Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 19/250,771

FLYING APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Jun 26, 2025
Examiner
BENEDIK, JUSTIN M
Art Unit
3642
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Ishikawa Energy Research Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allow Rate
740 granted / 862 resolved
+33.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
16 currently pending
Career history
878
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.2%
-39.8% vs TC avg
§103
48.5%
+8.5% vs TC avg
§102
32.7%
-7.3% vs TC avg
§112
13.4%
-26.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 862 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . 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) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Luo et al. CN 209650540 1. Luo discloses A flying apparatus comprising: a main body (1, 3 “defined as a machine body”) assembly; an arm 55 extending from the main body assembly; a rotor 56 attached to the arm; a driver (81) to drive the rotor; and a cooling system 83 to water-cool the driver; wherein the cooling system includes a cooler 813 to cool a coolant (disclosed as water) supplied to the driver and a pump 833 to circulate the coolant between the cooler and the driver; and the pump is provided at a lower portion of the main body assembly (clearly understood to be lower than the body from fig. 3 and 1). 2. Luo discloses The flying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pump 833 is located lower than the cooler 813 (seen in Fig. 3). 3. Luo discloses The flying apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cooler includes one or more radiators (seen on either side of 813 in fig. 3 – further disclosed in paragraphs detailing fig. 3); and the pump is located lower than the one or more radiators (shown in Fig. 3). 4. Luo discloses The flying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driver includes an engine (disclosed in the first paragraph after the figure descriptions “the power device 8 comprises an engine assembly connected with 81”); and the cooler 83 (connected to the engine) cools a coolant supplied to the engine. 5. Luo discloses The flying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the cooler is located lower than the engine (Clearly shown in Fig. 1). 6. Luo discloses The flying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooling system includes connecting pipes (Shown in Fig. 3) including: a first pipe to connect a delivery port of the pump and the driver (835 connecting the pump to the diverter and subsequently driver); a second pipe to connect a suction port of the pump and the cooler (suction portion of the pump from tank 832 connected through the dissipation element 831 to 813); and a third pipe (driver 81 connected to cooler 813) to connect the driver and the cooler; and a lower end of the pump is located lower than the driver, the cooler and the connecting pipes (Shown in Fig. 3 – pump being located lower than most things aside from the air cleaner 86). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 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) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo et al. CN 209650540 7. Luo discloses The flying apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the one or more radiators include a first radiator and a second radiator juxtaposed in a horizontal direction (813 clearly disclosed in Fig. 3); Luo does not specifically teach the pump is provided between the first radiator and the second radiator in the horizontal direction. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention and with reasonable expectation of success to rearrange the pump to be horizontally in between the radiators in order to provide a more compact design as rearrangement of the working parts involves routine skill in the art. 8. The flying apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the cooling system includes connecting pipes including: a first pipe to connect a delivery port of the pump and the driver (835 connecting the pump to the diverter and subsequently driver); a second pipe to connect a suction port of the pump and the cooler (suction portion of the pump from tank 832 connected through the dissipation element 831 to 813); and a third pipe to connect the driver and the cooler (driver 81 connected to cooler 813); the second pipe diverges at an intermediate portion thereof into two branch pipes (out to the elements 831); and of the branch pipes, one branch pipe is connected to the first radiator and another branch pipe is connected to the second radiator (Clearly shown in Fig. 3 going to each radiator). Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo et al. CN 209650540 in view of Austin US 4163535 9. Luo discloses an oil tank 2 but does not teach The flying apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a fuel tank to store fuel to be supplied to the engine; wherein the fuel tank includes a lower portion which has a form of a truncated cone with a diameter decreasing downward; and at least a portion of the cooling system overlaps the fuel tank in a planar view, and overlaps the lower portion of the fuel tank when viewed in the up-down direction. Austin teaches a conical fuel tank (B) where in combination the cooling system of Luo would overlap with the tank of Austin. Austin further does not teach the cone facing downward, or the pump being under the cone. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention and with reasonable expectation of success to use the fuel tank of Austin in the invention of Luo in order to provide a fuel to power a higher powered driver and sprayer. Additionally it would have been obvious to rearrange the pump as in claim 9 in order to provide a more compact design as rearrangement of the working parts involves routine skill in the art. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure include rotored craft with cooling means for drivers/engines. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN M BENEDIK whose telephone number is (571)270-7824. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00-3:00. 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, Joshua Huson can be reached at 571-270-5301. 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. /JUSTIN M. BENEDIK/ Primary Examiner Art Unit 3642 /JUSTIN M BENEDIK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 26, 2025
Application Filed
Jan 24, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103 (current)

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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
86%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+10.5%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 862 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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