Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 18, 2026
Application No. 18/754,685

INFORMATION HANDLING SYSTEM BATTERY CONNECTOR

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Jun 26, 2024
Examiner
ABRAMS, NEIL
Art Unit
2834
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 2m
To Grant
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allow Rate
805 granted / 976 resolved
+14.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+12.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
11 currently pending
Career history
987
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
81.3%
+41.3% vs TC avg
§102
2.5%
-37.5% vs TC avg
§112
5.2%
-34.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 976 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
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 . Applicant's election with traverse of claims 1-9, 17-20 in the reply filed on 11/21/2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the recitation. This is not found persuasive because is improper. No arguments are provided in support of the traversal. In addition the Examiners has reviewed the restriction requirement and finds it to be proper for reason set forth in the restriction requirement letter. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 2-7, 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. For claim 2, 19, the disclosure appears to show claimed system with only a single non-conductive frame or battery receptacle used at one time as show in figure 5A at 44, therefore recitation of first and second non-conductive frames is unclear. For claim 4, the disclosure shows the system with only a single battery connector (frame) used at one time as in figure 6 at 84, therefore recitation of third and fourth frames is unclear. For claim 6, the disclosure system uses only a single battery connector with a cover as in figure 9B at 46, 100, therefore recitation of first and second covers is unclear. 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. Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (U. S. Patent 8727813) in view of Ohkuma (U. S. Patent 9,105,997) and further in view of Yasui (U. S. Patent 8,317,535). For claim 17, Yang battery receptacle figure 2 includes a non-conductive frame 20 with plural slots plural conductive members 23 (blades) in the plural slots, coupled to a motherboard 4 at one end and matable at the other end 10 battery connector 10 conductive, female elements 15 inserted with horizontal sliding and from an orthogonal position, see figures 3, 4. Yang includes a battery connector with slots with conductive female elements 15 having spaced ends in the slots see figure 1 to accept flat contact blades of a battery receptacle . Yang does not disclose the battery receptacle on the pcb to include female contact and the battery connector to include blade like contact. Yasui, column 2, lines 49-54 disclosure alternative mounting of a battery connection system including one choice having female contacts 54 on a pcb, to accept conductive elements (blades) 25 of a battery connectors. In view of this it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the Yang connectors to locate connector frame 10 with female contacts 15 on the pcb and to locate housing 20 with blades 23 on the battery housing, basically a reversal of parts. This would provide the flat blade on the movable battery to enable easier guidance of the blades at the mounting step. Yang also lacks use of conductive endpieces. Ohkuma disclosure use of conductive endpieces 13. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Yang and Ohkuma to provide such features on modified Yang system for easy attachment of the nonconductive frame to the pcb. Claims 1, 2, 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the references as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Shih (U. S. Patent 11,592,883). For claim 1, Yang lacks motherboard having a processor and a memory. Shih figure 1 uses these features at 22, 24, 30. In addition it is seem as well known to use such features in electronic systems. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to provide such feature as taught by Shih so as to enable the electronic device to operate. For claim 2, Yang battery receptacle nonconductive frame 10, figure 3 includes horizontal guide 113 and vertical guide 114. the frame 10 may be viewed as a pair of frame one with horizontal guide 113 the other one with vertical guide 114. For claim 8, Yang figure 8 shows battery connector 10 directly coupled to battery 30 and aligned to slide into receptacle 50. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the references as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Masaki U. S. Patent 7118424). For claim 9, Yang lacks use of a cable connected to a battery. Masaki figure 4 uses a battery connector with a cable 4W attached to a battery. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to provide such features as taught by Masaki. This would enable a battery to be jointed to a spaced apart connector. Claim 18 is 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Neil Abrams whose telephone number is (571)272-571-272-2089. The examiner can normally be reached M-F from 8:30 am - 5:30 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, TC Patel can be reached at 571-272-2098. 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. /NEIL ABRAMS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 26, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 04, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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LOCKING MECHANISM FOR A HIGH-CURRENT ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
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FLAT CONDUCTOR ELECTRIC CONNECTOR
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Patent 12573800
Brush Module for a Rotary Table
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12567701
Connector
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 03, 2026
Patent 12555944
ELECTRIC CONNECTOR
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
82%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+12.6%)
2y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 976 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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