Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 30, 2026
Application No. 18/884,428

DRIVE UNIT

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Sep 13, 2024
Priority
Nov 20, 2023 — JP 2023-196992
Examiner
TRIGGS, JAMES J
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Toyota Motor Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
1233 granted / 1409 resolved
+27.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 9m
Avg Prosecution
26 currently pending
Career history
1425
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
56.5%
+16.5% vs TC avg
§102
17.3%
-22.7% vs TC avg
§112
22.3%
-17.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1409 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
CTNF 18/884,428 CTNF 87094 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. DETAILED ACTION Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on (9/13/24 4/21/26) are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. Specification 06-11 AIA The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. 06-11-01 AIA The following title is suggested: Drive Unit Having Power Control System . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 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. Claim 1 is 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. “in an identical case” is unclear as no other “case” has been introduced before line 3. Claims 2-3 depend from claim 1 and are rejected based on dependency. Claim Objections 07-29-01 AIA Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: It recites in line 9 “close each other” but should recite: ” close to each other ” . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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 of this title, 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-21-aia AIA 1. Claim s 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oyobe (US PG PUB NO 2009/0146612) . [CLAIM 1] Regarding claim 1, Oyobe discloses a drive unit in which a drive device including a motor (Oyobe FIG 8, exemplary MG1-MG 2) and a gear (Exemplary transmission 102 includes gears) and a power control device (Oyobe, FIG 1, 60) that controls power transmitted and received by the motor which are housed in an identical case (Oyobe, FIG 8 is exemplary and shows the components housed in independent quadrants which can be arranged as desired via casings), wherein a wire for sending a detection signal from a resolver (Oyobe resolvers 94-96 used as sensors (The resolvers behave as sensors and inherently output current information via wires which can be positioned solely in the casing if desired. Regarding a rearrangement of parts, See In re Japikse, 181 F.2d 1019, 86 USPQ 70 (CCPA 1950) Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to have modified Oyobe to route necessary wiring to each cased component with a reasonable expectation of success in order to orient the drive system for each particular vehicle application which increases utility) for rotation of the motor (MG1-MG2 introduced above) to the power control device is disposed only in the case (Oyobe, FIG 8 is exemplary and shows the components housed in independent quadrants/casings which can be arranged as desired. Control (ECU 60 is its own cased structure which can be mounted in any of the powertrain casings if desired for a particular vehicle application). PNG media_image1.png 765 787 media_image1.png Greyscale . PNG media_image2.png 636 757 media_image2.png Greyscale [CLAIM 2] Regarding claim 2, Oyobe discloses the drive unit according to claim 1, wherein: the case includes a first, second, third and a fourth case portion (Oyobe, annotated FIG 8 which is exemplary and can be arranged as desired based on a particular application including at least 4 case/quadrants); the first case portion is a bottomed cylindrical member and the second case portion is a member including a box-shaped upper portion and a cylindrical lower portion (The bottom of the casings can have “bottomed/lower” portions as desired because the motors and ICE are generally cylindrical at the lower point to freely rotate) with a common partition wall provided at a boundary between the upper portion and the lower portion (Oyobe, annotated FIG 8 below illustrates exemplary partitions which can be arranged as desired based on each particular vehicle application), the second case portion being coupled by a fastener such that an opening portion of the first case portion and one opening portion of the lower portion close each other (Oyobe when assembled requires fasteners in order to operate without issues such as leaking, vibration and any motor imbalance. The fasteners can be distributed at selective distances), and the upper portion having an opening (Openings for connection of each component in Oyobe FIG 8 can be selectively positioned as desired for each particular vehicle application); the third case portion is a member coupled by a fastener so as to close another opening portion of the lower portion of the second case portion (Oyobe when assembled requires fasteners in order to operate without issues such as leaking, vibration and motor imbalance. The fasteners can be distributed at selective distances at a lower portion); the fourth case portion is a member coupled by a fastener so as to close the opening of the upper portion of the second case portion (Oyobe when assembled requires fasteners in order to operate without issues such as leaking, vibration and motor imbalance. The fasteners can be distributed at selective distances at an upper portion of a second case); the power control device is housed in the upper portion of the second case portion (Oyobe FIG 1 illustrates the control 60 in an independent case in schematic view and readily mountable on an upper portion of the casing so not to interfere with the MG’s and ICE in operation); and the resolver and the wire are disposed only in the second case portion (Oyobe illustrates resolvers 94 and 96 in separate quadrants. Regarding wires, each wire inherently outputs current information and can be positioned solely in the second case/quadrant if desired). PNG media_image3.png 636 758 media_image3.png Greyscale PNG media_image4.png 370 605 media_image4.png Greyscale [CLAIM 3] Regarding claim 3, Oyobe discloses the drive unit according to claim 2, wherein: the second case portion is coupled by a fastener such that an opening portion of the first case portion and one opening portion of the lower portion close each other (Oyobe when assembled requires fasteners in order to operate without issues such as leaking, vibration and motor imbalance. The fasteners can be distributed at selective distances at a lower portion), and the third case portion is coupled by a fastener so as to close the other opening portion of the lower portion (Oyobe when assembled requires fasteners in order to operate without issues such as leaking, vibration and motor imbalance. The fasteners can be distributed at selective distances near a lower portion), so that an inside of the lower portion is divided into a motor chamber in which the motor is housed (Oyobe, FIG 8,illustrates the MG’s mounted in neighboring casings)and a gear chamber in which the gear is housed at casing 102 which contains a gear train); the resolver (Oyobe, FIG 1 exemplary resolvers 94-96) is disposed in the motor chamber (Oyobe FIGS 1 and 8 show resolvers attached to each MG); and the wire extends from an inside of the motor chamber by way of an inside of the gear chamber to be connected to the power control device housed in the upper portion. (Control 60 in Oyobe FIG 1 can be used to couple the transmissive device 102 in FIG 8 containing gearing and in communication with the MG’s and ICE and 60 can be selectively mounted on any desired upper portion of the motor casings) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and can be found on the attached Notice of References Cited . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to whose telephone number is (571)270-3411. The examiner can normally be reached on 9AM-6PM PST. 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, Marc Jimenez can be reached on (571)272-.4530. 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. /JAMES J TRIGGS/Examiner, Art Unit 3615 /MARC Q JIMENEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3615 Application/Control Number: 18/884,428 Page 2 Art Unit: 3615 Application/Control Number: 18/884,428 Page 3 Art Unit: 3615 Application/Control Number: 18/884,428 Page 4 Art Unit: 3615 Application/Control Number: 18/884,428 Page 5 Art Unit: 3615 Application/Control Number: 18/884,428 Page 6 Art Unit: 3615 Application/Control Number: 18/884,428 Page 7 Art Unit: 3615 Application/Control Number: 18/884,428 Page 8 Art Unit: 3615
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 13, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112 (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
88%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+10.2%)
1y 9m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1409 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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