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 .
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim 1-2, 4, 9, 10, and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimura et al. US 20130307474 (hereinafter Shim) in view of Staring EP 3462571 (hereinafter Star).
With regards to claims 1, 9, 14, and 15 Shim discloses, a wireless charging device [fig 1 non-contact charger 1] installed in a vehicle [¶27 charger is provided in a vehicle], the wireless charging device being connected to a key authentication device [fig 1 non-contact charger 2 and wireless communication unit 3 which is the key authentication device] including a power receiving coil and a rechargeable battery that can be charged by power supplied from the power receiving coil [fig 1 non-contact charger 2 and portable device 6 read on the wireless charging], the key authentication device authenticating using authentication information [fig 1 and ¶29], wherein, the wireless charging device comprises:
a power transmitting unit that includes a power transmission coil [non-contact charger2] and is capable of:
transmitting power wirelessly via the power transmission coil to the power receiving coil [fig 1 discloses wireless charging];
a storage unit [fig 1 ROM 4b and RAM 4c]; and
a control unit [control unit 4].
Shim fails to disclose, configured to be capable of communicating wirelessly with a smartphone, communicating wirelessly with the smartphone through coil-to-coil communication via the power transmission coil and the power receiving coil; that stores copy authentication information, the copy authentication information being authentication information of a copy of master authentication information held by the smartphone, and configured to instruct the key authentication device to select any one of the master authentication information and the copy authentication information for using as the authentication information depending on a state of charging operation to the smartphone, the master authentication information being transmitted from the smartphone to the key authentication device by wireless communication, the copy authentication information being stored in the memory unit, the copy authentication information being obtained from the smartphone by the coil-to-coil communication and transmitted by communication between the key authentication device and the wireless charging device.
However, Star discloses, configured to be capable of communicating wirelessly with a smartphone [¶14 describes the wireless communication where the power receiver reasonably reads on a smartphone], communicating wirelessly with the smartphone through coil-to-coil communication via the power transmission coil and the power receiving coil [¶79-81 detailing the “coil-to-coil” communication]; that stores copy authentication information, the copy authentication information being authentication information of a copy of master authentication information held by the smartphone [¶91 authentication key is stored], and configured to instruct the key authentication device to select any one of the master authentication information and the copy authentication information for using as the authentication information depending on a state of charging operation to the smartphone [¶19 discloses authentication during charging and ¶66 disclosing the different keys/copies], the master authentication information being transmitted from the smartphone to the key authentication device by wireless communication [¶79-81], the copy authentication information being stored in the memory unit [¶91], the copy authentication information being obtained from the smartphone by the coil-to-coil communication and transmitted by communication between the key authentication device and the wireless charging device [¶79-81].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the charging systems of Shim and Star to provide wireless key authentication copying during device charging in order to improve wireless power transfer.
Claims 9, 14, and 15 are rejected for similar reasons as claim 1 above, a detailed discussion is avoided for brevity.
With regards to claims 2 and 10 the combination discloses, the wireless charging device according to claim 1, wherein, the control unit is configured to:
instruct, when the state of the charging operation to the smartphone is in a charging execution state where power for charging is being transmitted to the smartphone, the key authentication device to acquire the copy authentication information as the authentication information through communication between the key authentication device and the wireless charging device [Star ¶19 and ¶66]; and
instruct, when the state of the charging operation to the smartphone is in a non-charging state where the transmission of power for charging is stopped, the key authentication device to acquire the master authentication information as the authentication information through the wireless communication [Shim ¶55].
Claim 10 is rejected for similar reasons as claim 2 above, a detailed discussion is avoided for brevity.
With regards to claim 4 the combination discloses, . The wireless charging device according to claim 1, wherein, the coil-to-coil communication transmits:
a signal generated by FSK (frequency shift keying) on the wireless charging device side to the smartphone using the power transmitted from the power transmission coil to the power receiving coil [Star ¶79-80 where the Qi standard is known to include both FSK and ASK]; and
a signal generated by ASK (Amplitude Shift Keying) on the smartphone side to the wireless charging device using the power [Star ¶79-80].
With regards to claim 12 the combination discloses, a smartphone used in the smartphone key system for vehicle of claim 9 [Shim portable device 6].
With regards to claim 13 the combination discloses, a vehicle to which the smartphone key system for vehicle of claim 9 is applied [Shim Abstract mentions the vehicle].
Claims 3 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimura et al. US 20130307474 (hereinafter Shim) in view of Staring EP 3462571 (hereinafter Star) further in view of Youn US 20230107178.
