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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/9/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the references given in the IDS are being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 1/9/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-24 remain pending in the application. The new grounds of rejection presented below are necessitated by the amendments. Accordingly, this Office Action is made Final.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-24 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claims 1-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pandit (US 20050242768 A1) in view of Zeiler (US 20190160972 A1) and Natt (US 20100042671 A1).
Regarding independent claim 1, Pandit teaches an electronic device (Fig. 2: digital camera 210) to and from which an accessory (docking station 205, integrated with secondary battery 230 when docked) is attachable and detachable, the accessory having at least one first battery (secondary battery 230) and a first processor (¶0016: battery charging protocol logic 250 executed by the controller 245 inside the docking station 205) that performs control to charge the at least one first battery, the electronic device comprising:
a connector that is connectable to an external power supply (¶0017: “docking station 205 and digital camera 210 share AD/DC adapter 215”);
a second battery (Fig. 2: internal battery 220 of the camera) that is charged with electric power supplied from the external power supply (¶0017: adapter 215 provides DC supply to battery 220); and
a second processor (¶0016-0017: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210 helps coordinate the power from the AC/DC adapter 215 to charge secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220) that performs control to charge the at least one first battery (230), control to charge the second battery (220),
wherein the second processor (Fig. 2: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210) has a communication part (¶0016: communication interface 240 inside the digital camera 210) to communicate with the first processor (controller 245 inside the docking station 205).
Pandit does not explicitly teach a power supply circuit by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply, a voltage of the second battery and a voltage of the first battery, or
the second processor performing control to feed electric power from the first battery and the second battery to the power supply circuit.
Zeiler teaches a power supply circuit (Fig. 11: electric power unit 60) by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply (Figs. 11 and 12, ¶[0083, and ¶0082: The primary vehicle battery 315 can be charged by a generator driven by an internal combustion engine of a hybrid drive system, by regenerative braking, by connecting the vehicle battery 315 to the electrical grid, or other known methods for charging the vehicle battery of a hybrid or electric vehicle.) and a voltage of a second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50), and a voltage of a first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52), and
a second processor (Fig. 11 and ¶0073-0074: control unit 62) performing control to feed electric power from the first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52) and the second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50) to the power supply circuit (¶0073-0074: battery packs communicate with each other to provide power to the electric motor 20 or some other type of load).
Zeiler, when comparing Figs. 11 and 12, demonstrates a system where each battery [including master battery 50/315 and slave battery 52/10] has their own charging and discharging controller. Fig. 11 and ¶’s [73, 74] describes that the master battery 50/315 is capable of controlling the charging/discharging with the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305]. ¶’s [82, 83] and Fig. 12 describes that in addition to the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305], power can be provided to the batteries 50/315 and 52/10 from an external power source (e.g. grid). Zeiler’s batteries 52/10 are described to be removable/attachable/swappable in ¶’s [73, 74, 82, 83]. Thus, the disclosure of Zeiler in Figs. 11 and 12 demonstrates an analogous system to both Pandit and the present application with scalable power sources which can be charged/discharged both from internal sources, and charged from an external power supply.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the power source circuit and second processor in Zeiler into the device of Pandit to draw power from either the batteries or the external power source and control the charge to the batteries. Doing so would provide efficient and scalable power to the device depending on the availability of the sources to provide power without reducing the performance of the system (Abstract).
Pandit does not teach a charging circuit that charges the second battery and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit.
Natt teaches a charging circuit (Figs. 2-3) that charges a second battery (¶[46]: battery in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) component 118) and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit (¶[28] UPS component 118 provides power to the system in case of power failure or disturbance) and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit (¶[46]: power receptacle connects docking station 300 to a power source to provide power to operate power to the docking station).
Both Pandit and Natt teach systems for charging batteries. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the uninterruptible power supply in Natt into the docking station of Pandit to provide flexible power sources to keep the docking station powered.
Regarding claim 2, Pandit further teaches the second processor (Fig. 2: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210) transmits and receives charging control information (¶0016: docking station 205 and digital camera 210 may communicate over communication link 235 when digital camera 210 is connected (‘docked’) with docking station 205”) necessary for performing control to charge the at least one first battery to and from the first processor (controller 245 inside the docking station 205) via the communication part (communication interface 240 inside the digital camera 210).
