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. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 14 September 2023 and 2 January 2025 has/have been considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Zeiler et al (US 20190160972 A1) Regarding claim 1, Zeiler teaches an electric working machine (¶0030 “FIG. 1 illustrates a scalable power unit 10 mounted on the back end of a lawn tractor 13”) comprising: battery packs; (¶0032 “scalable power unit 10 with more battery packs 12 as needed for one task (e.g., for a longer run time) and fewer battery packs 12 as needed for a second task (e.g., for a shorter run time)”) a working device to be driven by electric power discharged from the battery packs; (¶0031 “lawn tractor 13 is shown in FIG. 1, the scalable power unit 10 could be used to power a wide variety of riding vehicles and end products”, ¶0031 lists a variety of working devices which could be used in place of lawn tractor 13) one or more battery monitors to monitor states of the battery packs; (¶0052 “ control unit 24 is also configured to monitor the state of charge on each of the battery packs 12”) and a controller to control charging and discharging of the battery packs, (¶0051 “ control unit 24 to control the switches 26 during both charging and discharging of the battery packs 12”) wherein the controller is configured or programmed to: in a discharging mode for driving the working device, (¶0049 “FIG. 5, the first switch 26 a is connected to the electrical contacts contained within the battery slot 18 a to provide a connection between the battery pack 12 a and ground… control unit 24 can open and close the switches 26 at rapid rates to selectively control the rate of charge from the charging circuit 22 or discharge to the motor 20”) select one of the battery packs as a discharging battery pack to be discharged to supply electric power to the working device, based on a result of monitoring the battery packs by the one or more battery monitors; (¶0056 “ FIG. 6 , battery 12 a would first be discharged to 70%. Once battery 12 a reaches 70%, battery packs 12 a and 12 b would be discharged together until the state of charge on each of these two battery packs reaches 68%”) and in a charging mode for charging the battery packs, select one of the battery packs as a charging battery pack to be charged, based on the result of monitoring the battery packs by the one or more battery monitors. (¶0057 “FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration in which the three battery packs 12 a, 12 b and 12 c are connected to the charging circuit 22… the control unit 24 would initially close switch 26 c until the battery pack 12 c is charged to 70%. Once the battery pack 12 c reaches 70% charge, switches 26 b and 26 c are both closed until the battery packs 12 b and 12 c reach 80% charge. Once at 80% charge, all three of the switches would be closed and all three battery packs charged until they reach 100% of their rated capacity”) Regarding claim 2, Zeiler teaches the electric working machine according to claim 1. Zeiler further teaches wherein the one or more battery monitors are operable to monitor remaining power levels of the battery packs, (FIG 6 depicts the remaining power levels of battery packs 12a, 12b, and 12c, ¶0052 “ control unit 24 is also configured to monitor the state of charge on each of the battery packs 12”) and the controller is configured or programmed to select, in the discharging mode, one of the battery packs that has a highest remaining power level as the discharging battery pack. (¶0056 “ FIG. 6 , battery 12 a would first be discharged to 70%. Once battery 12 a reaches 70%, battery packs 12 a and 12 b would be discharged together until the state of charge on each of these two battery packs reaches 68%”, FIG 6 shows battery pack 12a to have the highest remaining power level of 80%) Regarding claim 3, Zeiler teaches the electric working machine according to claim 2. Zeiler further teaches wherein the controller is configured or programmed to, in the discharging mode, switch the discharging battery pack to one of other one or more of the battery packs that has a highest remaining power level when the remaining power level of the one of the battery packs used as the discharging battery pack decreases to a first threshold or less, the other one or more of the battery packs being other than the one of the battery packs used as the discharging battery pack. (¶0056 “ FIG. 6 , battery 12 a would first be discharged to 70%. Once battery 12 a reaches 70%, battery packs 12 a and 12 b would be discharged together until the state of charge on each of these two battery packs reaches 68%”, FIG 6 shows battery pack 12a to have the highest remaining power level of 80%) Regarding claim 4, Zeiler teaches the electric working machine according to claim 1. Zeiler further teaches wherein the one or more battery monitors are operable to monitor remaining power levels of the battery