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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed November 11, 2025, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant continues to argue that the limitations of claim 16 are not obvious over the prior art combination. Applicant states The Examiner acknowledges Barfield does not teach provide the battery condition output, including the battery health metric, between engine ignition and engine shutoff of the vehicle. during regular use of a vehicle. The Examiner further acknowledges that Barfield does not teach with the battery health metric being one of a green condition indicator, a yellow condition indicator, and a red condition indicator, and provide a remedy, with the remedy being a call to action to a user having instructions to a user for a correction of the battery condition output. The applicant further argues the current amendment to the claims as being nonobvious over the rejection of record.
The examiner disagrees and the rejection has been altered to indicate that while Barfield is not explicit as to serve as an anticipatory reference, it is clear that it teaches a similar process or device and it occurs during the timing as claimed, while driving, which is between engine ignition and shutoff, as information is delivered to the driver; and further teaches a health indicator of the device, example battery, and how to remedy. See (… telematics device 210 may also receive information from intelligence system 270 regarding the determined health of vehicle battery 230 and may provide the information to a driver of the vehicle (e.g., via a multimedia system installed in the vehicle or user device 240); Barfield at [0023]-[0025] and [0029]; taking in information while the vehicle is running [0051] and taking measurements on the vehicle operational status information and timestamps [0053], and [0035] battery monitor 12 may send an alert to computer 22, computer 22 may be road assistance computer; and [0020] computer 22 may be connected to other computers such as a battery retailer.
Careful consideration has been given to the amendment, and the art of record does carefully indicate that when battery health is failing, efforts are made to get information to the driver to remedy the situation. See Barfield (… telematics device 210 may also receive information from intelligence system 270 regarding the determined health of vehicle battery 230 and may provide the information to a driver of the vehicle (e.g., via a multimedia system installed in the vehicle or user device 240); Barfield at [0023]-[0025] and [0029]; and see Bernstein, [0035] battery monitor 12 may send an alert to computer 22, computer 22 may be road assistance computer; and [0020] computer 22 may be connected to other computers such as a battery retailer. Note that even Kumar further teaches in [102] [104] alerting the driver, and [135] the controller may send an alert to the dealership. It will be appreciated that the communication actions written in the blocks of FIG. 13 may include additional complex tasks “Send eMail to Owner” ……….While the primary reference teaches the amended language as pointed out above, Kumar certainly further supports notification of additional parties to remedy the failing battery for the operator and it would have been obvious to use email to further communicate any well-known information (ie: directions) that lends itself to remedying the failure.
Fair and careful reconsideration of the amendment and state of the art does not render these steps as currently claimed to overcome the applied prior art of record; no suggestions are currently made to render the application allowable. In view of the above, a rejection addressing the newly added limitations, using the prior art of record, addressing what is argued appears below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 16-23 and 29-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barfield, JR. et al (US 20160349330 A1, hereinafter “Barfield, JR.”) in view of BERNSTEIN et al. (US 20130127611 A1, hereinafter “BERNSTEIN”) (all prior art already of record).
