Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 16, 2026
Application No. 18/695,415

ELECTRIC POWER CONVERSION DEVICE, MOTOR DRIVING DEVICE, AND REFRIGERATION CYCLE APPLICATION APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 26, 2024
Examiner
COOK, CORTEZ M
Art Unit
2846
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 2m
To Grant
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allow Rate
412 granted / 489 resolved
+16.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
15 currently pending
Career history
504
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.5%
-37.5% vs TC avg
§103
49.3%
+9.3% vs TC avg
§102
30.3%
-9.7% vs TC avg
§112
15.9%
-24.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 489 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION This office action is in response to claims filed on 03/26/2024. Claims 1-10 are pending. 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 03/26/2024, 08/08/2024, and 12/23/2024 were filed on and after the filing date of the application. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. 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 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shimomugi et al. US 20130342139 A1 (Hereinafter “Shimomugi”). Regarding Claim 1, Shimomugi teaches an electric power conversion device for supplying an output voltage to a load from output terminals (Fig. 1), comprising: a rectifier circuit (Fig. 1, 2) to rectify an AC voltage and to output a rectified voltage; a booster circuit (Fig. 1, 6) to supply the output voltage to the output terminals; a voltage detector (Fig. 1, 101) to detect the output voltage and to output a voltage detection value indicating the output voltage; and a controller (Fig. 1, 103), wherein the booster circuit has a reactor connected to the rectifier circuit, a smoothing capacitor to smooth the rectified voltage, thereby generating the output voltage, and a switching element to short-circuit the reactor during a conduction period which is a period of an ON state of the switching element, and the controller controls the conduction period of the switching element based on the voltage detection value so that a first pulsation frequency which is a frequency of pulsation of the output voltage is higher than a second pulsation frequency which is a frequency of pulsation of the rectified voltage ([0070]). Regarding Claim 9, Shimomugi teaches a motor driving device (Fig. 41) comprising: the electric power conversion device according to claim 1 (Fig. 1); and an inverter (Fig. 41, 90) to convert the output voltage to an AC voltage and to supply the AC voltage to a motor (Fig. 41, 91). Regarding Claim 10, Shimomugi teaches a refrigeration cycle application apparatus (Fig. 42) comprising: the motor driving device according to claim 9 (Fig. 41); and a refrigeration cycle device having a motor driven by the motor driving device ([0130]). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-8 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 The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Takigawa et al. US 20230090386 A1 teaches a short circuit 17 provided between the reactor 5 and the rectifier circuit 6. The short circuit 17 includes a short-circuiting switching element 16 and a diode bridge 15 connected in parallel with the short-circuiting switching element 16. Depending on an on operation of the short-circuiting switching element 16, the short circuit 17 performs a power supply short-circuiting operation that short-circuits the power supply voltage Vs applied via the reactor 5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CORTEZ M COOK whose telephone number is (571)270-7954. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30-5pm. 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, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached at 571-272-2060. 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. /CORTEZ M COOK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 26, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 11, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102
Apr 07, 2026
Response Filed

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12603593
MOTOR CONTROL DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12592662
ELECTRIC MACHINE DRIVE CALIBRATION, VERIFICATION, AND EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12559161
STEERING INPUT DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 24, 2026
Patent 12562665
System And Method For Motor Control Through Improved Location Measurement
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 24, 2026
Patent 12556048
METHOD FOR STARTING A ROTOR OF A CLAW POLE MOTOR
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 17, 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
84%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+6.7%)
2y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 489 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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