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 .
DETAILED ACTION
The action is in response to the Applicant’s communication filed on 11/08/2022.
Claims 1-11 are pending, where claims 1 and 10-11 are independent.
This application claims the priority benefit of the international application no. PCT/JP2020/048179 filed on 12/23/2020 incorporated herein.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/08/2022 and 09/19/2024 has been filed on/after the filing date of the application. The submission is in-compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Multiple filed related applications
Applicants have filed multiple related applications. To date, it appears that the related co-pending applications stand pending and yet to be examined. There are plurality of Co-pending related Applications, where 17/109379 is the earliest filing application. They are plurality of co-pending related Applications and double patenting issue is proper. See MPEP 804 and 1490 (VI) D:
Specification objections (Title)
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, SYSTEM, METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR MANAGING ELECTRICAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION. MPEP 606.01
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), fourth paragraph:
Subject to the [fifth paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA )], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 4-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
The term “any one of claims ---” in line 1 is indefinite.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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 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 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.
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.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi, et al. (USPGPub No. 20160225104 A1).
As to claims 1 and 10-11, Yamaguchi discloses An information processing apparatus for managing a use of an energy (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, server as information processing apparatus), comprising:
a detection section that performs a detection of an energy supply target existing in each disposing area where an energy output section is disposed; a supply information acquisition section that acquires supply information of energy to be supplied to the supply target detected by the detection section; (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, power supply target battery as energy supply target, power supply source as supply information of energy) and
an association processing section that executes a process of associating with identification information of the supply target detected by the detection section, supply information corresponding to the supply target, the supply information being acquired by the supply information acquisition section, and identification information of a disposing area in which the supply target is detected by the detection section (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “apparatus ID - user ID - power-use information - accumulated electric energy, date and time, the start time and the finish time of a power supply, a power supply time (=finish time−start time), etc. - acquiring identification information unique - “power supply target ID” - “battery ID” - “vehicle ID” - “power supply source ID” - “electric energy-measurement apparatus ID” - electric field communication module including a processor, a transceiver, an amplifier, a mixer circuit, a sensor for receiving, etc. necessary for the electric field communication - fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database - fee-charging apparatus 700 receives the user ID or the user apparatus ID as the power-use-side identification information and the power-use information relating to a power supplied from the power supply source 300 to the battery 400 - performs a fee-charging process based on the power-use-side identification information and the power-use information” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, power supply target battery, power supply source, computer apparatus, server, functions of various kinds of data processing, identification information, perform the authentication process, plurality of targets as supply target ID, battery ID, vehicle ID, transceiver, sensor for receiving etc. obviously provides process of associating with identification information of the supply target detected by the detection section, supply information corresponding to the supply target, the supply information being acquired by the supply information acquisition section, and identification information of a disposing area in which the supply target is detected by the detection section).
It would be therefore obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention that power supply from source and server for various kinds of data processing are assumed as information processing apparatus for managing energy use.
As to claim 2, Yamaguchi further discloses The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the disposing area is set by partitioning so as to include only the energy output section managed by a same energy business operator (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “apparatus ID - user ID - power-use information - accumulated electric energy, date and time, the start time and the finish time of a power supply, a power supply time (=finish time−start time), etc. - acquiring identification information unique - “power supply target ID” - “battery ID” - “vehicle ID” - “power supply source ID” - “electric energy-measurement apparatus ID” - electric field communication module including a processor, a transceiver, an amplifier, a mixer circuit, a sensor for receiving, etc. necessary for the electric field communication - fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database - fee-charging apparatus 700 receives the user ID or the user apparatus ID as the power-use-side identification information and the power-use information relating to a power supplied from the power supply source 300 to the battery 400 - performs a fee-charging process based on the power-use-side identification information and the power-use information” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, power supply target battery, power supply source, functions of various kinds of data processing, perform the authentication process, plurality of targets as USER ID, supply target ID, battery ID, vehicle ID obviously provides disposing area is set by partitioning so as to include only the energy output section managed by a same energy business operator).
As to claim 3, Yamaguchi further discloses The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information processing apparatus comprises a fee-charge processing section that performs a fee-charge process for a usage fee of the energy supplied to the supply target from the energy output section managed by the energy business operator, with respect to the energy business operator that manages the disposing area identified based on the identification information of the disposing area associated by the association processing section (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, fee-charging apparatus performing a fee-charging process as fee-charge processing section).
