DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This office action is a response to an RCE with amendment/arguments filed on 12/15/2025 which was in response to the office action mailed on 8/14/2025 (hereinafter the prior office action).
Claim(s) 1-9 and 11-21 is/are pending.
Claim(s) 11 and 21 is/are amended.
Claim(s) 10 is/are cancelled.
Claim(s) 1 and 11 is/are independent.
Claims 11-20 were elected without traverse as filed on 10/31/2023, which was in response to a restriction requirement mailed on 8/31/2023. Claims 1-9 are withdrawn from consideration because of the election outlined above.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/15/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 12/15/2025, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant states in Pg. 10 in “Remarks” that Paiz does not teach determining a power banking parameter based on the first input requesting an amount of power and the second input authorizing the transfer of the power. Applicant elaborates in Pg. 11 that Para. 39 of Paiz reflects a measured status which does not affect the behavior of the resource, while Para. 45 of Paiz does not teach a user requesting power transfer. Applicant repeats the assertion that Paiz does not teach the aforementioned limitation in Pg. 11-13.
Examiner respectfully disagrees because Paiz teaches determining banking parameter based on request and authorizing. This is because Paiz discloses in Para. 39 that status of resource is included/logged as a parameter for power/energy storage/banking; further Paiz discloses in Para. 45 that desired power requests, i.e. first input from first user via first user interface, can request to transfer defined amount of power to MESU; further Paiz discloses in Para. 137 that multiple flywheels, i.e. MESUs, are coordinated, i.e. spun up or down, based on authorized sharing of power. Thus, Paiz teaches determining banking parameter based on request and authorizing.
Applicant further states in Pg. 13 in “Remarks” that Paiz’s teaching selling of carbon credits does not teach Applicant’s claim’s power sharing because Paiz’s carbon credits are not converted into stored power by a flyweheel. In Pg. 14-15, Applicant points to Para. 114-115 of Paiz, and that these do not teach power sharing. Applicant elaborates in Pg. 15-16 on the above by citing Para. 102-103 of Paiz teaching only carbon credits and not power sharing.
Examiner respectfully disagrees because Paiz teaches power sharing. This is because Paiz discloses in Para. 103 that credits are traded as a means of using energy storage systems; further, Paiz discloses in Para. 137, 142 that multiple flywheels, i.e. MESUs, are coordinated, i.e. spun up or down, based on authorized sharing of power. Thus, Paiz teaches sharing power, not just selling carbon credits.
Applicant further states in Pg. 16-18 in “Remarks” that Stiles does not cure the deficiency of Paiz.
Examiner respectfully notes that Stiles was not used to teach the limitations as outlined above.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references cited in the information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 12/15/2025 and 12/19/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 11-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paiz et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0079826) (hereinafter “Paiz”) in view of Stites-Clayton et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0135489) (hereinafter “Stites”).
Regarding claim 11, Paiz teaches a computer-implemented method comprising: providing, by one or more processors, a first graphical user interface to a first user relating to one or more mechanical energy storage units (MESU) associated with the first user, (Fig. 1 - - processors are used in energy storage management system; Fig. 2, Para. 87 - - user interface is related to flywheel, i.e. MESU, system)
each of the one or more MESUs including a mechanism for mechanically storing energy; (Fig. 2, Para. 3, 61 - - flywheel system, i.e. MESU stores mechanical energy)
receiving, by the one or more processors, a first input from the first user via the first graphical user interface, (Para. 87 - - input is received from user via graphical user interface)
…requesting that a defined amount of power be transferred to the one or more MESUs associated with the first user; (Para. 45 - - desired power requests, i.e. transfer of defined amount of power to MESU can be requested)
receiving, by the one or more processors, a second input from a second user (Para. 87 - - input is received from user via graphical user interface)
authorizing that the defined amount of power be transferred from one or more second MESUs associated with the second user (Para. 137, 142 - - multiple flywheels, i.e. MESUs, are coordinated/shared such that power is shared in an optimized manner; Para. 103 - - user can trade credits, i.e. user can input request to trade/transfer credits, which would result in the rest of the flywheels receiving power in order to coordinate/share between the multiple flywheels; Para. 114 - - user can set desired power of user’s flywheel, such that power above desired power would be transferred to the other flywheels in order to coordinate/share between the multiple flywheels; Fig. 1, 2 - - flywheel system, i.e. mechanical energy storage unit, receives instruction by processor signal to spin up or down; Para. 137 - - multiple flywheels, i.e. MESUs, are coordinated, i.e. spun up or down, based on authorized sharing of power)
