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 .
Response to Amendment
This office action has been issued in response to the amendment filed on March 19, 2026.
Claims 1-3, 6-10, 12-15, 17 and 19 are pending.
Applicant’s arguments have been carefully and respectfully considered. Rejections have been maintained where arguments were not persuasive. Also, new rejections based on the amended claims have been set forth. Accordingly, claims 1-3, 6-10, 12-15, 17 and 19 are rejected, and this action is made FINAL, as necessitated by amendment.
Response to Arguments
Applicant states the independent claims have been amended to generally recite, “wherein each of the charge ports comprises a fast-charging system; and each of the charge ports comprises a plurality of LEDs configured to display information pertaining to charging the vehicle, including any of a charging rate, charge status of the battery and total charge transferred to the battery”.
Fisher (US 2023/0081083) discloses wherein each of the charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) comprises a fast-charging system (Par.82 and 101); each of the charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) comprises indicators (318 and 320) (Fig.17) configured to display information pertaining to charging the vehicle, including any one of a charging rate, charge status of the battery and total charge transferred to the battery (Par.111-112).
Newly relied upon prior art Freeling-Wilkinson (US 2020/0324661) discloses a plurality of LEDs (109) configured to display information pertaining to charging the vehicle, including any one of a charging rate, charge status of the battery and total charge transferred to the battery (Par.62).
The amended claims are rejected under Fischer in view of Whitney and Freeling-Wilkinson as seen below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 6-8 depend from cancelled claim 5.
Claims 6-8 are interpreted as depending from Claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-2, 6, 8, 10, 12-13, 17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fisher (US 2023/0081083; Provisional application 63/307,664 filed 2/8/2022) in view of Whitney (US 2023/0035958); Provisional application 63/203,692 filed 7/28/2021) and Freeling-Wilkinson (US 2020/0324661).
Claims 1 and 10: Fisher teaches a mobile charging station (300) (Fig.9) for charging batteries onboard multiple electrically powered vehicles (315) (Par.110), comprising:
a trailer housing a multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (206) (Fig.12) (Par.101);
multiple charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) disposed on the trailer and powered by the multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (206) (Par.102; The batteries provide power to the charging bays.);
each of the multiple charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) comprising a charging cable disposed on the trailer (Fig.8) for routing to each electrically powered vehicle (315) (Par.110);
each charging cable comprising a connector (plug) (Fig.8) and configured to be plugged into a charging port of the electrically powered vehicle (315) (Par.110);
wherein each of the charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) comprises a fast-charging system (Par.82 and 101);
each of the charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) comprises indicators (318 and 320) (Fig.17) configured to display information pertaining to charging the vehicle, including any one of a charging rate, charge status of the battery and total charge transferred to the battery (Par.111-112);
wherein the trailer is configured to receive electrical energy from an electrical grid (356) or a solar array (322) for recharging the multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (206) (Par.119) (Fig.18); and
wherein the mobile charging station (300) further comprises onboard charging equipment (212) configured to recharge the multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (206) while the trailer is stationary (Par.119) (Fig.18).
Fischer does not explicitly teach each charging cable comprising a charging cable; an elastic cable for supporting at least a portion of the weight of the charging cable; and wherein the elastic cable is coupled by way of a mount or mechanism disposed above a port comprising the cable.
Whitney teaches a charging cable (101) comprising a connector and configured to connect into a charging port of an electric vehicle (Fig.2C) (Par.3); and an elastic cable (203) for supporting at least a portion of the weight of the charging cable (101) (Par.8); wherein the elastic cable (203) is coupled by way of a mount or mechanism (200a) disposed above a port comprising the cable (101) (Fig.2B) (Par.8-9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Whitney in the system of Fischer to have had kept the charging cable off the ground thereby decreasing premature wear and have had helped the operator manage the weight of the charging cable when charging a car (Par.8) thereby reducing strain on the operator’s body.
Furthermore, Fischer does not explicitly teach the indicators encompass a plurality of LEDs.