Regarding claim 3, Pandit further teaches the second processor determines charging power to be supplied to each of the at least one first battery and the second battery based on the electric power supplied from the external power supply, a state of the second battery, and a state of the at least one first battery based on the charging control information received from the communication part, and performs control to charge the at least one first battery and the second battery based on the charging power (¶0017: the use of a message protocol between the two processors 240 in docking station 205 and camera 220 via communication link 235 coordinates the power to be supplied to the secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220).
Regarding claim 4, Pandit further teaches the second processor transmits, to the first processor, information on the charging power to be supplied to the at least one first battery and information for giving an instruction to charge the at least one first battery, as the charging control information, and causes the first processor to perform control to charge the at least one first battery based on the charging control information (¶0017: the use of a message protocol between the two processors 240 in docking station 205 and camera 220 via communication link 235 coordinates the power to be supplied to the secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220).
Regarding claim 5, Pandit further teaches the second processor performs control to supply the electric power supplied from the external power supply to one of the at least one first battery or the second battery in accordance with priority associated with each of the at least one first battery and the second battery, in a state in which there are a plurality of chargeable batteries based on the state of the at least one first battery and the state of the second battery and the electric power supplied from the external power supply is a default value or less (¶0017: the use of a message protocol between the two processors 240 in docking station 205 and camera 220 via communication link 235 coordinates the power to be supplied to the secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220. The coordination is to stay within the limits of the AC/DC adapter.).
Regarding claim 6, Pandit further teaches the second processor performs control to supply the electric power supplied from the external power supply to a chargeable battery based on the state of the at least one first battery and the state of the second battery, among the at least one first battery and the second battery, in a state in which the electric power supplied from the external power supply exceeds a default value (¶0017: the message protocol is configured to give charging priority to one battery over another if too much power is drawn from the AC/DC adapter).
Regarding claim 7, Pandit further teaches the second processor receives the charging control information including information indicating whether or not charging is possible for each of the at least one first battery, from the first processor, and transmits the charging control information including information for giving an instruction to start charging for each of the at least one first battery and information on charging power which is used for the charging, to the first processor (¶0016-0017: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210 together with controller 245 inside the docking station 205 helps coordinate the power from the AC/DC adapter 215 to charge secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220).
Regarding claim 8, Pandit in view of Naitoh teaches the electronic device according to claim 1, wherein Pandit further teaches the electronic device comprising:
an imaging element that is operated by one of the electric power of the external power supply, electric power of the at least one first battery, or electric power of the second battery (¶0017 and Fig. 2: It is implied that digital camera 210 has an imaging element and the digital camera 210 is powered by the internal battery 220).
Regarding independent claim 9, Pandit teaches an accessory (Fig. 2: docking station 205) that is attachable to and detachable from an electronic device (digital camera 210), the accessory comprising:
at least one first battery (secondary battery 230); and
a first processor that performs control to charge the at least one first battery (¶0016: battery charging protocol logic 250 executed by the controller 245 inside the docking station 205),
wherein the electronic device comprises: a connector that is connectable to an external power supply (¶0017: “docking station 205 and digital camera 210 share AD/DC adapter 215”); a second battery (Fig. 2: internal battery 220) that is charged with electric power supplied from the external power supply (¶0017: adapter 215 provides DC supply to battery 220); and a second processor (¶0016-0017: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210 helps coordinate the power from the AC/DC adapter 215 to charge secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220) that performs control to charge the at least one first battery (230), control to charge the second battery (220), and
the first processor (Fig. 2: controller 245 inside the docking station 205) has a communication part (¶0016: communication interface 240 inside the docking station 205) to communicate with the second processor (controller 245 inside the digital camera 210).
Pandit does not explicitly teach a power supply circuit by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply, a voltage of the second battery and a voltage of the first battery, or
the second processor performing control to feed electric power from the first battery and the second battery to the power supply circuit
Zeiler teaches a power supply circuit (Fig. 11: electric power unit 60) by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply (Figs. 11 and 12, ¶0083, ¶0082: The primary vehicle battery 315 can be charged by a generator driven by an internal combustion engine of a hybrid drive system, by regenerative braking, by connecting the vehicle battery 315 to the electrical grid, or other known methods for charging the vehicle battery of a hybrid or electric vehicle.) and a voltage of a second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50), and a voltage of a first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52), and
a second processor (Fig. 11 and ¶0073-0074: control unit 62) performing control to feed electric power from the first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52) and the second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50) to the power supply circuit (¶0073-0074: battery packs communicate with each other to provide power to the electric motor 20 or some other type of load).
