Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 26, 2026
Application No. 18/878,356

ELECTRICAL ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A VOLTAGE SOURCE CONVERTER AND AN ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Dec 23, 2024
Priority
Jul 05, 2022 — EU 22183154.8 +2 more
Examiner
JAGER, RYAN C
Art Unit
2434
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
GE Infrastructure Technology LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
90%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1m
Est. Remaining
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 90% — above average
90%
Career Allowance Rate
843 granted / 941 resolved
+31.6% vs TC avg
Minimal +3% lift
Without
With
+3.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 11m
Avg Prosecution
14 currently pending
Career history
961
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.5%
-39.5% vs TC avg
§103
36.7%
-3.3% vs TC avg
§102
37.2%
-2.8% vs TC avg
§112
18.4%
-21.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 941 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 . Non-final communication in response to communication filed 12/23/24 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 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)(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. (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 16-22, 24, and 25 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by ABB SCHWEIZ AG, SE 1851656. With respect to claim 16, figures 1-3 of ABB SCHWEIZ AG disclose an electrical assembly comprising: a voltage source converter [fig. 1, 10 or 12] including at least one energy storage device [page 11, line 27, page 12, line 6; page 11, line 33]; an energy storage system electrically coupled to the voltage source converter, [figs. 1-3; page 12, line 27-33; energy storage 16, 18] the energy storage system controllable to release and absorb energy; [page 2, line 11-14, page 3, lines 14-18, page 28, lines 24-32] and a controller programmed to selectively trigger a control of the energy storage system to release energy or absorb energy responsive to a measurement of stored energy in the voltage source converter. [page 1, line 27-31 together with page 2, line 2-4, 23-26, 28-31; page 13, line 5-7; page 16, line 18-19] With respect to claim 17, figures 1-3 of ABB SCHWEIZ AG disclose an electrical assembly according to claim 16, wherein the voltage source converter includes at least one module, the or each module including at least one switching element and at least one energy storage device, the or each switching element and the or each energy storage device in the or each module arranged to be combinable to selectively provide a voltage source. [page 11, line 22 and page 12, line 6.] With respect to claim 18, figures 1-3 of ABB SCHWEIZ AG disclose an electrical assembly according to claim 16, wherein the controller is programmed to selectively trigger the control of the energy storage system to release energy to or absorb energy from the voltage source converter responsive to the measurement of stored energy in the voltage source converter. With respect to claim 19, figures 1-3 of ABB SCHWEIZ AG disclose an electrical assembly according to claim 16, wherein the controller is programmed to selectively trigger the control of the energy storage system to release energy to or absorb energy from an AC or DC system or network connected to the voltage source converter responsive to the measurement of stored energy in the voltage source converter. With respect to claim 20, figures 1-3 of ABB SCHWEIZ AG disclose an electrical assembly according to claim 16, wherein the controller is programmed to selectively trigger the control of the energy storage system to release energy or absorb energy responsive to a measurement of AC frequency of an AC system or network connected to the voltage source converter in the event of non-availability of the voltage source converter. See D1, page 7, 1ine 10-18; page 29, line 13-25. Black start follows a network outage which is indicated by a zero frequency and/or zero voltage. With respect to claim 21, figures 1-3 of ABB SCHWEIZ AG disclose an electrical assembly according to claim 20, wherein the controller is programmed to selectively trigger the control of the energy storage system to release energy or absorb energy responsive to a rate of change in AC frequency of an AC system or network connected to the voltage source converter in the event of non-availability of the voltage source converter. [ page 5, line 1-13; Fig. 4-6; page 16, line 18 to page 21, line 16.] With respect to claim 22, figures 1-3 of ABB SCHWEIZ AG disclose an electrical assembly according to claim 16, wherein the controller is programmed to selectively trigger the control of the energy storage system to release energy or absorb energy responsive to a measurement of DC voltage of a DC system or network connected to the voltage source converter in the event of non-availability of the voltage source converter. p. 29, I. 13-25: The expression "The first energy storage system 16 can thereafter be used to energize the first VSC 10 and possibly also the second VSC 12. It can be seen that it is in this way possible to use the first energy storage system 16 for black start of both the AC networks and the DC system." With respect to claim 24, figures 1-3 of ABB SCHWEIZ AG disclose an electrical assembly according to claim 16, wherein the controller is programmed to selectively modify a voltage and/or an impedance of the voltage source converter so as to modify the release or absorption of energy by the energy storage system. page3, lines 20-27 With respect to claim 25, figures 1-3 of ABB SCHWEIZ AG disclose n electrical assembly according to claim 16, wherein the controller is programmed to selectively trigger the control of the energy storage system to release energy or absorb energy responsive to a measurement of stored energy in the voltage source converter deviating from a reference value or range. [See remarks to claim 1 in conjunction with page 3, line 29 to page 4, line 6.] Allowable Subject Matter Claims 23, 26-30 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 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN C JAGER whose telephone number is (571)272-7016. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 - 5:30 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Taelor Kim can be reached on 571-270-7166. 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://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /RYAN JAGER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836 9/21/26
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 23, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 30, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (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
90%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+3.0%)
1y 11m (~1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 941 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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