With regards to claims 3 and 11 the combination discloses, the wireless charging device according to claim 2, wherein, the control unit is configured to:
acquire, when the copy authentication information is not stored in the memory unit in a case where there is a request from the smartphone to transmit power for charging, the authentication information used for the authentication from the smartphone by the coil-to-coil communication before transmitting power for charging by the power transmitting unit to store the acquired authentication information in the memory unit [Star ¶91]; and
The combination fails to disclose, discard, thereafter, the copy authentication information from the memory unit at a predetermined timing.
However, Youn discloses, discard, thereafter, the copy authentication information from the memory unit at a predetermined timing [where Star discloses the copy authentication information and Youn discloses fig 13 and ¶223-224 authentication related data is deleted].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further combine the authentication methods of Shim in view of Star with Youn to discard/delete the authentication information in order to prevent mixing/confusion of data.
Claim 11 is rejected for similar reasons as claim 3 above, a detailed discussion is avoided for brevity.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimura et al. US 20130307474 (hereinafter Shim) in view of Staring EP 3462571 (hereinafter Star) further in view of Agrawal et al. US 20150019892 (hereinafter Agra).
With regards to claim 5 the combination discloses, the wireless charging device according to claim 1, wherein,
Bluetooth communication or NFC communication is used as the wireless communication between the smartphone and the key authentication device [Star ¶81 discloses the use of NFC].
The combination fails to disclose, the NFC communication is used as the wireless communication for transmitting the master authentication information, when the power of the smartphone is in an OFF state, or when an amount of charge of the rechargeable battery of the smartphone is less than or equal to a minimum startup value.
However, Agra discloses, the NFC communication is used as the wireless communication for transmitting the master authentication information, when the power of the smartphone is in an OFF state, or when an amount of charge of the rechargeable battery of the smartphone is less than or equal to a minimum startup value [Abstract and ¶31 discloses using NFC within a low-power device in order to communicate authentication data].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further combine the device authentication system of Shim in view of Star with Agra to include a low power NFC communication authentication in order to provide better device power optimization.
Claims 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimura et al. US 20130307474 (hereinafter Shim) in view of Staring EP 3462571 (hereinafter Star) further in view of Lee at al. US 20230319562.
With regards to claim 6 the combination fails to disclose, the wireless charging device according to claim 2, wherein, Bluetooth communication is used as the wireless communication; and the control unit is configured to instruct, even when the communication is switched from the wireless communication to the coil-to-coil communication, the smartphone and the key authentication device to maintain the connection without disconnecting the Bluetooth communication.
However, Lee discloses, Bluetooth communication is used as the wireless communication; and the control unit is configured to instruct, even when the communication is switched from the wireless communication to the coil-to-coil communication, the smartphone and the key authentication device to maintain the connection without disconnecting the Bluetooth communication [¶465 discloses using both in-band and out-band communication, and ¶7 where in-band is the coil to coil and out-band is Bluetooth].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further combine the charging authentication system of Shim in view of Star with the communication authentication system of Lee to provide both Bluetooth and coil-to-coil communication in order to improve reliability in case one type of communication were to fail and to improve charging setup speeds by allowing communication via both options.
With regards to claim 7 the combination discloses, the wireless charging device according to claim 2, wherein,
Bluetooth communication is used as the wireless communication [Lee ¶7]; and
the control unit is configured to instruct, when the Bluetooth communication is an error, the key authentication device to obtain the copy authentication information as the authentication information [Lee ¶421 discloses Bluetooth communication error and switching to a different communication method and where the other communication method is the in-band or coil to coil communication where Star ¶s66, 79-81, and 91 disclose the copy authentication keys].
Further, it would have been obvious to configure the system to utilize a different communication format upon Bluetooth error, where the prior art discloses a finite number of predictable options (Bluetooth, coil-to-coil, and NFC communication options) for the same functions. A person having ordinary skill would have reason to try the remaining communication channels as predictable backups with reasonable expectation of success. See MPEP § 2143(I)(E).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimura et al. US 20130307474 (hereinafter Shim) in view of Staring EP 3462571 (hereinafter Star) further in view of Wu US 20150206365.
With regards to claim 8 the combination fails to disclose, the wireless charging device according to claim 1, wherein, NFC communication is used as the wireless communication for authentication when locking and unlocking the door.
However, Wu discloses wherein, NFC communication is used as the wireless communication for authentication when locking and unlocking the door abstract discloses NFC and lock management.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further combine the authentication devices of Shim in view of Star with Wu to utilize NFC protocol to lock and unlock the doors in order to improve convenience and security.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nathaniel Instone whose telephone number is (571)272-1563. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4 EST.
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/NATHAN J INSTONE/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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