Regarding claim 16, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) discloses a battery health diagnostic system (Abstract, Fig. 1) comprising: a battery (Barfield at Fig. 1, Vehicle Battery), the battery configured to be provided in a vehicle having a vehicle state (Barfield at Fig. 1, Vehicle); a sampling device in electrical communication with the battery (As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle may include a telematics device (e.g., a computing device installed within the vehicle that is capable of gathering information, relating to battery health, from various sources (at 1.1); Barfield at [0015]), configured to acquire battery characteristic data during the vehicle state, and configured to wirelessly transmit the battery characteristic data (The telematics device capable of gathering information, relating to battery health, from various sources (at 1.1). may also collect information from a wireless telecommunications network, such as service records for the vehicle, performance records of the vehicle, make and model of the vehicle and/or vehicle battery, etc; Barfield at [0015] and Telematics device 210 may include a computing and communication device that collects information relating to vehicle battery 230 and communicates the information to processing system 260. [0020]); a storage location, including a processor, in a first wireless communication with the sampling device (Telematics device 210 may communicate with the devices and sensors via an on-board device II (OBD-II) port in the vehicle, a controller area network (CAN) bus of the vehicle, and/or a wireless interface; Barfield at [0021]), the processer configured to receive the battery characteristic data, analyze the battery characteristic data to produce a battery condition output, and wirelessly transmit the battery condition output (the telematics device may provide feedback to the intelligence system regarding the battery health and performance predictions (e.g., whether the battery health and performance predictions were accurate); Barfield at [0017]); and an alert device in a second wireless communication with the storage location, the alert device configured to receive the battery condition output (… telematics device 210 may also receive information from intelligence system 270 regarding the determined health of vehicle battery 230 and may provide the information to a driver of the vehicle (e.g., via a multimedia system installed in the vehicle or user device 240); Barfield at [0023]-[0025] and [0029].
Barfield does not explicitly teach provide the battery condition output, including the battery health metric, between engine ignition and engine shutoff of the vehicle, however, Barfield does teach taking in information while the vehicle is running [0051] and taking measurements on the vehicle operational status information and timestamps [0053].
Barfield also does not teach with the battery health metric being one of a green condition indicator, a yellow condition indicator, and a red condition indicator, and provide a remedy, with the remedy being a call to action to a user having instructions to a user for a correction of the battery condition output or wherein the call to action further includes an alert to roadside assistance or directions to a battery vendor when battery condition is poor, but Barfield does teach in [0029] battery monitor may be connected to computers associated with an automobile manufacturer or battery manufacturer (retailer, for example)…]
However, BERNSTEIN who is in the same field of endeavor teaches or at least suggests provide the battery condition output, including the battery health metric, between engine ignition and engine shutoff of the vehicle, (note that the limitation of “between ignition and engine shutoff” reads on during operation of the vehicle, BERNSTEIN teaches “battery monitor 12 may detect overcharging and undercharging of battery 14 during the operation of vehicle 24 (between engine ignition and engine shutoff) and may detect whether battery 14 is failing (battery condition output) during start of vehicle 24. Battery monitor 12 alarms when it detects that battery 14 is dead, i.e., the voltage of battery 14 is below 9 volts (Table 3). [0049];
the vehicle, with the battery health metric being one of a green condition indicator, a yellow condition indicator, and a red condition indicator BERNSTEIN teaches use of colors red, yellow, green to indicate a battery health metric (Green LED 90 may glow green, yellow LED 88 may glow yellow and red LED 86 may glow red to indicate the health status of battery 14; Figs. 2 and 5, BERNSTEIN at [0098]); BERNSTEIN further teaches that “….The alert may warn and inform a user of battery 14 that the health of battery 14 is at a critical point. The alert may help prevent a situation where the user is caught off guard by a dead battery. (for example, may blink red for failure/dead, a critical condition) [0097, 0098]. It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Barfield to include a battery condition output, and the battery health metric being one of a green condition indicator, a yellow condition indicator, and a red condition indicator, as taught by BERNSTEIN in order to provide a method and system for determining the state of a battery to the user. Bernstein further teaches wherein the call to action further includes an alert to roadside assistance or directions to a battery vendor when battery condition is poor; [0035] battery monitor 12 may send an alert to computer 22, computer 22 may be road assistance computer; and [0020] computer 22 may be connected to other computers such as a battery retailer.
Motivation to combine Barfield with BERNSTEIN can be found in ¶ [0004].
BERNSTEIN also teaches a remedy, with the remedy being a call to action to a user having instructions to a user for a correction of the battery condition output. “…monitor 12 may issue an alert indicating that battery 14 is not working properly (battery 14 may be discharged or may be failing). The alert may include a message stating that "the battery is failing. Please replace the battery." [0037]………” “Battery monitor 12 may alert the vehicle owner of the abnormal condition with a message such as "Please inspect charging system."[0103] BERNSTEIN.
