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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to a paper filed on 01/22/2026 in which claims 1-21 are pending and ready for examination.
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.
Claim(s) 10, 12-18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Silva et al (hereinafter Silva) (US 2022/0149641 A1) in view of Galin et al (hereinafter Galin) (US 2018/0226797 A1).
As to claim 10, Silva discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored there on a computer program (see parag [0019]) for controlling the power output of a power station (Fig 1, 100); AC power is output through at least one power output receptacle (Fig 5, 510) of the power station.
Silva does not disclose: the computer program comprising instructions that cause a processor to: determine the THD of the power station when AC power is output through at least one power output receptacle of the power station and shut off the AC power to the at least one power output receptacle when the THD is above a preset level. However, Galin discloses: determine the THD of the power station when AC power is output through at least one power output receptacle of the power station and shut off the AC power to the at least one power output receptacle when the THD is above a preset level (see parag [0065]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the power station of Silva to include the teachings as taught by Galin in order to protect the receptacle from damage.
As to claim 12, the combination of Silva and Galin discloses the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the instructions further cause the processor to operate a user display panel (Silva, see Fig 4, 130) to indicate whether
the THD is above the preset level (Galin, parag [0065]).
As to claims 13 and 17, the combination of Silva and Galin does not disclose the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine that a battery level of an onboard battery system of the power station is lower than a preset battery level as a condition for shutting off AC power to the at least one power output receptacle. Salvi does disclose power indicator that will indicate the remaining capacity of the battery (see parag [0075]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the station of Silva and Galin in order to monitor the battery level of the power station (Silva, parag [0018], [0075-0077]).
As to claims 14 and 20, the combination of Silva and Galin discloses the non- transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the instructions further cause the processor to determine that a user (Silva, parag [0084]) has selected automatic THD shutoff as a condition for shutting off AC power to the at least one power output receptacle (Galin, see parag [0065]).
As to claim 15, Silva discloses a power station comprising:
an onboard battery (Fig 1, 120) system; at least one power output receptacle (Fig 5, 510); an inverter (see parag [0071]) powered by the onboard battery system to provide AC power to the at least one power output receptacle (see Fig 2, parag [0101]); and a control system (see parag [0083]).
Silva does not disclose: determine a total harmonic distortion (THD) of the power station when AC power is output through the at least one power output receptacle; and automatically shut off the AC power to the at least one power output receptacle when the THD is above a preset level. However, Galin discloses: determine the THD of the power station when AC power is output through at least one power output receptacle of the power station and shut off the AC power to the at least one power output receptacle when the THD is above a preset level (see parag [0065]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the power station of Silva to include the teachings as taught by Galin in order to protect the receptacle from damage.
As to claim 16, the combination of Silva and Galin discloses the power station of claim 15, wherein the onboard battery system is a lithium-ion battery (Silva, see parag [0056]).
As to claim 18, the combination of Silva and Galin discloses the power station of claim 17 wherein the power station further comprises: an expansion battery port electrically coupled to the inverter, and at least one expansion battery couplable to the expansion battery port (Silva, see parag [0063]).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Silva et al (hereinafter Silva) (US 2022/0149641 A1) in view of Galin et al (hereinafter Galin) (US 2018/0226797 A1) further in view of EP2903152 A2 (hereinafter EP152).
As to claim 11, the combination of Silva and Galin does not disclose the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the preset level is approximately 5% THD. However, EP152 discloses wherein the preset level is approximately 5% THD (see parag [0040]. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the power station of Silva and Galin to include the preset level is approximately 5% THD as taught by EP152 in order to eliminate or reduce the effects of the harmonics in the output of the station.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Silva et al (hereinafter Silva) (US 2022/0149641 A1) in view of Galin et al (hereinafter Galin) (US 2018/0226797 A1) further in view of Hooper (US 2014/0098445 A1).
As to claim 19, the combination of Silva and Galin does not disclose the power station of claim 15 further comprising an overload reset switch to manually restore AC power to the at least one power output receptacle. However, Hooper discloses an overload reset switch to manually restore AC power to the at least one power output receptacle (see parag [0021]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the power station of Silva and Galin to include the reset switch as taught by Hooper in order to restore the power for the receptacle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-9 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
As to claim 1, the cited prior arts alone or in combination fail to disclose:
“with a THD shield to automatically shut off the AC power output from the at least one AC power output receptacle when the onboard battery system has a battery level below a predetermined battery level and the THD is above a predetermined THD level”.
Claim 21 is 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
As to claim 21, the cited prior arts alone or in combination fail to disclose:
“a pair of parallel AC power output receptacles couplable to a parallel link kit configured to combine the AC power with an AC power of another power station”.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-10, filed on 01/22/2026, with respect to claims 10-21 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The rejection of 103 has been withdrawn.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC M PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-5026. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
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/DUC M PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2836 May 20, 2026
/TAELOR KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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