Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/720,707

POWER CONVERSION APPARATUS AND AIR CONDITIONER

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jun 17, 2024
Examiner
PEREZ, BRYAN REYNALDO
Art Unit
2838
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 5m
To Grant
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allow Rate
595 granted / 712 resolved
+15.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +14% lift
Without
With
+14.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
34 currently pending
Career history
746
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
52.7%
+12.7% vs TC avg
§102
34.2%
-5.8% vs TC avg
§112
9.8%
-30.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 712 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . This non-final office action is responsive to Applicants' application filed on 06/17/24. Claims 1-8 are presented for examination and are pending for the reasons indicated herein below. 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 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. 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 1-2 and 7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (US 20180191288 A1) Regarding claim 1. Li teaches a power conversion apparatus [fig1] comprising: a rectifier [2] to rectify an alternating-current voltage input from an alternating-current power supply to convert the alternating-current voltage into a direct- current link voltage [i.e. 1 to 3]; a capacitor [3] to be charged with the direct-current link voltage converted by the rectifier; a power applier [4] to convert the direct-current link voltage with which the capacitor is charged into an alternating-current voltage by switching the direct-current link voltage, and output the alternating-current voltage to a load [5]; and a power-applier controller [6] to control the power applier, wherein the power-applier controller controls the power applier such that a second beat [beat 41 after 0.4s in fig 8b] is superimposed on a load current [imposed in 40, fig 8a], the second beat having a second frequency [beat 41 after 0.4s in fig 8b has a second frequency] different from a first beat [beat 41 before 0.4s in fig 8b] having a first frequency included in the load current [i.e. rippled current shown in 40 before 0.4s], and the second beat having at least one of an amplitude or a phase aligned [i.e. interpreted as correcting] with the first beat [See fig 8b with 8a after time 0.4 is shown that second beat 41 puts 40 into a corrected state relative to one and another]. Regarding claim 2. Li teaches the power conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the power-applier controller includes: a cancellation voltage calculator [10 with 12 with 15 with 19 and hereinafter as A, fig 4] to detect at least one of an amplitude or a phase of a first beat included in the load current [¶39-¶41], calculate a second beat in which at least one of an amplitude or a phase is aligned with the detected first beat, and output a voltage command [output of cited A] including the calculated second beat as a cancellation voltage [i.e. suppression voltage to 14]; and a switching signal generator [18] to correct a command value such that the second beat is superimposed, based on a cancellation voltage input from the cancellation voltage calculator [function of 18]. Regarding claim 7. Li teaches an air conditioner comprising: the power conversion apparatus according to claim 1; a refrigeration cycle device; and a blower [¶66]. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3-6 and 8 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, and if the claim objections stated above were overcome. Examiner Note The examiner cites particular columns and lines numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bryan Perez whose telephone number is (571)272-8837. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon.-Fri. (7:30 – 5:00). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Crystal Hammond, can be reached on (571) 270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). /BRYAN R PEREZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 17, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12602070
VOLTAGE REFERENCE CIRCUIT AND A POWER MANAGEMENT UNIT
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12597858
CONTROL OF A DC-DC CONVERTER TO SUPPLY A CONSTANT CURRENT TO A PULSED LOAD
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12592643
POWER ADAPTER POWER DELIVERY
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12592661
POWER CONVERSION DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12580494
INVERTER, METHOD OF CONTROLLING INVERTER, PROGRAM OF CONTROLLING INVERTER
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 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
98%
With Interview (+14.3%)
2y 5m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 712 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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