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Barfield in view of BERNSTEIN so that having instructions for a correction of the battery condition output, as taught by BERNSTEIN in order to provide a method and system for determining the state of a battery (see BERNSTEIN para. [0004]) and giving information and guidance to the user on the next steps.
Regarding claim 17, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches or at least suggests wherein the battery condition output includes an indicator to allow a user to know when to take action regarding the battery (the telematics device may provide feedback to the intelligence system regarding the battery health and performance predictions (e.g., whether the battery health and performance predictions were accurate); Barfield at [0017] and intelligence system 270 may communicate the health of vehicle battery 230 to a driver of the vehicle via telematics device 210 or user device 240; Barfield at [0029]).
Regarding claim 18, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches or at least suggests wherein the battery characteristic data includes a voltage (… of such information may include measurements of the voltage or current of vehicle battery 230, an operational status of the vehicle (e.g., whether the vehicle engine is running, whether the vehicle is in an idle mode; Barfield at [0022]).
Regarding claim 19, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches or at least suggests wherein the sampling device includes an OBD-II reader (Telematics device 210 may communicate with the devices and sensors via an on-board device II (OBD-II) port in the vehicle, a controller area network (CAN) bus of the vehicle, and/or a wireless interface; Barfield at [0021]).
Regarding claim 20, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches or at least suggests wherein the processor is configured to perform a comparator function which compares historical battery status data and battery characteristic data comprising a battery status from vehicle condition data (intelligence system 270 may implement self-learning techniques that enable the intelligence system to improve upon previous methodologies used to determine the health of vehicle battery 230 (e.g., by comparing previous predictions with subsequent results and altering prediction methodologies accordingly); Barfield at [0029]).
Regarding claim 21, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches or at least suggests wherein the battery health metric includes one or more of a time and a number of trips remaining for the battery, and wherein the alert device displays the one or more of the time and the number of trips (the intelligence server may determine the remaining life of the battery and make predictions regarding the future performance of the vehicle battery (e.g., predict future voltage measurements, resistance measurements, the remaining life of the battery, etc.); Barfield at [0017] and [0029]).
Regarding claim 22, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches or at least suggests wherein the battery is provided in the vehicle having the vehicle (Vehicle battery 230 may be part of a combustion engine vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, an electric vehicle, boat, watercraft, aircraft, or another type of vehicle; [0026]) and (…state (intelligence system 270 may communicate the health of vehicle battery 230 to a driver of the vehicle via telematics device 210 or user device 240; Barfield at [0029]).
Regarding claim 23, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches or at least suggests wherein the vehicle state is during operation of the vehicle (telematics device 210 may also receive information from intelligence system 270 regarding the determined health of vehicle battery 230 and may provide the information to a driver of the vehicle (e.g., via a multimedia system installed in the vehicle or user device 240); Barfield at [0023]).
Regarding claim 29, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, BERNSTEIN teaches or at least suggests the green condition indicator providing for a first result for the battery health metric (Green LED 90 may glow green, yellow LED 88 may glow yellow and red LED 86 may glow red to indicate the health status of battery 14; Figs. 2 and 5, BERNSTEIN at [0098]).
Motivation for combining Barfield with BERNSTEIN in the instant claim is the same as that in claim 16 above.
Regarding claim 30, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, BERNSTEIN teaches or at least suggests the yellow condition indicator providing for a second result for the battery health metric, with the second result for the battery health metric being less than the first result for the battery health metric (Green LED 90 may glow green, yellow LED 88 may glow yellow and red LED 86 may glow red to indicate the health status of battery 14; Figs. 2 and 5, BERNSTEIN at [0098]) Note that the paragraph teaches a different color for a different status, gives 3 examples in the series of green, yellow, red.
Motivation for combining Barfield with BERNSTEIN in the instant claim is the same as that in claim 16 above.