Freeling-Wilkinson teaches a charging station (100) (Fig.3) for charging batteries onboard electrically powered vehicles (300) (Par.42-43), comprising:
a plurality of LEDs (109) configured to display information pertaining to charging the vehicle, including any one of a charging rate, charge status of the battery and total charge transferred to the battery (Par.62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had substituted indicators for LEDs in the system of Fischer given that they are equivalent elements that produce the same results of providing information to a user (Par.62) as taught in Freeling-Wilkinson.
Claim 2: Fischer in view of Whitney and Freeling-Wilkinson teach the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Fischer teaches the trailer comprising a truck trailer (Fig.19) that is configured to service five electrically powered vehicles (Par.110; Three charging ports are illustrated in one of the side walls of the trailer. However, more charging ports can be provided; including charging ports in both side walls.).
Fischer discloses the trailer can be a variety of lengths depending on the desired size and number of charging ports, including 20ft (Par.83). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the trailer be 19 feet if so desired.
Claim 6: Fischer in view of Whitney and Freeling-Wilkinson each the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Fischer teaches wherein the charging equipment (212) comprises solar panels (322) disposed on a roof of the trailer (Fig.18) (Par.114).
Claim 8: Fischer in view of Whitney and Freeling-Wilkinson teach the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Fischer teaches the charging equipment comprises an onboard electric generator configured to recharge the multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (206) when needed (Par.109).
Claims 12 and 17: Fisher teaches a method for a mobile charging station (300) (Fig.9) for charging batteries onboard multiple electrically powered vehicles (315) (Par.110), comprising:
providing a trailer configured to be towed by a truck (360) (Fig.19);
housing a multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (206) within the trailer (Fig.12) (Par.101);
installing multiple charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) on the trailer (Fig.9);
powering the multiple charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) by way of the multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (206) (Par.102; The batteries provide power to the charging bays.);
each of the multiple charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) comprising a charging cable disposed on the trailer (Fig.8) (Par.110);
wherein each of the charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) comprises a fast-charging system (Par.82 and 101);
each of the charge ports (314a-314c/ charging bays) comprises indicators (318 and 320) (Fig.17) configured to display information pertaining to charging the vehicle, including any one of a charging rate, charge status of the battery and total charge transferred to the battery (Par.112-113);
configuring the trailer to receive electrical energy from at least one of an electrical grid (356) and a solar array (322) for recharging the multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (206) (Par.119) (Fig.18); and
wherein the mobile charging station (300) further comprises onboard charging equipment (212) configured to recharge the multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (206) while the trailer is stationary (Par.119) (Fig.18).
Fischer does not explicitly teach supporting the charging cable by way of an elastic cable; supporting the charging cable includes coupling the elastic cable by way of a mount or mechanism above each charging port.
Whitney teaches a charging cable (101) supported by way of an elastic cable (203) (Par.8); supporting the charging cable (101) includes coupling the elastic cable (203) by way of a mount or mechanism (200a) above a charging port comprising the charging cable (Fig.2B) (Par.8-9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Whitney in the system of Fischer to have had kept the charging cable off the ground thereby decreasing premature wear and have had helped the operator manage the weight of the charging cable when charging a car (Par.8) thereby reducing strain on the operator’s body.
Furthermore, Fischer does not explicitly teach the indicators encompass a plurality of LEDs.
Freeling-Wilkinson teaches a charging station (100) (Fig.3) for charging batteries onboard electrically powered vehicles (300) (Par.42-43), comprising:
a plurality of LEDs (109) configured to display information pertaining to charging the vehicle, including any one of a charging rate, charge status of the battery and total charge transferred to the battery (Par.62).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had substituted indicators for LEDs in the system of Fischer given that they are equivalent elements that produce the same results of providing information to a user (Par.62) as taught in Freeling-Wilkinson.
Claim 13: Fischer in view of Whitney and Freeling-Wilkinson teach the limitations of claim 12 as disclosed above. Fischer teaches providing a truck trailer (Fig.19) that is configured to service five electrically powered vehicles (Par.110; Three charging ports are illustrated in one of the side walls of the trailer. However, more charging ports can be provided; including charging ports in both side walls.).
