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 .
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 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.
DETAILED ACTION
Claims status
Claims 1-11 are pending as the applicant filed Preliminary Amendment on 11/06/2023.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
2. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1-11, the terms “resistance degradation” “normal range” “abnormal state” are vague and a relative term that renders the claim indefinite. The terms “resistance degradation” “normal range” “abnormal state” are is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably appraised of the scope of the invention. An artisan doing measuring and testing would not know at what point “resistance degradation” “normal range” “abnormal state” within the scope of the claim had been accomplished because nothing within the disclosure establishes when a sufficient “resistance degradation” “normal range” “abnormal state” occur.
Note: In view of the PTO compact prosecution, the Examiner notes that due to the indefiniteness issues described above all consideration of the merits of the claims in view of prior art is as best understood.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claim 1, Step 1 the claim is a process (or machine) (Yes),
Step 2A Prong One, does the claim recite an abstract idea? current claim related to a method of diagnosing a battery pack including a plurality of battery banks, the method comprising: determining, by a battery management system (BMS), whether there is a target battery bank satisfying discharge conditions among the plurality of battery banks appears is an abstract idea of mental process (MPEP 2106.04(a)) or data gathering equivalent to mathematical concept or mathematical manipulation function (MPEP 2106.04 (a) (2) (concept need not be expressed in mathematical symbols, because "[w]ords used in a claim operating on data to solve a problem can serve the same purpose as a formula), (OR Mathematical Concepts and Mental Processes) Step 2A Prong One: Yes.
Step 2A Prong Two, is the claim directed to an abstract idea? In other words, does claim recite additional elements that integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application? the additional elements of discharging, by the BMS, the target battery bank detected through the determining for a predetermined time;
storing, by the BMS, a first bank voltage of the target battery bank before discharging the target battery bank and a second bank voltage of the target battery bank after discharging the target battery bank; deriving, by the BMS, a current voltage variation based on the first bank voltage and the second bank voltage; estimating, by the BMS, a degree of resistance degradation with respect to the target battery bank based on a reference voltage variation of the target battery bank and the current voltage variation are recited at a high level of generality and merely amount to a particular field of use (see MPEP 2106.05(h)) and/or insignificant post-solution activity (MPEP 2106.05(g)), this does not integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application,
Step 2A Prong Two: NO.
Step 2B, Does the claim recite additional element that amount to significantly more than the Judicial exception? The additional element of diagnosing, by the BMS, the plurality of battery banks based on the degree of resistance degradation with respect to each of the plurality of battery banks, wherein the discharging conditions include at least one of a bank voltage, a bank temperature, and a rest time of each of the plurality of battery banks appears to be field of use (See MPEP 2106.05(h) and MPEP 2106.05(f)) and/or merely amounts to insignificant extra-solution output of the results (see MPEP 2106.05(g)) and therefore fails to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amount to significantly more. Step 2B: No. claim 1 not eligible.
Claim 6, Step 1 the claim is a process (or machine) (Yes),
Step 2A Prong One, does the claim recite an abstract idea? current claim related to a battery system comprising: a plurality of battery banks in each of to which a plurality of battery cells are connected in parallel appears is an abstract idea of mental process (MPEP 2106.04(a)) or data gathering equivalent to mathematical concept or mathematical manipulation function (MPEP 2106.04 (a) (2) (concept need not be expressed in mathematical symbols, because "[w]ords used in a claim operating on data to solve a problem can serve the same purpose as a formula), (OR Mathematical Concepts and Mental Processes) Step 2A Prong One: Yes.
Step 2A Prong Two, is the claim directed to an abstract idea? In other words, does claim recite additional elements that integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application? the additional elements of a discharge circuit connected in parallel between a positive electrode and a negative electrode of each of the plurality of battery banks and configured to discharge each of the plurality of battery banks; and a battery management system (BMS) configured to:
determine whether there is a target battery bank satisfying discharge conditions among the plurality of battery banks; discharge the target battery bank detected through the determining by the discharge circuit; store a first bank voltage of the target battery bank before discharging the target battery bank and a second bank voltage of the target battery bank after discharging the target battery ban
derive a current voltage variation based on the first bank voltage and the second bank voltage; estimate a degree of resistance degradation with respect to the target battery bank based on a reference voltage variation of the target battery bank and the current voltage variation are recited at a high level of generality and merely amount to a particular field of use (see MPEP 2106.05(h)) and/or insignificant post-solution activity (MPEP 2106.05(g)), this does not integrate the Judicial Exception into a practical application,
Step 2A Prong Two: NO.
Step 2B, Does the claim recite additional element that amount to significantly more than the Judicial exception? The additional element of diagnose the plurality of battery banks based on the degree of resistance degradation with respect to each of the plurality of battery banks, wherein the discharging conditions include at least one of a bank voltage, a bank temperature, and a rest time of each of the plurality of battery banks appears to be field of use (See MPEP 2106.05(h) and MPEP 2106.05(f)) and/or merely amounts to insignificant extra-solution output of the results (see MPEP 2106.05(g)) and therefore fails to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or amount to significantly more. Step 2B: No. claim 6 not eligible.
