Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/950,251

SHREDDER

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Nov 18, 2024
Priority
Nov 20, 2023 — JP 2023-196474
Examiner
ISSA, JUEVARA SAOOD
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Seiko Epson Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds

Examiner Intelligence

Grants only 0% of cases
0%
Career Allowance Rate
0 granted / 0 resolved
-60.0% vs TC avg
Minimal +0% lift
Without
With
+0.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
Avg Prosecution
9 currently pending
Career history
7
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
61.1%
+21.1% vs TC avg
§102
27.8%
-12.2% vs TC avg
§112
11.1%
-28.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 0 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
CTNF 18/950,251 CTNF 101809 DETAILED ACTION 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. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. Specification 06-31 AIA The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 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, 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tschukan et al., (Hereinafter “Tschukan”)(DE 102017118889 A1) in view of Zhang et al., (Hereinafter “Zhang”)(CN 107755076 A) and Moore et al., (Hereinafter “Moore”)(WO 2006074122 A1) . Regarding claim 1, Tschukan discloses: A shredder (10)(fig. 1a)[para. 0001, line 1] comprising: a shredding section (18)(fig. 2a)[para. 0013, line 3] that shreds paper into paper pieces; [para. 0012, line 7](The invention relates to a paper shredder, the shredding section shreds paper into paper pieces.) a housing section (20)(figs. 1a-1b) that houses the paper pieces; [para. 0013, line 5] a weight sensor (30)(fig. 1a) that detects weight of the paper pieces housed in the housing section; [para. 0014, lines 3-4] wherein the weight sensor prohibits shredding by the shredding section in response to indicating fullness of the housing section by the bulk weight detected. [para. 0014, lines 5-7] Tschukan does not explicitly disclose : A shredder comprising: a bulk height sensor that detects bulk height of the paper pieces housed in the housing section; and a processor that prohibits shredding by the shredding section in response to indicating fullness of the housing section by either the bulk height detected or the weight detected. Zhang teaches : A shredder (100)(fig. 1) comprising: a shredding section (235)(fig. 2)[para. 0018, lines 2-3] that shreds paper into paper pieces; [para. 0018, lines 4-7] a housing section (112)(fig. 1) that houses the paper pieces; [para. 0018, lines 7-8] a bulk height sensor that detects bulk height of the paper pieces housed in the housing section; [para. 0018, lines 7-9](The bulk height sensor is the paper full sensor. The paper full sensor detects bulk height of the paper until the paper scraps have reached the height limit.) wherein the height sensor prohibits shredding by the shredding section in response to indicating fullness of the housing section by the bulk height detected. [para. 0018, lines 7-10](The bulk height sensor prohibits shredding by stopping the motor connected to the shredding section in response to indicating fullness of the housing section by the bulk height detected.) It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the bulk height sensor of Zhang into the invention of Tschukan. Both references are considered analogous arts to the claimed invention as they both disclose a shredder. The combination of Zhang and Tschukan would have been obvious with a reasonable expectation of success to prevent paper jams by stopping the motor before the paper pieces reach the shredding section and by having both a weight and a height sensor in case of one sensor failing to indicate a full housing section level. After modification, Tschukan in view of Zhang teaches : A shredder comprising: a shredding section that shreds paper into paper pieces; a housing section that houses the paper pieces; a bulk height sensor that detects bulk height of the paper pieces housed in the housing section; a weight sensor that detects weight of the paper pieces housed in the housing section; wherein either the height sensor or the weight sensor prohibits shredding by the shredding section in response to indicating fullness of the housing section by either the bulk height detected or the weight detected. Tschukan in view of Zhang does not explicitly teach : A shredder comprising: a processor that prohibits shredding by the shredding section in response to indicating fullness of the housing section by either the bulk height detected or the weight detected. However, it is well known in the art for sensors to be paired with controllers. Moore teaches : A shredder [para. 0001, lines 1-2] comprising: a processor (42)(fig. 8, “controller”)[para. 0025, lines 1-4] that operates the motor (18)(fig. 8) to drive the cutter elements (20)(fig. 8) in the shredding section in response to the sensor (56)(fig. 8) being triggered. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to incorporate the controller/PCB of Moore into the invention of Tschukan in view of Zhang. All references are considered analogous arts to the claimed invention as they all disclose a shredder. The combination of Moore and Tschukan in view of Zhang would have been obvious with a reasonable expectation of success to have a dedicated processing unit so as to enable activation upon receipt of the sensor detecting, prevent operation of the motor without the sensor detecting, and create electrical connections between components. After modification, Tschukan in view of Zhang, in further view of Moore teaches : A shredder comprising: a shredding section that shreds paper into paper pieces; a housing section that houses the paper pieces; a bulk height sensor that detects bulk height of the paper pieces housed in the housing section; a weight sensor that detects weight of the paper pieces housed in the housing section; and a processor that prohibits shredding by the shredding section in response to indicating fullness of the housing section by either the bulk height detected or the weight detected. (The weight sensor of Tschukan or the bulk height sensor of Zhang indicates fullness of the housing section and sends a signal to the processor of Moore. The processor of Moore then sends a signal to stop the motor, thereby prohibiting the shredding by the shredding section in response to indicating fullness of the housing section by either the bulk height detected or the weight detected from the sensor.) Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure : US 20100176229 A1 teaches a shredder with a bin full detector. US 20230071659 A1 teaches a shredder with a processor. US 20100032505 A1 teaches a shredder with a weight and thickness sensor. US 20100090039 A1 teaches a shredder with a controller that operates the shredder based on information from a sensing device. US 20100140383 A1 teaches a shredder with a shredded material height detector. US 9480989 B1 teaches a shredder with a weight sensor to determine when the container is full. EP 2008720 B1 teaches an optical sensor that stops the cutting mechanism when the full height is reached. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUEVARA SAOOD ISSA whose telephone number is (571)482-9980. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 9:00am-5pm and every other Friday 9:00am-5pm. 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, Christopher Templeton can be reached at (571) 270-1477. 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. /J.S.I./Examiner, Art Unit 3725 /Christopher L Templeton/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3725 Application/Control Number: 18/950,251 Page 2 Art Unit: 3725 Application/Control Number: 18/950,251 Page 3 Art Unit: 3725 Application/Control Number: 18/950,251 Page 4 Art Unit: 3725 Application/Control Number: 18/950,251 Page 5 Art Unit: 3725 Application/Control Number: 18/950,251 Page 6 Art Unit: 3725
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 18, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
Grant Probability
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 0 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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