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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 07/01/2026 has been entered. Claims 14, 17 have been cancelled. Claims 21-22 have been newly added. Claims 1-13, 15-16, 18-22 remain pending in this application.
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.
Claim(s) 1-9, 11-13, 16, 19-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salter et al. US 2023/0038656 (hereinafter Salter) in view of Littrell (US 2010/0161481) and further in view of Disley et al. US 2023/0012166 (hereinafter Disley).
Regarding claim 1, Salter discloses a method for tandem electric vehicle (EV) charging, comprising:
determining a primary EV (¶ 0039; host vehicle 16) electrically connected to a charging station (¶ 0038; charge source) via a vehicle-to-station (V2S) connection, the charging station configured for charging the primary EV with electrical power provided from an electrical grid (¶ 0038; The charge source 12 may be operably coupled to a grid power source 14);
determining a secondary EV (fig. 1, element 18A; surrogate vehicle) connected to the primary EV (fig. 1, element 16) via a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) connection (see fig. 1), the secondary EV requesting to be charged with electrical power transferred from the primary EV via the V2V connection (fig. 1 and ¶ 0069; during the first charging configuration C1, power may be simultaneously transferred from the charge source 12 to the traction battery pack 20 of host vehicle 16 and to the traction battery packs 20 associated with the participating surrogate vehicles 1);
determining an electrical charge based at least in part on a station amount of electrical power included as at least part of a secondary transference of electrical power to the secondary EV (¶ 0074; charge surrogate vehicle 18A for Y amount of minutes/hours) via the V2V connection (fig. 1, connection between the host vehicle 16 and the surrogate vehicle 18A);
determining the electrical charge based at least in part on a vehicle amount of electrical power included as at least part of the secondary transference of electrical power to the secondary EV (¶ 0074; charge surrogate vehicle 18A for Y amount of minutes/hours) via the V2V connection (fig. 1, connection between the host vehicle 16 and the surrogate vehicle 18A).
Salter fails to disclose the method includes:
determining a secondary EV billing account associated with an operator of the secondary EV;
determining a pecuniary charge for the secondary EV based on the amount of electrical power to the secondary EV; and
authorizing the pecuniary charge to the secondary EV billing account in recompense for the secondary transference of electrical power to the secondary EV via the V2V connection.
Littrell further discloses a method for electric vehicle charging and billing, and the method includes:
determining a secondary EV billing account associated with an operator of the secondary EV (¶¶ 0024, 0035 and fig. 3, step 304; each electric vehicle 102 includes a unique identifier that is used by vehicle charging station 106 and/or server 104 to identify the electric vehicle 102 and/or an account associated with electric vehicle 102);
determining a pecuniary charge for the secondary EV based on the amount of electrical power to the secondary EV (¶ 0034; enabling accuracy of the metered quantity of electrical charging power delivered and/or ensuring that the correct transaction amount is billed to the account and/or deducted from the account
balance);
authorizing the pecuniary charge to the secondary EV billing account (¶ 0022; determining an account associated with the identifier, and metering the quantity of electrical charging power delivered) in recompense for the amount of electrical power (¶ 0022; determining a transaction amount based on the quantity of delivered electrical charging power, and deducting the transaction amount from the
account) to the secondary EV (the EV received power) via the V2S connection.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Salter to incorporate with the teaching of Littrell by accurately billing and metering the quantity of electrical charging power delivered, because it would be advantageous to increase user experience and enhance the utility of the charging station.
Salter in view of Littrell fails to teach the method includes: authorizing the pecuniary charge to EV billing account in recompense for the amount of electrical power to the secondary EV via the V2V connection.
Disley discloses the method includes: authorizing the pecuniary charge to EV billing account in recompense for the amount of electrical power to the secondary EV via the V2V connection (¶¶ 0063, 0064, 0073; the server 20 calculates a plurality of
candidate charging solutions, each candidate charging solution includes a charging amount, a charging time, a total fee, and a reward corresponding to the charging amount… The calculated charging solutions are transmitted to both the EV to be charged and the supply EV that supplies energy, and thus the user of the EV to be charged is informed of the total fee before the charging… the charging solution module 154 receives a user input indicative of which charging solution is selected by the user).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Salter in view of Littrell to incorporate with the teaching of Disley by providing a charging solution between the first EV and the second EV, because it would be advantageous to extend the distance range of the EV when the nearest charging station is out of range.
