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
2. The action is responsive to the communications filed on 1/2/2026. Claims 1-6, 9-20 are pending in the case. Claims 1, 12, 17 are amended. Claims 7-8 are cancelled. Claims 1, 12, 17 are independent claims. Claims 1-6, 9-20 are rejected. Note: the Final Rejection which was mailed on 1/28/2026 was withdrawn. (See Interview Summary dated on 4/6/2026).
Summary of claims
3. Claims 1-6, 9-20 are pending,
Claims 1, 12, 17 are amended,
Claims 7-8 are cancelled,
Claims 1, 12, 17 are independent claims,
Claims 1-6, 9-20 are rejected.
Remarks
4. Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed on 1/2//2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-6, 9-20 under 103 have been fully considered and are not persuasive in view of new rejection ground(s).
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 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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
5. Claims 1-6, 9-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bevan Dooley et al (US Publication 20220305945 A1, hereinafter Dooley), and in view
of Min Ho Shin (US Publication 20220069602 A1, hereinafter Shin), and further in view of Beller et al (US Publication 20230334470 A1, hereinafter Beller).
As for independent claim 1, Dooley discloses: A communication system comprising:
a battery pack including a third memory configured to store battery pack information (Dooley: Abstract, A battery network management system (1) for swappable batteries (5) used in vehicles (9), the system (1) comprising: at least one swappable battery (5); [0091], the battery authentication processing device 23 applying a digital signature (associated with the battery) to a message indicative of this fact. The message is also be signed by the charger authentication processing device 21 with the digital signature associated with the charging station 3. A node wanting to confirm this status can then verify the signed message by using respective public keys of the swappable battery 5 and charging station 3 [0092] Attest that a particular swappable battery 5 is received in a particular vehicle 9. This can be achieved by both the battery authentication processing device 23 and vehicle authentication processing device 25 applying their respective digital signatures in a similar manner to the example above); a power tool including a first electronic processor, a first memory, and a first network interface, wherein the first memory is configured to store power tool information, the first electronic processor configured to obtain the battery pack information from the battery pack (Dooley: Abstract, The charging station (3) charges the swappable battery (5) based on a first condition that the swappable battery (5) is authenticated by an authentication system (7)), transmit, via the first network interface, the battery pack information and the power tool information to an external device (Dooley: [0107], the charger processing device 21 receiving representations of the first identifier, or identifiers for cells or group of cells (e.g. cell ID), to authenticate the swappable battery 5), receive, via the first network interface, an authentication notification from the external device, and control an operation of the power tool based on the authentication notification (Dooley: [0174], a notification may be sent to inform the server 27); the external device including a second electronic processor, a second memory, and a second network interface, the second electronic processor configured to receive, via the second network interface, the battery pack information and the power tool information from the power tool, transmit, via the second network interface, a validation request to a node of a blockchain network, wherein the validation request includes the battery pack information and the power tool information, receive, via the second network interface, a blockchain authentication message from at least one node of the blockchain network (Dooley: [0122], The cell authentication circuit can be configured to receive a query from the authentication system 7 to authenticate that cell or battery module. In turn, the cell authentication circuit provides a response to the authentication system 7 to enable authentication. In some examples, the cell authentication circuit can be at least part of, or a modified, battery protection circuit), wherein the blockchain authentication message indicates whether the blockchain network validated the battery pack information and the power tool information, and transmit, via the second network interface, the authentication notification to the power tool, wherein the authentication notification is based on the blockchain authentication message (Dooley: [0089], Network nodes that wish to verify charging of the battery 5 can query the signed first code 8 from the data store 11 and use the public key of the charging station 3 to verify that the battery was charged at the charging station 3).
Dooley does not expressly disclose a blockchain authentication message from one node of the blockchain network, in an analogous art of a battery network management system, Shin discloses: wherein the authentication notification is based on the blockchain authentication message (Shin: [0130], the blockchain 500 may register addresses of the MO and the CPO according to a procedure or rule stored in the smart contract, generate the individual contract based on the contract-related information received from the MO. The blockchain 500 may retrieve an account identifier corresponding to a separately received authentication identifier based on the previously registered individual contracts, verify activity status of the account identifier, and provide the verified account identifier to the CPO. When a valid account identifier is not retrieved or the retrieved account identifier is invalid, the blockchain 500 may transmit, to the CPO, a response message notifying that no valid account identifier exists);
Dooley and Shin are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor, battery management using blockchain. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Dooley using the teachings of Shin to include sending the response message from the node of the blockchain. It would provide Dooley’s system with enhanced capabilities of managing the power source more efficiently.
