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
Claims 8-15 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 5/29/26.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 16, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ichikawa (US 2025/0196703 A1).
With respect to claims 1 and 16, Ichikawa discloses discloses an electric vehicle including a power distribution system with batteries 20A, 20B, controllers 18a, 28a, and control switches 14a, SMR, and an interface or display 19a, wherein said controllers inherently have executable instructions that monitor the batteries voltage and provide a notification on said display when servicing/charging of said batteries is required, as shown in figures 1 and 3.
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512
781
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Greyscale
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541
778
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Greyscale
With respect to claim 2, relay switches and sensors inherently include transistors.
With respect to claims 3 and 4, said controller executes a battery replacement signal for beginning the process of battery replacement and switching power off and providing messaging on said display, as recited in para. 69-72.
With respect to claims 19 and 20, DC/DC converters 16 are selectively coupled in the power circuit, as shown in figure 1.
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) 5, 6, 17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichikawa ‘703 as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, and further in view of De Kreij et al. (US 2025/0121692 A1).
With respect to claims 5, 6, 17, and 18, Ichikawa does not discloses said controllers as unlocking doors or opening windows as a safety measure during battery replacement procedures. De Krij et al. does disclose a safety control measure that sends instructions for unlocking doors and opening windows when a battery depleted status is measured, as recited in para. 57. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the door and window safety operation of De Kreij et al. with the battery power management system of Ichikawa system in order to ensure an occupant can exit the vehicle if power is depleted.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 is 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY J RESTIFO whose telephone number is (571)272-6697. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 11am-8pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, J. Allen Shriver can be reached at (303) 297-4337. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JEFFREY J. RESTIFO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3613
/JEFFREY J RESTIFO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3613
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