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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/23/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant' s amendment and response filed 1/23/2026 has been entered and made record. This application contains 9 pending claims.
Claims 1, 6-9, and 12 have been amended.
Claim 10 has been cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 1/23/2026 regarding claims rejections under 35 U.S.C. 101 in claim 1, 3-4, and 6-12 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues on page 7 of the remark filed on 1/23/2026 that “… Since the measurement is made and the indicator is calculated while the physical battery is in operation, and the error signal is output to a user readable output device, the claimed invention is NOT an abstract idea under Step 2A, Prong One of the subject matter eligibility analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 101.”
The Examiner respectfully disagrees applicant’s argument. The limitations of “determining an assessment indicator for assessing at least one of the performance, the state, and the load condition of the battery storage, for an evaluation period”, “calculating a value of a reconstruction error based on the series of measurements and the reconstructed series of measurements”, “calculating an indicator that is indicative of the variance of at least some of the calculated values of the reconstruction error”, “calculating a value of a reconstruction error based on the series of measurements and the reconstructed series of measurements”, and “calculating an indicator that is indicative of the variance of at least some of the calculated values of the reconstruction error” are mathematical concepts, therefore, they are considered to be an abstract idea. The limitations of “determining the indicator as an assessment indicator for assessing at least one of a performance, a state, and a load condition of the battery storage in operation”, and “repeating determining the assessment indicator for a new evaluation period, as long as the determined assessment indicator has not yet reached an associated critical value” are a combination of mathematical concept and mental process, therefore, they are considered to be an abstract idea. Therefore, the claims are directed to an abstract idea.
The applicant argues on pages 7-8 of the remark filed that “In addition, a user can take safety measures on the battery system based on the error signal visibly output to the user readable output device, and thus the claimed invention is also integrated into a practical application under Step 2B, Prong Two of the subject matter eligibility analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 101. That is, the claimed method of claim 1 is a practical application for evaluating a real-world battery storage. Specifically, the assessment indicator is a value that measures the degree to which the battery storage has changed compared to its initial state. In particular, the method can replace procedures that require laboratory measurements for fine-tuning.”
The Examiner respectfully disagrees applicant’s argument. Practical application can be demonstrated by additional elements that are sufficient to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. The additional elements of “measuring a series of measurements of at least one physical parameter of the battery storage while the battery storage is in operation”; and “in the measuring step, a series of measurements of the at least one physical parameter of the battery storage are measured” represent necessary data gathering and does not integrate the limitation into a practical application. As recited in MPEP section 2106.05(g), necessary data gathering (i.e., obtaining measurements of the battery storage) is considered extra solution activity in light of Mayo, 566 U.S. at 79, 101 USPQ2d at 1968; OIP Techs., Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1092-93 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
The additional elements “the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of a time segment, wherein the at least one physical parameter includes at least one of voltage and current of the battery storage in operation”; “inputting the series of measurements to an encoder of an autoencoder”; “receiving a reconstructed series of measurements from a decoder of the autoencoder”; “wherein said steps of measuring, inputting, receiving, and calculating are performed for multiple time segments of an evaluation period, wherein for each time segment, the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of the time segment”; and “outputting an error signal if the determined assessment indicator has reached the associated critical value to a user readable output device” are not sufficient to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they only add an insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception. Therefore, the current claims do not recite additional elements that are indicative of integration of an abstract idea into a practical application.
Hence, the Examiner submits that the rejections of Claims 1, 3-4, and 6-12 are proper.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1, 3-4, 6-9, and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
As to claim 1, the claim recites “A computer-implemented method of monitoring at least one of a performance, a state, and a load condition of a battery storage, the method comprising:
determining an assessment indicator for assessing at least one of the performance, the state, and the load condition of the battery storage, for an evaluation period, determining the assessment indicator comprising:
measuring a series of measurements of at least one physical parameter of the battery storage while the battery storage is in operation, the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of a time segment, wherein the at least one physical parameter includes at least one of voltage and current of the battery storage in operation;
inputting the series of measurements to an encoder of an autoencoder;
receiving a reconstructed series of measurements from a decoder of the autoencoder;
calculating a value of a reconstruction error based on the series of measurements and the reconstructed series of measurements,
wherein said steps of measuring, inputting, receiving, and calculating are performed for multiple time segments of an evaluation period, wherein for each time segment, in the measuring step, a series of measurements of the at least one physical parameter of the battery storage is measured, the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of the time segment; and
calculating an indicator that is indicative of the variance of at least some of the calculated values of the reconstruction error and determining the indicator as an assessment indicator for assessing at least one of a performance, a state, and a load condition of the battery storage in operation,
repeating determining the assessment indicator for a new evaluation period, as long as the determined assessment indicator has not yet reached an associated critical value; and
outputting an error signal if the determined assessment indicator has reached the associated critical value to a user readable output device.”
