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 . As per the remarks of 11/06/2025 claims 1-13 are pending; claims 14-19 were previously withdrawn.
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 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 present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2015/0069936) (Hereinafter, Jang) in view of Gallardo et al. (IEEE, July 2011).
With respect to claims 1 and 7, Jang discloses a switching circuit for an electric vehicle (See Fig. 2, 150/SW (S1-S6); para. # 0010), comprising: a first leg of the switching circuit (Fig. 2, sw.1/4; Para. # 0068), including a first switch and a second switch (SW1 and SW4), that receives a first phase of three-phase alternating current (AC) electrical power (Para. # 0068); multiple legs of the switching circuit (Fig. 2, SW 2 and SW 5; Para. # 0069), receives a second phase of three-phase AC electrical power (Para. # 0071); multiple capacitors (capacitor legs as all capacitors have to be connected to the other circuitries) (Fig. 2, S3 and S6; para. # 0076),
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that receives a third phase of three-phase AC electrical power (Para. # 0042);wherein the capacitor(s) permit zero sequence current flow through the first leg, the second leg, and the third leg while the three-phase AC electrical power is applied to the circuit (Para. # 0042: three-phase AC power supplied through the inverter 130in an opening mode where all three phases are equal in magnitude and phase inherently implying to zero sequency current).
Jang, does not expressly disclose, circuit for electric vehicle comprising a first leg, a second leg and a third leg with switches and capacitors.
Gallardo, on the other hand, discloses an electric vehicle circuitries with a first leg including two switches (T1a, T2a); a second leg including two switches (T1b, T2b); a third leg including two switches (T1c, T2c); and a capacitor leg including two capacitors (C2, C2) as the below drawing depicts (See also pages 3-4 and Figs. 8-9).
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JANG and Gallardo are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor namely charger integrated circuitries for electric vehicle (EV) and three phase bidirectional battery charger.
At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have added circuit device for electric vehicle with legs and corresponding switches and capacitors to control balanced source current so that the charger effectively supply power in order to improve the power quality of the electric power system to the charger of Jang in view of Gallardo.
With respect to claims 2 and 8, the combined references of Jang and Gallardo disclose the switching circuit for the electric vehicle as described above, further Jang discloses comprising an on-board vehicle battery charger (Para. # 0042, 0043 and 0050: the inverter 130 work as a charger, switches power rectified through the rectifying unit 120 through the inverter 130, and generates a charging voltage for charging the high-voltage battery 140).
With respect to claims 3 and 9, The combined references of Jang and Gallardo the switching circuit for the electric vehicle as described above, wherein Jang discloses the switching circuit is included in a power-factor correction (PFC) stage of the on-board vehicle battery charger (Para. # 0011, 0036 and 0065: the rectifying unit may include: a rectifier including a plurality of diodes, and a power factor corrector including a transistor and an inductor).
With respect to claims 4 and 10, the combined references of Jang and Gallardo the switching circuit for the electric vehicle as described above, wherein Gallardo further discloses the first leg of the switching circuit, the second leg of the switching circuit, the third leg of the switching circuit, and capacitor(s) rectify AC electrical power into DC electrical power (the three-phase battery charger is connected between a battery in the electric vehicle and an AC power line as described in page 5)Fig. 2, rectifier 130 supplies DC voltage).
With respect to claims 5 and 11, The combined references of Jang and Gallardo the switching circuit for the electric vehicle as described above, wherein Gallardo discloses the first leg of the switching circuit, the second leg of the switching circuit, the third leg of the switching circuit, and capacitor(s) invert DC electrical power into AC electrical power (see above description and Gallardo drawing illustrated above).
With respect to claims 6 and 12, The combined references of Jang and Gallardo the switching circuit for the electric vehicle as described above, wherein Gallardo discloses the DC electrical power is stored in a vehicle battery (see above description and Gallardo drawing “bidirectional DC-DC converter).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang in view of Gallardo as described above further in view of Xiaoyu (CJ EE Vol. 3, June 2017).
With respect to claim 13, The combined references of Jang and Gallardo the switching circuit for the electric vehicle as described above, but do not expressly disclose comprising an inductor electrically connected to the neutral leg.
Xiaoyu, however, discloses the switching circuit comprising an inductor electrically connected to the neutral leg (see page 80 and Fig. 2, having an inductor (La) connected to the neutral leg).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's amendments and arguments filed in the remarks of 11/06/2026 have been considered, and the previous anticipatory rejections to the claims described in the last office action have been withdrawn, but a new ground of rejections have been introduced (see the rejections above).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DREW A 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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/YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859