Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/700,702

EXTERNALLY EXCITED ELECTRIC SYNCHRONOUS MACHINE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Apr 11, 2024
Examiner
MASIH, KAREN
Art Unit
2846
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Mahle International GmbH
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 1m
To Grant
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allow Rate
904 granted / 996 resolved
+22.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 1m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
1021
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.9%
-35.1% vs TC avg
§103
54.1%
+14.1% vs TC avg
§102
11.2%
-28.8% vs TC avg
§112
16.9%
-23.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 996 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 . Drawings The drawings are objected to because Fig 2 box 24 , fig 5 box 39 and fig 6 box 40 need to be labelled descriptively with text . Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. 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) 1,2,5,10-15,17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DE102014201903 cited by Applicant . DE 102014201903 discloses in fig 1 an externally excited electric synchronous machine copsing a machine rotor (LER) including a rotor shaft and machine rotor coil non rotatably arranged on rotor shaft , machine rotor coil (LER) a magnetic rotor filed during operation and machine rotor coil including first rotor terminal and second rotor coil terminal , machine stator including stator coil fixed relative to machine stator , the at least one machine stator coil providing magnetic stator field during operation which interacts with rotor field such that machine rotor rotates about an axial axis of rotation during operation, a transformer secondary coil ( L1R) configured to electrically supply machine rotor coil , the transformer secondary coil non rotatably fixed to machine rotor, rectifier circuit (2R) connected between transformer secondary coil and machine rotor coil , rectifier circuit configured to convert a transformer voltage induced in transformer secondary coil into a dc voltage during operation , rectifier circuit including a first rectifier terminal and second rectifier terminal, a protection circuit (3R) configured to protect rectifier circuit from overvoltage the protection circuit including a first protection terminal connected to first rectifier terminal an second protection terminal connected to second rectifier terminal, first protection terminal connected to first rotor coil terminal and second protection terminal connected to second rotor coil terminal such that protection circuit is connected in parallel between machine rotor and rectifier circuit , a switch ( T1R) arranged between second rectifier terminal and second protection terminal and trigger circuit( L2R) connected to switch and configured to open switch for demagnetizing machine rotor coil . See Fig 1 and paragraphs 27-57 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. Claim(s) 3,4,6,7,8,9,16,20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE102014201903 as cited above in view of DE102014209607 disclosed by Applicant and Frampton et al (2016/0149528). DE102014201903 as disclosed above lacks voltage divider and wireless and ammeter . DE102014209607 discloses in fig 4 voltage divider . Frampton et al discloses wireless paragraph 235 and ammeter in background paragraph 4 . It would have been obvious to one before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the synchronous machine of DE 102014201903 with voltage divider of DE102014209607 and ammeter and wireless of Frampton et al for improved control . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN MASIH whose telephone number is (571)272-2068. The examiner can normally be reached m-f 8-5 with second Friday off. 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. /KAREN MASIH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2846
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 11, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 19, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

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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
91%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+6.7%)
2y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 996 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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