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. Status of the Claims In the communication dated June 29, 2023, claims 1-20 are pending. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. 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 1-3 and 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sepahvand US20210044149A1 in view of Qahouq US20200328622A1 (cited in the IDS dated 4/23/2024) . Regarding claim 1. Sepahvand discloses a battery system ( FIG. 1 ) , comprising: one or more respective battery packs ( 24 ) each comprising: at least one battery cell ( 58 ) ; monitoring circuitry ( 43 ) ; a slave controller ( 30 ) (¶38 – devices 24 may serve as slaves that respond to commands from the master device 12) ; and a first circuit ( 54 ) , wherein the first circuit comprises a first WPT system ( 48 ) and a first converter circuit ( 50 ) ; a secondary circuit ( 52 ) , wherein the secondary circuit comprises secondary WPT systems ( 36 ) corresponding to each of the respective battery packs ( 12 to 24 ) , with each secondary WPT system (36) being configured to wirelessly transmit power to the respective first WPT systems (48) in the one or more respective battery packs (24) and a second converter circuit ( 61) ; and a master controller ( 16 ). Sepahvand does not explicitly disclose that the secondary WPT system is configured to wirelessly transmit and receive power from the first WPT system. Qahouq discloses that the power transfer is multidirectional (¶108). It would be obvious to on e of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the bidirectional power transfer of Qahouq to the power transfer of Sepahvand in order to provide a multi-directional power exchange to expand the power transmission to further devices (¶118-119). Regarding claim 2 and claim 14 . Sepahvand discloses that the respective first WPT systems (50) and the secondary WPT systems (36) each comprise a coil configured for wireless power transmission and reception (¶ 16 ) and a switch circuit (¶22 – switching circuitry in device 12 may be used to switch desired coils into use during power transmission and/or foreign object detection) . Although Sepahvand does not explicitly teach that the first WPT system includes a switch circuit, because there is switching control associated with the secondary WPT, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that a switch may be applied to the first WPT system in order to provide control to the power transfer in the first circuit. Regarding claim 3 and claim 15 . Sepahvand discloses that the monitoring circuitry (130) is configured to measure at least one of voltage, current, or temperature of the at least one battery cell (¶ 23 – measure current and voltage ) . Regarding claim 11. Sepahvand discloses that the master controller ( 16 ) is configured to control the secondary circuit ( 52 ) , to thereby change a connection configuration of the secondary circuit ( ¶ 16 - “Power transmitting circuitry 52 may have switch ing circuitry (e.g., inverter circuitry 61 formed from transistors) that is turned on and off based on control signals provided by control circuitry 16 ”) . Regarding claim 12 and claim 16 . Sepahvand discloses that the first circuit and the secondary circuit further each comprise a communication system used for wireless communication ( ¶19 – Device 12 and 24 communicate wirelessly ) . Regarding claim 13. Sepahvand discloses a battery pack (24) , comprising: at least one battery cell (58) ; monitoring circuitry (43) ; a slave controller (30) (¶38 – devices 24 may serve as slaves that respond to commands from the master device 12) ; and a first circuit (54) , wherein the first circuit comprises a first WPT system (48) and a first converter circuit (50) ; wherein the first WPT system (48) is configured to wirelessly transmit and receive power to and from a secondary WPT system (36) corresponding to the battery pack ( 24) . Sepahvand does not explicitly disclose that the first WPT system is configured to wirelessly transmit and receive power to and from the secondary WPT system. Qahouq discloses that the power transfer is multidirectional (¶108). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the bidirectional power transfer of Qahouq to the power transfer of Sepahvand in order to provide a multi-directional power exchange to expand the power transmission to further devices (¶118-119). Regarding claim 14. Sepahvand discloses that first WPT systems (50) and the secondary WPT systems (36) each comprise a coil configured for wireless power transmission and reception (¶16) and a switch circuit (¶22 – switching circuitry in device 12 may be used to switch desired coils into use during power transmission and/or foreign object detection) . Although Sepahvand does not explicitly teach that the first WPT system includes a switch circuit, because there is switching control associated with the secondary WPT, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that a switch may be applied to the first WPT system in order to provide control to the power transfer in the first circuit. Claim s 4-10 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sepahvand US20210044149A1 in view of Qahouq US20200328622A1 (cited in the IDS dated 4/23/2024) in further view of Song et al. US20190129369A1 . Regarding claim 4. Sepahvand does not explicitly disclose that the slave controller is configured to determine whether one of the at least one battery cell is in an abnormal state based on at least one of a corresponding voltage, current, or temperature measured by the monitoring circuitry. Song discloses that the slave controller (2100) is configured to determine whether one of the at least one battery cell (4100) is in an abnormal state based on at least one of a corresponding voltage, current, or temperature measured by the monitoring circuitry (¶92 – abnormal state determined based on voltage or temperature of the first battery) . It would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to include an abnormality determination, as taught by Song, to the detection of Sepahvand in order to prevent overcharging/ overdischarging /overheating which can cause damage to the system (Song; ¶93). Regarding claim 5. Sepahvand does not explicitly disclose that the slave controller is configured to, in response to the at least one battery cell being in the abnormal state, transmit the abnormal state to the master controller. Song discloses that the slave controller (2100) is configured to, in response to the at least one battery cell being in the abnormal state (¶92) , transmit the abnormal state to the master controller (FIG. 8 at S307 – slave controller sends signal to the master controller ; ¶97 ) . It would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to include an abnormality determination, as taught by Song, to the detection of Sepahvand in order to prevent overcharging/ overdischarging /overheating which can cause damage to the system (Song; ¶93). Regarding claim 6. Sepahvand does not explicitly disclose that the master controller is configured to receive an indication that the at least one battery cell is in an abnormal state . Song discloses that the master controller is configured to receive an indication that the at least one battery cell is in an abnormal state (FIG. 8 at S307 – slave controller sends