Fischer discloses the trailer can be a variety of lengths depending on the desired size and number of charging ports, including 20ft (Par.83). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the trailer be 19 feet if so desired.
Claim 19: Fischer in view of Whitney and Freeling-Wilkinson teach the limitations of claim 12 as disclosed above. Fischer teaches wherein the rechargeable batteries (206) can be recharged by way of charging equipment (212) stored onboard the trailer (Par.119) (Fig.18).
Claims 3 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fisher (US 2023/0081083; Provisional application 63/307,664 filed 2/8/2022) in view of Whitney (US 2023/0035958); Provisional application 63/203,692 filed 7/28/2021) and Freeling-Wilkinson (US 2020/0324661) as applied to claims 2 and 12 above, and further in view of Wu et al. (US 2021/0323442).
Claims 3 and 14: Fischer in view of Whitney and Freeling-Wilkinson teach the limitations of claims 2 and 12 as disclosed above. Fischer does not explicitly teach wherein the trailer houses about 2,500 or more lead-acid batteries for charging the electrically powered vehicles.
Wu teaches 2,500 or more lead-acid batteries (Par.15) for charging electrically powered vehicles (Par.1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Wu in the system of Fischer to have had a number of cells that can be connected in series and/or parallel (Par.41) to obtain the necessary amount of voltage for powering the vehicles.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fisher (US 2023/0081083; Provisional application 63/307,664 filed 2/8/2022) in view of Whitney (US 2023/0035958); Provisional application 63/203,692 filed 7/28/2021) and Freeling-Wilkinson (US 2020/0324661) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Goei (US 2019/0351783).
Claim 7: Fischer in view of Whitney and Freeling-Wilkinson teach the limitations of claim 1 as disclosed above. Fischer does not explicitly teach wherein the charging equipment is configured to charge the multiplicity of rechargeable batteries while the trailer is being towed by a truck.
Goei teaches charging equipment (charger) configured to charge a multiplicity of rechargeable batteries (bank of batteries) in a trailer while the trailer is being towed by a truck (Fig.2) (Par.80, The bank of batteries are charged via onboard energy collection sources while on the road.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Goei in the system of Fischer to have had maintained the rechargeable batteries charged (Par.46) while on the road on the way to a location where charging is needed (Par.80) thereby the rechargeable batteries are ready to provide power on arrival.
Claims 9 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fisher (US 2023/0081083; Provisional application 63/307,664 filed 2/8/2022) in view of Whitney (US 2023/0035958); Provisional application 63/203,692 filed 7/28/2021) and Freeling-Wilkinson (US 2020/0324661) as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of Laughner (US 2012/0109763).
Claims 9 and 15: Fischer in view of Whitney and Freeling-Wilkinson teach the limitations of claims 1 and 12 as disclosed above. Fischer does not explicitly teach wherein each of the charge ports is capable of providing about 220 Volts.
Laughner teaches a mobile charging station (Fig.1) comprising: a charge port capable of providing about 220 Volts (Par.17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have had the teachings of Laughner in the system of Fischer to have had provided an appropriate energy level for charging an electric vehicle (Par.17).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Tittle et al. (US 2016/0134140) teaches a mobile charging station (100) (Fig.5) comprising: a trailer (Par.30) (Fig.1) housing a rechargeable battery (604) (Par.43); multiple charge ports (502a-502e) disposed on the trailer (Fig.5) and powered by the rechargeable battery (604) (Fig.6) (Par.43); each of the multiple charge ports (502a-502e) comprising a charging cable (504) comprising a connector (electrical plug) (Fig.5) and configured to be plugged into a charging port of the electrically powered vehicle (Par.42).
Mailloux (US 2020/0180455) discloses a cable (112) supporting a weight of a charging cable (120) mounted above a charging port (Fig.1b-1c).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHALI ALEJANDRA TORRES RUIZ whose telephone number is (571)270-1262. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am-6:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Taelor Kim can be reached on 571-270-71667166. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHALI A TORRES RUIZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/TAELOR KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859