Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 19/236,256

ECCENTRIC OSCILLATING GEAR DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Jun 12, 2025
Priority
Dec 16, 2022 — JP 2022-201001 +1 more
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
1y 4m
Est. Remaining
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 85% — above average
85%
Career Allowance Rate
643 granted / 757 resolved
+32.9% vs TC avg
Minimal +3% lift
Without
With
+3.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
11 currently pending
Career history
779
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
§103
51.6%
+11.6% vs TC avg
§102
26.0%
-14.0% vs TC avg
§112
19.4%
-20.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 757 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 (signed) — §102
Mar 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12636951
IN-WHEEL DRIVING DEVICE
3y 8m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12638073
PLANETARY GEARBOX DEVICE COMPRISING OIL FEED NOZZLES AND OIL FEED CHANNELS ARRANGED ECCENTRICALLY INSIDE PLANET GEARS, CORRESPONDING INDUSTRIAL GEARBOX, CORRESPONDING USE, AND CORRESPONDING METHOD
1y 7m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12638075
TRANSFER OF LUBRICANT INTO THE INTERIOR OF A HOLLOW SHAFT
1y 6m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Patent 12623535
TORQUE VECTORING DEVICE FOR A VEHICLE
3y 0m to grant Granted May 12, 2026
Patent 12607253
POWER TRANSMISSION DEVICE FOR VEHICLE
1y 4m to grant Granted Apr 21, 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 (+3.2%)
2y 4m (~1y 4m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 757 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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