Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 16, 2026
Application No. 18/685,529

MOBILE DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MONITORING AN ELEVATOR SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Feb 22, 2024
Priority
Aug 31, 2021 — EU 21194063.0 +1 more
Examiner
IACOLETTI, MICHELLE M
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Inventio AG
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allowance Rate
432 granted / 506 resolved
+25.4% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+8.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
4 currently pending
Career history
511
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.0%
-36.0% vs TC avg
§103
41.6%
+1.6% vs TC avg
§102
23.9%
-16.1% vs TC avg
§112
23.8%
-16.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 506 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The Information Disclosure Statement filed 4/24/2026 contains a proceedings of a symposium that is 184 pages long. Meaningful consideration of this document is precluded by time constraints. Applicant is requested to point out sections of particular relevance. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 16, 21-24, 30-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Jussila et al (US 2021/10395041). Claims 16, 23, 24, 32: Jussila et al disclose a mobile [0009] device for monitoring an elevator system in a multi-level building, the elevator system including an elevator car movable, under control of an elevator controller of the elevator system, between floors of the building in an elevator shaft of the elevator system, the mobile device comprising: a screen adapted to display graphical information representing the elevator system (onsite mobile device); and wherein the mobile device communicates continuously with the elevator system to receive position data of the elevator car, the mobile device responding to the position data to continuously display on the screen a current position of the elevator car in the elevator shaft with respect to a position of at least one of the floors of the building (claim 6). Claim 24 is the corresponding method. Claims 21, 30: Jussila et al disclose the connection with at least one of a local network and a public network (claim 9). Claims 22, 31: Jussila et al teach communicating with the elevator controller to switch the elevator system between a normal operation mode and an inspection mode, and wherein when in the inspection mode of the elevator system movement of the elevator car is controlled manually by the mobile device (this would be necessitated by the manual rescue drive disclosed in the Abstract). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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. Claims 19 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jussila et al (US 2021/10395041). Claims 19, 27: Jussila et al teach the mobile device according to Claim 16 but appear silent to at least one of a start position and a target position of a booked travel of the elevator car being displayed on the screen. However, Jussila et al do disclose a video camera in the elevator car. It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the effective filing date of the instant application to expect the field of view of the camera to include the elevator panel, so that the rescue technician could view the status of the inputs given to the car by the stranded passengers. This would then include the target position of booked travel. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 17, 18, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29 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. Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHELLE M IACOLETTI whose telephone number is (571)270-5789. The examiner can normally be reached 8 am -5 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, Allana Bidder can be reached at 571 272 5560. 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. /MICHELLE M IACOLETTI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2877
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 22, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 15, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §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
85%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+8.6%)
2y 4m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 506 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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