packs, (FIG 6 depicts the remaining power levels of battery packs 12a, 12b, and 12c, ¶0052 “ control unit 24 is also configured to monitor the state of charge on each of the battery packs 12”) and the controller is configured or programmed to select, in the charging mode, one of the battery packs that has a lowest remaining power level as the charging battery pack. (¶0057 “FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration in which the three battery packs 12 a, 12 b and 12 c are connected to the charging circuit 22… control unit 24 would initially close switch 26 c until the battery pack 12 c is charged to 70%. Once the battery pack 12 c reaches 70% charge, switches 26 b and 26 c are both closed until the battery packs 12 b and 12 c reach 80% charge. Once at 80% charge, all three of the switches would be closed and all three battery packs charged until they reach 100% of their rated capacity”, FIG 7 depicts battery pack 12c as having the lowest remaining power level) Regarding claim 5, Zeiler teaches the electric working machine according to claim 4. Zeiler further teaches wherein the controller is configured or programmed to, in the charging mode, switch the charging battery pack to one of other one or more of the battery packs that has a lowest remaining power level when the remaining power level of the charging battery pack being charged becomes greater than or equal to a second threshold, the other one or more of the battery packs being other than the charging battery pack. (¶0057 “FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration in which the three battery packs 12 a, 12 b and 12 c are connected to the charging circuit 22… control unit 24 would initially close switch 26 c until the battery pack 12 c is charged to 70%. Once the battery pack 12 c reaches 70% charge, switches 26 b and 26 c are both closed until the battery packs 12 b and 12 c reach 80% charge. Once at 80% charge, all three of the switches would be closed and all three battery packs charged until they reach 100% of their rated capacity”, FIG 7 depicts battery pack 12c as having the lowest remaining power level) Regarding claim 7, Zeiler teaches the electric working machine according to claim 1. Zeiler Teaches further comprising a charging port to be connected to an external power supply, (¶0082 “FIG. 12, a vehicle 300 including the scalable power unit 10… primary vehicle battery 315 can be charged by a generator driven by an internal combustion engine of a hybrid drive system, by regenerative braking, by connecting the vehicle battery 315 to the electrical grid , or other known methods for charging the vehicle battery of a hybrid or electric vehicle”, wherein vehicle 300 is lawn tractor 13) wherein the controller is configured or programmed to determine that the electric working machine is in the charging mode when the external power supply is connected to the charging port, (¶0047 “FIG. 5, a control unit 24 , which could be one of many different types of microprocessors or microcontrollers, is used to control the state of three individual switching elements 26 a - 26 c ”, control unit 24 switches the battery packs 12a-12c between charging and discharging mode and thereby can determine that the electric working machine is in charging mode) and determine that the electric working machine is in the discharging mode when the external power supply is not connected to the charging port. (¶0047 “FIG. 5, a control unit 24 , which could be one of many different types of microprocessors or microcontrollers, is used to control the state of three individual switching elements 26 a - 26 c ”, control unit 24 switches the battery packs 12a-12c between charging and discharging mode and thereby can determine that the electric working machine is in discharging mode) Regarding claim 8, Zeiler teaches the electric working machine according to claim 1. Zeiler further teaches further comprising a mode changeover switch to input an instruction to switch between the discharging mode and the charging mode. (¶0055 “ FIG. 6 , the control unit 24 can control the opening and closing of the three MOSFET switches 26 a -26 c in order to control the discharge rates of each of the three individual battery packs 12 a -12 c ”, ¶0057 “[FIG 7] he control unit 24 would initially close switch 26 c until the battery pack 12 c is charged to 70%. Once the battery pack 12 c reaches 70% charge, switches 26 b and 26 c are both closed until the battery packs 12 b and 12 c reach 80% charge”; control unit 24 controls switches 26a-26c to connect and disconnect battery packs 12a-12c for charging and discharging) 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 in \ vention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zeiler modified by Tajima et al (US 20230132746 A1), Tajima has a priority date of 11 December 2017 Regarding claim 6 , Zeiler teaches the electric working machine according to claim 1. Zeiler does not teach wherein the one or more battery