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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/28/2026 has been entered.
Claims Status
Claims 1-3, 510, 12-16 and 18-20 are currently pending. Claims 1, 8, 15 and 18 are currently amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 08/28/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of amended claim(s) 1, 8 and 15 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of LIN et al. (US 2015/0214748 A1). Please see new ground of rejections below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-3, 5-10, 12-16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DAVISON et al. (US 2015/0326061, hereinafter DAVISON) in view of CHANDRAMOHAN et al. (US 2017/0094399 A1, hereinafter CHANDRAMOHAN) and in further view of LIN et al. (US 2015/0214748 A1, hereinafter LIN).
Regarding claims 1, 8 and 15 (claim 1 is considered representative for limitation matching purposes), DAVISON discloses a wireless device charging system to charge a wireless device, the wireless device charging system comprising:
a mobile receptacle that forms a cavity adapted to at least partially receive a wireless device (See Figs.1-3 and 10A-10B and Pars.24, 26, 35 and 84 disclose a cupholder shapes wireless charger comprising a cavity for receiving an electronic device 1000);
a device charger adapted to be disposed along one or more surfaces of the mobile receptacle (See Fig.1, Items#120 and Par.43, disclose a plurality of wireless charging coils);
the device charger comprising:
a plurality of coils comprising a first coil and a second coil (See Figs.1 and 3 and Pars.43 and 45, disclose a plurality of coils 120/320);
a power component, the power component to energize the plurality of coils when the device charger operates in a charging mode (See Fig.1, Item#134 and Par.42, disclose power receiving circuit 134 receives power from an external power supply. Par.67 discloses the power receiving circuit of the wireless charger receives the output of AC/DC adapter and performs DC/DC conversion, followed by DC/AC conversion to transmit the wireless power via the coils);
one or more interface ports configured to electrically connect to a power charging source to facilitate charging of the power storage (See Fig.1, Item#134 and Par.42, disclose power receiving circuit 134 receives power from an external power supply);
the device charger configured to:
detect when the wireless device is disposed in a charging position within the cavity (See Par.47 and 64 disclose circuitry may be employed to determine and select a pair of source antennas/coils 320 that best aligns with receiver coils of a portable electronic device placed within the charging area perimeter, and provide a changing electric current only to the selected pair of source antennas/coils 320);
operate in a charging mode to use the power storage to charge the wireless device consequent to the detecting that the wireless device is disposed in the charging position, wherein the charging mode comprises simultaneously energizing the first coil disposed at a first portion of the mobile receptacle and the second coil disposed at a second portion of the mobile receptacle when the wireless device is between the first coil and the second coil (See Pars.57-58 and 64 disclose activating a plurality of coils to simultaneously charge the electronic device. The activated coils are based on the detection step [i.e. the best alignment/most proximate coils]);
detect when the wireless device is removed from the cavity (See Par.65, discloses when a device is removed from the charging region); and
transition to a non-charging mode consequent to the detecting that the wireless device is removed from the cavity (See Par.65, discloses the controller enters a dormant status until next detection period arrives).
DAVISON discloses using an external power source to provide power to the wireless charging device.
However, DAVISON does not disclose the power component comprising a power storage or a communication module configured to wirelessly communicate with the wireless device to receive information regarding a battery of the wireless device, and wherein the operating in the charging mode comprises adaptively adjusting wireless charging current based at least in part on the received information regarding the battery of the wireless device.
CHANDRAMOHAN discloses a wireless device charging system comprising a power storage which is charged via an interface port (See Fig.2, discloses a charging case 204, connected to an external power source 205 via a power source interface port 250. Par.134 discloses the charging circuitry 225 controls the charging of a power storage battery 227 from the external power received via power source interface port 250), the device charger is further configured to:
detect when the wireless device is removed from the cavity (See Par.128-129, disclose detecting the removal of the wireless device from the charging case); and
transition to a non-charging mode consequent to the detecting that the wireless device is removed from the cavity (See Par.129, discloses stopping charging when the wireless device is removed).
DAVISON and CHANDRAMOHAN are analogous art since they both deal with wireless charging.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by DAVISON with the teachings of CHANDRAMOHAN by adding a power storage and charging circuitry the device charger to charge the power storage from external power source via the interface port for the benefit of providing a device charger which is capable of charging the electronic device any time it is placed in the device charger even if the device charger is not coupled to a power source (See CHANDRAMOHAN, Par.134).
