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
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Applicant has complied with all of the conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 119(e).
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 03/31/2023, 04/02/2024, 07/12/2024, and 10/31/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings received on 03/31/2023 were reviewed and are acceptable.
Specification
The specification filed on 03/31/2023 was reviewed and is acceptable.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-4, and 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kishida et al. (US 2022/0200026 A1; hereinafter “Kishida”).
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Kishida discloses an information processing device (output voltage prediction system, Title/Abstract) for predicting an output decrease amount of a fuel cell (Abstract) in a vehicle or fuel cell system (fuel cell vehicles, [0029]) including the fuel cell (110) and a drive source driven by electric power of the fuel cell (traction motor 120, [0032]), the information processing device comprising:
an acquisition unit (vehicle data acquisition unit 131, [0036]) configured to acquire use history information indicating a use history of the vehicle/fuel cell system ([0036-0037])
a prediction unit (learning unit 240, [0042]) configured to predict the output decrease amount based on use history information acquired by the acquisition unit (via the time-series data, [0049]) and output decrease characteristic information (via the cumulative deterioration index amount, [0046]) indicating an output decrease characteristic of the fuel cell according to the use history (see [0044] which describes that the cumulative deterioration index amount is based upon e.g. mileage of the fuel cell vehicle or e.g. operating time of the fuel cell);
a control unit (prediction unit 252, [0055]) configured to execute predetermined processing based on the output decrease amount predicted by the prediction unit ([0055]), wherein
the control unit executes processing of predicting a deterioration time at which a rated output of the fuel cell is equal to or smaller than a threshold value (see [0055] which describes predicting when the output voltage of the fuel cell becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value) based on changes in the output decrease amount from start of use of the vehicle/fuel cell system (e.g. mileage of the fuel cell vehicle or e.g. operating time of the fuel cell, [0044]), and outputting information indicating the deterioration time (via an on-board monitor, [0056]).
Regarding claim 3, Kishida discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above.
Kishida further discloses that the control unit executes processing of notifying a user of the vehicle of the deterioration time as processing of outputting information indicating the deterioration time (via an on-board monitor, [0056]).
Regarding claim 4, Kishida discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above.
Kishida further discloses that the control unit executes processing of notifying an administrator who performs maintenance of the vehicle by associating identification information of the vehicle with the deterioration time (via generating maintenance information corresponding with each vehicle, [0056]), as processing of outputting information indicating the deterioration time (via an on-board monitor, [0056]).
Regarding claim 7, Kishida discloses all of the claim limitations as set forth above.
Kishida further discloses that the control unit further executes processing of outputting information indicating a current rated output of the fuel cell at a predetermined timing (e.g. performed on a monthly cycle, [0045]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5-6, and 9 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The present invention is related to, inter alia, an information processing device for predicting an output decrease amount of a fuel cell in a vehicle or fuel cell system including the fuel cell and a drive source driven by electric power of the fuel cell, the information processing device comprising:
a factor-specific output decrease amount estimation unit configured to estimate the output decrease amount for each of output decrease factors based on output decrease factor information indicating an output decrease factor of the fuel cell for each of the items.
Kishida et al. (US 2022/0200026 A1; hereinafter “Kishida”) is considered to be the closest relevant prior art to independent claims 2 and 9. Kishida discloses most of the claim limitations as set forth above.
However, Kishida does not disclose, teach, fairly suggest, nor render obvious the recited factor-specific output decrease amount estimation unit. To the contrary, Kishida explicitly discloses that an output decrease factor of the fuel cell for each of the items (e.g. mileage of the fuel cell vehicle or e.g. operating time of the fuel cell, [0044]) is converted into a cumulative deterioration index amount ([0046]), which is then used to predict the output voltage of the fuel cell ([0055]), and thus there does not appear to be any reasonable basis for the skilled artisan to abandon the method of Kishida and be directed towards a factor-specific output decrease estimation because each “item”, e.g. mileage of the vehicle or operating time, contributes to a fuel cells deterioration (see discussion at [0044]), and thus would be reasonably considered together, i.e. cumulatively, in predicting an output voltage at a future time.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Ma et al. (Data-driven Prognostics for PEM Fuel Cell Degradation by Long Short-term Memory Network); and
Matsusue et al. (US 2018/0215283 A1) discloses an output prediction device for fuel cell systems.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES M ERWIN whose telephone number is (571)272-3101. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6am-3pm PDT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicole Buie-Hatcher can be reached at 571-270-3879. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES M ERWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1725 12/18/2025