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 .
Response to Amendment
The previous made 112 rejections and objections to the Specification and Figures has been withdrawn in view of the amendments.
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 –
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xu et al. US 2023/0231409.
Xu teaches:
1, 19. A transfer switch (100, FIG1) for transferring power to a building (load D4), the transfer switch comprising:
a switch detection unit including at least one sensor (sensor 40, FIG1) configured to monitor a utility power supply from a power grid (read on by said sensor state information, see Specification @ [0024]); and
a switch processor (controller 50, FIG1) communicatively coupled to the switch detection unit, wherein the switch processor is configured to:
determine that a power supply communication between the transfer switch and a vehicle is established (read on by said state information port parameters [0024]);
determine that a first predefined condition is met based on inputs associated with the utility power supply obtained from the switch detection unit (see [0024] ; and
enable the vehicle to supply power to the building responsive to a determination that the first predefined condition is met (as determined by the states associated with on-grid (FIG4) vs. off-grid (FIG5) mode).
2, 20. The transfer switch of claim 1/19, wherein the first predefined condition is met when the utility power supply is interrupted (see off-grid mode, FIG5).
4. The transfer switch of claim 1, wherein the switch processor is further configured to: determine that a second predefined condition is met based on the inputs obtained from the switch detection unit, and wherein the second predefined condition is met when the utility power supply is restored and stabilized (read on by said state data [0024]); and enable the power grid to supply power to the building (ie as with the case of switching back from off-grid (FIG5) to grid-connected (FIG4) modes).
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) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. US 2023/0231409 in view of Lin et al. US 2023/0029931.
Xu fails to teach:
7. The transfer switch of claim 1, wherein the switch processor is further configured to: transmit a wakeup signal to the vehicle; and enable the vehicle to supply power to the building responsive to transmitting the wakeup signal.
Lin teaches wherein a processor is further configured to: transmit a wakeup signal to the vehicle (see Spec @ [0070]); and enable the vehicle to supply power to the building responsive to transmitting the wakeup signal (See [0078] and FIG5 step S204-S205).
It would have been obvious to incorporate the processor wake-up functionality as taught by Lin to transmit a wakeup signal to the vehicle responsive to a determination that the first predefined condition is met; and enable the vehicle to supply power to the building responsive to transmitting the wakeup signal into the system of Xu responsive to the first predetermination condition is met, as taught by Xu with the motivation of providing battery power supply conditioning before actual power supply to preserve the battery and increase battery efficiency.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. US 2023/0231409 in view of Lin et al. US 2023/0029931.
Xu teaches a transfer switch however fails to teach where said transfer switch is installed including:
8. The transfer switch of claim 1, wherein the transfer switch is installed at the building.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to install the switch at the building, since it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70. The motivation would have been to provide a safe and secure location for said switch while minimizing wiring cost and installation via minimizing distance between the switch and building.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 3, 5, 6 is/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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Salter US 2023/0415602; and
Lu US 12,240,347.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL CAVALLARI whose telephone number is (571)272-8541. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 0900-18:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rexford Barnie can be reached at (571)272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL CAVALLARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836