Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 21, 2026
Application No. 19/213,068

REFUSE CONTAINER IDENTIFICATION USING PARCEL DATA

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
May 20, 2025
Priority
Jun 19, 2018 — provisional 62/687,075 +5 more
Examiner
GORDON, MATHEW FRANKLIN
Art Unit
3665
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
The Heil Co.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 3m
Est. Remaining
85%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allowance Rate
214 granted / 295 resolved
+20.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+12.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
15 currently pending
Career history
319
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.1%
-36.9% vs TC avg
§103
57.0%
+17.0% vs TC avg
§102
25.6%
-14.4% vs TC avg
§112
14.0%
-26.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 295 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 . Claim Status This action is in response to the application filed on 05/20/2025. Claim 1 is pending and examined below. 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. (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. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2017/0355522 A1 (“Salinas). Regarding claim 1, Salinas teaches receiving, by the at least one processor, sensor data indicating an operational state of at least one body component of a refuse collection vehicle (RCV), the sensor data generated by at least one body sensor device that is arranged to determine the operational state of the at least one body component (see at least [0029]); analyzing, by the at least one processor, the sensor data to detect a presence of at least one triggering condition that is based at least partly on a particular operational state of the at least one body component, as indicated by the sensor data, the at least one triggering condition indicating that the RCV is servicing a container (see at least [0036]); receiving, by the at least one processor, location data describing a location of a location sensor of the RCV (see at least [0030]); applying, by the at least one processor, an algorithm to the location data to determine a location of the container (see at least [0021]); and correlating, by the at least one processor, the location of the container to parcel data to identify an entity associated with the container (see at least [0025]). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATHEW FRANKLIN GORDON whose telephone number is (408)918-7612. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:00 - 5:00 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, Christian Chace can be reached at (571) 272-4190. 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. /MATHEW FRANKLIN GORDON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 20, 2025
Application Filed
Jun 12, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 28, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12762907
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PREDICTIVE LANE CHANGE
2y 2m to grant Granted Oct 13, 2026
Patent 12662114
DRIVING ASSISTANCE DEVICE, DRIVING ASSISTANCE METHOD, AND PROGRAM
1y 9m to grant Granted Jun 23, 2026
Patent 12649558
MARINE PROPULSION SYSTEM, VESSEL, AND CONTROL METHOD
2y 6m to grant Granted Jun 09, 2026
Patent 12650703
PLATOONING TELEOPERATED VEHICLES
1y 12m to grant Granted Jun 09, 2026
Patent 12619264
SYSTEM AND METHOD
1y 10m to grant Granted May 05, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
72%
Grant Probability
85%
With Interview (+12.1%)
2y 8m (~1y 3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 295 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month