Further, Dooley disclose different network nodes but does not clearly disclose a light node and a full node, in another battery management using blockchain, Beller discloses: wherein the external device is configured to act as a node of the blockchain network; wherein the external device is configured to act as a light node of the blockchain network with respect to the validation request that is transmitted by the external device; and wherein the external device is configured to act as a full node of the blockchain network with respect to a second validation request transmitted by a different device than the external device (Beller: [0033], The node 202 may be configured as any appropriate node type, including being configured as a light node, a full node, or an archive node. In some examples, the example blockchain node 202 may be any suitable type of computing device, e.g., portable, semi-portable, semi-stationary, stationary, distributed (cloud) computing device(s). Some examples of the example blockchain node 202 may therefore include tablet computing devices, smart phones and mobile communication devices, laptops, netbooks and other portable computers or semi-portable computers, desktop computing devices, terminal computing devices and other semi-stationary or stationary computing devices, dedicated register devices, wearable computing devices, or other body-mounted computing devices, augmented reality devices, distributed (cloud) computing device(s), or other);
Dooley and Beller are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor, battery management using blockchain. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Dooley using the teachings of Beller to include a light node and a full node. It would provide Dooley’s system with enhanced capabilities of managing the power source more efficiently.
As for claim 2, Dooley-Shin discloses: wherein the blockchain authentication message indicates that the blockchain network was unable to validate the battery pack information and the power tool information (Shin: [0130], the blockchain 500 may register addresses of the MO and the CPO according to a procedure or rule stored in the smart contract, generate the individual contract based on the contract-related information received from the MO. The blockchain 500 may retrieve an account identifier corresponding to a separately received authentication identifier based on the previously registered individual contracts, verify activity status of the account identifier, and provide the verified account identifier to the CPO. When a valid account identifier is not retrieved or the retrieved account identifier is invalid, the blockchain 500 may transmit, to the CPO, a response message notifying that no valid account identifier exists); wherein the authentication notification indicates that the battery pack information and the power tool information were not validated by the blockchain network; and wherein the first electronic processor of the power tool is configured to control the operation of the power tool based on the authentication notification by at least one of allowing the power tool to operate in a restricted manner and preventing one or more components of the power tool from operating (Dooley: [0032], the vehicle is configured to draw a restricted level of power from the swappable battery to power a restricted subset of devices in the vehicle, and/or provide restricted power to the powertrain).
As for claim 3, Dooley-Shin discloses: wherein the blockchain authentication message indicates that the blockchain network was able to validate the battery pack information and the power tool information; wherein the authentication notification indicates that the battery pack information and the power tool information were validated by the blockchain network; and wherein the first electronic processor of the power tool is configured to control the operation of the power tool based on the authentication notification by allowing the power tool to operate in an unrestricted manner (Dooley: Abstract, A battery network management system (1) for swappable batteries (5) used in vehicles (9), the system (1) comprising: at least one swappable battery (5) to discharge electrical power to drive a vehicle (9); and a charging station (3) to receive the swappable battery (5). The charging station (3) charges the swappable battery (5) based on a first condition that the swappable battery (5) is authenticated by an authentication system (7); and a first code (8) is associated with the swappable battery (5) to attest the swappable battery (5) was charged by the charging station (3) based on the first condition. The at least one swappable battery (5) discharges electrical power to drive a vehicle (9) based on a second condition that: the swappable battery (5) is received in the vehicle (9) that is authenticated by the authentication system (7); and the authentication system (7) authenticates the first code (8)).
As for claim 4, Dooley-Shin-Beller discloses: wherein the battery pack information and the power tool information are attempted to be validated by the blockchain network using a consensus mechanism of a plurality of nodes of the blockchain network (Dooley: [0151], A distributed ledger 13 allows additional sources of information so that failure of a data storage node is not fatal to the continued operation of the system. In some further examples, the distributed ledger 13 involves nodes of a peer-to-peer network to decentralise tasks and storage of information. This involves a consensus algorithm to ensure the information stored in the nodes of the distributed ledger 13 correspond with one another).