Regarding claim 2, Salter discloses wherein the station amount corresponds with electrical power provided from the charging station for the secondary transference (¶ 0070; Y% to surrogate vehicle 18A).
Regarding claim 3, Salter in combination of Littrell and Disley discloses wherein the vehicle amount corresponds with electrical power provided from a battery of the primary EV for the secondary transference (Disley, ¶¶ 0063, 0064; a charging amount).
Regarding claim 4, Salter discloses the method further comprising: determining the pecuniary charge based at least in part on a connection fee for the V2V connection (¶ 0009; pay-for-use).
Regarding claim 5, Salter discloses the method further comprising: instructing the primary EV to perform a bypass operation as part of the secondary transference, the bypass operation bypassing electrical power received at the primary EV via the V2S connection to the secondary EV via the V2V connection (¶ 0069; power may be simultaneously transferred from the charge source 12 to the traction battery pack 20 of host vehicle 16 and to the traction battery packs 20 associated with the participating surrogate vehicles 18).
Regarding claim 6, Salter discloses the method further comprising: instructing the primary EV as part of the bypass operation to control a charging switch from a battery position to a bypass position, the battery position directing electrical power received via the V2S connection to a battery of the primary EV, the bypass position directing electrical power received via the V2S connection to the V2V connection (¶¶ 0074, 0078; The fifth passthrough charging configuration CS may allow one or more surrogate vehicles to jump in line ahead of other surrogate vehicles for receiving their allotment of passthrough charging. For example, by paying a fee (shown schematically at 99) to the host vehicle 16, the surrogate vehicle 18B may jump ahead of the surrogate vehicle 18A for receiving the passthrough charging).
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Regarding claim 7, Salter discloses the method further comprising: performing a scheduling process to schedule the secondary transference based on a parking time (¶ 0074; enter a desired passthrough charging schedule or passthrough charging targets on a user interface that can be presented on the HMI), a charging speed, and a charging level determined for each of the primary and secondary EVs (¶ 0077; the traction battery pack 20 of the host vehicle 16 may first be charged to a level sufficient to travel the range required to complete a first planned trip of the host vehicle 16 (see block 94) before beginning to charge the surrogate vehicle).
Regarding claim 8, Salter discloses the method further comprising: the scheduling process scheduling the secondary transference to occur after the charging level of the primary EV has been met via a primary transference of electrical power from the charging station to the primary EV via the V2S connection (¶ 0072 and fig. 5, element 78; when the host vehicle reached 100%).
Regarding claim 9, Salter discloses the method further comprising: determining a tertiary EV (fig. 1, element 18B) connected to the secondary EV (fig. 1, element 18A) via another V2V connection (via cable 32); and the scheduling process scheduling a sequential charging of the EVs according to the charging parameters, the sequential charging corresponding with electrical power originating from the charging station being used to selectively charge no more than one of the EVs at the same time (¶¶ 0072, 0075; the traction battery pack 20 of the host vehicle 16 may first be charged according to a first schedule/target from the charge source 12 (see block 88) before beginning to charge the surrogate vehicle 18A. The surrogate vehicle 18A may then be charged according to a second schedule/target (see block 90) before beginning to charge the surrogate vehicle 18B).
Regarding claims 11 and 16, Salter discloses a method for tandem electric vehicle (EV) charging, comprising:
determining a plurality of EVs (fig. 1, elements 16, 18A, 18B) requesting to be charged with electrical power available from a charging station (¶ 0076; the control module 46 determines the amount of passthrough charging to provide to each participating vehicle based on trip planner information received from the GPS 42 and a current SOC of each participating vehicle),
the plurality of EVs including:
a primary EV (16) electrically connected to the charging station (12) via a vehicle-to-station (V2S) connection (by cable 32),
the primary EV requesting to be charged with electrical power transferred from the charging station via the V2S connection (¶¶ 0072, 0075);
a secondary EV (18A) connected to the primary EV via a primary vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) connection (see fig. 1 below), the secondary EV requesting to be charged with electrical power from the primary EV via the primary V2V connection (¶¶ 0072, 0075);
determining a tertiary EV (18B) connected to the secondary EV (18A) via a secondary vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) connection (see fig. 1),
the tertiary EV requesting to be charged with electrical power transferred from the secondary EV via the secondary V2V connection (¶¶ 0072, 0075);
determining charging parameters for the EVs (¶¶ 0072, 0075; schedule/target); and
scheduling a sequential charging of the EVs according to the charging parameters, the sequential charging corresponding with electrical power originating from the charging station being used to selectively charge no more than one of the EVs at the same time (¶ 0075; the traction battery pack 20 of the host vehicle 16 may first be charged according to a first schedule/target from the charge source 12 (see block 88) before beginning to charge the surrogate vehicle 18A. The surrogate vehicle 18A may then be charged according to a second schedule/target (see block 90) before beginning
to charge the surrogate vehicle 18B); and
determining an electrical charge based at least in part on a station amount of electrical power included as at least part of a secondary transference of electrical power to the secondary and/or the tertiary EVs (¶ 0074; charge surrogate vehicle 18A for Y amount of minutes/hours) via the V2V connection (fig. 1, connection between the host vehicle 16 and the surrogate vehicle 18A);
determining the electrical charge based at least in part on a vehicle amount of electrical power included as at least part of the secondary transference of electrical power to the secondary and/or the tertiary EVs (¶ 0074; charge surrogate vehicle 18A for Y amount of minutes/hours) (fig. 1, connection between the host vehicle 16 and the surrogate vehicle 18A).
