CTNF 18/384,742 CTNF 90537 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/07/2023 and 10/22/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15-aia AIA Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 8-9, 12, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Ogino (JP2015107039A) . Regarding claim 1, Ogino teaches a battery protection device, comprising: PNG media_image1.png 432 556 media_image1.png Greyscale a first transistor (fig. 1-6, element 3) connected between one of pack terminals ( see fig. 6, element T1 above; further discloses the overall configuration of the battery pack is the same as that shown in the conventional example of FIG. Therefore, the same elements as those of the conventional example shown in FIG. 6 will be described with the same reference numerals. The same applies to each of the following embodiments ) and a battery module (fig. 1-6, element 1) and configured to control flow of a current between the pack terminals and the battery module ( ¶ 0030; the charge/discharge switch circuit includes a MOSFET 3 which is a switch element connected in series to a charge / discharge line 2 from the secondary battery 1 ), the first transistor (3) having a control terminal ( ¶ 0030; the switch control unit 5 controls the voltage supply to the gate (control terminal) of the MOSFET 3, that is, controls the supply of the drive voltage from the switch drive power supply 4 and the discharge of the charge accumulated in the gate ); a switch control circuit (¶ 0037 and fig. 1-5, element 4; switch drive power) configured to output a first control signal for turning on or turning off the first transistor (¶ 0038; when the MOSFET 3 is turned off, the control signal supply unit 11 controls…the off control signal 17 so that… the off control photo coupler 10 is on ); a controller (fig. 1, 5, element 11; control signal supply unit) configured to output a second control signal (16 or 17); and PNG media_image2.png 622 668 media_image2.png Greyscale a photocoupler (fig. 5, element 9) connected to (indirectly/directly connected to) the control terminal of the first transistor (3), the photocoupler configured to be turned on or turned off according to the second control signal ( ¶¶ 0034, 0037; the light emission of the light emitting diodes 13 and 15 is controlled by the on control signal 16 and the off control signal 17 from the control signal supply unit 11 ) and to turn off the first transistor if the photocoupler is turned on ( ¶ 0037; when the MOSFET 3 is turned on from off, the control signal supply unit 11 generates the on control signal 16 so that the on control photocoupler 9 is on ). Regarding claim 3, Ogino teaches wherein the first transistor (fig. 6, element 3) is connected between a positive pack terminal (fig. 6, element T+) from among the pack terminals and a positive module terminal of the battery module (fig. 6, element B+). Regarding claim 4, Ogino teaches wherein the first transistor is an N-channel metal oxide semiconductor electric field effect transistor (claim 10; MOSFET) including a drain terminal (directly/indirectly connected to) connected to the positive module terminal, a source terminal (directly/indirectly connected to) connected to the positive pack terminal, and a gate terminal used as the control terminal (¶ 0030; the switch control unit 5 controls the voltage supply to the gate (control terminal) of the MOSFET 3). Regarding claim 5, Ogino teaches the battery protection device further comprising a driving circuit (fig. 5, elements 6, 7, 8) connected between the gate terminal (of element 3) and the source terminal (connected to the source terminal of element 3 via element 10) and adjusting a voltage applied to the gate terminal (¶ 0039; the switching control resistor 6 is set to have a resistance constant such that the switching speed satisfies the power dissipation of the MOSFET 3) according to the first control signal (¶ 0037). PNG media_image2.png 622 668 media_image2.png Greyscale Regarding claim 8, Ogino teaches wherein the photocoupler includes: a light-emitting device (fig. 5, element 15) for controlling light emission by the second control signal (fig. 5, element 17), and a light receiving element (14; photo-transistor) connected between the gate terminal and the source terminal (of element 3), the light receiving element being turned on by light emission of the light-emitting device (¶ 0057; the light emitting diode 15 emits light and the phototransistor 14 is turned on), and connecting (directly/indirectly connecting) the gate terminal and the source terminal (of element 3) if the light receiving element is turned on (¶ 0057; the light emitting diode 15 emits light and the phototransistor 14 is turned on). Regarding claim 9, Ogino teaches the battery protection device comprising a light-emitting control circuit (the signal lines between the element 11 and the elements 9 or 10) connected between the light-emitting device and an output end of the controller (fig. 5, element 11), and intercepting or allowing a current flow of the light-emitting device according to the second control signal ( ¶¶ 0034, 0037; the light emission of the light emitting diodes 13 and 15 is controlled by the on control signal 16 and the off control signal 17 from the control signal supply unit 11 ). Regarding claim 12, Ogino teaches wherein the switch control circuit includes a charge pump circuit (fig. 5, elements 43-46, 47-50), and generates the first control signal by using a voltage generated by the charge pump circuit (generated by elements 43-50 with signal 51). Regarding claim 14, Ogino teaches a battery pack, comprising: a battery module (fig. 5, element 1; battery), and