Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 19/236,256

ECCENTRIC OSCILLATING GEAR DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jun 12, 2025
Examiner
KNIGHT, DEREK DOUGLAS
Art Unit
3655
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
85%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 5m
To Grant
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allow Rate
639 granted / 753 resolved
+32.9% vs TC avg
Minimal +3% lift
Without
With
+3.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
772
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
36.2%
-3.8% vs TC avg
§102
33.4%
-6.6% vs TC avg
§112
26.7%
-13.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 753 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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. 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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by SATO (JP 2015183831). Regarding claim 1, SATO discloses an eccentric oscillating gear device, comprising: an eccentric body (30); a first oscillating gear (31) and a second oscillating gear that are oscillated by the eccentric body; a spacer member that is sandwiched and disposed in an axial direction between the first oscillating gear and the second oscillating gear; and a pin (37) that is inserted into a pin hole provided in each of the first oscillating gear and the second oscillating gear, wherein the spacer member is disposed from a region of the pin in a radially outward direction to a region of the pin in a radially inward direction. (See Fig. 2) Allowable Subject Matter Claims 11-15 are allowed. Claims 2-10 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 DEREK D. KNIGHT whose telephone number is (571)272-7951. The examiner can normally be reached Telework: From 5:30am-1:30pm EST. 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, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at 571-270-5565. 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. /DEREK D KNIGHT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 12, 2025
Application Filed
Jan 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12600228
MOTOR VEHICLE TRANSMISSION FOR AN AT LEAST PARTIALLY ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN MOTOR VEHICLE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12584546
ELECTRIC DRIVE SYSTEM FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE, IN PARTICULAR FOR AN AUTOMOBILE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12584539
INTEGRATED ARTICULATED POWER UNIT AND LEGGED ROBOT USING THE SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12571460
GEARBOX AND DRIVE UNIT WITH A GEARBOX FOR A VEHICLE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12565923
DRIVELINE FOR ELECTRIFIED VEHICLE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 03, 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
85%
Grant Probability
88%
With Interview (+3.1%)
2y 5m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 753 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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