Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/963,777

WORK VEHICLE

Non-Final OA §102§Other
Filed
Nov 29, 2024
Priority
Jan 16, 2024 — JP 2024-004605
Examiner
RESTIFO, JEFFREY J
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Kubota Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
90%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allowance Rate
841 granted / 1062 resolved
+19.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+10.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
1077
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
47.7%
+7.7% vs TC avg
§102
39.4%
-0.6% vs TC avg
§112
3.2%
-36.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1062 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §Other
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 . 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. Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 8, and 13-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Sakon et al. (US 10,584,465 B2). With respect to claim 1, Sakon et al. discloses a vehicle cooling system including a vehicle body 32 with opening 35, a movable support frame 71 connected to said body, a cooling fan 80 defined by blades and a rotational axis, wherein said blades rotate within a blade reachable region 85, a first shroud 90 shaped to surround the fan blade region, a second shroud 60 shaped to surround a heat exchanger or radiator 50 and extend to the first shroud so both the first and second shrouds guide cooling air from the fan through the exchanger, as shown in figures 5, 6, and 10. PNG media_image1.png 504 621 media_image1.png Greyscale PNG media_image2.png 742 289 media_image2.png Greyscale PNG media_image3.png 582 519 media_image3.png Greyscale With respect to claim 3, said first shroud contacts a proximal end of said second shroud, with a distal end of the second shroud contacting said exchanger, as shown in figure 6. With respect to claim 4, said vehicle body includes a support wall 40 with a hinge 43, 72, for allowing the support frame to rotate bout the hinge relative to the support wall, as shown in figure 5. With respect to claims 5, the first shroud has an arcuate or circular shape, as shown in figure 9. PNG media_image4.png 496 441 media_image4.png Greyscale With respect to claim 6, said exchanger has a second surface opposite a first surface that is covered by said second shroud, wherein air from said fan flows through said shrouds through the exchanger and out the second surface, as shown in figure 4. PNG media_image5.png 649 475 media_image5.png Greyscale With respect to claim 8, the shape of the second shroud does no enter the fan reaching region, as shown in figure 6. With respect to claim 13, elastic body 94 is located between the first and second shrouds, as shown in figure 6. With respect to claims 14-17, bonnet cover 46 with holes or grille, swings about hinge (not numbered), to cover the opening with the fan, exchanger, and shrouds, as shown in figure 10. With respect to claims 18 and 19, said support frame can rotate 90 degrees to allow access to said exchanger and/or said fan, as shown in figure 10. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2, 7, 9-12, and 20 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 JEFFREY J RESTIFO whose telephone number is (571)272-6697. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11am-8pm. 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, J. Allen Shriver can be reached at (303) 297-4337. 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. JEFFREY J. RESTIFO Primary Examiner Art Unit 3613 /JEFFREY J RESTIFO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 29, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §Other
Sep 08, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Sep 18, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12741544
VEHICLE BODY LOWER STRUCTURE
2y 6m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12734907
ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN WORK MACHINE
2y 2m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12735086
VERTICALLY-MOVABLE, TRANSMISSION-FRIENDLY, AND CONTROLLABLE STROLLER
2y 3m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12728858
SYSTEM FOR BRAKING AN ELECTRIFIED VEHICLE
2y 9m to grant Granted Sep 08, 2026
Patent 12719127
BATTERY CASE
2y 7m to grant Granted Aug 25, 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
79%
Grant Probability
90%
With Interview (+10.6%)
2y 5m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1062 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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