As for claim 5, Dooley-Shin-Beller discloses: wherein attempting to validate the battery pack information and the power tool information includes: executing, by at least one node of the blockchain network, a smart contract to compare a digital identification of the battery pack stored on a blockchain of the blockchain network to a digital identification of the power tool stored on the blockchain; and prevent the at least one node of the blockchain network from validating the battery pack information and the power tool information in response to determining that the digital identification of the battery pack and the digital identification of the power tool were not previously paired with each other (Dooley: [0089], the charging station 3 can apply a digital signature to the first code 8 (using a private key of a private and public key pair of the charging station 3). The signed first code 8 (or first representation 18/first evidence 10), is then associated with the battery 5. Other network elements can verify the signed first code 8 by using the public key of the charging station 3 as proof that the charging station 3 has issued, or authorised, the first code 8).
As for claim 6, Dooley-Shin-Beller discloses: wherein the consensus mechanism is at least one selected from a group consisting of Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, Proof of Capacity, Proof of Activity, Proof of Burn, or Proof of Time (Dooley: [0089], Other network elements can verify the signed first code 8 by using the public key of the charging station 3 as proof that the charging station 3 has issued, or authorised, the first code 8; [0120], The battery authentication processing device 23 and/or battery data store 17 may be located in a tamper proof (or tamper resistant) housing in the swappable battery 5. In some examples, this may include locating such components, or part of these components, in a central location in the battery 5 such that tampering would involve substantial disassemble or destruction of the battery 5 (and associated components) and thereby discourage tampering; [0152], a blockchain based system can be used as evidence or proof of information that was recorded in the blockchain. Verifying such information can be performed by analysing the Merkle tree and the leaf corresponding to the corresponding time period and information).
claims 7-8, cancelled
As for claim 9, Dooley-Shin discloses: wherein the first electronic processor is configured to control the operation of the power tool by controlling a current that is supplied to a motor of the power tool (Dooley: [0034], the powertrain is a hybrid powertrain comprising: at least one internal combustion engine; and at least one electric motor).
As for claim 10, Dooley-Shin discloses: wherein the power tool includes one of a robotic power tool and a hand-held power tool (Dooley: [0226], the nodes can be mobile communication device; Shin: [0150], the user terminal may be integrally mounted in the EV similarly to a telematics device or may be implemented in a separate device similarly to a mobile terminal).
As for claim 11, Dooley-Shin discloses: wherein the battery pack information includes at least one of battery pack usage information, a battery pack identifier, and battery pack ownership information; and wherein the power tool information includes at least one of power tool usage information, a power tool identifier, and power tool ownership information (Dooley: [0014], authenticating identifier(s) associated with the swappable battery, or identifier(s) associated with cells in the battery, against corresponding records, stored in the data store, of identifiers associated with the swappable battery. In further examples, the data store includes a Blockchain based distributed ledger, and the corresponding records of identifiers associated with the swappable battery are stored on the distributed ledger in encrypted form).
As per claim 12, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 1, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 1 are incorporated herein.
As per claim 13, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 2, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 2 are incorporated herein.
As per claim 14, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 3, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 3 are incorporated herein.
As per claim 15, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 4, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 4 are incorporated herein.
As per claim 16, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 9, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 9 are incorporated herein.
6. Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bevan Dooley et al (US Publication 20220305945 A1, hereinafter Dooley), and in view
of Min Ho Shin (US Publication 20220069602 A1, hereinafter Shin), and further in view of Roman Tsibulevskiy (US Patent 10716192 B1, hereinafter Tsibulevskiy)
As for independent claim 17, Dooley discloses: A communication system comprising: a battery pack including a second memory configured to store battery pack information, and a second network interface (Dooley: Abstract, A battery network management system (1) for swappable batteries (5) used in vehicles (9), the system (1) comprising: at least one swappable battery (5); [0091], the battery authentication processing device 23 applying a digital signature (associated with the battery) to a message indicative of this fact. The message is also be signed by the charger authentication processing device 21 with the digital signature associated with the charging station 3. A node wanting to confirm this status can then verify the signed message by using respective public keys of the swappable battery 5 and charging station 3 [0092] Attest that a particular swappable battery 5 is received in a particular vehicle 9. This can be achieved by both the battery authentication processing device 23 and vehicle authentication processing device 25 applying their respective digital signatures in a similar manner to the example above); a power tool including a first electronic processor, a first memory, and a first network interface, … wherein the first electronic processor is configured to obtain the battery pack information from the battery pack (Dooley: