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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention I in the reply filed on 12/15/25 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 –
(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.
Claim(s) 1-2, and 6-8, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by (Cooper 2010/0207448).
Regarding Claim 1; Cooper discloses a power management system for selectively providing power to an electrical load using a battery (as constituted by a household electrical installation-71-Fig. 3 switching power between a grid-7 and a battery bank-55 to electrical sub-circuit- 23 using a load management controller-73 and a rectifier/charge controller —as set forth by para’s 0065-0073; wherein the sub-circuit defines a household load including a dishwasher, or heat pump using a smart meter), the power management system comprising: a relay connected to an electrical load (whereas a relay-37 is connected to the load management controller to switch the grid power to the sub-circuit-23 on/off—as set forth by para. 0072); a power management module configured to receive electrical power from each of a battery and a utility source (as already set forth), and in communication with the relay (as already set forth); and a controller in communication with the battery and the power management module, wherein the controller monitors a battery load on the battery and communicates to the power management module (as constituted by the rectifier/charge controller in communication with the battery and available power, and battery characteristics is determined and the charge controller adjust a charge rate in conjunction with the load management controller---as set forth by para. 0065, and further wherein para. 0085 discloses the charge control device include a charge indicator providing battery capacity data to the load management controller) to selectively disconnect the relay connected to the electrical load based on the battery load (as set forth by para. 0065--the load management controller will control the charge rate and discharge of the battery, wherein the discharge rate is determined by the state of charge of the battery, the battery characteristics and the demand; and where para. 0064 otherwise discloses the grid power may be used to augment the power coming from the battery, and when the power is dissipated the necessary power to the sub-circuit may be drawn from the grid with appropriate switching).
Regarding Claim 2; Cooper discloses the power management system of claim 1, wherein the power management module is installed at a lead of an appliance, wherein the appliance is the electrical load (whereas the load management controller is connected to the household sub-circuit including the dishwasher-23—as set forth by para.’s 0072- 0073).
Regarding Claim 6; Cooper discloses the power management system of claim 1, suggests wherein the power management module receives instructions from the controller suggested via a wireless gateway (as already set forth by para. 0065—where the load management controller determines and adjust in conjunction with the load management controller and para. 0079 further discloses wireless communication links coupled to the load management controller), except, explicitly disclosing receives instructions from the controller via a wireless gateway, and thus it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the charge controller as receiving instructions from the load management controller via a wireless gateway since it was known in the art that the wireless communication links configured as a wireless gateway may be wirelessly configured with external networks of a grid operator or a remote operator to achieve better grid management and efficiency with reduced cabling and installation costs.
Regarding Claim 7; Cooper discloses the already modified power management system of claim 6, except, explicitly wherein the wireless gateway uses a combination of WiFi and Zigbee protocols. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the wireless gateway using Wi-Fi and Zigbee protocols since it was known in the art that enhanced home automation may be employed using wireless communication between the load management controller and the household sensors.
Regarding Claim 8; Cooper discloses the already modified power management system of claim 6, wherein the wireless gateway is hard-wired to the controller (whereas load management controller includes hard-wired and wireless links—as set forth by para.’s 0081 and 0083).
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) 3-4, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (Cooper 2010/0207448).
Regarding Claim 3; Cooper discloses the power management system of claim 1, except, explicitly wherein the controller is positioned within a housing. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the charge controller in a housing defined by a house or a main panel 5 thereof which is disposed between the battery-55 and the grid-7; whereas the charge controller is suggested as part of the household electrical installation-71 between the battery and the grid—as set forth by para. 0065, since it was known in the art that associated wiring to the charge controller may include or connect to cabling-81—para.’s 0066-0067 which is between the battery and the grid may allow for reduced cost and/or where the main panel may further allow for enhanced safety from AC power connected to the charge controller.
Regarding Claim 4; Cooper discloses the already modified power management system of claim 3, wherein the controller is configured to monitor the utility source and couple the battery to the power management module (as already constituted by para. 0065—as constituted by the charge controller and the load management controller in conjunction adjusting charge rate based on state of charge of the battery, the battery characteristics and the demand; and further wherein the grid is configured to be monitored via meters 11, 13 and/or 85) in response to detecting an interruption in power supply from the utility source (as constituted by the load management controller which is already disclosed to control in conjunction with the charge controller disconnects the grid via switch-67 or 83 and routing electricity to/from the battery—as set forth by para. 0062 or 066-0067 in accordance with provided interruption during certain circumstances, exceptionally high demand or power outages—as set forth by para. 0007).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, and 9, are 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.
Regarding Claim 5; the power management system of claim 4, wherein the controller is configured to disconnect the power management module from the utility source and connect the power management module to the battery by adjusting a position of a transfer switch.
Regarding Claim 9; the power management system of claim 1, wherein the power management module comprises a module housing, a contact extending from the module housing to be received within a socket, and a contact jaws structured to receive the electrical load.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US-11764579-B1
Cooper; J. Carl
Fig. 12
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/COURTNEY L SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2835