Salter fails to disclose the method includes:
determining a pecuniary charge for the secondary EV based on the amount of electrical power to the secondary EV; and
authorizing the pecuniary charge to operators associated with each of the secondary and/or the tertiary EVs in recompense for the secondary transference of electrical power to each of the secondary and/or tertiary EVs respectively via the V2V connection.
Littrell further discloses a method for electric vehicle charging and billing, and the method includes:
determining a pecuniary charge for the secondary EV based on the amount of electrical power to the secondary EV (¶ 0034; enabling accuracy of the metered quantity of electrical charging power delivered and/or ensuring that the correct transaction amount is billed to the account and/or deducted from the account
balance); and
authorizing the pecuniary charge to operators associated with each of the secondary and/or the tertiary EVs in recompense for the secondary transference of electrical power (¶ 0022; determining a transaction amount based on the quantity of delivered electrical charging power, and deducting the transaction amount from the
account) to each of the secondary and/or tertiary EVs (the EV received power) respectively via the V2S connection.
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Salter to incorporate with the teaching of Littrell by accurately billing and metering the quantity of electrical charging power delivered, because it would be advantageous to increase user experience and enhance the utility of the charging station.
Salter in view of Littrell fails to teach the method includes: authorizing the pecuniary charge to operators associated with each of the EVs in recompense for the amount of electrical power to the secondary EV via the V2V connection.
Disley discloses the method includes: authorizing the pecuniary charge to operators associated with each of the EVs in recompense for the amount of electrical power to the secondary EV via the V2V connection (¶¶ 0063, 0064, 0073; the server 20 calculates a plurality of candidate charging solutions, each candidate charging solution includes a charging amount, a charging time, a total fee, and a reward corresponding to the charging amount… The calculated charging solutions are transmitted to both the EV to be charged and the supply EV that supplies energy, and thus the user of the EV to be charged is informed of the total fee before the charging… the charging solution module 154 receives a user input indicative of which charging solution is selected by the user).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Salter in view of Littrell to incorporate with the teaching of Disley by providing a charging solution between the first EV and the second EV, because it would be advantageous to extend the distance range of the EV when the nearest charging station is out of range.
Regarding claim 12, Salter discloses the method further comprising:
controlling a charging switch onboard each of the EVs to a bypass position when another EV downstream thereof is scheduled for charging, the bypass position bypassing electrical power originating from the charging station to a downstream connected one of the EVs (¶ 0078; by paying a fee (shown schematically at 99) to
the host vehicle 16, the surrogate vehicle 18B may jump ahead of the surrogate vehicle 18A for receiving the passthrough charging).
Regarding claim 13, Salter discloses the method comprising: the charging parameters including a parking time (¶ 0074; enter a desired passthrough charging schedule or passthrough charging targets on a user interface that can be presented on the HMI), a charging rate (¶ 0061; the charging status may include information pertaining to a total energy transfer status (e.g., available transfer rate of "X" amount of kilowatt hours, etc.) of the host vehicle 16), and a charging level (¶ 0062; the battery-related data may include information such as battery state of charge), the parking time representing a time the corresponding EV is scheduled to be connected to another one of the EVs (¶ 0074; the passthrough
charging schedule includes a specific time at which the passthrough charging is to occur (e.g., at time X, charge host vehicle 16, at time Y, charge surrogate vehicle 18A, at time Z, charge surrogate vehicle 18s, and so on)),
the charging rate representing amperes or kilowatt rate available for charging the corresponding EV (¶¶ 0061, 0070),
the charging level representing a desired amount of battery charge for the corresponding EV (¶¶ 0070, 0072; 100%).