Zeiler, when comparing Figs. 11 and 12, demonstrates a system where each battery [including master battery 50/315 and slave battery 52/10] has their own charging and discharging controller. Fig. 11 and ¶’s [73, 74] describes that the master battery 50/315 is capable of controlling the charging/discharging with the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305]. ¶’s [82, 83] and Fig. 12 describes that in addition to the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305], power can be provided to the batteries 50/315 and 52/10 from an external power source (e.g. grid). Zeiler’s batteries 52/10 are described to be removable/attachable/swappable in ¶’s [73, 74, 82, 83]. Thus, the disclosure of Zeiler in Figs. 11 and 12 demonstrates an analogous system to both Pandit and the present application with scalable power sources which can be charged/discharged both from internal sources, and charged from an external power supply.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the power source circuit and second processor in Zeiler into the device of Pandit to draw power from either the batteries or the external power source and control the charge to the batteries. Doing so would provide efficient and scalable power to the device depending on the availability of the sources to provide power without reducing the performance of the system (Abstract).
Pandit does not teach a charging circuit that charges the second battery and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit.
Natt teaches a charging circuit (Figs. 2-3) that charges a second battery (¶[46]: battery in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) component 118) and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit (¶[28] UPS component 118 provides power to the system in case of power failure or disturbance) and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit (¶[46]: power receptacle connects docking station 300 to a power source to provide power to operate power to the docking station).
Both Pandit and Natt teach systems for charging batteries. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the uninterruptible power supply in Natt into the docking station of Pandit to provide flexible power sources to keep the docking station powered.
Regarding claim 10, Pandit further teaches the first processor (Fig. 2: controller 245 inside the docking station 205) transmits and receives charging control information (¶0016: docking station 205 and digital camera 210 may communicate over communication link 235 when digital camera 210 is connected (‘docked’) with docking station 205”) necessary for performing control to charge the at least one first battery to and from the second processor (controller 245 inside the camera 210) via the communication part (communication interface 240 inside the digital camera 210).
Regarding claim 11, Pandit further teaches
the charging control information transmitted by the first processor (245 inside 205) to the second processor (245 inside 210) includes information indicating whether or not charging is possible for each of the at least one first battery (¶0016: protocol logic 250),
the charging control information received by the first processor (245 inside 205) from the second processor (245 inside 210) includes information for giving an instruction to start charging for each of the at least one first battery and information indicating charging power which is used for the charging (¶0016: protocol logic 250), and
the first processor performs control to charge the at least one first battery based on the charging control information received from the second processor (¶0016-0017: controller 245 inside the docking station 205 together with controller 245 inside the digital camera 210 helps coordinate the power from the AC/DC adapter 215 to charge secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220).
Regarding claim 12, Pandit further teaches the electronic device is an imaging device (Fig. 2: digital camera 210).
Regarding independent claim 13, Pandit teaches a method for operating an electronic device (Fig. 2: digital camera 210) to and from which an accessory (docking station 205, integrated with battery 230 when docked) is attachable and detachable, the accessory having at least one first battery (secondary battery 230) and a first processor (¶0016: battery charging protocol logic 250 executed by the controller 245 inside the docking station 205) that performs control to charge the at least one first battery, the electronic device having: a connector that is connectable to an external power supply (¶0017: “docking station 205 and digital camera 210 share AD/DC adapter 215”); a second battery (Fig. 2: internal battery 220) that is charged with electric power supplied from the external power supply (¶0017: adapter 215 provides DC supply to battery 220), the method comprising:
performing, by the second processor of the electronic device (Fig. 2: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210), control to charge the second battery and the at least one first battery by transmitting and receiving charging control information necessary for performing control to charge the at least one first battery to and from the first processor (¶0016: battery charging protocol logic 250 executed by the controller 245 inside the digital camera 210).