Regarding claim 31, Barfield and BERNSTEIN disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, BERNSTEIN teaches or at least suggests the red condition indicator providing for a third result for the battery health metric, with the third result for the battery health metric being less than the second result for the battery health metric (Green LED 90 may glow green, yellow LED 88 may glow yellow and red LED 86 may glow red to indicate the health status of battery 14; Figs. 2 and 5, BERNSTEIN at [0098]).
Motivation for combining Barfield with BERNSTEIN in the instant claim is the same as that in claim 16 above.
Claims 24-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barfield, JR. et al (US 20160349330 A1, hereinafter “Barfield, JR.”) in view of Kumar et al. (US 20190176639 A1, hereinafter “Kumar”) (all prior art already of record).
Regarding claim 24, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) discloses a system for obtaining battery data across a fleet of vehicles (abstract, Fig. 1; the health of the battery may be additionally or alternatively communicated to other relevant parties, for example, the owner or operator of a vehicle fleet, a vehicle owner, an automotive dealership, or battery manufacturer; Barfield at [0029]), the system comprising: a plurality of batteries (the owner or operator of a vehicle fleet, a vehicle owner, an automotive dealership, or battery manufacturer; [0029]): a plurality of sampling devices (As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle may include a telematics device (e.g., a computing device installed within the vehicle that is capable of gathering information, relating to battery health, from various sources (at 1.1); Barfield at [0015]), each sampling device from the plurality of sampling devices being in communication with: a battery from the plurality of batteries (Telematics device 210 may communicate with the devices and sensors via an on-board device II (OBD-II) port in the vehicle, a controller area network (CAN) bus of the vehicle, and/or a wireless interface; Barfield at [0021]); a processor (… telematics device 210 may also receive information from intelligence system 270 regarding the determined health of vehicle battery 230 and may provide the information to a driver of the vehicle (e.g., via a multimedia system installed in the vehicle or user device 240); Barfield at [0023]-[0025] and [0029]); and a data transmission device (the telematics device may provide feedback to the intelligence system regarding the battery health and performance predictions (e.g., whether the battery health and performance predictions were accurate); Barfield at [0017]); wherein each sampling device from the plurality of sampling devices is further configured to acquire battery characteristic data (The telematics device may also collect information from a wireless telecommunications network, such as service records for the vehicle, performance records of the vehicle, make and model of the vehicle and/or vehicle battery, etc; Barfield at [0015] and [0020]), the processor is configured to analyze the battery characteristic data; and the data transmission device is configured to transmit the analyzed battery characteristic data (the telematics device may provide feedback to the intelligence system regarding the battery health and performance predictions (e.g., whether the battery health and performance predictions were accurate); Barfield at [0017], Fig.1); and a server (see Fig.1, intelligence server), the server configured to accept the analyzed battery characteristic data from the plurality of sampling devices and is further configured to analyze the analyzed battery characteristic data across the plurality of batteries to determine a time to failure estimate for battery health across the fleet of vehicles (the telematics device may provide feedback to the intelligence system regarding the battery health and performance predictions (e.g., whether the battery health and performance predictions were accurate); Barfield at [0017] and [0029]….determine the current health of vehicle battery 230 (e.g., the remaining battery charge life, the length of time the battery will last, the number of charge cycles the battery will last, or the likelihood that the battery will fail in the near future),……. Further, the health of the battery may be additionally or alternatively communicated to other relevant parties, for example, the owner or operator of a vehicle fleet, a vehicle owner, an automotive dealership, or battery manufacturer……… Process 400 may include providing feedback regarding the vehicle battery health information [0029, 0030, 0043]).
