Prosecution Insights
Prosecution Insights
Technology area: Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems
2 pending office actions • 1 art units • 2 examiners • 0 of 2 (0%) have an AI response strategy ready • 1 patents granted in the last 365 days
Nikola Corporation is currently managing 2 pending office actions within the Transportation, E-Commerce & Mechanical Systems technology area. These actions are assigned to 2 distinct examiners. However, both actions are located within 1 distinct art unit. This indicates that while the examiners are different, the technical subject matter is concentrated in 1 specific area of the USPTO. Such a concentration allows for a more unified approach to understanding the relevant prior art and examination trends within that 1 art unit.
The busiest examiner for Nikola Corporation is TRIGGS, JAMES J, who is responsible for 1 busiest examiner pending action. This shows an equal distribution of the workload between the 2 examiners. For practitioners, the focus on 1 art unit simplifies the search for relevant precedents, even while dealing with 2 different individuals. The strategy should account for the specific tendencies of each examiner within that shared art unit context. Managing 2 actions with 2 examiners in 1 art unit provides a balance of diverse perspectives and technical consistency.
Difficulty is derived from the rejection statutes on the most recent pending office action. §101-driven and multi-statute cases are graded Hard; §112-only and obviousness-type double-patenting cases are graded Easy; everything else is Medium. "Unknown" means we have not yet parsed a statute for that office action.
| Bucket | Cases |
|---|---|
| §102 only | 1 (50%) |
| Multi-statute (no §101) | 1 (50%) |
How the docket's pending cases split across USPTO tech-center bands.
Manual office-action response work runs about 10 hours per case. The time-saved bands below show what IP Author's prosecution pipeline typically delivers — a conservative 20% on the low end, 35% in the middle, 50% on the high end.
| Examiner | Apps on this docket | Allow rate | Interview lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| TRIGGS, JAMES J | 1 | 87.5% | +10.1% |
| BUTLER, RODNEY ALLEN | 1 | 88.2% | +10.9% |
Cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate of 80%+ where the difficulty is Easy or Medium. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18325331 | ELECTRIC VEHICLE THERMAL MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING BATTERY THERMAL LOADS | BUTLER, RODNEY ALLEN | — |
Multi-statute / §101-driven matters, or cases in front of an examiner with an allow rate under 30%. The top 1 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18922861 | ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY FRAME ASSEMBLY | TRIGGS, JAMES J | — |
Cases in front of an examiner whose interview lift is 10 percentage points or more — i.e. interviewed cases historically resolve more favorably than non-interviewed ones. The top 2 ordered by deadline are shown.
| App # | Title | Examiner | Due in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18922861 | ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY FRAME ASSEMBLY | TRIGGS, JAMES J | — |
| 18325331 | ELECTRIC VEHICLE THERMAL MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING BATTERY THERMAL LOADS | BUTLER, RODNEY ALLEN | — |
| Art Unit | Apps |
|---|---|
| 3666 | 1 |
| App # | Title | Examiner | Art Unit | Statutes | Status | Due in | AI | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18922861 | ELECTRIC VEHICLE BATTERY FRAME ASSEMBLY | TRIGGS, JAMES J | — | §102§103 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | Oct 22, 2024 |
| 18325331 | ELECTRIC VEHICLE THERMAL MANAGEMENT CONTROL SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING BATTERY THERMAL LOADS | BUTLER, RODNEY ALLEN | 3666 | §102 | Non-Final OA | — | Pending | May 30, 2023 |
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