As to claim 4, Yamaguchi further discloses The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the detection section performs the detection by acquiring detection information obtained by detecting a passage of the supply target to the disposing area by a gate apparatus disposed at least one of an entrance and an exit of the disposing area (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “apparatus ID - user ID - power-use information - accumulated electric energy, date and time, the start time and the finish time of a power supply, a power supply time (=finish time−start time), etc. - acquiring identification information unique - “power supply target ID” - “battery ID” - “vehicle ID” - “power supply source ID” - “electric energy-measurement apparatus ID” - electric field communication module including a processor, a transceiver, an amplifier, a mixer circuit, a sensor for receiving, etc. necessary for the electric field communication - fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database - fee-charging apparatus 700 receives the user ID or the user apparatus ID as the power-use-side identification information and the power-use information relating to a power supplied from the power supply source 300 to the battery 400 - performs a fee-charging process based on the power-use-side identification information and the power-use information” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, power supply target battery, power supply source, computer apparatus, server, functions of various kinds of data processing, identification information, perform the authentication process, plurality of targets as supply target ID, battery ID, vehicle ID, predetermined destination, LAN, NFC, RFID, transceiver, sensor for receiving etc. obviously provides detection section performs the detection by acquiring detection information obtained by detecting a passage of the supply target to the disposing area by a gate apparatus disposed at least one of an entrance and an exit of the disposing area).
As to claim 5, Yamaguchi further discloses The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the detection section performs the detection based on position information of the supply target and position information of the disposing area (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “apparatus ID - user ID - power-use information - accumulated electric energy, date and time, the start time and the finish time of a power supply, a power supply time (=finish time−start time), etc. - acquiring identification information unique - “power supply target ID” - “battery ID” - “vehicle ID” - “power supply source ID” - “electric energy-measurement apparatus ID” - electric field communication module including a processor, a transceiver, an amplifier, a mixer circuit, a sensor for receiving, etc. necessary for the electric field communication - fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database - fee-charging apparatus 700 receives the user ID or the user apparatus ID as the power-use-side identification information and the power-use information relating to a power supplied from the power supply source 300 to the battery 400 - performs a fee-charging process based on the power-use-side identification information and the power-use information” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, power supply target battery, power supply source, computer apparatus, server, functions of various kinds of data processing, identification information, perform the authentication process, plurality of targets as supply target ID, battery ID, vehicle ID, transceiver, sensor for receiving etc. obviously provides detection section performs the detection based on position information of the supply target and position information of the disposing area).
As to claim 6, Yamaguchi further discloses The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the supply information acquisition section acquires the supply information transmitted from a communication apparatus that is mounted on the supply target or moves together with the supply target (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, power supply target battery, power supply source, server, functions of various kinds of data processing, communication network, wired or wireless communication line obviously provides supply information transmitted from a communication apparatus mounted on the supply target or moves together with the supply target).
As to claim 7, Yamaguchi further discloses The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the energy used in the supply target is an electric power, the supply information includes an amount of the electric power used in the supply target (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, power supply target battery, power supply source, server, functions of various kinds of data processing obviously provides supply target electric power, the supply information includes an amount of the electric power used in the supply target).
As to claim 8, Yamaguchi further discloses The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the supply target is a vehicle (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, power supply target battery and vehicle obviously provides supply target vehicle).
As to claim 9, Yamaguchi further discloses A system for managing a use of an energy, comprising: the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8; and at least one of a communication apparatus that transmits information used by the detection section to perform the detection, to the information processing apparatus, and a communication apparatus that transmits the supply information acquired by the supply information acquisition section, to the information processing apparatus (Yamaguchi [0037-155] “fee-charging apparatus 700 - performing a fee-charging process - power supply from the power supply source 300 to the power supply target such as the battery 400 or the like - computer apparatus such as a server - functions of various kinds of data processing, a communication via the network 600 including a wired or wireless communication line, and a database” [abstract] [0001-26], see Fig. 1-8, power supply target battery as energy supply target, power supply source as supply information of energy, server as information processing apparatus).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2141.02 VI. PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, i.e., as a whole and 2123.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art made of record:
Kondo, et al. USPGPub No. 20190039462 A1 discloses a vehicle charging system at parking lot for vehicle charging for performing non-contact charging on batteries mounted on vehicles.
Oshima, USPGPub No. 2017/0279994A1 discloses a control device includes communication section, detection section, acquisition section for a function to acquired authority information of user terminal detected.
Tanaka, et al. USPGPub No. 2011/0238988 A1 discloses a power management apparatus managed by server with manufacturer of electronic appliance and public key paired with a secret key by generating random number.
Miftakhov, et al. USPGPub No. 2017/0250550 A1 discloses an electric charging technology for electric vehicles and managing loads and energy storage for improved power grid performance.
Kemppalen, USP No. 10,673,258 B2 discloses a method for activating charging of an electric vehicle.
Amano, USPGPub No. 20190355071 A1 discloses an information processing method for managing information regarding electricity trade.
Boot, USPGPub No. 2012/0191600 A1 discloses a method of payment desired provides payment to electricity provider for mobile electricity users.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Md Azad whose telephone @(571)272-0553 or email: md.azad@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thu 9AM-5PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad Ali can be reached on (571)272-4105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Md Azad/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119