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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/4/2026 has been entered.
Claim Status
Claims 1, 3, and 6-15 are pending. Claims 4-5 are canceled. Claim 2 was previously canceled. Claims 1 and 6-10 are amended. Claim 3 is previously presented. Claims 11-15 are original.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/4/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to arguments that primary reference YOON does not disclose the flag having a state dependent on the manner in which communication between a battery sensor and control unit is activated, it is submitted that the “recharging prohibition condition” of YOON is interpreted as the claimed flag, wherein the “recharging prohibition condition” is not only based on the state of the main battery, but on a plurality of variables as disclosed at least in paragraphs 0046 and 0062. The claim recites the state of the flag is “based on” whether communication is activated by the battery sensor or the control unit, and it is submitted that the phrase “based on” is broadly interpreted as “having at least some relationship to”. The claim does not recite, for example, switching the flag to the first state as a direct response to the communication being activated by the battery sensor, and likewise does not recite switching the flag to the second state as a direct response to the communication being activated by the control unit. Also, the claim does not define the “wake-up of the control unit”, allowing for a broad interpretation, such that the disclosed monitoring operation of the control unit of YOON, said monitoring operation transmitting measurements to the battery sensor, is interpreted as reading on the claimed “wake-up”. It is therefore submitted that YOON discloses the switching of the flag is “based on”, i.e., “has at least some relationship to”, communications activated by the battery sensor, which include the requests from the battery sensor as disclosed in paragraphs 0061-0062; and communications activated by the control unit, which include the measurements transmitted to the battery sensor as disclosed in paragraph 0054, wherein both communications are transmitted prior to switching the “recharging prohibition condition” flag. It is therefore maintained that YOON discloses the auxiliary battery system of claim 1, within the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language.
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, 3, 6, 8-9, 12 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by YOON (US Pub. No. 2017/0166076; previously cited by Examiner on PTO-892 with date 6/12/2024).
Regarding claim 1, YOON discloses an auxiliary battery system for a vehicle (¶ 0003: The present invention relates to a battery for an electric vehicle, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for controlling recharging of an auxiliary battery for an electric vehicle; ¶ 0009: An object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary battery recharging control method and apparatus capable of controlling recharging of an auxiliary battery), the auxiliary battery system comprising:
an auxiliary battery (500, Figs. 1 & 2; ¶ 0042: a second battery 500 (hereinafter, referred to as an “auxiliary battery”)) charged by a high voltage battery (600, Figs. 1 & 2; ¶ 0042: a first battery 600 (hereinafter, referred to as a “main battery”)) for driving the vehicle (¶ 0005: a main battery configured to supply drive power to an electric motor to drive wheels), and configured to provide power to an electronic device of the vehicle (¶ 0005: an auxiliary battery configured to supply electric power to general electric elements);
a battery sensor (comprising 100, 200, and 300, Figs. 1 & 2) configured to calculate a state of charge of the auxiliary battery (¶ 0053: second battery sensor 300 is a sensor configured to monitor the state of the auxiliary battery 500. The second battery sensor 300 may be configured to transmit auxiliary battery state information generated based on the monitored results to the first controller 200. In addition, the second battery sensor 300 may be an intelligent battery sensor (IBS). The IBS may be configured to sense voltage, current, temperature, SOC, and state of health (SOH) of the associated battery); and
a control unit (400, Figs. 1 & 2) configured to perform communication with the battery sensor (¶ 0054: In response to receiving a relay ON request from the recharging determiner 100, the second controller 400 may be configured to switch on the relay 700, and then transmit information representing the ON state of the relay 700 to the recharging determiner 100), and to control charging of the auxiliary battery by the high voltage battery (¶ 0047: in response to determining that no recharging prohibition condition has been established, the recharging determiner 100 may be configured to request the second controller 400 to switch on the relay 700, and permit the first controller 200 to execute recharging; ¶ 0056: the relay 700 may be switched on or off under operation of the second controller 400, to allow or prevent recharging), and
a memory configured to store a flag (e.g., a “recharging prohibition condition” is interpreted as the claimed flag, and a memory is implied to at least temporarily store the “recharging prohibition condition” in 100) determined by the battery sensor and divided into a second state and a first state (¶ 0045: recharging determiner 100 may further be configured to monitor a state of the vehicle and state of the main battery 600, and determine whether a recharging prohibition condition has been established, based on the monitored results; ¶ 0062: In response to receiving a recharging request from the first controller 200, the recharging determiner 100 may be configured to determine whether the state of the vehicle and the state of the first battery 600 correspond to a recharging prohibition condition… recharging prohibition condition may be…when the voltage of the first battery 600 is less than a predetermined voltage, when SOC of the first battery 600 is less than a predetermined SOC, when recharging is continuously executed a predetermined number of times or more, or when the voltage of the second battery 500 remains less than the predetermined voltage or SOC of the first battery 600 remains less than the predetermined SOC, after monitoring for a predetermined period of time after recharging),