the battery protection device (claim 1; a protection circuit) as claimed in claim 1 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 2 ,13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ogino (JP2015107039A) . Regarding claim 2, Ogino teaches wherein: wherein: the controller is configured to turn on the photocoupler according to the second control signal (¶ 0036; the off control photo coupler 10 is on / off controlled by the off control signal 17), the first transistor is turned off irrespective of the first control signal if the photocoupler is turned on (¶ 0038; when the MOSFET 3 is turned off, the control signal supply unit 11 controls the on control signal 16 and the off control signal 17 so that the on control photo coupler 9 is off and the off control photo coupler 10 is on ). However, the current embodiment of Ogino does not disclose wherein: the controller is configured to turn off the transistor when the current between the pack terminals and the battery module is greater than or equal to a setting value. However, another embodiment of Ogino further discloses a battery pack includes a protective circuit, and in order to protect the stored secondary battery from an abnormal state such as overcharge or overdischarge [when the charging/discharging current is greater than a threshold limit], a protective function is provided to perform control to stop charging and discharging according to the occurrence of the abnormal state, and the charge / discharge switch circuit is interposed between the external terminal and the secondary battery, and when the abnormal state is detected, the protection circuit performs control to shut off the charge / discharge switch circuit in ¶ 0002. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the current embodiment of Ogino to incorporate with the teaching of another embodiment of Ogino by shutting off the charge/discharge switch circuit when an abnormal state of the battery pack is detected, because it would be advantageous to prevent damaging the battery pack and further extend service life of the whole system. Regarding claim 13, Ogino teaches wherein the switch control circuit generates the first control signal for turning off the first transistor (fig. 5, element 3) through the charge pump circuit (fig. 5, elements 43-50 and claim 1: the drive voltage from the switch drive power supply is applied to the other end of the switching control resistor in response to the on control from the protection circuit, and the charge accumulated in the control terminal of the switch element is switched in response to the off control ). However, the current embodiment of Ogino does not disclose wherein: the controller is configured to turn off the transistor when the current between the pack terminals and the battery module is greater than or equal to a setting value. However, another embodiment of Ogino further discloses a battery pack includes a protective circuit, and in order to protect the stored secondary battery from an abnormal state such as overcharge or overdischarge [when the charging/discharging current is greater than a threshold limit], a protective function is provided to perform control to stop charging and discharging according to the occurrence of the abnormal state, and the charge / discharge switch circuit is interposed between the external terminal and the secondary battery, and when the abnormal state is detected, the protection circuit performs control to shut off the charge/discharge switch circuit in ¶ 0002. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the current embodiment of Ogino to incorporate with the teaching of another embodiment of Ogino by shutting off the charge/discharge switch circuit when an abnormal state of the battery pack is detected, because it would be advantageous to prevent damaging the battery pack and further extend service life of the whole system . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 6-7, 10-11 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. 13-03-01 AIA The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claim 6, Ogino fails to teach wherein the driving circuit includes: a first resistor connected between a node for receiving the first control signal and the source terminal, and a second resistor connected between the node and the gate terminal. Regarding claim 10, Ogino fails to teach wherein the light-emitting control circuit includes a second transistor on a current path including the light-emitting device, and allowing or intercepting a current flowing to the light- emitting device according to the second control signal . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Shim US 10,340,708 Ohashi US 2023/0018700 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. 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, 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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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ZIXUAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 06/11/2026 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 2 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 3 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 4 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 5 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 6 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 7 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 8 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 9 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 10 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/384,742 Page 11 Art Unit: 2859
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