Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 18, 2026
Application No. 18/256,337

BATTERY PARALLEL WIRE CONNECTION STRUCTURE OF ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jun 07, 2023
Examiner
WILLIAMS, ARUN C
Art Unit
2859
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Hanwha Solutions Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 10m
To Grant
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allow Rate
1138 granted / 1391 resolved
+13.8% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
38 currently pending
Career history
1429
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.5%
-38.5% vs TC avg
§103
56.0%
+16.0% vs TC avg
§102
33.4%
-6.6% vs TC avg
§112
2.2%
-37.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1391 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION This is a first action on the merits, in response to the claims received 6/7/2023 . Claims 1- 4 are pending for prosecution below. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) (s) file on have been considered by the examiner. An initialed copy is attached herewith. 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. The factual inquiries 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 . This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Claim(s) 1 -4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FILLIN "Insert the prior art relied upon." \d "[ 2 ]" Iwaskai et al, (Iwasaki), (USNO.2013/0193768) in view of Ikeda, (USPATNO.5,161,067) . As for claim 1 , Iwaskai discloses and shows in Fig. 2 -5 a battery parallel wire connection structure of an energy storage system, comprising: a power converter (via ref’s PCS) which is provided to select a power line from among a plurality of power lines to supply power; and a plurality of battery managers (via storage battery control units ) that are sequentially connected to the power converter and are operated by the power which is selectively supplied through the power line selected from among the plurality of power lines, wherein the power converter includes a power output port, each of the battery managers includes a power input port (via ref’s power supply) and a power output port (SW1) , and the power input port and the power output port of the battery manager include a power supply port and a plurality of bypass ports ( SW3 & SW4 ) (par.[0018 -002 4 ,0045 ]) Iwaskai discloses all limitations, but differs from the claimed invention because he does not explicitly disclose internally wire-connected such that one of the bypass ports of the power input port is connected to the power supply port of the power output port Ikeda discloses and shows in Fig. 1 internally wire-connected such a bypass port (via ref’s bypass switch) of a power input port is connected to a power supply port of a power output port (col.2, lines 24-45 , col.3, lines 16-41 ) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to have modified the teachings of Iwaskai by using an internally wire-connected such a bypass port (via ref’s bypass switch) of a power input port is connected to a power supply port of a power output port for advantages such as providing to the stabilized the output and reduce power loss (col, 2, lines 55-63) , as taught by Ikeda . As for claim 2 , Iwaskai in combination with Ikeda discloses and shows [ in Fig. 1 of Iwaskai ] a power converter comprises: a power supply for supplying power; a selector for selecting one from among a plurality of power lines that are connected to a power output port of the power converter and outputting power of the power supply; and a master communicator for communication with a battery manager that is selected by the selector and supplied with power As for claim 3 , Iwaskai in combination with Ikeda discloses the internal wire connection of the battery manager is wire-connected to a power output port of a battery manager at a position which is shifted according to a rule (via ref’s perform discharging ) from the number of the power output port of the battery manager (par.[0041]) . As for claim 4 , Iwaskai in combination with Ikeda discloses rule of shift is that the internal wire connection of all of the battery managers is the same configuration, and the external wire connection between the battery managers is shifted such that it can be wire-connected between ports having the same port number (via ref’s charge and discharge control command) ( par.[ 0041]) Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT ARUN C WILLIAMS whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-9765 . The examiner can normally be reached on FILLIN "Work schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. . If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian Huffman can be reached on 571-272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ARUN C WILLIAMS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jun 07, 2023
Application Filed
Mar 28, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
82%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+16.5%)
2y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1391 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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