wherein switching between the second state and the first state of the flag is based on (the phrase “is based on” is considered to be open-ended, and does not require a relationship of direct reliance, but rather is interpreted as “having at least some relationship to”; the state of the “recharging prohibition condition” flag is determined after communications between the battery sensor and the control unit and is therefore “based on” said communications) whether the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit is activated by a charging request of the battery sensor (¶ 0061: the first controller 200 may be configured to request that the recharging determiner 100 perform periodic recharging (S220); ¶ 0062: In response to receiving a recharging request from the first controller 200, the recharging determiner 100 may be configured to determine whether the state of the vehicle and the state of the first battery 600 correspond to a recharging prohibition condition (S120)) or by wake-up of the control unit (“wake-up of the control unit” is not specifically defined, allowing for a broad interpretation, for example, the monitoring operation of control unit 400 as disclosed at least in paragraphs 0046, 0054 & 0062 is interpreted as the claimed “wake-up”; ¶ 0046: the recharging determiner 100 may be configured to…monitor temperature, voltage, and current of the main battery 600, state of the main battery 600, for example, state of charge (SOC) of the main battery 600, etc., to determine whether the charged amount of the main battery 600 is insufficient, to thus determine whether a recharging prohibition condition has been established. In response to determining that the recharging prohibition condition has been established, the recharging determiner 100 may be configured to block or prohibit recharging of the auxiliary battery 500; ¶ 0054: the second controller 400 may be configured to continuously transmit a state of the main battery 600, for example, SOC, to the recharging determiner 100; ¶ 0062: recharging prohibition condition may be…when the voltage of the first battery 600 is less than a predetermined voltage, when SOC of the first battery 600 is less than a predetermined SOC, when recharging is continuously executed a predetermined number of times or more, or when the voltage of the second battery 500 remains less than the predetermined voltage or SOC of the first battery 600 remains less than the predetermined SOC, after monitoring for a predetermined period of time after recharging); and
wherein an entry condition for charging the auxiliary battery (it is noted that the “entry condition” is not specifically defined, allowing for a broad interpretation), in a state where the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit is activated, is different depending upon the state of the flag (¶ 0046: In response to determining that the recharging prohibition condition has been established, the recharging determiner 100 may be configured to block or prohibit recharging of the auxiliary battery 500; ¶ 0047: in response to determining that no recharging prohibition condition has been established, the recharging determiner 100 may be configured to request the second controller 400 to switch on the relay 700, and permit the first controller 200 to execute recharging; whether to block/prohibit or permit recharging is interpreted as the claimed “entry condition”);
wherein the flag is switched into the first state based on (the phrase “based on” is considered to be open-ended, and does not require a relationship of direct reliance, but rather is interpreted as “having at least some relationship to”) the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit being activated by the charging request of the battery sensor (¶ 0061-0062: see above); and
wherein the flag is switched into the second state based on (the phrase “based on” is considered to be open-ended, and does not require a relationship of direct reliance, but rather is interpreted as “having at least some relationship to”) the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit being activated by wake-up of the control unit (¶ 0046: the recharging determiner 100 may be configured to monitor whether the current gear stage of the vehicle corresponds to a parking (P) stage, whether a charger is connected to the vehicle, whether doors, a hood, a tail gate, etc. of the vehicle are closed, and other conditions, to determine whether recharging is allowable. The recharging determiner 100 may further be configured to monitor temperature, voltage, and current of the main battery 600, state of the main battery 600, for example, state of charge (SOC) of the main battery 600, etc., to determine whether the charged amount of the main battery 600 is insufficient, to thus determine whether a recharging prohibition condition has been established. In response to determining that the recharging prohibition condition has been established, the recharging determiner 100 may be configured to block or prohibit recharging of the auxiliary battery 500; ¶ 0054, 0062: see above).
Regarding claim 3, YOON discloses the memory is provided in the battery sensor (¶ 0045, 0062).
Regarding claim 6, YOON discloses the flag is switched into the first state in response to activation of the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit by the wake-up of the control unit and then there exists the charging request of the battery sensor (¶ 0046, 0058-0063).