Pandit does not explicitly teach a power supply circuit by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply, a voltage of the second battery and a voltage of the first battery, or
the second processor performing control to feed electric power from the first battery and the second battery to the power supply circuit.
Zeiler teaches a power supply circuit (Fig. 11: electric power unit 60) by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply (Figs. 11 and 12, ¶0083, ¶0082: The primary vehicle battery 315 can be charged by a generator driven by an internal combustion engine of a hybrid drive system, by regenerative braking, by connecting the vehicle battery 315 to the electrical grid, or other known methods for charging the vehicle battery of a hybrid or electric vehicle.) and a voltage of a second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50), and a voltage of a first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52), and
a second processor (Fig. 11 and ¶0073-0074: control unit 62) performing control to feed electric power from the first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52) and the second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50) to the power supply circuit (¶0073-0074: battery packs communicate with each other to provide power to the electric motor 20 or some other type of load).
Zeiler, when comparing Figs. 11 and 12, demonstrates a system where each battery [including master battery 50/315 and slave battery 52/10] has their own charging and discharging controller. Fig. 11 and ¶’s [73, 74] describes that the master battery 50/315 is capable of controlling the charging/discharging with the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305]. ¶’s [82, 83] and Fig. 12 describes that in addition to the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305], power can be provided to the batteries 50/315 and 52/10 from an external power source (e.g. grid). Zeiler’s batteries 52/10 are described to be removable/attachable/swappable in ¶’s [73, 74, 82, 83]. Thus, the disclosure of Zeiler in Figs. 11 and 12 demonstrates an analogous system to both Pandit and the present application with scalable power sources which can be charged/discharged both from internal sources, and charged from an external power supply.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the power source circuit and second processor in Zeiler into the device of Pandit to draw power from either the batteries or the external power source and control the charge to the batteries. Doing so would provide efficient and scalable power to the device depending on the availability of the sources to provide power without reducing the performance of the system (Abstract).
Pandit does not teach a charging circuit that charges the second battery and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit.
Natt teaches a charging circuit (Figs. 2-3) that charges a second battery (¶[46]: battery in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) component 118) and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit (¶[28] UPS component 118 provides power to the system in case of power failure or disturbance) and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit (¶[46]: power receptacle connects docking station 300 to a power source to provide power to operate power to the docking station).
Both Pandit and Natt teach systems for charging batteries. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the uninterruptible power supply in Natt into the docking station of Pandit to provide flexible power sources to keep the docking station powered.
Regarding claim 14, Pandit further teaches the second processor determines charging power to be supplied to each of the at least one first battery and the second battery based on the electric power supplied from the external power supply, a state of the second battery, and a state of the at least one first battery based on the charging control information received from the first processor, and performs control to charge the at least one first battery and the second battery based on the charging power (¶0017: the use of a message protocol between the two processors 240 in docking station 205 and camera 220 via communication link 235 coordinates the power to be supplied to the secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220).
Regarding claim 15, Pandit further teaches the second processor (Fig. 2: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210) transmits, to the first processor (controller 245 inside the docking station 205), information on the charging power to be supplied to the at least one first battery and information for giving an instruction to charge the at least one first battery, as the charging control information, and
causes the first processor to perform control to charge the at least one first battery based on the charging control information (¶0017: the use of a message protocol between the two processors 240 in docking station 205 and camera 220 via communication link 235 coordinates the power to be supplied to the secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220).
Regarding claim 16, Pandit further teaches the second processor performs control to supply the electric power supplied from the external power supply to one of the at least one first battery or the second battery in accordance with priority associated with each of the at least one first battery and the second battery (¶0017: the message protocol is configured to give charging priority to one battery over another), in a state in which there are a plurality of chargeable batteries based on the state of the at least one first battery and the state of the second battery and the electric power supplied from the external power supply is a default value or less (¶0017: the use of a message protocol between the two processors 240 in docking station 205 and camera 220 via communication link 235 coordinates the power to be supplied to the secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220. The coordination is to stay within the limits of the AC/DC adapter.).
Regarding claim 17, Pandit further teaches the second processor performs control to supply the electric power supplied from the external power supply to a chargeable battery based on the state of the at least one first battery and the state of the second battery, among the at least one first battery and the second battery, in a state in which the electric power supplied from the external power supply exceeds a default value (¶0017: the message protocol is configured to give charging priority to one battery over another if too much power is drawn from the AC/DC adapter).