Barfield does not explicitly teach with the time to failure estimate being displayed on a mobile device, and with the call to action being an instruction for a remedy of the time to failure estimate and the remedy including an alert to roadside assistance……[ or directions to a battery vendor]; but Barfield does teach in [0029] battery monitor may be connected to computers associated with an automobile manufacturer or battery manufacturer (retailer, for example)…], and therefore does teach or directions to a battery vendor. Given that the BRI of the amended clause for this amendment is in the alternative, Barfield does meet the amended limitation. [see 0029] In some implementations, intelligence system 270 may communicate the health of vehicle battery 230 to a driver of the vehicle via telematics device 210 or user device 240. Further, the health of the battery may be additionally or alternatively communicated to other relevant parties, for example, the owner or operator of a vehicle fleet, a vehicle owner, an automotive dealership, or battery manufacturer. While the reference does not explicitly say “directions”, it does teach broadly ‘communicating’ the health of the battery with the understood result that the communication is to remedy the problem, and that remedy would include getting a new battery and any conventional means needed to receive the new mattery, including map information, so it would have been obvious to the skilled practitioner to get directions, as directions are well known in the art, including to the battery retailer as directed by the reference, in order to remedy the deficient battery.
However, Kumar who is in the same field of endeavor teaches or at least suggests with the time to failure estimate being displayed on a mobile device (…, the algorithm may determine a battery state of health 224 including whether the battery monitor has passed or failed (e.g., whether the battery will result in a start or non-start of the vehicle) as well as a remaining battery life (e.g., a predicted end of life estimate). The estimated battery state of health is then displayed to a vehicle operator; Kumar at [0059]). Kumar further teaches with the call to action being an instruction for a remedy of the time to failure estimate ( For example, it may be displayed that “the battery will need to be replaced in 120 miles”. This may provide the operator with a more comprehensible estimate of when the battery needs to be serviced. In addition, the displayed estimate may prompt the vehicle operator to adjust their driving pattern, for example, the operator may be prompted to drive less aggressively. [0100]) It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Barfield to include the time to failure estimate being displayed on a mobile device, as well as a call to action being an instruction for a remedy of the time to failure, as taught by Kumar in order to provide an early indication of the remaining life of the battery and give guidance to help a customer plan for maintenance ahead of time and avoid component fault.
Motivation to combined Barfield with Kumar can be found in ¶ (Kumar [0008]).
Note that Kumar further teaches in [102] [104] alerting the driver, and [135] the controller may send an alert to the dealership. It will be appreciated that the communication actions written in the blocks of FIG. 13 may include additional complex tasks “Send eMail to Owner” ……….While the primary reference teaches the amended language as pointed out above, Kumar certainly further supports notification of additional parties to remedy the failing battery for the operator and it would have been obvious to use email to further communicate any well-known information (ie: directions) that lends itself to remedying the failure, including information like conventional directions.
Regarding claim 25, Barfield and Kumar disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches wherein the server reports the analyzed battery characteristic data across the plurality of batteries (the telematics device may provide feedback to the intelligence system regarding the battery health and performance predictions (e.g., whether the battery health and performance predictions were accurate); Barfield at [0017] and intelligence system 270 may communicate the health of vehicle battery 230 to a driver of the vehicle via telematics device 210 or user device 240; Barfield at [0029]).
Regarding claim 26, Barfield and Kumar disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches wherein the plurality of sampling devices are a plurality of OBD-II readers (Telematics device 210 may communicate with the devices and sensors via an on-board device II (OBD-II) port in the vehicle, a controller area network (CAN) bus of the vehicle, and/or a wireless interface; Barfield at [0021]).
Regarding claim 27, Barfield and Kumar disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches wherein each of the plurality of batteries is provided within a vehicle (abstract, Fig. 1; the health of the battery may be additionally or alternatively communicated to other relevant parties, for example, the owner or operator of a vehicle fleet, a vehicle owner, an automotive dealership, or battery manufacturer; Barfield at [0029]).
Regarding claim 28, Barfield and Kumar disclose the claimed invention substantially as explained above. Further, Barfield, JR. (Figs.1-5) teaches wherein the battery characteristic data is a voltage (… of such information may include measurements of the voltage or current of vehicle battery 230, an operational status of the vehicle (e.g., whether the vehicle engine is running, whether the vehicle is in an idle mode; Barfield at [0022]).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/ANGELA Y ORTIZ/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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