Prosecution Insights
Last updated: September 17, 2026
Application No. 18/637,035

CONTROL FOR FLOOR SCRAPING MACHINE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Apr 16, 2024
Examiner
FLORES SANCHEZ, OMAR
Art Unit
3724
Tech Center
3700 — Mechanical Engineering & Manufacturing
Assignee
National Flooring Equipment Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
74%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
4m
Est. Remaining
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 74% — above average
74%
Career Allowance Rate
1284 granted / 1737 resolved
+3.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+14.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
1749
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.3%
-39.7% vs TC avg
§103
41.0%
+1.0% vs TC avg
§102
26.4%
-13.6% vs TC avg
§112
26.2%
-13.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1737 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION Election/Restrictions Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I in the reply filed on 6/29/26 is acknowledged. 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, 14, 22, and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being disclosed by Burk et al. (2023/0374802). Burk et al. discloses the invention including: Claim 1; a drive section 1 comprising a wheel 12; a blade positioning assembly 26 coupled to the drive section and comprising a rotatable blade holder 70; a control assembly comprising a first actuator assembly 30 configured to move the blade holder, and a first position sensor (see para. 0015) configured to send position signals indicative of the position of the blade holder. Claim 14; a controller 19 configured to receive first position signals from the first position sensor indicative of the position of the blade holder and transmit actuator control signals to the first actuator assembly. Claim 22; wherein said actuator assembly comprises an actuator selected from a group consisting of hydraulic linear actuators 254, hydraulic rotary actuators, electro-mechanical linear actuators, and electro-mechanical rotary actuators. Claim 23; wherein said floor stripper is a ride-on floor stripper (see para. 0052). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 24-70 are allowed. Claims 2-13 and 15-21 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR FLORES SANCHEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-4507. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday8:00-4:00 pm. 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, Adam Eiseman can be reached at 571-270-3818. 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. /OMAR FLORES SANCHEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3724
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 16, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 04, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12728512
CHISEL
3y 0m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12728336
RUST BLOCKER
2y 11m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12722320
BEAM HOLE PUNCHER
1y 9m to grant Granted Sep 01, 2026
Patent 12691541
ELECTRIC CUTTING TOOL
3y 8m to grant Granted Jul 28, 2026
Patent 12691600
MODULAR PERSONAL CARE IMPLEMENT
2y 5m to grant Granted Jul 28, 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
74%
Grant Probability
88%
With Interview (+14.3%)
2y 10m (~4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1737 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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