Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 16, 2026
Application No. 18/634,546

CONTROL APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Apr 12, 2024
Priority
Apr 14, 2023 — JP 2023-066651
Examiner
GRANT, ROBERT J
Art Unit
2859
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Toyota Motor Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
5m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allowance Rate
614 granted / 805 resolved
+8.3% vs TC avg
Strong +17% interview lift
Without
With
+17.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
836
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.3%
-38.7% vs TC avg
§103
64.9%
+24.9% vs TC avg
§102
27.5%
-12.5% vs TC avg
§112
5.4%
-34.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 805 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 § 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. Claims 1, and 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Penilla et al. (USPUB 2020/0006969). As to Claim 1, Penilla discloses a control apparatus that performs a user registration of a charging service, the control apparatus comprising a control unit that: displays a link that connects to a user registration site on a first server owned by a charging service operator that runs a charging stand on a display screen (Figure 8) of a vehicle when stopping of the vehicle is detected on an inner side of a predetermined zone including the charging stand (Paragraph 92); displays a registration screen in the user registration site on the display screen when the link is selected by a user that drives the vehicle (Paragraph 64); imports vehicle identification information saved in the vehicle or user identification information saved in a second server owned by an operator that provides a service other than charging to the user onto the registration screen (Paragraph 153-154); and completes the user registration when an examination result indicating that the user registration has been accepted and a registration button are displayed on the registration screen and the registration button is selected by the user (Paragraph 156-157). As to Claim 3, Penilla discloses the control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an input unit that accepts an input by a voice from the user; and an output unit that responds to the user by a voice (Paragraph 141). As to Claim 4, Penilla discloses the control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the output unit guides the link that connects to the user registration site to be selected and the user registration to be started by a voice when the input unit accepts an input by a voice wanting to use the charging stand from the user (Paragraph 141 Voice commands). As to Claim 5, Penilla discloses a control method executed by a control apparatus that performs user registration of a charging service, the method comprising: displaying a link that connects to a user registration site on a first server owned by a charging service operator that runs a charging stand on a display screen (Figure 8) of a vehicle when stopping of the vehicle is detected on an inner side of a predetermined zone including the charging stand (Paragraph 92); displaying a registration screen in the user registration site on the display screen when the link is selected by a user that drives the vehicle (Paragraph 64); importing vehicle identification information saved in the vehicle or user identification information saved in a second server owned by an operator that provides a service other than charging to the user onto the registration screen (Paragraph 153-154); and completing the user registration when an examination result indicating that the user registration has been accepted and a registration button are displayed on the registration screen and the registration button is selected by the user (Paragraph 156-157). 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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Penilla et al.. As to Claim 2, Penilla discloses the control apparatus according to claim 1, but does not expressly disclose wherein the user registration is removed when the vehicle is charged once. However, removal or deleting of data is well known in the art, and one having ordinary skill in the art would know to remove the data once user has finished in order to prevent unauthorized use or access to the account. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT J GRANT whose telephone number is (571)270-5820. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9am - 5:30pm. 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, Drew Dunn can be reached at (571)272-2312. 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. /ROBERT GRANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 12, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12763592
CHARGING CIRCUIT, CHARGING CONTROL METHOD, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE
3y 6m to grant Granted Oct 13, 2026
Patent 12752646
CHARGING CONNECTION DEVICE FOR DRONE
3y 6m to grant Granted Oct 06, 2026
Patent 12746848
POWER SUPPLY DEVICE
3y 3m to grant Granted Sep 29, 2026
Patent 12744398
Charging case capable of lighting up automatically
2y 11m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12734917
ELECTRIC WORK VEHICLE AND CHARGING METHOD
3y 4m to grant Granted Sep 15, 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
76%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+17.4%)
2y 11m (~5m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 805 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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