Regarding claim 18, Pandit further teaches the second processor receives the charging control information including information indicating whether or not charging is possible for each of the at least one first battery, from the first processor, and transmits the charging control information including information for giving an instruction to start charging for each of the at least one first battery and information on charging power which is used for the charging, to the first processor (¶0016-0017: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210 together with controller 245 inside the docking station 205 helps coordinate the power from the AC/DC adapter 215 to charge secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220).
Regarding claim 19, Pandit further teaches the electronic device is provided with an imaging element that is operated by one of the electric power of the external power supply, electric power of the at least one first battery, or electric power of the second battery (¶0017 and Fig. 2: It is implied that digital camera 210 has an imaging element and the digital camera 210 is powered by the internal battery 220).
Regarding independent claim 20, Pandit teaches a method for operating an accessory (docking station 205) that is attachable to and detachable from an electronic device (Fig. 2: digital camera 210), the accessory having at least one first battery (secondary battery 230) and a first processor (¶0016: battery charging protocol logic 250 executed by the controller 245 inside the docking station 205) that performs control to charge the at least one first battery, the electronic device comprising: a connector that is connectable to an external power supply (¶0017: “docking station 205 and digital camera 210 share AD/DC adapter 215”); a second battery (Fig. 2: internal battery 220) that is charged with electric power supplied from the external power supply (¶0017: adapter 215 provides DC supply to battery 220); and a second processor that performs control to charge the at least one first battery and control to charge the second battery (¶0016-0017: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210 helps coordinate the power from the AC/DC adapter 215 to charge secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220), the method comprising:
transmitting and receiving, by the first processor, charging control information necessary for performing control to charge the at least one first battery to and from the second processor of the electronic device (¶0016-0017).
Pandit does not explicitly teach a power supply circuit by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply, a voltage of the second battery and a voltage of the first battery, or
the second processor performing control to feed electric power from the first battery and the second battery to the power supply circuit
Zeiler teaches a power supply circuit (Fig. 11: electric power unit 60) by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply (Figs. 11 and 12, ¶0083, ¶0082: The primary vehicle battery 315 can be charged by a generator driven by an internal combustion engine of a hybrid drive system, by regenerative braking, by connecting the vehicle battery 315 to the electrical grid, or other known methods for charging the vehicle battery of a hybrid or electric vehicle.) and a voltage of a second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50), and a voltage of a first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52), and
a second processor (Fig. 11 and ¶0073-0074: control unit 62) performing control to feed electric power from the first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52) and the second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50) to the power supply circuit (¶0073-0074: battery packs communicate with each other to provide power to the electric motor 20 or some other type of load).
Zeiler, when comparing Figs. 11 and 12, demonstrates a system where each battery [including master battery 50/315 and slave battery 52/10] has their own charging and discharging controller. Fig. 11 and ¶’s [73, 74] describes that the master battery 50/315 is capable of controlling the charging/discharging with the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305]. ¶’s [82, 83] and Fig. 12 describes that in addition to the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305], power can be provided to the batteries 50/315 and 52/10 from an external power source (e.g. grid). Zeiler’s batteries 52/10 are described to be removable/attachable/swappable in ¶’s [73, 74, 82, 83]. Thus, the disclosure of Zeiler in Figs. 11 and 12 demonstrates an analogous system to both Pandit and the present application with scalable power sources which can be charged/discharged both from internal sources, and charged from an external power supply.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the power source circuit and second processor in Zeiler into the device of Pandit to draw power from either the batteries or the external power source and control the charge to the batteries. Doing so would provide efficient and scalable power to the device depending on the availability of the sources to provide power without reducing the performance of the system (Abstract).
Pandit does not teach a charging circuit that charges the second battery and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit.
Natt teaches a charging circuit (Figs. 2-3) that charges a second battery (¶[46]: battery in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) component 118) and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit (¶[28] UPS component 118 provides power to the system in case of power failure or disturbance) and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit (¶[46]: power receptacle connects docking station 300 to a power source to provide power to operate power to the docking station).
