Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/684,506

CART AND TRANSPORT DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102§Other
Filed
Feb 16, 2024
Examiner
RESTIFO, JEFFREY J
Art Unit
3613
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Fuji Corporation
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) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Velagapudi (US 12,371,257 B2). Velagapudi discloses a cart comprising a main body 32 with loading platform 24 and traveling wheel 34, coupling sections 37, bumper section 32, and detection sections 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, and 61, as shown in figures 3C, 3D, 4C, and 4D. PNG media_image1.png 717 410 media_image1.png Greyscale PNG media_image2.png 751 262 media_image2.png Greyscale Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1-5 and 7-16 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: In claim 1, the recitation of a cart system including a loading platform, a coupling section for determining a left and right direction on a lower side of the cart for engaging a transport vehicle, and a bumper section for determining a front to rear position, in combination with the rest of the recited structure defines over the prior art. The cited reference of Watt et al. ‘899, does not appear to disclose left and right coupling section for engaging the transport vehicle on a bottom side. Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.” 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

Feb 16, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 07, 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.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

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.

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