Under the Step 1 of the eligibility analysis, we determine whether the claim is directed to a statutory category by considering whether the claimed subject matter falls within the four statutory categories of patentable subject matter identified by 35 U.S.C. 101: Process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. The above claim is considered to be in a statutory category (process for claim 1).
Under the Step 2A, Prong One, we consider whether the claim recites a judicial exception (abstract idea). In the above claim, the bold type portion constitutes an abstract idea because, under a broadest reasonable interpretation, it recites limitations that fall into/recite an abstract idea exceptions. Specifically, under the 2019 Revised Patent Subject matter Eligibility Guidance, it falls into the grouping of subject matter when recited as such in a claim that covers mathematical concepts (mathematical relationships, mathematical formulas or equations, mathematical calculations) and mental processes (concepts performed in the human mind, and examples of mental processes include observations, evaluations, judgments, and opinions).
In claim 1, the steps of “determining an assessment indicator for assessing at least one of the performance, the state, and the load condition of the battery storage, for an evaluation period”,
“calculating a value of a reconstruction error based on the series of measurements and the reconstructed series of measurements”,
“calculating an indicator that is indicative of the variance of at least some of the calculated values of the reconstruction error”,
“calculating a value of a reconstruction error based on the series of measurements and the reconstructed series of measurements”, and
“calculating an indicator that is indicative of the variance of at least some of the calculated values of the reconstruction error” are mathematical concepts, therefore, they are considered to be an abstract idea.
The steps of “determining the indicator as an assessment indicator for assessing at least one of a performance, a state, and a load condition of the battery storage in operation”, and
“repeating determining the assessment indicator for a new evaluation period, as long as the determined assessment indicator has not yet reached an associated critical value” are a combination of mathematical concept and mental process, therefore, they are considered to be an abstract idea.
Next, under the Step 2A, Prong Two, we consider whether the claim that recites a judicial exception is integrated into a practical application.
In this step, we evaluate whether the claim recites additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application of that exception.
The claim comprises the following additional elements:
measuring a series of measurements of at least one physical parameter of the battery storage while the battery storage is in operation, the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of a time segment, wherein the at least one physical parameter includes at least one of voltage and current of the battery storage in operation; inputting the series of measurements to an encoder of an autoencoder; receiving a reconstructed series of measurements from a decoder of the autoencoder; wherein said steps of measuring, inputting, receiving, and calculating are performed for multiple time segments of an evaluation period, wherein for each time segment, in the measuring step, a series of measurements of the at least one physical parameter of the battery storage is measured, the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of the time segment; and outputting an error signal if the determined assessment indicator has reached the associated critical value to a user readable output device.
The additional elements “measuring a series of measurements of at least one physical parameter of the battery storage while the battery storage is in operation”; and
“in the measuring step, a series of measurements of the at least one physical parameter of the battery storage are measured” represent necessary data gathering and does not integrate the limitation into a practical application. The additional elements “the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of a time segment, wherein the at least one physical parameter includes at least one of voltage and current of the battery storage in operation”; “inputting the series of measurements to an encoder of an autoencoder”; “receiving a reconstructed series of measurements from a decoder of the autoencoder”; “wherein said steps of measuring, inputting, receiving, and calculating are performed for multiple time segments of an evaluation period, wherein for each time segment, the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of the time segment”; and “outputting an error signal if the determined assessment indicator has reached the associated critical value to a user readable output device” are not sufficient to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they only add an insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception.
The additional elements “an encoder of an autoencoder”, “a decoder of the autoencoder”, and “a user readable output device” are not sufficient to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they are considered a generic computer element. As recited in the MPEP, 2106.05(b), merely adding a generic computer, generic computer components, or a programmed computer to perform generic computer functions does not automatically overcome an eligibility rejection. Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 134 S. Ct. 2347, 2359-60, 110 USPQ2d 1976, 1984 (2014). See also OIP Techs. v.
In conclusion, the above additional elements, considered individually and in combination with the other claims elements do not reflect an improvement to other technology or technical field, do not reflect improvements to the functioning of the computer itself, do not recite a particular machine, do not effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, and, therefore, do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. Therefore, the claim is directed to a judicial exception and require further analysis under the Step 2B.