signal to the master controller ; ¶97 ) . It would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to include an abnormality determination, as taught by Song, to the detection of Sepahvand in order to prevent overcharging/ overdischarging /overheating which can cause damage to the system (Song; ¶93). Regarding claim 7. Sepahvand discloses that in response to the receipt of the indication (¶20 – transmitting device 12 and power receiving device 24 communicate information such as received power, battery states of charge to control the wireless power transfer) , the master controller is configured to generate a control signal to control the first circuit ( ¶37 – “a controller in control circuitry 16 uses power transmitting circuitry 52 to transmit wireless power to power receiving circuitry 54 of device 24”) . Regarding claim 8. Sepahvand discloses that the master controller (16) is configured to transmit the control signal to a corresponding battery pack (24) to control the first circuit (54) of the corresponding battery pack ( ¶37 – “a controller in control circuitry 16 uses power transmitting circuitry 52 to transmit wireless power to power receiving circuitry 54 of device 24”) . Regarding claim 9. Sepahvand discloses that the slave controller (30) is configured to receive the control signal to control the first circuit (54) from the master controller (16) (¶38) . Regarding claim 10. Sepahvand discloses that the slave controller (30) is configured to control the first circuit (54) based on the control signal (¶23) . Regarding claim 17. Sepahvand discloses a method of managing a battery system (FIG. 1) , wherein the battery system comprises: a battery pack (24) comprising: at least one battery cell (58) ; monitoring circuitry (43) ; a slave controller (30) (¶38 – devices 24 may serve as slaves that respond to commands from the master device 12) ; and a first circuit (54) , wherein the first circuit comprises a first WPT system (48) and a first converter circuit (50) ; a secondary circuit (52) , wherein the secondary circuit comprises secondary WPT systems (36) corresponding to each of the respective battery packs (12 to 24) , with each secondary WPT system (36) being configured to wirelessly transmit power to the respective first WPT systems (48) in the one or more respective battery packs (24) and a second converter circuit (61) ; and a master controller (16). the method comprising transmitting the control signal to the corresponding battery pack ( ¶37 – “a controller in control circuitry 16 uses power transmitting circuitry 52 to transmit wireless power to power receiving circuitry 54 of device 24”) . Sepahvand does not explicitly disclose a plurality of battery packs that the secondary WPT system is configured to wirelessly transmit and receive power from the first WPT system; the method comprises: receiving an indication of an abnormal state of a battery cell from a corresponding battery pack; generating a control signal by the master controller, in response to the indication of the abnormal state, to control the first circuit of the corresponding battery pack . Qahouq discloses a plurality of battery packs (FIG. 1C – swappable battery sub-packs) and that the power transfer is multidirectional (¶108). It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to provide the bidirectional power transfer of Qahouq to the power transfer of Sepahvand in order to provide a multi-directional power exchange to expand the power transmission to further devices (¶118-119). Qahouq does not explicitly disclose the method comprises: receiving an indication of an abnormal state of a battery cell from a corresponding battery pack; generating a control signal by the master controller, in response to the indication of the abnormal state, to control the first circuit of the corresponding battery pack . Song discloses receiving an indication of an abnormal state of a battery cell from a corresponding battery pack (FIG. 8 at S307 – slave controller sends signal to the master controller; ¶97) ; generating a control signal by the master controller, in response to the indication of the abnormal state, to control the first circuit of the corresponding battery pack ( ¶37 – “a controller in control circuitry 16 uses power transmitting circuitry 52 to transmit wireless power to power receiving circuitry 54 of device 24”) . It would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to include an abnormality determination, as taught by Song, to the detection of Sepahvand in order to prevent overcharging/ overdischarging /overheating which can cause damage to the system (Song; ¶93). Regarding claim 18. Sepahvand discloses that the monitoring circuitry (130) is configured to measure at least one of voltage, current, or temperature of the at least one battery cell (¶23 – measure current and voltage) . Regarding claim 19. Sepahvand does not explicitly disclose that the slave controller is configured to: determine whether one of the at least one battery cell is in an abnormal state based on at least one of a corresponding voltage, current, or temperature measured by the monitoring circuitry; in response to the battery cell being in the abnormal state, transmit the abnormal state to the master controller; and control the first circuit based on the control signal from the master controller. Song discloses that the slave controller is configured to: determine whether one of the at least one battery cell is in an abnormal state based on at least one of a corresponding voltage or temperature measured by the monitoring circuitry (¶46 – cell is normal or abnormal in voltage and temperature) ; in response to the battery cell being in the abnormal state, transmit the abnormal state to the master controller (FIG. 8 at S302 and S307; ¶97/99 – slave controller transmits the signal to the master controller 1000) ; and control the first circuit based on the control signal from the master controller (¶100 – master controller 100 communicates with the slave controller ; ¶88 – master controller 1000 transmits control information data to the slave controllers) . It would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to include an abnormality determination, as taught by Song, to the detection of Sepahvand in order to prevent overcharging/ overdischarging /overheating which can cause damage to the system (Song; ¶93). Regarding claim 20. Sepahvand discloses controlling the secondary circuit to change a connection configuration of the secondary circuit (¶16 – power transmitting circuitry 52 has switching circuitry that is turned on and off based on control signals provided by control circuitry) . Related Prior Art The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lee US20150028816A1 discloses a master controller corresponding to slave controllers that control the charging of the batteries. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT PAMELA JEPPSON whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-4094 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT Monday-Friday 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM. . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Drew Dunn can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-2312 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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