Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 26, 2026
Application No. 18/666,588

TEMPERATURE DETECTION UNIT AND POWER STORAGE DEVICE

Non-Final OA §112
Filed
May 16, 2024
Priority
May 29, 2023 — JP 2023-088039
Examiner
SLIFKA, SARAH A
Art Unit
1759
Tech Center
1700 — Chemical & Materials Engineering
Assignee
Toyota Motor Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
6m
Est. Remaining
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allowance Rate
540 granted / 715 resolved
+10.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
738
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.1%
-38.9% vs TC avg
§103
55.5%
+15.5% vs TC avg
§102
17.4%
-22.6% vs TC avg
§112
22.7%
-17.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 715 resolved cases

Office Action

§112
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 § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites the limitation "the housing" in lines 5, 7, and 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-4 would be allowed, upon an overcoming of the indefiniteness rejection set forth above. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior art is considered to be JP2020-035612. JP2020-035612 teaches a temperature sensor 30 of a battery wiring module 10 including: a spring part in contact with a housing 11 in the state of being arranged between the housing 11 and a storage battery BT; and a temperature detection surface pressed against the storage battery BT by the reaction caused by the spring part pressing the housing 11. When, in the housing 11, a side facing the storage battery BT in the state where the housing is assembled to the storage battery BT is defined as the lower surface side of the housing 11, and the opposite side of the side facing the storage battery BT is defined as the upper surface side thereof, the housing 11 includes a temporary holding part 40 for temporarily holding the temperature sensor 30 on the upper surface side of the housing 11 (abstract; figure 1; claim 1). JP2020-035612 neither teaches nor renders obvious the instantly claimed housing. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SARAH A SLIFKA whose telephone number is (571)270-5838. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm EST. 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, Curtis Mayes can be reached at 571-272-1234. 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. /SARAH A. SLIFKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1759 August 25, 2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 16, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 28, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12770957
BATTERY AND ELECTRIC APPARATUS
3y 4m to grant Granted Oct 20, 2026
Patent 12770916
ION CONDUCTIVE SOLID AND ALL-SOLID-STATE BATTERY
3y 1m to grant Granted Oct 20, 2026
Patent 12770954
Composite Heating System, and Heating Method and Heating Apparatus Thereof
2y 11m to grant Granted Oct 20, 2026
Patent 12763400
BATTERY COOLING STRUCTURE FOR VEHICLE
3y 0m to grant Granted Oct 13, 2026
Patent 12763389
SENSOR UNIT AND SENSOR UNIT-EQUIPPED BATTERY WIRING MODULE
2y 11m to grant Granted Oct 13, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
76%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+11.3%)
3y 0m (~6m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 715 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month