DETAILED ACTION
Application Status
Claims 1-3 and 5-11 are pending and have been examined in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/23/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant argues that since the authentication setter disclosed by Chen is an external device such as a smartphone and therefore is not one of “a plurality of electrical components mounted on a bicycle”. The examiner contends that the authentication setter being an external device such as a smartphone would not preclude the authentication setter from being mounted on a bicycle when applying what is disclosed by Chen to a bicycle such as the one disclosed by Kuroda. With the authentication setter disclosed by Chen applied and mounted to the bicycle disclosed by Kuroda, the operation to make a new authentication setting would be “on the bicycle” as claimed.
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.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 8798852 B1) in view of Kuroda (JP 2013147123 A).
With respect to claim 1, Chen discloses: An on-board system (130, Fig. 3) comprising:
a plurality of electrical components (see Col. 8, LL. 4-25) mounted on a vehicle (100a, Fig. 4) to perform some functionality of the bicycle; wherein at least one of the plurality of electrical components includes a storage (see "store authentication information", Col. 15, LL. 24-27) to store individual identification information about an authenticated electrical component (see "…associated with some or all of the components…", Col. 15, LL. 24-27); at least one of the plurality of electrical components is detachable from the vehicle; the plurality of electrical components, when mounted on the bicycle, are electrically connected to each other; and a functionality of the bicycle implementable by at least one of the plurality of electrical components mounted on the bicycle that have been individually identified varies depending on whether a combination of the individually identified electrical components matches the individual identification information about the authenticated electrical component stored in the storage (see Col. 19, LL. 34-45), wherein at least one of the plurality of electrical components includes an authentication setter (340) to record, in the storage, individual identification information about a new authenticated electrical component (“facilitate the delivery of updated component o system info”, Col. 20, LL. 28-36) when a user has performed a predetermined operation on the bicycle (“…from the user”).
Regarding the “detachable” limitation, Chen discloses that a user of a vehicle may replace or upgrade components of the vehicle (see Col. 28, L. 65 – Col. 29, L. 5). Neither replacement nor upgrading of existing components would be possible without said components being detachable. Furthermore, every component of the vehicle would be detachable from the rest of the vehicle by at least some means, for example, cutting.
Regarding the “electrically connected” limitation, Chen discloses that the plurality of electric components are electrically connected to one another by the on-board system.
Chen discloses the on-board system as usable with a variety of vehicles (see Col. 37, LL. 30-35) but is silent regarding a bicycle specifically.
Kuroda discloses an electric bicycle (10, Fig. 1) having a plurality of electric components (26-29).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to apply the on-board system disclosed by Chen to an electric bicycle, such as the one disclosed by Kuroda, to prevent theft of electric bicycle components in the same manner that the on-board system is used to prevent theft of electric scooter components.
With respect to claim 2, Chen in view of Kuroda as modified above discloses: The on-board system according to claim 1, wherein, if the combination of the plurality of electrical components mounted on the bicycle that have been individually identified does not match the individual identification information about the authenticated electrical component stored in the storage, the functionality of the bicycle implementable by at least one of the plurality of electrical components is restricted relative to that in a case of a match (Chen; see Col. 19, LL. 34-45).
With respect to claim 3, Chen in view of Kuroda as modified above discloses: The on-board system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of electrical components includes:
an authenticator (Chen; controller 302; also see Col. 19, LL. 18-22) to determine whether the combination of the plurality of electrical components mounted on the bicycle that have been individually identified matches the individual identification information about the authenticated electrical component stored in the storage.
With respect to claim 4, Chen in view of Kuroda as modified above discloses: The on-board system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of electrical components includes an authentication setter (Chen; 340) to record, in the storage, individual identification information about a new authenticated electrical component (“facilitate the delivery of updated component o system info”, Col. 20, LL. 28-36) when a user has performed a predetermined operation (“…from the user”).
With respect to claim 5, Chen in view of Kuroda as modified above discloses: The on-board system according to claim 4, wherein the authentication setter (Chen; 340) is operable to control recording, in the storage, of the individual identification information about the new authenticated electrical component based on the individual identification information about the authenticated electrical component stored in the storage (…”that are compatible with the user’s vehicle”, Col. 19, Ll. 49-50).
With respect to claims 6 and 7, Chen in view of Kuroda disclose: the on-board system according to claim 5 as well as an authenticator setter operable to record information about a new authenticated electrical component in response to a user operation (Chen; see Col. 19, L. 45 – Col. 21, L. 35). As noted above, the scope of claims 6 and 7 are uncertain; however, the examiner believes that the combination of Chen in view of Kuroda meets the intended limitations of claims 6 and 7 due to the structural similarities and similarities in principle of operation between the inventions.
With respect to claim 8, Chen in view of Kuroda disclose: the on-board system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of electrical components includes at least two of: a motor drive (see “motor controller”, Col. 16, L. 42), a display (see “display”, Col. 19, L. 47) to display a state of the bicycle, an operator (310) to receive an input by a user of the bicycle, a headlight (see “vehicle lights”, Col. 26, L. 11), and a battery (see “battery”, Col. 8, LL. 19-21).
With respect to claim 9, Chen in view of Kuroda discloses: A drive for a motor (Chen; see “motor”, Col. 19, L. 40), the drive comprising: one of the plurality of electrical components in the on- board system according to claim 1; wherein the drive is operable to vary the functionality of the bicycle (“the speed of the scooter may be limited…”, Col. 19, L. 41-42) implementable by driving of the motor depending on whether the combination of the plurality of electrical components mounted on the bicycle that have been individually identified matches the individual identification information about the authenticated electrical component stored in the storage (“responsive to determining that a safety critical component in an electric scooter is not authorized…”, Col. 19, L. 38-42).
With respect to claim 10, Chen in view of Kuroda disclose: A display for displaying a state of a bicycle, the display comprising: one of the plurality of electrical components in the on- board system according to claim 1; wherein the display (Chen; “display”, Col. 19, L. 60) is operable to vary the functionality of the bicycle implementable by at least one of the plurality of electrical components depending on whether the combination of the plurality of electrical components mounted on the bicycle that have been individually identified matches the individual identification information about the authenticated electrical component stored in the storage (“provide the user with an indication, via a sound, voice, or display delivered by the I/O device 310, that all of the vehicular components or systems have been successfully authenticated and full operability is provided”, Col. 19, LL. 59-63).
With respect to claim 11, Chen in view of Kuroda discloses: A battery (Chen; see “battery”, Col. 8, LL. 19-21) comprising: one of the plurality of electrical components in the on- board system according to claim 1; wherein the battery is operable to vary electric power (“limit power flow”, Col. 15, LL. 33-40) to be supplied to at least one of the plurality of electrical components depending on whether the combination of the plurality of electrical components mounted on the bicycle that have been individually identified matches the individual identification information about the authenticated electrical component stored in the storage (see Col. 15, LL. 33-40).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Matthew D Lee whose telephone number is (571)272-6087. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri. (7:30 - 5:00 EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Olszewski can be reached at (571) 272-2706. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW D LEE/ Examiner, Art Unit 3617
/JOHN OLSZEWSKI/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3617