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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Regarding “Description requirement and new matter situations”:
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Independent claims 1, 6, & 7 have been amended to read:
“wherein the equivalent circuit, in response to being configured, maximizes energy efficiency of the battery and reduces one or more of an emission of a sulfur oxide (SOx) compound of a group of sulfur oxide (SOx) compounds, the emission of a nitrogen oxide (NOx) compound of a group of nitrogen oxide (NOx) compounds, and the emission of a carbon oxide (COx) compound of a group of gaseous carbon oxide (COx) compounds.”
The Examiner was unable to find sufficient support for these amendments within the originally filed specification. The only reference to “sulfur oxide” compounds was found in the “Background of the Invention “ subsection “Description of Related Art”:
“Efforts are underway to reduce adverse effects on the global environment (for example, reduction of NOx and SOx or reduction of CO2). Thus, in recent years, from the viewpoint of improving the global environment, for reduction of CO2, there has been growing interest in at least electric vehicles that are able to run on electric motors driven by power supplied by batteries (secondary batteries) such as, for example, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).”
At most, this implies no more than that the invention has to do with batteries. The element of ‘batteries’ when in consideration of 35 U.S.C. §101, are no more than field of use or technological environment limitations (as explained in the Non-Final Rejection filed 08/25/2025).
Claims 2-5 are rejected for their dependence on a rejected base claim without rectifying the issue(s) for which the base claim was rejected.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 12092696 B2 "Simulated Battery Construction Method And Simulated Battery Construction Device" (Munakata) is relevant to the Applicant's disclosure, see Fig. 2.
US 12411183 B2 "Method And Apparatus For Measuring Battery Impedance Value" (Bao) is relevant to the Applicant's disclosure, see Fig. 1 & Fig. 3.
US 20110173585 A1 "Battery Characteristic Evaluator" (Hamano) is relevant to the Applicant's disclosure, see Fig. 4.
US 20200249281 A1 "Information Processing Apparatus and Computer-Readable Recording Medium Storing Battery Deterioration Diagnosis Program" (Ishii) is relevant to the Applicant's disclosure, see Fig. 1 & Fig. 2 & Fig. 8.
US 10527677 B2 "Battery State Estimation Apparatus" (Kawai) is relevant to the Applicant's disclosure, see Fig. 3.
US 8378687 B2 "Method Of Measuring Characteristics Regarding Safety Of Battery" (Yoneda) is relevant to the Applicant's disclosure, see Fig. 2.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 MARTIN WALTER BRAUNLICH whose telephone number is (571)272-3178. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30 am-5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at (571) 272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARTIN WALTER BRAUNLICH/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/HUY Q PHAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858
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