Both Pandit and Natt teach systems for charging batteries. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the uninterruptible power supply in Natt into the docking station of Pandit to provide flexible power sources to keep the docking station powered.
Regarding claim 21, Pandit further teaches the first processor (245 inside 205) transmits the charging control information including information indicating whether or not charging is possible (¶0016: protocol logic 250) for each of the at least one first battery (230), to the second processor (245 inside 210),
the first processor receives the charging control information including information for giving an instruction to start charging for each of the at least one first battery and information indicating charging power which is used for the charging, from the second processor (¶0016-0017), and
the first processor performs control to charge the at least one first battery based on the charging control information received from the second processor (¶0016-0017: controller 245 inside the docking station 205 together with controller 245 inside the digital camera 210 helps coordinate the power from the AC/DC adapter 215 to charge secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220).
Regarding claim 22, Pandit further teaches the electronic device is an imaging device (Fig. 2: digital camera 210).
Regarding independent claim 23, Pandit teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program (protocol logic 250) for operating an electronic device (Fig. 2: digital camera 210, integrated with secondary battery 230 when docked) to and from which an accessory is attachable and detachable (docking station 205), the accessory having at least one first battery (secondary battery 230) and a first processor (¶0016: battery charging protocol logic 250 executed by the controller 245 inside the docking station 205) that performs control to charge the at least one first battery, the electronic device having: a connector that is connectable to an external power supply (¶0017: “docking station 205 and digital camera 210 share AD/DC adapter 215”); a second battery (Fig. 2: internal battery 220) that is charged with electric power supplied from the external power supply (¶0017: adapter 215 provides DC supply to battery 220), the program causing a second processor of the electronic device to execute:
performing control to charge the second battery and the at least one first battery by transmitting and receiving charging control information necessary for performing control to charge the at least one first battery to and from the first processor (¶0016-0017: controller 245 inside the docking station 205 together with controller 245 inside the digital camera 210 helps coordinate the power from the AC/DC adapter 215 to charge secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220).
Pandit does not explicitly teach a power supply circuit by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply, a voltage of the second battery and a voltage of the first battery, or
the second processor performing control to feed electric power from the first battery and the second battery to the power supply circuit
Zeiler teaches a power supply circuit (Fig. 11: electric power unit 60) by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply (Figs. 11 and 12, ¶0083, and ¶0082: The primary vehicle battery 315 can be charged by a generator driven by an internal combustion engine of a hybrid drive system, by regenerative braking, by connecting the vehicle battery 315 to the electrical grid, or other known methods for charging the vehicle battery of a hybrid or electric vehicle.) and a voltage of a second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50), and a voltage of a first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52), and
a second processor (Fig. 11 and ¶0073-0074: control unit 62) performing control to feed electric power from the first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52) and the second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50) to the power supply circuit (¶0073-0074: battery packs communicate with each other to provide power to the electric motor 20 or some other type of load).
Zeiler, when comparing Figs. 11 and 12, demonstrates a system where each battery [including master battery 50/315 and slave battery 52/10] has their own charging and discharging controller. Fig. 11 and ¶’s [73, 74] describes that the master battery 50/315 is capable of controlling the charging/discharging with the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305]. ¶’s [82, 83] and Fig. 12 describes that in addition to the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305], power can be provided to the batteries 50/315 and 52/10 from an external power source (e.g. grid). Zeiler’s batteries 52/10 are described to be removable/attachable/swappable in ¶’s [73, 74, 82, 83]. Thus, the disclosure of Zeiler in Figs. 11 and 12 demonstrates an analogous system to both Pandit and the present application with scalable power sources which can be charged/discharged both from internal sources, and charged from an external power supply.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the power source circuit and second processor in Zeiler into the device of Pandit to draw power from either the batteries or the external power source and control the charge to the batteries. Doing so would provide efficient and scalable power to the device depending on the availability of the sources to provide power without reducing the performance of the system (Abstract).
Pandit does not teach a charging circuit that charges the second battery and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit.
Natt teaches a charging circuit (Figs. 2-3) that charges a second battery (¶[46]: battery in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) component 118) and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit (¶[28] UPS component 118 provides power to the system in case of power failure or disturbance) and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit (¶[46]: power receptacle connects docking station 300 to a power source to provide power to operate power to the docking station).
