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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/27/2024 and 01/27/2026 compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ferguson et al. [US 2023/0089243].
With respect to claims 1 and 11, Ferguson discloses an apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory comprising program code [Fig. 1, par. 0025 at least discloses 120, wherein controllers implicitly contain instructions to perform the functions], wherein the at least one non-transitory memory and the program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive data from an electric vehicle (EV) related to a fire risk in a battery of the EV and determine, using the data received from the EV, whether to allow the EV to enter a controlled-access area [Fig. 5; see par. 0065-0066].
With respect to claims 2 and 12, Ferguson further discloses wherein the data received from the EV comprises real time and/or historical data corresponding to one or more battery fire risk parameters related to the EV [par. 0065; i.e. at least temp/gas/pressure data].
With respect to claims 3 and 13, Ferguson further discloses wherein the one or more battery fire risk parameters related to the EV are selected from the group consisting of electrolyte outgassing from the battery of the EV, a battery voltage of the EV, a battery discharge current of the EV, a charging battery voltage of the EV, a charging battery current of the EV, a temperature of the battery of the EV, a pressure within the battery of the EV, a detected shock, acceleration, and/or deceleration, a geometry of the battery of the EV, a detection of smoke, a detection of an aerosol, a cumulative operating time of the battery of the EV, a serial number of the battery of the EV, a model number of the battery of the EV, and a model number of the EV [par. 0065].
With respect to claims 4 and 14, Ferguson further discloses wherein the at least one non-transitory memory and the program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine whether to allow the EV to enter the controlled-access area using the data received from the EV and using data received from one or more third parties [par. 0041 and Fig. 5; i.e. discloses gas sensor with thresholds, which are equated to third party/manufacturer figures; further par. 0056 discloses vehicle routing from even manager 330 which is equated to third part traffic data].
With respect to claims 5 and 15, Ferguson further discloses wherein the data received from one or more third parties comprise data received from a manufacturer of the battery and/or data received from a manufacturer of the EV [as described above in claim 4, the threshold implicitly relate to batteries of the same type/manufacturer; i.e. a threshold for a AA battery is not used as a threshold for an EV battery].
With respect to claims 6 and 16, Ferguson further discloses wherein the data received from one or more third parties comprise data related to other EVs of a same model and/or data related to other batteries of a same model and/or type [par. 0031,0065-0066; i.e. the communications alerts 590 a fleet management system 120 which coordinates a fleet response].
With respect to claims 7 and 17, Ferguson further discloses wherein the data received from the EV comprises a battery fire risk analysis based on one or more battery fire risk parameters related to the EV [par. 0065; i.e. at least temp/gas/pressure data].
With respect to claims 8 and 18, Ferguson further discloses wherein the one or more battery fire risk parameters related to the EV are selected from the group consisting of electrolyte outgassing from the battery of the EV, a battery voltage of the EV, a battery discharge current of the EV, a charging battery voltage of the EV, a charging battery current of the EV, a temperature of the battery of the EV, a pressure within the battery of the EV, a detected shock, acceleration, and/or deceleration, a geometry of the battery of the EV, a detection of smoke, a detection of an aerosol, a cumulative operating time of the battery of the EV, a serial number of the battery of the EV, a model number of the battery of the EV, and a model number of the EV [par. 0065; i.e. at least temp/gas/pressure data].
With respect to claims 9 and 19, wherein the at least one non-transitory memory and the program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine whether to allow the EV to enter an alternate controlled-access area instead of the controlled-access area [par. 0056-0058].
With respect to claims 10 and 20, wherein the at least one non-transitory memory and the program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to determine whether to allow the EV to enter the controlled-access area based on a comparison of one or more data points of the data received from the EV to one or more respective thresholds and/or an analysis of one or more trends of the data received from the EV [par. 0056-0058 and 0041; i.e. the out-gassing is based on thresholds].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHANIEL R PELTON whose telephone number is (571)270-1761. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 5pm.
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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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/NATHANIEL R PELTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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