determining, by the one or more processors, a power banking parameter based on the first input requesting that the defined amount of power be transferred and based on the second input by the second user; (Para. 39 - - status of resource is included/logged as a parameter for power/energy storage/banking; Para. 45 - - desired power requests, i.e. first input from first user via first user interface, can request to transfer defined amount of power to MESU; Para. 137 - - multiple flywheels, i.e. MESUs, are coordinated, i.e. spun up or down, based on authorized sharing of power)
transmitting, by one or more processors, a signal instructing a spin up of the one or more MESUs associated with the first user; (Fig. 1, 2 - - flywheel system, i.e. mechanical energy storage unit, receives instruction by processor signal to spin up or down)
and enabling the one or more MESUs to receive power based on the power banking parameter (Para. 45, Claim 8 - - power is loaded onto flywheel system, i.e. MESU, based on power banking parameter)
and the signal instructing the spin up of the one or more MESUs. (Fig. 1, 2 - - flywheel system, i.e. MESU, receives instruction by processor signal to spin up)
But Paiz does not explicitly teach the first input requesting
However, Stites teaches the first input requesting (Para. 41 - - user can input into GUI to make requests)
Paiz and Stites are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and/or functional similarities. They both contain control of energy storage systems.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the above limitation(s) as taught by Paiz, by incorporating the above limitation(s) as taught by Stites.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to allow a user to make immediate changes to the system, as suggested by Stites (Para. 41).
Regarding claim 12, Paiz further teaches wherein each of the one or more MESUs include a motor coupled to one or more flywheels (Para. 45 - - flywheel is coupled to motor)
that is capable of increasing or decreasing a spin-rate of the one or more flywheels to add to or extract power from the one or more flywheels, respectively. (Para. 45 - - power is loaded, i.e. added, or unloaded, i.e. extracted, from flywheel; Para. 48 - - motor controls spin, i.e. spin-rate, of flywheel)
Regarding claim 13, Paiz further teaches generating, by the one or more processors, a signal instructing the spin up or a spin down of the one or more MESUs based on a determined energy surplus or demand. (Para. 136 - - energy storage system 200 provides regulation of operations to manage levels of energy based on fluctuations in supply and demand, i.e. energy surplus and demand; Para. 45 - - power is loaded, i.e. added, or unloaded, i.e. extracted, from flywheel based on desired power requests, i.e. energy surplus or demand; Para. 48 - - motor controls spin, i.e. spin up or spin down, of flywheel)
Regarding claim 14, Paiz further teaches receiving, by the one or more processors, a user setting specifying a spin rate for the one or more MESUs; (Para. 107 - - user can change state of modules 410 using widgets, i.e. user can set/specify parameters; Para. 53 - - various speeds, i.e. spin rates, can be set; Para. 114 - - GUI includes widget for speed of flywheel and maximum speed, i.e. spin rate, of flywheel system, i.e. MESU)
storing, by the one or more processors, the user setting in a data store; (Fig. 4 - - settings from users are stored in data store 420)
and configuring, by the one or more processors, the one or more MESUs to limit the spin rate based on the user setting in the data store. (Fig. 4, Para. 53 - - speed, i.e. spin rate, is limited based on the user setting as stored in data store 420)
Regarding claim 15, Paiz further teaches wherein: the one or more MESUs are coupled with one or more nodes, (Para. 43 - - nodes are associated with energy storage management systems 100; Para. 45 - - energy management system 100 can be the same as system 200 which includes flywheel system, i.e. MESU)
the one or more nodes including an energy manager configured to interact with an independent power system that provides off-grid power to the one or more MESUs; (Fig. 2, Para. 45 - - energy storage management controller 205, i.e. energy manager, is used to interact with independent power system 210, where 210 can be power sources other than the electrical grid, i.e. off-grid, such as generators, batteries)
and each of the one or more MESUs includes hardware electrically coupled to the independent power system. (Fig. 2, Para. 45 - - energy is transferred between flywheel system, i.e. MESU, and independent power system, i.e. hardware electrically couples them)
Regarding claim 16, Paiz further teaches determining, the one or more processors, to use power from the independent power system based on a power capacity of the independent power system; (Para. 66 - - maximum input current of flywheel system with system 210, i.e. independent power system, is used, i.e. power capacity of independent power system)
and configuring, by the one or more processors, the one or more nodes to use power from the independent power system to spin up the one or more MESUs. (Para. 66 - - motor uses power from independent power system, i.e. grid 210, to provide power to the flywheel, i.e. to spin up the MESU)
