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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Specification
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. A suggestion may include at least availability of charging station based on DTE or activities at the charging station.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because figure 5 is blurry with respect to the text. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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, 10, 16 and 20 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.
The use of negative limitations “NOT found” and “NOT included” in these claims implied coverage beyond the metes and bounds of the disclosure (e.g. “not found by use of at least one of the AVNT, the telematics, the application or the combination thereof” in claim 10 implied other combinations would work. There are infinite other combinations sans the ones being claimed).
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.
Claims 1-4, 8, 11-14 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kobayashi et al. (US 8,768,624).
Re claims 1 and 11, the reference discloses a vehicle charging control system having, inter alia, a vehicle 10 configured to identify whether a distance to empty (DTE) is changed based on charging at a location of a first charging station among at least one charging station and transmit state information of the first charging station (col 4, lines 29-39; lines 47-67), the state information being obtained based on whether the DTE is changed, through a communication module 230; and a server 20 configured to receive the state information of the first charging station from the vehicle and notify the vehicle of whether the first charging station is available based on the state information of the first charging station (col 5, lines 33-42; col 9, lines 30-67). See figure 7.
Note: Method claims 11-14 and 18 mirrored the limitations in the apparatus claim 1-4 and 8 respectively.
Re claims 2 and 12, the reference further discloses the state information of the first charging station includes information indicating that it is impossible or possible to perform charging at the first charging station, when the DTE is changed, and the state information of the first charging station includes information indicating that it is impossible to perform charging at the first charging station, when the DTE is not changed (col 9, lines 45-60). [regardless whether DTE is changed or not, there is no charging station fit within the criteria, next station is calculated].
Re claims 3 and 13, the reference further discloses the server includes a memory storing a charging station location information list, receives state information of the at least one charging station from the vehicle, and updates the charging station location information list, based on the received state information of the at least one charging station (col 5, lines 38-42; col 7, lines 15-37). [based on the first charging station status, other stations are being considered].
Re claims 4 and 14, the reference further discloses the server includes a memory storing a charging station location information list and hides location information of the first charging station in the charging station location information list, when it is determined that the first charging station included in the charging station location information list is unavailable and when a number of vehicles visiting the first charging station is greater than or equal to a first threshold (col 5, lines 38-42; col 8, lines 1-34). [if charging station is full, next station is considered and so on].
Re claims 8 and 18, the reference further discloses the vehicle obtains the state information of the first charging station based on a result of comparing a DTE when the charging is started at the first charging station, after arriving at the first charging station, with a DTE when the charging is completed at the first charging station, when a destination or a waypoint is set to the first charging station (col 10, lines 29-48).
Note again: Method claims 11-14 and 18 mirrored the limitations in the apparatus claim 1-4 and 8 respectively and are grouped accordingly above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, 9, 10, 15-17, 19 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims AND satisfied 35 USC 112 requirements.
Re claims 5 and 15, the art made of record fails to disclose make obvious the first threshold is adjusted to be less than a threshold when the first charging station at which the server obtains or not obtain info in real time.
Re claims 6, 7, 16 and 17, the art made of record fails to disclose or make obvious a second charging station at the location where the DTE is changed and location is not on the list.
Re claims 9 and 19, the art made of record fails to disclose or make obvious the impossibility to charge at the first charging station when the vehicle is moved to a different station after it arrived at the first station when the destination or waypoint is set to the first station.
Re claims 10 and 20, the art made of record fails to disclose or make obvious when the first charging station is not found in the AVNT or telematics when it is determined the station is not available.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Art made of record exemplified state of the art of vehicle station locators for EVs via server and telematics.
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to the Examiner at the below-listed number. The Examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thu from 7:00am-5:00pm.
The Examiner’s SPE is Taelor Kim and he can be reached at 571.270.7166. The fax number for the organization where this application is assigned is 571.273.8300.
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/EDWARD TSO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 571.272.2087