DETAILED ACTION
Status of the Claims
In the communication dated April 28, 2026, claims 1-2 and 4-9 are pending. Claims 1, 6 and 8 are amended and claim 3 is cancelled.
Terminal Disclaimer
The terminal disclaimer filed on 4/28/2026 disclaiming the terminal portion of any patent granted on this application which would extend beyond the expiration date of 18/455796 has been reviewed and is accepted. The terminal disclaimer has been recorded.
Response to Arguments
The applicant argues that Lu’s threshold operates on a differential between two simultaneous current measurements, not a single absolute current value, the dual-input differential structure is not found in amended claim 1 and claim 1 requires a single current value compared against fixed threshold to select a charging mode (see pages 9-10).
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., a single current value compared against a fixed threshold to select a charging mode) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). The claim language states “a threshold value” however does not specify that the threshold value is fixed. Further, the threshold value is fixed in the sense that the difference in the current between the first and second circuit does not exceed a threshold amount. Thus, the threshold is considered fixed. The single current is taught by Lu in the sense that the detected current of the first or second circuit is compared against the other in order to determine whether the current exceeds a certain amount.
The applicant argues that Lu’s threshold is a spatial discrimination parameter, not a charging mode selector (see page 10 of applicant arguments).
However, the threshold comparison is used to determine whether to charging in an active or passive charging. This is supported by ¶48-49 of Lu where when greater than the first threshold the accessory receives more energy from a first charging circuit than a second circuit but if less than the threshold less energy is receives from the first charging circuit than the second charging circuit.
The applicant argues that Lu’s threshold produces a topological circuit reconfiguration, not a mode selection between defined charging operations (see page10 of the applicant arguments).
However, the reference of Lu is not used to teach structural configuration of the claims, but rather is used to teach a control of the circuitry of Yoon. Thus, this argument is not persuasive.
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, 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.
Claim 1, 2 and 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon et al. US20200044458A1 in view of Lu et al. US20220103014A1.
Regarding claim 1. A circuit device (FIG. 4/7) comprising:
a current source circuit (470/760);
a first charging circuit (420/710) configured to supply a charging node (connecting to battery 430) with a first charging current which is a constant current (FIG. 7 – charger 760 includes an AC-DC converter, thus supplying the charging circuit with a constant current) as a charging current based on an output current of the current source circuit (¶50 – charging unit 420 charges battery 430 with power applied from the charger 470, which includes a current);
a second charging circuit (421/720) configured to supply the charging node (connecting to battery 430) with a second charging current which is a constant current (FIG. 7 – charger 760 includes an AC-DC converter, thus supplying the charging circuit with a constant current) and is higher than the first charging current (¶58 – the first line has a maximum value of a current less than a maximum value of the current set for the second line) as the charging current based on the output current of the current source circuit (¶59); and
a control circuit (711), wherein
the control circuit performs
control in a first current mode of making the first charging circuit supply the charging node with the first charging current (¶85-86 – controller 711 identifies whether to switch the battery charging scheme) when a current value of the charging current is determined as a current value in the first current mode (¶85 – identified whether to charge the battery with a low or current or at a high speed), and
control in a second current mode of making the second charging circuit supply the charging node with the second charging current (¶85-86 – controller 711 identifies whether to switch the battery charging scheme) when the current value of the charging current is determined as a current value in the second current mode higher than the current value in the first current mode (¶85 – identified whether to charge the battery with a low or current or at a high speed).
Yoon teaches that the control circuit performs the control in the first current mode when the current value of the charging current is set to a current value lower than a threshold value (¶54-56 – threshold being the maximum value of the current set for a first line; ¶85 – controller identifies whether to charge the battery at a low current).
Yoon does not explicitly teach that the control in the second current mode when the current value of the charging current is set to a current value no lower than the threshold value.
Lu teaches the control in the second current mode (through second charging circuit 1011) when the current value of the charging current is set to a current value no lower than the threshold value (¶48 – current flowing through the second charging circuit 1012 is determined to be greater than a first threshold).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the threshold value as taught by Lu to the charging circuit of Yoon in order to improve the energy conservation during the charging process (¶84).
Regarding claim 2. Yoon teaches that the control circuit (711) determines which one of the control in the first current mode and the control in the second current mode is to be performed based on a current setting signal configured to set the current value of the charging current (¶85 – controller determines whether to charge the battery by low or high current and sends request for adjustment to the charger, thus, the switching of the charging unit is determined based on the signal sent to the charger).
Regarding claim 9. Yoon teaches an electronic apparatus (FIG. 4) comprising: the circuit device according to Claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1); and a battery (430) to be coupled to the charging node (FIG. 4).
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon et al. US20200044458A1 in view of Lu et al. US20220103014A1 and further in view of Jiang et al. US20210359534A1.