Both Pandit and Natt teach systems for charging batteries. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the uninterruptible power supply in Natt into the docking station of Pandit to provide flexible power sources to keep the docking station powered.
Regarding independent claim 24, Pandit teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program (protocol logic 250) for operating an accessory (Fig. 2: docking station 205) that is attachable to and detachable from an electronic device (digital camera 210), the accessory having at least one first battery (secondary battery 230) and a first processor that performs control to charge the at least one first battery (¶0016: battery charging protocol logic 250 executed by the controller 245 inside the docking station 205), the electronic device comprising: a connector that is connectable to an external power supply; a second battery that is charged with electric power supplied from the external power supply (¶0017: “docking station 205 and digital camera 210 share AD/DC adapter 215”); and a second processor (245 in 210) that performs control to charge the at least one first battery, control to charge the second battery (¶0016-0017: controller 245 inside the digital camera 210 helps coordinate the power from the AC/DC adapter 215 to charge secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220), the program causing the first processor to execute:
transmitting and receiving charging control information necessary for performing control to charge the at least one first battery to and from the second processor of the electronic device (¶0017: the use of a message protocol between the two processors 240 in docking station 205 and camera 220 via communication link 235 coordinates the power to be supplied to the secondary battery 230 and internal battery 220. The coordination is to stay within the limits of the AC/DC adapter).
Pandit does not explicitly teach a power supply circuit by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply, a voltage of the second battery and a voltage of the first battery, or
the second processor performing control to feed electric power from the first battery and the second battery to the power supply circuit.
Zeiler teaches a power supply circuit (Fig. 11: electric power unit 60) by which a power supply voltage is generable from each of the electric power supplied from the external power supply (Figs. 11 and 12, ¶[0083, and ¶0082: The primary vehicle battery 315 can be charged by a generator driven by an internal combustion engine of a hybrid drive system, by regenerative braking, by connecting the vehicle battery 315 to the electrical grid, or other known methods for charging the vehicle battery of a hybrid or electric vehicle.) and a voltage of a second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50), and a voltage of a first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52), and
a second processor (Fig. 11 and ¶0073-0074: control unit 62) performing control to feed electric power from the first battery (battery cell 64 in slave battery pack 52) and the second battery (battery cell 64 in master battery pack 50) to the power supply circuit (¶0073-0074: battery packs communicate with each other to provide power to the electric motor 20 or some other type of load).
Zeiler, when comparing Figs. 11 and 12, demonstrates a system where each battery [including master battery 50/315 and slave battery 52/10] has their own charging and discharging controller. Fig. 11 and ¶’s [73, 74] describes that the master battery 50/315 is capable of controlling the charging/discharging with the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305]. ¶’s [82, 83] and Fig. 12 describes that in addition to the internal charge/discharge source [20, 22, 305], power can be provided to the batteries 50/315 and 52/10 from an external power source (e.g. grid). Zeiler’s batteries 52/10 are described to be removable/attachable/swappable in ¶’s [73, 74, 82, 83]. Thus, the disclosure of Zeiler in Figs. 11 and 12 demonstrates an analogous system to both Pandit and the present application with scalable power sources which can be charged/discharged both from internal sources, and charged from an external power supply.
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the power source circuit and second processor in Zeiler into the device of Pandit to draw power from either the batteries or the external power source and control the charge to the batteries. Doing so would provide efficient and scalable power to the device depending on the availability of the sources to provide power without reducing the performance of the system (Abstract).
Pandit does not teach a charging circuit that charges the second battery and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit.
Natt teaches a charging circuit (Figs. 2-3) that charges a second battery (¶[46]: battery in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) component 118) and is configured to feed the electric power from the second battery to the power supply circuit (¶[28] UPS component 118 provides power to the system in case of power failure or disturbance) and feed the electric power supplied from the external power supply to the power supply circuit (¶[46]: power receptacle connects docking station 300 to a power source to provide power to operate power to the docking station).
Both Pandit and Natt teach systems for charging batteries. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate the uninterruptible power supply in Natt into the docking station of Pandit to provide flexible power sources to keep the docking station powered.
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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/Ryu-Sung P. Weinmann/Examiner, Art Unit 2859 February 26, 2026
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859