The above claim, does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because they are generically recited and are well-understood/conventional in a relevant art as evidenced by the prior art of record (Step 2B analysis).
For example, measuring a series of measurements of at least one physical parameter of the battery storage while the battery storage is in operation; and in the measuring step, a series of measurements of the at least one physical parameter of the battery storage are measured” are considered necessary data gathering. As recited in MPEP section 2106.05(g), necessary data gathering (i.e. receiving data) is considered extra solution activity in light of Mayo, 566 U.S. at 79, 101 USPQ2d at 1968; OIP Techs., Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1092-93 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
For example, inputting the series of measurements to an encoder of an autoencoder is disclosed by “Atukalp US 20240010100”, Abstract, [0010], [0016], [0054], [0064], [0076], [0083], [0109]; and “Homayouni (“An Auto correlation-based LSM Autoencoder for Anomaly Detection on Time-Series Data”)”, Abstract, Page 1, Right, Lines 4-10, 20-24, 33-37; Page 2, Right, Lines 29-40; Page 3, Left, Lines 11-16.
The claim, therefore, is not patent eligible.
With regards to the dependent claims, claims 3-4, 6-9, and 11-12 provide additional features/steps which are considered part of an expanded abstract idea of the independent claims, and do not integrate the abstract ideas into a practical application.
The dependent claims are, therefore, also not eligible.
Examiner’s Note
Regarding claims 1, 3-4, 6-9, and 11-12, the most pertinent prior arts are “Atukalp US 20240010100” “Lee US 20230044388”, “Homayouni (“An Auto correlation-based LSM Autoencoder for Anomaly Detection on Time-Series Data”)”, “Hindle US 20170199246”, “Li US 20230273265”, and "Cai CN 113917334A".
As to claim 1, Atukalp teaches determining an assessment indicator for assessing at least one of the performance, the state, and the load condition of the battery storage, for an evaluation period, determining the assessment indicator (Atukalp, [0012], [0043]),
measuring a series of measurements of at least one physical parameter of the battery storage while the battery storage is in operation, , the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of a time segment, wherein the at least one physical parameter includes at least one of voltage and current of the battery storage in operation, (Atukalp, [0064]);
inputting the series of measurements to an encoder of an autoencoder (Atukalp, [0064],[0076]);
receiving a reconstructed series of measurements from a decoder of the autoencoder (Atukalp, [0054]);
calculating a value of a reconstruction error based on the series of measurements and the reconstructed series of measurements and the reconstructed series of measurements (Atukalp, [0057]).
Lee teaches wherein said steps of measuring, inputting, receiving, and calculating are performed for multiple time segments of an evaluation period, wherein for each time segment, in the measuring step, a series of measurements of the at least one physical parameter of the battery storage is measured, the measurements corresponding to successive points of time of the time segment (Lee, [0022], [0046], [0048]).
Hindle teaches repeating determining the assessment indicator for a new evaluation period, as long as the determined assessment indicator has not yet reached an associated critical value (Hindle, [0039], [0047]); and
outputting an error signal if the determined assessment indicator has reached the associated critical value to a user readable output device (Hindle, [0029], [0030], [0031], [0039], FIG. 1).
However, the prior arts of record, alone or in combination, do not fairly teach or suggest “calculating an indicator that is indicative of the variance of at least some of the calculated values of the reconstruction error and
determining the indicator as an assessment indicator for assessing at least one of a performance, a state, and a load condition of the battery in operation” including all limitations as claimed.
Dependent claims 3-4, 6-9, and 11-12 are also distinguish over the prior art for at least the same reason as claim 1.
Examiner notes, however, that claims 1, 3-4, 6-9, and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101, and therefore, not patent eligible.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
“Scott US 20200371164” teaches “In one aspect the invention provides an assessment apparatus which includes two terminal connectors configured to electrically connect the assessment apparatus to the positive and negative terminals of a battery being assessed. The apparatus also includes a response measurement system configured to measure the terminal voltage and current of the battery when supplied with at least one alternating test current having a frequency less than 1 Hz and/or less than an impedance transition frequency associated with the battery being assessed. Also provided is a processor in communication with the response measurement system and being configured to output a performance assessment indicator for the battery being assessed by calculating at least one impedance for the battery using terminal voltage and current measurements communicated by the response measurement system.”
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/LAL CE MANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2857