Claim 2, related to the reference voltage variation of the target battery bank is an initial voltage variation stored in the BMS with respect to the target battery bank, and wherein the initial voltage variation is a voltage variation before and after a first discharge of each of the plurality of battery banks appears recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 2 not eligible.
Claim 3, related to wherein the diagnosing of the plurality of battery banks includesincludes: deriving, by the BMS, an entire representative value of a plurality of degrees of resistance degradation based on the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation with respect to the plurality of battery banks; calculating, by the BMS, a multi-parallel ideality factor based on a number of parallel connections of the plurality of battery banks; calculating, by the BMS, an upper limit threshold value of a normal range based on the entire representative value of the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation and the multi- parallel ideality factor; and deriving, by the BMS, the normal range based on the upper limit threshold value, and diagnosing a state of each of the plurality of battery banks according to the normal range appears recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 3 not eligible.
Claim 4, related to the calculating of the upper limit threshold value includes: setting, by the BMS, as a target group, a plurality of first battery banks having a degree of resistance degradation less than or equal to the entire representative value of the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation among the plurality of battery banks; deriving, by the BMS, a target representative value of a plurality of degrees of resistance degradation of the plurality of first battery banks belonging to the target group; and calculating the upper limit threshold value of a of the normal range based on the target representative value and the multi-parallel ideality factor appears recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 4 not eligible.
Claim 5, related to the diagnosing of the state of each of the plurality of battery banks includes: determining, by the BMS, a battery bank having a degree of resistance degradation equal to or less than the upper limit threshold value as a as the normal state among the plurality of battery banks; and determining, by the BMS, a battery bank having a degree of resistance degradation greater than the upper limit threshold value as an abnormal state among the plurality of battery banks appears recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 5 not eligible.
Claim 7, related to the reference voltage variation of the target battery bank is an initial voltage variation stored in the BMS with respect to the target battery bank, and wherein the initial voltage variation is a voltage variation before and after a first discharge of each of the plurality of battery banks appears recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 7 not eligible.
Claim 8, related to the BMS is configured to: calculate an upper limit threshold value of a normal range based on the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation with respect to the plurality of battery banks, derive the normal range based on the upper limit threshold value; and diagnose a state of each of the plurality of battery banks according to the normal range appears recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 8 not eligible.
Claim 9, related to the upper limit threshold value is calculated based on an entire representative value of a plurality of degrees of resistance degradation and a multi-parallel ideality factor by the BMS by deriving the entire representative value of the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation based on the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation respectively with respect to the plurality of battery banks; and calculating the multi-parallel ideality factor based on a number of parallel connections of the plurality of battery banks appears recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 9 not eligible.
Claim 10, related to the BMS is configured to: determine a battery bank having a degree of resistance degradation equal to or less than the upper limit threshold value of the degree of resistance degradation as a as the normal state among the plurality of battery banks and determine a battery bank having a degree of resistance degradation greater than the upper limit threshold value of the degree of resistance degradation as an abnormal state among the plurality of battery banks appears recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 10 not eligible.
Claim 11, related to wherein the BMS is configured to diagnose a state of the plurality of battery banks by distinguishing whether each of the plurality of battery banks is in the abnormal state appears recite further data characterization and mathematical concepts that are part of the abstract idea, claim 11 not eligible.
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) 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by MATTHEY et al. (.US Patent Application Publication 20210336299 A1, Date Published: 2021-10-28.
Regarding claim 1:
MATTHEY described a method of diagnosing a battery pack including a plurality of battery banks, the method comprising: determining, by a battery management system (BMS), whether there is a target battery bank satisfying discharge conditions among the plurality of battery banks (0036, temperature satisfied by the degradation speed, 0038, permissible value limit of the charging-discharging); discharging, by the BMS, the target battery bank detected through the determining for a predetermined time (0028, the time of charging/discharging ); storing, by the BMS, a first bank voltage of the target battery bank before discharging the target battery bank and a second bank voltage of the target battery bank after discharging the target battery bank (0027, detects a voltage of each battery cell); deriving, by the BMS, a current voltage variation based on the first bank voltage and the second bank voltage (0027, detects a voltage of each battery cell); estimating, by the BMS, a degree of resistance degradation with respect to the target battery bank based on a reference voltage variation of the target battery bank and the current voltage variation (0027-0030, 0053, detect voltage, resistance increases); and diagnosing, by the BMS, the plurality of battery banks based on the degree of resistance degradation with respect to each of the plurality of battery banks (0027-0030, 0053, detect voltage, resistance increases), wherein the discharging conditions include at least one of a bank voltage, a bank temperature (0027-0030, bank temperature), and a rest time of each of the plurality of battery banks.
