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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because figures 2, 5 and 6 are blurry. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 5, 8, 12, 15 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chinese document CN102263304A (see machine translation).
Re claim 1, the document discloses a battery control method applied to a first battery 6 having, inter alia, obtaining measurement information of a first negative pole tab 32 and a second negative pole tab 42 (para 34 and 53); determining a first parameter of a negative electrode plate 1 based on the measurement information (para 60); determining a charging parameter and/or a discharging parameter of the first battery based on the first parameter (para 57); and controlling charging or discharging of the first battery based on the charging parameter and/or the discharging parameter (para 57, 59 and 60). Figs 1 and 3; para 48-56.
Re claims 5, 12 and 19, the document further discloses determining a battery voltage value of the first battery based on the measurement information of the positive pole tab and the second negative pole tab of the first battery (para 56); and controlling the first battery to be charged based on the battery voltage value (para 57).
Re claim 8, the document discloses a battery control device applied to a first battery having, inter alia, one or more processors (para 14, 18, 23); and one or more memories storing a computer program that, when executed by the one or more processors (inherent feature of a processor), causes the one or more processors to: obtain measurement information of a first negative pole tab 32 and a second negative pole tab 42 (para 34 and 53); determine a first parameter of a negative electrode plate 1 based on the measurement information (para 60); determine a charging parameter and/or a discharging parameter of the first battery based on the first parameter (para 57); and control charging or discharging of the first battery based on the charging parameter and/or the discharging parameter (para 57, 59 and 60). Figs 1 and 3; para 48-56.
Re claim 15, the document discloses a battery 6 having, inter alia, a negative electrode plate 1 including a first negative pole tab 32 and a second negative pole tab 42 (para 34 and 53); a fuel gauge configured to obtain measurement information of a first negative pole tab and a second negative pole tab (para 52: the state detection electrode are set separately, when the positive and negative electrodes S+ and S- of the state detection electrode measure the voltage signal of the lithium-ion power battery… which reflects the change in the state of charge of the battery) ; a controller (para 14, 18, 23) configured to: determine a first parameter of a negative electrode plate 1 based on the measurement information (para 60); determine a charging parameter and/or a discharging parameter of the first battery based on the first parameter (para 57); and control charging or discharging of the first battery based on the charging parameter and/or the discharging parameter (para 57, 59 and 60). Figs 1 and 3; para 48-56.
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.
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.
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 2-4, 9-11 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinese document CN102263304A in view of JP2022011801A (see machine translation).
Re claims 2, 9 and 16, the Chinese document is silent on the claimed determining steps of calculate the first parameter. However, official notice is taken of the fact that it is a common knowledge in the art to use voltage/current and resistance parameters to calculate the difference resulting in a plausible value for use in the controller. The Japanese document exemplified the use of these parameters in calculating the deterioration of the battery. It would have been obvious to have selected parameters including voltage, current and resistance based on battery characteristics in calculating value as thresholds to control the charging/discharging.
Re claims 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18, both documents are silent on the particular claimed parameters calculation. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have selected the first or second interval to control either the charging or discharging interval and that the interval having a particular value since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Claims 6, 7, 13, 14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chinese document CN102263304A. Note: crossed-out limitations are not found in the Chinese document.
Re claims 6, 13 and 20, the document further discloses after determining the charging parameter and/or the discharging parameter of the first battery based on the first parameter (para 57): adjusting power output data based on the determined charging parameter or the discharging parameter (para 57: The charge of each battery is estimated based on the table lookup and then transmitted to the control center),
Re claims 7 and 14, the document does not disclose adjusting the power output data based on a product of the determined charging parameter or the determined discharging parameter and a corresponding correction coefficient to cause the power output data to be 100% when the first battery is fully charged and 0% when the first battery is fully discharged. It would have been well within the skill of one versed in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have selected the appropriate correction coefficient value to ensure the fully charged battery is at 100% and the exhausted battery is at 0%, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication should be directed to the Examiner at the below-listed number. The Examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Thu from 7:00am-5:00pm.
The Examiner’s SPE is Taelor Kim and he can be reached at 571.270.7166. The fax number for the organization where this application is assigned is 571.273.8300.
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/EDWARD TSO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 571.272.2087