Regarding claim 4. Yoon discloses that the first charging circuit (420) is supplied with a first current as the output current from the current source circuit (470), the second charging circuit (421) is supplied with a second current as the output current from the current source circuit (470).
Yoon does not explicitly teach that the first charging circuit amplifies the first current with a first gain in the first current mode to thereby supply the first charging current, the second charging circuit amplifies the second current with a second gain higher than the first gain in the second current mode to thereby supply the second charging current.
Jiang discloses that the first charging circuit (CU1/COM1) amplifies the first current with a first gain in the first current mode to thereby supply the first charging current (¶32 – when the current is less than the fast charge threshold the voltage control amplifier COM1 takes effect and current increases from 0.5A-1A – i.e. first gain), the second charging circuit (CUN/COM2) amplifies the second current with a second gain higher than the first gain in the second current mode to thereby supply the second charging current (¶35 – equal to fast charge threshold current so current control amplifier COM2 takes effect boosting the charging from 1A to 2A which has a higher gain than the first).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill to include the amplification of Jiang to the system of Yoon in order to adjust the charging voltage which improves charging efficiency (¶5).
Regarding claim 5. Yoon does not explicitly disclose wherein the current source circuit includes a first current source circuit configured to supply the first current to the first charging circuit, and a second current source circuit configured to supply the second current to the second charging circuit.
Lu discloses that the wherein the current source circuit (10113/10123) includes
a first current source circuit (10113) configured to supply the first current to the first charging circuit (1011) (FIG. 1) , and
a second current source circuit (10123) configured to supply the second current to the second charging circuit (1012) (FIG. 1).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the threshold value as taught by Lu to the charging circuit of Yoon in order to improve the energy conservation during the charging process (¶84).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon et al. US20200044458A1 in view of Lu et al. US20220103014A1 and Jiang et al. US20210359534A1 in further view of Ohashi US20200099236A1
Regarding claim 7. Yoon does not explicitly disclose that the current source circuit includes first through n-th current sources, and a switch circuit configured to supply the first charging circuit with a current from the first through n-th current sources as the first current in the first current mode, and supply the second charging circuit with a current from the first through n-th current sources as the second current in the second current mode.
Ohashi discloses that the current source circuit (FIG. 1 – input to 18) includes
first through n-th current sources (¶48; Vi1 and Vi2), and
a switch circuit (18) configured to supply the first charging circuit (13) with a current (I0) from the first through n-th current sources (input of Vi1 and Vi2) as the first current in the first current mode (¶19), and supply the second charging circuit with a current from the first through n-th current sources (input of Vi1 and Vi2) as the second current in the second current mode (¶19).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the switch circuit of Ohashi to the system of the reference claims in order to control the supply of power to the system in order to reduce the number of times that charging is required (¶2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 8 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 6, although the prior art discloses the subject matter of the intervening claims, the prior art does not explicitly disclose the subject matter of “wherein the control circuit outputs first through n-th bit signals of a current setting signal configured to set the current value of the charging current as corresponding first through n-th control bit signals of a current source control signal configured to control the first current source circuit and the second current source circuit, the first current source circuit includes m current sources configured to output m constant currents having binary-weighted current values, and outputs the constant current selected from the m constant currents based on the first through m-th control bit signals out of the first through n-th control bit signals as the first current, and the second current source circuit includes n current sources configured to output n constant currents having binary-weighted current values, and outputs the constant current selected from the n constant currents based on the corresponding first through n-th control bit signals as the second current, wherein n is an integer no smaller than 3, and m is an integer no smaller than 2 and no larger than n.”.
Regarding claim 8, although the prior art discloses the subject matter of the intervening claims, the prior art does not explicitly disclose that subject matter of “wherein the control circuit outputs first through n-th bit signals of a current setting signal configured to set the current value of the charging current as corresponding first through n-th control bit signals of a current source control signal configured to control the current source circuit in the second current mode, and first through m-th bit signals out of the first through n-th bit signals as (i+1)-th through (i+m)-th control bit signals out of the first through n-th control bit signals in the first current mode, the first through n-th current sources output corresponding first through n-th constant currents having binary-weighted current values, and the switch circuit outputs the constant current selected from the first through n-th constant currents by the first through n-th control bit signals as the second current in the second current mode, and the constant current selected from (i+1)-th through (i+m)-th constant currents out of the first through n-th constant currents by the (i+1)-th through (i+m)-th control bit signals as the first current in the first current mode, wherein n is an integer no smaller than 3, m is an integer no smaller than 2 and no larger than n, and i is an integer which fulfills that i+1 is no smaller than 1 and i+m is no larger than n.”.
Related Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ninomiya et al. US20240079898A1 (as cited in the IDS dated 7/9/2026): ¶32 discloses current setting value being less than or greater than a threshold activates different modes.
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 PAMELA JEPPSON whose telephone number is (571)272-4094. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM..
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/PAMELA J JEPPSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/DREW A DUNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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