 popek et al aircraft system, claim 17 discloses same as claim 1 . Claim(s) 13,16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pope ketal in view of CN102539988 as applied to claim1-6,10,11,12,14,16,17 above, and further in view of CN112217301 and JP6965725. As disclosed above lacks disclosing surface permanent magnet machine and dc power link and inverter . CN112217301 discloses paragraph 3 specification implementation surface permanent magnet machine . JP6965725 discloses dc power supply and inverter in paragraph 4 under configuration . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of claimed invention to combine apparatus of Popek et al and Cn 102539988 with JP6965725 inverter and power supply and surface permanent magnet machine of CN112217301 for improved control and high precision . Allowable Subject Matter Claims 7-9 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. Prior art does not disclose frequency of power transfer, current variance and when variance of current exceeds characteristic current variant, and frequency being lower than threshold . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN MASIH whose telephone number is (571)272-2068. The examiner can normally be reached m-f 8-5 with second Friday off. 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, Eduardo Colon Santana can be reached at 571-272-2060. 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. KAREN. MASIH Examiner Art Unit 2846 /KAREN MASIH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 08, 2024
Application Filed
Nov 25, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (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
91%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+6.7%)
2y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 996 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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