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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS filed 3/21/23 has been considered and made of record. The initialed copy is attached herewith.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because the text of figures 1 and 5 is blurry. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Re claim 1, the phrase “to connect the cell group to the resistor group disconnectably” sounds awkward and confusing.
Re claim 2, the claim is indefinite for depending on indefinite claim 1.
Re claim 3, the limitation “a connection/disconnection control section” appeared after “comprising” has already defined in claim 1. The limitation should be labeled with the article “the” instead of ‘a.’
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)(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.
Claims 1 and 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by PARK (US 2023/0344248).
Re claim 1, the reference discloses a battery circuit having, inter alia, a cell group (110) comprising a plurality of battery cells (111,112) connected in series; a resistor group (121) comprising a plurality of resistors (R1,R2) connected in series; and a connection/disconnection section (123) configured to connect the cell group to the resistor group disconnectably (para 40-41), wherein the connection/disconnection section is configured to be capable of changing a number of the resistors connected in series to any one target cell of the plurality of battery cells (para 42-44).
Re claim 2, the reference further discloses a cell balance control system being configured to adjust a cell balance by discharging the target cell, wherein the cell balance system comprises a connection/disconnection control section configured to control the connection/disconnection section such that a predetermined number of the resistors are connected in series to the target cell at a start of adjustment of the cell balance and the number of the resistors connected in series to the target cell increases from the predetermined number after a predetermined time elapses since the start of adjustment of the cell balance (para 46-58). [Balancing by charging and discharging a selected battery cell through switching in and out resistive switches and balancing resistors after a predetermined amount of time to reach a target cell value. Note, more switches and resistors are involved as the process continued to ensure the correct amount of charge is found in the targeted cell].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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; AND to satisfy 35 USC 112 requirements above.
The art made of record fails to disclose or suggest at least having a state estimation apparatus configured to detect a voltage of the target cell, calculate an impedance spectrum of an internal impedance of the target cell based on a frequency component included in a waveform of each of the current and the voltage detected at a same timing, and estimate a state of the target cell based on the impedance spectrum calculated.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The art teaches state of the art of equalizing the capacity of the plural cells.
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to the Examiner at the below-listed number. The Examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thu from 7:00am-5:00pm.
The Examiner’s SPE is Taelor Kim and he can be reached at 571.270.7166. The fax number for the organization where this application is assigned is 571.273.8300.
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/EDWARD TSO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 571.272.2087
/TAELOR KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859