DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/12/2026 has been entered.
Status of claims
The amendment filed on 03/12/2026 has been entered. Claims 9-20 have been returned to the withdrawn status and the restriction requirement is reinstated. It is suggested that Applicant amend the withdrawn claims to be consistent with the elected claims so that rejoinder may be considered if the elected claims are found to be allowable. No claims have been newly added or cancelled. Therefore, claims 1-20 remain pending in this application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. US 2015/0329003 (hereinafter Li).
Regarding claim 1, Li discloses a method for preparing a vehicle for storage, comprising:
via a controller (¶ 0076, VCM), preparing a traction battery for extended storage (¶ 0076; If it is determined that this unplanned storage is after charging and the
battery is at an unfavorable SOC higher than a more favorable SOC, then battery discharging may begin to move the battery out of the unfavorable profile and avoid the battery capacity depletion zone) via a first procedure when the vehicle is not electrically coupled to a charging source, the charging source external to the vehicle (¶ 0076; If the vehicle is not currently connected to a charging source, or if the charging source is not capable of accepting energy from the vehicle battery, the VCM may automatically control one or more vehicle accessories or other electrical devices to increase the electrical load and discharge the battery to a desired SOC or within a desired SOC range); and
via the controller, preparing the traction battery for extended storage (¶ 0076) via a second procedure when the vehicle is electrically coupled to the charging source (¶ 0076; If the vehicle is currently coupled to a charging source, energy may be transferred from the battery to the charging source or utility grid to reduce to the SOC to a desired or target SOC),
wherein the vehicle is not operated during the extended storage (¶ 0076, fig. 10; if the vehicle is in storage, prepare for the storage by discharging if the SOC is higher than favorable, therefore, during extended storage, the vehicle is not operated).
Regarding claim 2, Li discloses the method further comprising identifying a time when the vehicle is to be placed in extended storage (¶¶ 0004, 0007, 0013, 0014, 0051; the storage time spent at the target SOC may be selected and may vary based on the target SOC, e.g., limited to a first duration of about 30 minutes or less for a first target SOC, and a second duration; the processor 303 can determine and/or send signals to store a predicted weekday driving pattern energy usage and to modify the target SOC in response to a current weekday).
Regarding claim 3, Li discloses the method wherein preparing the traction battery includes reducing an amount of charge stored in the traction battery (¶ 0076; energy may be transferred from the battery to the charging source or utility grid to reduce to the SOC to a desired or target SOC).
Regarding claim 7, Li discloses the method wherein preparing the traction battery for extended storage via the first procedure includes decreasing charge stored in the traction battery via charging a low voltage battery or operating vehicle accessories (¶ 0076; If the vehicle is not currently connected to a charging source, or if the charging source is not capable of accepting energy from the vehicle battery, the VCM may automatically control one or more vehicle accessories or other electrical devices to increase the electrical load and discharge the battery to a desired SOC or within a desired SOC range).
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.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Kelty et al. US 20130221928 (hereinafter Kelty).
Regarding claim 5, Li discloses the method wherein preparing the traction battery for extended storage via the second procedure includes increasing or decreasing charge stored in the traction battery via a charging station (¶ 0076; when the vehicle is currently coupled to a charging source, energy may be transferred from the battery to the charging source or utility grid to reduce to the SOC to a desired or target SOC).
Li does not teach the method further includes step of increasing or decreasing charge stored in the traction battery via a charging station between 20% and 50% of the traction battery's charge storage capacity.
However, Kelty further discloses a method for setting the operational mode of an electric vehicle is provided, and the method further includes step of increasing or decreasing charge stored in the traction battery via a charging station between 20% and 50% of the traction battery's charge storage capacity (¶ 0049; in storage mode, the cut-off voltage during charging is limited to approximately 30%-50%).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to incorporate with the teaching of Kelty by limiting the cut-off voltage between 30% and 50% of the state of charge of the battery pack, because it would be advantageous to optimize battery life when the vehicle is stored for an extended period of time.
Claim(s) 4 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. US 2015/0329003 (hereinafter Li).
Regarding claim 4, the first embodiment of Li does not disclose the method wherein preparing the traction battery includes increasing an amount of charge stored in the traction battery.
However, another embodiment of Li discloses the method wherein preparing the traction battery includes increasing an amount of charge stored in the traction battery (¶ 0044; PCM 128 may control charging of battery pack 114 from power source 126 and/or from engine 108 and electric motor(s) 104 to increase battery SOC to a desired or target SOC that varies in response to vehicle and/or ambient operating parameters or conditions).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the first embodiment of Li to incorporate with the teaching of the another embodiment of Li by controlling discharging of battery pack through charge port to power source and/or electric utility grid, because it would be advantageous to extend the useful life of the battery in ¶ 0082.
Regarding claim 6, Li discloses the method wherein preparing the traction battery for extended storage via the first procedure includes decreasing charge stored in the traction battery (¶ 0076; the VCM may automatically control one or more vehicle accessories or other electrical devices to increase the electrical load and discharge the battery to a desired SOC or within a desired SOC range), but Li does not disclose the first procedure further includes providing a travel route to discharge the traction battery.
However, the use of the particular way of discharging the traction battery claimed by applicant, i.e., providing a travel route to discharge the traction battery, absent any criticality, is considered to be nothing more than a choice of engineering skill, choice or design because 1) neither non-obvious nor unexpected results, i.e., results which are different in kind and not in degree from the results of the prior art, will be obtained as long as the battery is able to reduce to a desired SOC or within a desired SOC range, as already suggested by Li, and 2) the use of the particular way of discharging the traction battery by Applicant is considered to be nothing more than the use of one of numerous and well-known alternate ways of discharging the battery to a battery target state of charge (SOC) with the target SOC varying in response to at least a scheduled or predicated storage that a person having ordinary skill in the art would have been able to provide using routine experimentation in order to extend the useful life of the battery (¶ 0082) as already suggested by Li.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Mancini et al. US 2019/0070924 (hereinafter Mancini).
Regarding claim 8, Li fails to disclose the method wherein the vehicle accessories include a heat pump.
However, Mancini discloses a vehicle thermal management system includes a vehicle heat pump system (Abstract and ¶ 0008, 0021).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to incorporate with the teaching of Mancini by further including the heat pump system in the vehicle, because it would be advantageous to reduce manufacturing cost and maximize the driving range.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kelty
US-20090021385-A1
Chang
US-20150191098-A1
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZIXUAN ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)272-6739. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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/ZIXUAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 06/04/2026
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