Regarding claim 8, YOON discloses the flag switched into the first state in response to activation of the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit by the charging request of the battery sensor or in response to activation of the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit by the wake-up of the control unit and then there exists the charging request of the battery sensor (¶ 0046, 0058-0063).
Regarding claim 9, YOON discloses in the case where the flag is in the second state, the auxiliary battery is charged if the state of charge of the auxiliary battery is a first standard level or less (¶ 0061).
Regarding claim 12, YOON discloses the control unit terminates the charging of the auxiliary battery if the state of charge of the auxiliary battery reaches a first standard level upon charging the auxiliary battery (¶ 0064).
Regarding claim 14, YOON discloses the control unit measures a charging time upon charging the auxiliary battery, and terminates the charging of the auxiliary battery if the charging time reaches a third standard level (¶ 0064).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 7 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YOON as applied to claims 1, 3, 6, 8-9, 12 and 14 above, and further in view of BITO (US Pub. No. 2013/0200845; cited in previous office action).
Regarding claim 7, YOON discloses the auxiliary battery system for the vehicle as applied to claim 6, and further discloses in the case where the flag is switched into the first state by the wake-up of the control unit and the existence of the charging request of the battery sensor, the flag is switched into the second state in response to inactivation of the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit (¶ 0046, 0058-0063).
YOON fails to disclose inactivation of the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit by the control unit entering a sleep mode.
BITO discloses inactivation of the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit by the control unit entering a sleep mode (¶ 0035, 0106-0107, 0125).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the control unit entering a sleep mode in order to save energy and conserve battery life.
Regarding claim 15, YOON discloses the auxiliary battery system for the vehicle as applied to claim 1 but fails to disclose the control unit terminates the charging if the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit is inactivated by the control unit entering a sleep mode upon charging the auxiliary battery.
BITO discloses the control unit terminates the charging if the communication between the battery sensor and the control unit is inactivated by the control unit entering a sleep mode upon charging the auxiliary battery (¶ 0035, 0106-0107, 0125).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include terminating the charging by the control unit entering a sleep mode in order to save energy and conserve battery life.
Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YOON as applied to claims 1, 3, 6, 8-9, 12 and 14 above, and further in view of OKUMA (US Pub. No. 2012/0212057; cited in previous office action).
Regarding claim 10, YOON discloses the auxiliary battery system for the vehicle as applied to claim 8, but fails to disclose in the case where the flag is in the first state, the auxiliary battery is charged if a discharging amount or a discharging rate of the auxiliary battery is a second standard level or more.
OKUMA discloses the battery is charged if a discharging amount or a discharging rate of the battery is a second standard level or more (¶ 0010-0011, 0040). It would be obvious to apply the battery charging if a discharging amount is a second standard level or more as disclosed in OKUMA for the auxiliary battery of YOON. Furthermore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to charge the auxiliary battery if a discharging amount is a second standard level or more as disclosed in OKUMA, when the flag is in the first state as disclosed in YOON, since, for example, the flag in the first state signifies frequent charging (e.g., see ¶ 0062 which discloses “when recharging is continuously executed a predetermined number of times or more” as being a condition for a “recharging probation condition” flag first state).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include the auxiliary battery is charged if a discharging amount of the auxiliary battery is a second standard level or more in order to prevent frequent micro-charging cycles and therefore reduce battery stress.
Regarding claim 11, YOON discloses the auxiliary battery is charged by the battery sensor making the charging request to the control unit (¶ 0061-0063).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YOON as applied to claims 1, 3, 6, 8-9, 12 and 14 above, and further in view of MORI (US Pub. No. 2004/0066171; cited in previous office action).
Regarding claim 13, YOON discloses the auxiliary battery system for the vehicle as applied to claim 1, but fails to disclose the control unit terminates the charging of the auxiliary battery if a charging current is maintained to a fourth standard level or less upon charging the auxiliary battery.
MORI discloses the control unit terminates the charging of the battery if a charging current is maintained to a fourth standard level or less upon charging the battery (¶ 0007). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the termination of the charging as disclosed in MORI for the auxiliary battery of YOON.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include terminating the charging based on charging current as recited in order to safely charge the battery by preventing overcharging as known in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record on form PTO-892 and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANUEL HERNANDEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-7916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9a-5p ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Drew Dunn can be reached at (571) 272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Manuel Hernandez/Examiner, Art Unit 2859 6/9/2026
/DREW A DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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