However, DAVISON and CHANDRAMOHAN do not disclose a communication module configured to wirelessly communicate with the wireless device to receive information regarding a battery of the wireless device, and wherein the operating in the charging mode comprises adaptively adjusting wireless charging current based at least in part on the received information regarding the battery of the wireless device.
LIN discloses a wireless device charging system to charge a wireless device, the wireless device charging system comprising:
a communication module configured to wirelessly communicate with the wireless device to receive information regarding a battery of the wireless device (See Fig.2B, Item#2055 discloses a wireless communication device. Par.17, discloses The wireless power receiver 215B transmits at least one of voltage/current/power information associated with wireless power receiver 215B and/or battery 220B to the wireless power transmitter 205B via out-band wireless communication), and
wherein the operating in the charging mode comprises adaptively adjusting wireless charging current based at least in part on the received information regarding the battery of the wireless device (See Par.17, discloses that after receiving the voltage/current/power information, the wireless communication device 2055 transfers the received voltage/current/power information to the transmitter control circuit 2052, and the transmitter control circuit 2052 accordingly controls the voltage conditioning and power amplifier block 2051 so as to adjust the output power of wireless power transmitter 205B. Par.15 that the power transmitter dynamically adjusts is output power by adjusting the output current).
DAVISON, CHANDRAMOHAN and LIN are analogous art since they all deal with wireless charging.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the invention disclosed by DAVISON and CHANDRAMOHAN with the teachings of LIN by adding the communication and power control circuit for the benefit of increasing the compatibility of the charger by allowing the charger to adjust its output to match the charging requirements of a plurality of different wireless power receivers with different charging requirements.
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16 (claim 2 is considered representative for limitation matching purposes), DAVISON, CHANDRAMOHAN and LIN disclose the wireless device charging system to charge a wireless device as recited in claim 1 as discussed above, where the device charger is disposed within one or more portions of the mobile receptacle (See DAVISON, Fig.1, discloses a plurality of charging coils 120 disposed in different positions of the mobile receptacle).
Regarding claim 3 and 10 (claim 3 is considered representative for limitation matching purposes), DAVISON, CHANDRAMOHAN and LIN disclose the wireless device charging system to charge a wireless device as recited in claim 1 as discussed above, where the mobile receptacle comprises:
a first charger compartment (See DAVISON, Figs.1 and 10A, disclose coils 120 and 1020 disposed on one side of the charger compartment); and
a second charger compartment disposed generally opposite of the first charger compartment with respect to the cavity (See DAVISON, Figs.1 and 10A, disclose coils 120 and 10A on the opposite side of the charger compartment);
where the device charger is disposed within the first charger compartment and the second charger compartment (See DAVISON, Figs.1 and 10A-10B, disclose a plurality of charging coils 120/1020 in the housing surrounding the charging receptacle).
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 18 (claim 5 is considered representative for limitation matching purposes), DAVISON, CHANDRAMOHAN and LIN disclose the wireless device charging system to charge a wireless device as recited in claim 1, where the first coil and the second coil are disposed in an opposing arrangement (See DAVISON, Figs.1 and 10A-10B, disclose the first and second coils 120/1020 are placed on the opposite sides of the wireless device charging system), where the first portion of the mobile receptacle is generally opposite of the first portion with respect to the cavity (See DAVISON, Fig.10B, disclose the mobile receptacle where portable electronic device 1030 is inserted is opposite the charging coil 1020).
Regarding claims 6, 13 and 19 (claim 6 is considered representative for limitation matching purposes), DAVISON, CHANDRAMOHAN and LIN disclose the wireless device charging system to charge a wireless device as recited in claim 1 as discussed above, where the charging position within the cavity corresponds to the wireless device being partially disposed within the cavity (See DAVISON, Figs.10A-10B, disclose wireless charging coils 1020 corresponding to wireless power receiving coils 1030).
Regarding claims 7, 14 and 20 (claim 7 is considered representative for limitation matching purposes), DAVISON, CHANDRAMOHAN and LIN disclose the wireless device charging system to charge a wireless device as recited in claim 1 as discussed above, where the charging position within the cavity corresponds to the wireless device being fully within the cavity (See DAVISON, Figs.1 and 3, disclose a cup-shaped wireless charger. The examiner explains that an electronic device having a shorter height than the wireless charging device is fully enclosed inside the wireless charger. See RIEHL et al. (US 2019/0052124), Fig.1A, discloses an electronic device 106 fully within a cup-shaped wireless charger 106).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AHMED H OMAR whose telephone number is (571)270-7165. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am -7:00 PM EST.
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/AHMED H OMAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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