Regarding claim 19, Salter discloses the controller further configured for:
controlling a charging switch onboard each of the EVs to a bypass position when another EV downstream thereof is scheduled for charging, the bypass position bypassing electrical power originating from the charging station to a downstream connected one of the EVs (¶¶ 0074, 0078; The fifth passthrough charging configuration CS may allow one or more surrogate vehicles to jump in line ahead of other surrogate vehicles for receiving their allotment of passthrough charging. For example, by paying a fee (shown schematically at 99) to the host vehicle 16, the surrogate vehicle 18B may jump ahead of the surrogate vehicle 18A for receiving the passthrough charging).
Regarding claim 20, Salter discloses the controller further configured for: controlling the charging switch onboard each of the EVs to a battery position when scheduled for charging, the battery position directing electrical power originating from the charging station to a battery of the corresponding EV (¶¶ 0073-0075).
Regarding claim 21, Salter in combination of Littrell and Disley discloses wherein the station amount corresponds with electrical power provided from the charging station for the secondary transference; and wherein the vehicle amount corresponds with electrical power provided from a battery of the primary EV for the secondary transference (Disley, ¶¶ 0063, 0064, 0073; the server 20 calculates a plurality of candidate charging solutions, each candidate charging solution includes a charging amount, a charging time, a total fee, and a reward corresponding to the charging amount… The calculated charging solutions are transmitted to both the EV to be charged and the supply EV that supplies energy, and thus the user of the EV to be charged is informed of the total fee before the charging… the charging solution module 154 receives a user input indicative of which charging solution is selected by the user).
Regarding claim 22, Salter in combination of Littrell and Disley discloses wherein the station amount corresponds with electrical power provided from the charging station for the secondary transference; and wherein the vehicle amount corresponds with electrical power provided from a battery of the primary EV for the secondary transference (Disley, ¶¶ 0063, 0064, 0073; the server 20 calculates a plurality of candidate charging solutions, each candidate charging solution includes a charging amount, a charging time, a total fee, and a reward corresponding to the charging amount… The calculated charging solutions are transmitted to both the EV to be charged and the supply EV that supplies energy, and thus the user of the EV to be charged is informed of the total fee before the charging… the charging solution module 154 receives a user input indicative of which charging solution is selected by the user).
Claim(s) 10, 15, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salter in combination of Littrell and Disley as applied to claims 1/11/16 above, and further in view of Jin (KR101729450B1).
Regarding claim 10, Salter in combination of Littrell and Disley fails to teach the method further comprising: processing an image captured for the secondary EV to determine a license plate attached to the secondary EV; processing the license plate to determine an identifier associated with the operator of the secondary EV; and determining the secondary EV billing account based on the identifier.
Jin further discloses a method (title) comprising: processing an image captured for the secondary EV to determine a license plate attached to the secondary EV (¶ 0022);
processing the license plate to determine an identifier associated with the operator of the secondary EV (¶¶ 0044, 0067-0071); and
determining the secondary EV billing account based on the identifier (¶¶ 0013, 0073).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Salter in combination of Littrell and Disley to incorporate with the teaching of Jin by recognizing the license plate of the vehicle, because it would be advantageous to prevent unauthorized use of the parking lot and reduce crime rate.
Regarding claims 15 and 18, Salter in combination of Littrell and Disley fails to teach the method further comprising: identifying the operators associated with each of the EVs according to an image recognition process performed on a license plate image captured therefrom.
Jin further discloses a method (title) comprising: identifying the operators associated with each of the EVs according to an image recognition process performed on a license plate image captured therefrom (¶¶ 0022, 0044, 0067-0071; an image acquisition unit 140 for acquiring license plate images of the intruding vehicle).
It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Salter in combination of Littrell and Disley to incorporate with the teaching of Jin by recognizing the license plate of the vehicle, because it would be advantageous to prevent unauthorized use of the parking lot and reduce crime rate.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 11, 16 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZIXUAN ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)272-6739. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian Huffman can be reached at (571) 272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZIXUAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 07/15/2026
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