Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026
Application No. 18/981,157

OPTIMIZING ELECTRIC MOTOR SHUT OFF TIMING AND ASSOCIATED METHODS AND SYSTEMS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 13, 2024
Examiner
MASIH, KAREN
Art Unit
2837
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Caterpillar Paving Products Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allowance Rate
944 granted / 1037 resolved
+23.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+6.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 11m
Avg Prosecution
14 currently pending
Career history
1056
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.6%
-33.4% vs TC avg
§103
50.6%
+10.6% vs TC avg
§102
9.8%
-30.2% vs TC avg
§112
24.1%
-15.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1037 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Drawings The drawings are objected to because figure 5 boxes need to be labelled descriptively with text . Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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(s) 1,11,16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 2025/0021381 in view of CN104487700. 2025/0021381 disclose system of optimizing motor , the system comprising machine including motor, , first period of time and hardware processor and at least one non transitory memory storing instruction which when executed by processor cause system to determine a pattern of value based on one or more parameters of machine and one or more parameters of motor, whin pattern of values indicative of an action of motor and /or machine , generate second period of time based on pattern of values , see fig 10A and 11 description and abstract . 2025/0021381 lacks disclosing shut off motor and second period of time to shut off motor. CN104487700 discloses time period shut off and second period see claim 1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of claimed invention to combine system of optimizing of motor of 20250021381 with shut off period of time of CN104487700 for improved control. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-10,12-15,17-20 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. Prior art does not disclose user profile, machine status action, previous shutoff , dataset associated with previously determined patterns , lookup table, first and second set of parameters. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAREN MASIH whose telephone number is (571)272-2068. The examiner can normally be reached m-f 8-5 with second Friday off. 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, Eduardo Colon-Santana can be reached at 571-272-2060. 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. KAREN . MASIH Examiner Art Unit 2837 /KAREN MASIH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 13, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 25, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
91%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+6.6%)
1y 11m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1037 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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