Regarding claim 6:
MATTHEY described a battery system comprising: a plurality of battery banks in each of to which a plurality of battery cells are connected in parallel (0040, parallel connections of the battery cells); a discharge circuit connected in parallel between a positive electrode and a negative electrode of each of the plurality of battery banks and configured to discharge each of the plurality of battery banks (0038-0040, battery discharge cells); and a battery management system (BMS) configured to: determine whether there is a target battery bank satisfying discharge conditions among the plurality of battery banks; discharge the target battery bank detected through the determining by the discharge circuit (0036, temperature satisfied by the degradation speed, 0038, permissible value limit of the charging-discharging);
store a first bank voltage of the target battery bank before discharging the target battery bank and a second bank voltage of the target battery bank after discharging the target battery bank (0038, permissible value limit of the charging-discharging )
derive a current voltage variation based on the first bank voltage and the second bank voltage (0040, OCV);
estimate a degree of resistance degradation with respect to the target battery bank based on a reference voltage variation of the target battery bank and the current voltage variation, (0027-0030, 0053, detect voltage, resistance increases); and
diagnose the plurality of battery banks based on the degree of resistance degradation with respect to each of the plurality of battery banks (0027-0030, 0053, detect voltage, resistance increases),
wherein the discharging conditions include at least one of a bank voltage, a bank temperature (0027-0030, bank temperature), and a rest time of each of the plurality of battery banks.
Regarding claim 2, MATTHEY further described the reference voltage variation of the target battery bank is an initial voltage variation stored in the BMS with respect to the target battery bank, and wherein the initial voltage variation is a voltage variation before and after a first discharge of each of the plurality of battery banks (0040, store all parameter model).
Regarding claim 3, MATTHEY further described based on the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation with respect to the plurality of battery banks; calculating, by the BMS, a multi-parallel ideality factor based on a number of parallel connections of the plurality of battery banks (0040, parallel connections of the battery cells); calculating, by the BMS, an upper limit threshold value of a normal range based on the entire representative value of the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation and the multi- parallel ideality factor (0027, total voltage); and deriving, by the BMS, the normal range based on the upper limit threshold value, and diagnosing a state of each of the plurality of battery banks according to the normal range (0033, polarization voltage Vp).
Regarding claim 4, MATTHEY further described the calculating of the upper limit threshold value includes: , by the BMS, as a target group, a plurality of first battery banks having a degree of resistance degradation less than or equal to the entire representative value of the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation among the plurality of battery banks; deriving, by the BMS, a target representative value of a plurality of degrees of resistance degradation of the plurality of first battery banks belonging to the target group; and calculating the upper limit threshold value of a of the normal range based on the target representative value and the multi-parallel ideality factor (fig. 9, 102, 501-506, 0048, specified threshold).
Regarding claim 5, MATTHEY further described the diagnosing of the state of each of the plurality of battery banks includes: determining, by the BMS, a battery bank having a degree of resistance degradation equal to or less than the upper limit threshold value as a as the normal state among the plurality of battery banks; and determining, by the BMS, a battery bank having a degree of resistance degradation greater than the upper limit threshold value as an abnormal state among the plurality of battery banks (fig. 9, 102, 501-506, 0048, specified threshold).
Regarding claim 7, MATTHEY further described the reference voltage variation of the target battery bank is an initial voltage variation stored in the BMS with respect to the target battery bank, and wherein the initial voltage variation is a voltage variation before and after a first discharge of each of the plurality of battery banks (0040, store all parameter model).
Regarding claim 8, MATTHEY further described the BMS is configured to: calculate an upper limit threshold value of a normal range based on the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation with respect to the plurality of battery banks (0027-0030, 0053, detect voltage, resistance increases), derive the normal range based on the upper limit threshold value; and diagnose a state of each of the plurality of battery banks according to the normal range (0033, polarization voltage Vp).
Regarding claim 9, MATTHEY further described the upper limit threshold value is calculated based on an entire representative value of a plurality of degrees of resistance degradation and a multi-parallel ideality factor by the BMS by deriving the entire representative value of the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation based on the plurality of degrees of resistance degradation respectively with respect to the plurality of battery bank (fig. 9, 102, 501-506, 0048, specified threshold, 0027-0030, 0053, detect voltage, resistance increases); and calculating the multi-parallel ideality factor based on a number of parallel connections of the plurality of battery banks (0040, parallel connections of the battery cells).
Regarding claim 10 MATTHEY further described the BMS is configured to: determine a battery bank having a degree of resistance degradation equal to or less than the upper limit threshold value of the degree of resistance degradation (0027-0030, 0053, detect voltage, resistance increases) as a as the normal state among the plurality of battery banks and determine a battery bank having a degree of resistance degradation greater than the upper limit threshold value of the degree of resistance degradation as an abnormal state among the plurality of battery banks (fig. 9, 102, 501-506, 0048, specified threshold).
.
Regarding claim 11 MATTHEY further described the BMS is configured to diagnose a state of the plurality of battery banks by distinguishing whether each of the plurality of battery banks is in the abnormal state (0037, outputs the set value to the current limiting value calculation unit).
Contact information
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tung Lau whose telephone number is (571)272-2274, email is Tungs.lau@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Tuesday-Friday 7:00 AM-5:00 PM EST.
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/TUNG S LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
Technology Center 2800
January 22, 2026