monitors are operable to monitor the battery packs for abnormality, and the controller is configured or programmed to select, as the discharging battery pack or the charging battery pack, one of one or more of the battery packs that have no abnormality. Tajima teaches wherein the one or more battery monitors are operable to monitor the battery packs for abnormality, ( ¶0054 “an anomaly-monitoring unit 300 driven by electric power from the second battery 311 selects and uses each of a plurality of secondary batteries constituting the first battery 301 individually” ) and the controller is configured or programmed to select, (¶0068 “ anomaly-monitoring unit 300 monitors each secondary battery 301 a , 301 b , and 301 c , or controls the switches”) as the discharging battery pack or the charging battery pack, one of one or more of the battery packs that have no abnormality. (FIG 2A shows all battery packs 301a-301c to be connected when all determined as normal, FIG 2B disconnects battery pack 301b which is determined as anomalous) Therefor it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the electric working machine as taught by Zeiler wherein the controller removes battery packs with anomalies as taught by Tajima. Zeiler and Tajima both teach balancing the remaining power levels of multiple battery packs in user-operated electric vehicles. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to improve the state of health of the remaining batteries and minimize potential overheating. Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zeiler modified by Yunoue et al (US 20130318956 A1) Regarding claim 9 , Zeiler teaches the electric working machine according to claim 1. Zeiler further teaches [ further comprising a starter switch to start the electric working machine, ] wherein the controller is configured or programmed to select the discharging battery pack or the charging battery pack based on the result of monitoring the states of the battery packs acquired from the one or more battery monitors, ( ¶0049 “control unit 24 can open and close the switches 26 at rapid rates to selectively control the rate of charge from the charging circuit 22 or discharge to the motor 2 0 ”, ¶0056 “ FIG. 6 , battery 12 a would first be discharged to 70%. Once battery 12 a reaches 70%, battery packs 12 a and 12 b would be discharged together until the state of charge on each of these two battery packs reaches 68%”, FIG 6 shows battery pack 12a to have the highest remaining power level of 80%) [ in response to a predetermined operation on the starter switch to give an instruction to start the electric working machine. ] Zeiler does not teach further comprising a starter switch to start the electric working machine, in response to a predetermined operation on the starter switch to give an instruction to start the electric working machine. Yunoue teaches further comprising a starter switch to start the electric working machine, (¶0049 “the key switch 25 is found to be placed in the START position depending on whether a signal is output from the key switch 25”) in response to a predetermined operation on the starter switch to give an instruction to start the electric working machine. (¶0049 “the arithmetic control section 53 of the inverter device 32 initiates the motor drive control. In other words, the arithmetic control section 53 exercises control to open the control change switch 52A and close the control change switch 52B, and outputs an instruction to the step-up/step-down transformer 50 to increase the voltage”) Therefor it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the electric working machine as taught by Zeiler to further comprise a starter switch to start the electric working machine as taught by Yunoue . Zeiler and Yunoue both disclose methods of powering user-operated work equipment, such as a backhoe. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to improve user experience of initiating the electric working machine for use. Prior Art Not Relied Upon The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in the attached PTO-892 Notice of References Cited by Examiner attached to this correspondence. Park et al (US 20120268070 A1) teaches an apparatus for balancing a plurality of battery packs and discharges them in sequence determined by the remaining state of charge. Fukuhara et al (US 20160169977 A1) teaches an apparatus for determining the location of an abnormality in a plurality of battery modules, and removing the affected battery cell from the sequence. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT LISA M KOTOWSKI whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-3771 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Friday 8a-5p . 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Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /LISA KOTOWSKI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2859 /TAELOR KIM/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859