Regarding claim 17, Paiz further teaches determining to use power from a power grid based on one or more of a power capacity of the independent power system and a power capacity of the power grid; (Para. 66 - - maximum input current of flywheel system with system 210, i.e. independent power system, is used, i.e. power capacity of independent power system; Fig. 2, Para. 45 - - energy storage management controller 205, i.e. energy manager, is used to interact with system 210, where 210 can be power sources such as electrical grid, generators, batteries)
and configuring, by the one or more processors, the one or more nodes to use power from the power grid to spin up the one or more MESUs. (Para. 66 - - motor uses power from independent power system, i.e. grid 210, to provide power to the flywheel, i.e. to spin up the MESU)
Regarding claim 18, Paiz further teaches receiving, by the one or more processors, a signal instructing a spin-down of the one or more MESUs; (Fig. 1, 2 - - flywheel system, i.e. mechanical energy storage unit, receives instruction by processor signal to spin up or down)
and instructing the one or more MESUs to spin down based on the power banking parameter and the signal instructing the spin down. (Para. 45 - - power is loaded, i.e. added, or unloaded, i.e. extracted, from flywheel based on desired power requests, i.e. energy surplus or demand; Para. 48 - - motor controls spin, i.e. spin up or spin down, of flywheel; Para. 45, Claim 8 - - energy is stored, i.e. banked, using parameter for the storage device, i.e. flywheel system/MESU)
Regarding claim 19, Paiz further teaches wherein: the one or more MESUs receive electrical current responsive to the instruction to spin up; and the one or more MESUs output electrical current responsive to the instruction to spin down. (Para. 114 - - current of motor is used; Para. 48 - - motor controls spin, i.e. spin up or spin down, of flywheel)
Regarding claim 20, Paiz further teaches wherein the signal instructing the spin up or the signal instructing the spin down of the one or more MESUs is based on one or more energy requests received via a communications network from a utility server. (Para. 45 - - power is loaded, i.e. added, or unloaded, i.e. extracted, from flywheel based on desired power requests; Fig. 1, 2 - - communications is performed to receive such requests from server)
Regarding claim 21, Paiz further teaches providing, by the one or more processors, a second graphical user interface to a second user, the second user being associated with the one or more second MESUs, (Para. 110, 115 - - multiple users present, with each user having own interface associated with MESUs; Fig. 1 - - processors are used in energy storage management system; Fig. 2, Para. 87 - - user interface is related to flywheel, i.e. MESU, system)
…request that the defined amount of power be transferred to the one or more MESUs associated with the first user; (Para. 45 - - desired power requests, i.e. input from user via user interface, can request to transfer defined amount of power to MESU; Para. 106 - - multiple users can make power transfer requests)
receiving, by the one or more processors, the second user input from the second user authorizing to share the power from the one or more second MESUs to the one or more MESUs; (Para. 137, 142 - - multiple flywheels, i.e. MESUs, are coordinated/shared such that power is shared in an optimized manner; Para. 103 - - user can trade credits, i.e. user can input request to trade/transfer credits, which would result in the rest of the flywheels receiving power in order to coordinate/share between the multiple flywheels; Para. 114 - - user can set desired power of user’s flywheel, such that power above desired power would be transferred to the other flywheels in order to coordinate/share between the multiple flywheels)
and based on the second user input authorizing to share the power from the one or more second MESUs, causing the one or more second MESUs to spin down based on the authorization from the second user. (Fig. 1, 2 - - flywheel system, i.e. mechanical energy storage unit, receives instruction by processor signal to spin up or down; Para. 137 - - multiple flywheels, i.e. MESUs, are coordinated, i.e. spun up or down, based on authorized sharing of power)
Stites further teaches the second graphical user interface indicating the request (Para. 41 - - user can input into GUI to make requests)
Paiz and Stites are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor and contain overlapping structural and/or functional similarities. They both contain control of energy storage systems.
Therefore, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the above limitation(s) as taught by Paiz, by incorporating the above limitation(s) as taught by Stites.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this modification in order to allow a user to make immediate changes to the system, as suggested by Stites (Para. 41).
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Saad M. Kabir whose telephone number is 571-270-0608 (direct fax number is 571-270-9933). The examiner can normally be reached on Mondays to Fridays 9am to 5pm EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mohammad Ali can be reached on 571-272-4105. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAAD M KABIR/
Examiner, Art Unit 2119
/ZIAUL KARIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119