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 .
Claims 1-25 are pending.
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, 3-6, 10-12, and 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Laberteaux (US 2012/0194128).1 Regarding claim 1, Laberteaux teaches an electric vehicle charging system comprising: a charge point connector configured to facilitate connection to an electric vehicle (paragraph 0016: connector 30); and a property charge point unit connected to a property electricity supply and configured to control transmission of energy between the property electricity supply and an electric vehicle connected to the charge point connector (paragraph 0016: electric power supply 12); wherein the charge point connector is located for connection to an electric vehicle parked in a publicly accessible area (see location of vehicle in Fig. 1); and wherein the property charge point unit and the charge point connector are connected by at least one cable (paragraph 0016: power cable system 28). Regarding claim 3, Laberteaux teaches the system comprises one or more additional charge point connectors connected to the property charge point unit (paragraph 0016: another electrical connector 36). Regarding claim 4, Laberteaux teaches the system facilitates load sharing between electric vehicles connected to the charge point connector and the one or more additional charge point connectors and wherein the energy distributed to some or all of the charge point connector and the one or more additional charge point connectors is adjusted depending on one or more of the following features: preferences of a system owner and/or2 controller, a selection of the system owner and/or controller, preferences of any third- parties connected to the system, selection of any third-parties connected to the system, energy demand of the property electricity supply and/or of a wider electricity network, and/or peak consumption periods of the property electricity supply and/or of a wider electricity network (paragraph 0019). Regarding claim 5, Laberteaux teaches a data processing means (paragraph 0031). Regarding claim 6, Laberteaux teaches a system owner and/or controller and/or an authorized user of the electric vehicle charging system can communicate with the data processing means using a device associated with them, the charge point connector and/or the property charge point unit (paragraph 0020). Regarding claim 10, Laberteaux teaches the property charge point unit is connected to an existing consumer unit in the property for the property electricity supply (paragraph 0020). Regarding claim 11, Laberteaux teaches the property charge point unit is located between an existing consumer unit in the property and the charge point connector (see Fig. 1). Regarding claim 12, Laberteaux teaches a property charge point unit for controlling transmission of energy between a property electricity supply and an electric vehicle comprising: a first connection point configured to be connected to a property electricity supply (paragraph 0016: connector 30); and a second connection point configured to be connected to at least one charge point connector for facilitating connection of an electric vehicle to the charging system (paragraph 0016: another electrical connector 36); wherein the property charge point unit is configured to be located between an existing consumer unit and/or meter in the property for the property electricity supply and the charge point connector (paragraph 0020); and wherein the property charge point unit is configured to control transmission of energy between the property electricity supply and an electric vehicle connected to the charge point connector (paragraph 0019). Regarding claim 14, Laberteaux teaches the power channel of the property charge point unit comprises a dedicated electric vehicle charging system smart meter configured independently meter energy consumption of the electric vehicle charging system separately from energy consumption of the property electricity supply (paragraph 0019). Regarding claim 15, Laberteaux teaches the first connection point is configured to be connected to the property electricity supply via a smart meter (paragraph 0019). Regarding claim 16, Laberteaux teaches the smart meter is operable to communicate with a central communications system which is configured to transfer data between energy suppliers and/or other meters within a wider network of energy users to regulate energy consumption across the wider network (paragraph 0019). Regarding claim 17, Laberteaux teaches a method of charging or discharging an electric vehicle, the method comprising: connecting an electric vehicle to a charge point connector of the electric vehicle charging system according to any of claims 1 to 11 (see rejection of claim 1 above); and transmitting energy between the property electricity supply and the electric vehicle (paragraph 0016); wherein the property charge point unit is configured to control the transmission of energy between the property electricity supply and the electric vehicle (paragraph 0016). Regarding claim 18, Laberteaux teaches more than one charge point connector and wherein the method comprises controlling the distribution of energy between multiple charge point connectors of the more than one charge point connector (paragraph 0016). Regarding claim 19, Laberteaux teaches the property charge point unit is operable to communicate with a data processing means and wherein the method comprises transmitting data and/or instructions from a system owner, a system controller, or an authorized user to the property charge point unit and/or the charge point via the data processing means (paragraph 0020).
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.
Claims 2 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Laberteaux in view of Fagan (US 2020/0189413).3 Regarding claim 2, Laberteaux teaches the system of claim 1, as discussed above. Laberteaux does not explicitly teach the charge point connector is located in the ground and is substantially flush with an outer surface of the ground. Fagan teaches the charge point connector is located in the ground and is substantially flush with an outer surface of the ground (paragraph 0106). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Laberteaux and Fagan, because such a combination protects the circuitry. Regarding claim 13, Fagan further teaches a controls channel and a power channel, wherein the power channel comprises a residual current device (RCD), a Protective Earth Monitor and/or a contactor (paragraph 0173).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 and 20-25 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW MIKELS whose telephone number is (571)270-5470. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 7:30 AM ET - 5:00 PM ET, Friday 7:30 AM ET - 11:30 AM ET, the Examiner is on central time.4
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael G Lee can be reached at 571-272-2398. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW MIKELS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
1 In addition to the cited paragraphs, please see also the associated figures.
2 Note that “and/or” is given the broadest reasonable interpretation. Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1316, 75 USPQ2d 1321, 1329 (Fed. Cir. 2005). Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, “and/or” is construed as “or”, i.e. requiring the listed components in the alternative.
3 In addition to the cited paragraphs, please see also the associated figures.
4 The Examiner can also be reached at matthew.mikels@uspto.gov.
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