Abstract, The charging station (3) charges the swappable battery (5) based on a first condition that the swappable battery (5) is authenticated by an authentication system (7)), transmit, via the first network interface, a validation request to a node of a blockchain network, wherein the validation requestion includes the battery pack information and the power tool information (Dooley: [0107], the charger processing device 21 receiving representations of the first identifier, or identifiers for cells or group of cells (e.g. cell ID), to authenticate the swappable battery 5), receive, via the first network interface, a blockchain authentication message … (Dooley: [0122], The cell authentication circuit can be configured to receive a query from the authentication system 7 to authenticate that cell or battery module. In turn, the cell authentication circuit provides a response to the authentication system 7 to enable authentication. In some examples, the cell authentication circuit can be at least part of, or a modified, battery protection circuit), wherein the blockchain authentication message indicates whether the blockchain network validated the battery pack information and the power tool information (Dooley: [0089], Network nodes that wish to verify charging of the battery 5 can query the signed first code 8 from the data store 11 and use the public key of the charging station 3 to verify that the battery was charged at the charging station 3), and control an operation of the power tool based on the blockchain authentication message (Dooley: [0174], a notification may be sent to inform the server 27)
Dooley does not expressly disclose a blockchain authentication message from one node of the blockchain network, in an analogous art of a battery network management system, Shin discloses: a blockchain authentication message from at least one node of the blockchain network (Shin: [0130], the blockchain 500 may register addresses of the MO and the CPO according to a procedure or rule stored in the smart contract, generate the individual contract based on the contract-related information received from the MO. The blockchain 500 may retrieve an account identifier corresponding to a separately received authentication identifier based on the previously registered individual contracts, verify activity status of the account identifier, and provide the verified account identifier to the CPO. When a valid account identifier is not retrieved or the retrieved account identifier is invalid, the blockchain 500 may transmit, to the CPO, a response message notifying that no valid account identifier exists);
Dooley and Shin are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor, battery management using blockchain. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Dooley using the teachings of Shin to include sending the response message from the node of the blockchain. It would provide Dooley’s system with enhanced capabilities of managing the power source more efficiently.
Further, Dooley discloses using in electric vehicle and the nodes can be mobile communication device (Dooley, [0226]), and Shin discloses a mobile terminal (Shin: [0150], Dooley and Shin does not clearly disclose a power tool includes one of a robotic garden tool and a hand-held power tool, in another analogous art of battery management using blockchain, Tsibulevskiy discloses: a power tool includes one of a robotic garden tool and a hand-held power tool (Tsibulevskiy: Column 22, Lines 16-42, a vacuum cleaner (mobile, robotic, or fixed), a pool table, a bowling alley seat, a bowling ball machine, a ping pong or foosball table, a water leak detector, a bathroom vanity light, a shed, a shutoff valve (indoors or outdoors), a buffalo box, a faucet sprayer, an electrical service panel/circuit breaker, an electrical box (metal, plastic), a doorbell including video and button and speaker, a floodlight with sensor, an electronic license plate, a bench or park bench or bus stop bench, a BBQ grill or smoker or pellet smoke or coal or gas, a smoker auger, a water cooler, a microscope, a Christmas tree (e.g. natural, artificial) and Christmas tree lights (e.g. LED, halogen) or decorations (e.g. spherical, cuboid, cube, character) or ornaments (e.g. spherical, cuboid, cube, character) or skirts (e.g. LCD display, electrophoretic display, LED display), a cylindrical or puck shaped speaker (e.g. Alexa device), a bathroom vent fan, a manned or unmanned vacuum cleaner, a dropped ceiling tile, an light source candle (e.g. LED), a smart glass device (e.g. electricity based, heat based), an tongue depressor (e.g. with light source), a conveyor belt (e.g. factory, store, vehicle), a battery pack, a spectrometer, a portable body scanner (e.g. U-shape, D-shape), an optical drowning monitor (e.g. Coral), a thermometer (e.g. infrared gun, forehead), a blockchain operated appliance (e.g. residential, commercial, industrial), an augmented or virtual reality eyewear unit or mobile device or wearable, a lawn sprinkler unit, a sprinkler controller);
Dooley and Shin and Tsibulevskiy are analogous arts because they are in the same field of endeavor, battery management using blockchain. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the invention of Dooley using the teachings of Tsibulevskiy to include tools such as a vacuum cleaner and a lawn sprinkler controller.
As per claim 18, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 3, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 3 are incorporated herein.
As per claim 19, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 2, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 2 are incorporated herein.
As per claim 20, it recites features that are substantially same as those features claimed by claim 3, thus the rationales for rejecting claim 3 are incorporated herein.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Hua Lu whose telephone number is 571-270-1410 and fax number is 571-270-2410. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9:00 am to 6:00 pm EST. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scott Baderman can be reached on 571-272-3644. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 703-273-8300.
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/Hua Lu/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118