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 .
Priority
2. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The Information Disclosure Statements filed on February 9, 2024, August 21, 2024, March 10, 2025, January 9, 2026, and July 14, 2026 have been considered. Initialed copies of the Form 1449 are enclosed herewith.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. Claims 1, 3, 13, 14, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharma et al (2023/0117104), hereinafter Sharma in view of Chiba et al (2023/0090747), hereinafter Chiba.
With respect to claim 1, Sharma teaches a battery management apparatus comprising (paragraphs 0004-0006: a controller/system for controlling or managing discharge or charge of a plurality of battery packs) a voltage meter configured to measure voltages of a plurality of batteries (paragraphs 0056, 0065, and 0087: battery power management unit (BPMU) monitors the battery packs and provides characteristic data to the controller. The characteristic data for each battery pack includes its present voltage), wherein the plurality of batteries are connected in series to each other (paragraph 0057: the plurality of battery packs 20 are connected in parallel, in series, or in a combination thereof); and a controller configured to estimate State of Charges (SOCs) of the plurality of batteries based on the measured voltages (paragraph 0051: measurement of individual pack voltage and SOC at an instant and uses both values to determine the dispatch), and control charge and discharge of the plurality of batteries (paragraph 0075: the controller provides instructions for discharging power from or charging power to the plurality of battery packs based on the respective power discharge/charge determined for each batty pack; paragraphs 0077-0079: describe dynamically controlling charging and discharging of the plurality of battery packs), to make the estimated SOCs of the plurality of batteries fall within a plurality of usable SOC bands (paragraph 0094: a baseline SOC (SOCb) is set or selected for each of the plurality of battery packs and provides SOC ranges and further states the baseline SOC is established to ensure each battery pack maintains minimum charge during charging/discharging and thereby protects the packs and further teaches controlling operation relatives to SOCb (paragraphs 0095-0102), preset to correspond to the plurality of batteries (paragraphs 0071 and 0094: a baseline SOC (SOCb) is set or selected for each of the plurality of battery packs).
With respect to claim 13, see Sharma’s teachings above with respect to claim 1. Sharma teachings operate in the context of battery packs.
With respect to claim 14, Sharma teaches a battery management method comprising (paragraphs 0004-0006) measuring voltages of a plurality of batteries connected in series to each other (paragraphs 0056-0057, 0065, and 0087); obtaining State of Charges (SOCs) of the plurality of batteries based on the voltages measured in the measuring, and controlling charge and discharge of the plurality of batteries to make the SOCs of the plurality of batteries estimated in the estimating fall within a plurality of usable SOC bands preset to correspond to the plurality of batteries (paragraphs 0071, 0075, and 0094). Additionally see above with regards to claim 1.
With respect to claim 20, Sharma teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program therein that executes a process comprising measuring voltages of a plurality of batteries connected in series to each other (paragraphs 0056-0057, 0065, and 0087); obtaining State of Charges (SOCs) of the plurality of batteries based on the voltages measured in the measuring; and controlling charge and discharge of the plurality of batteries to make the SOCs of the plurality of batteries estimated in the estimating fall within a plurality of usable SOC bands preset to correspond to the plurality of batteries (paragraphs 0071, 0075, and 0094). Additionally, see above with regards to claim 1.
Sharma’s teachings fail to specifically teach a controller configured to estimate SOCs of the plurality of batteries based on the measured voltages.
With respect to claim 1, Chiba teaches in paragraph 0004, the known technique of the SOC of a battery is estimated based on a voltage of the battery cells.
In view of Chiba’s teachings, it would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Sharma to estimate the SOC of each battery based on the measured voltage as taught by Chiba. One would be motivated to estimate the SOC of each battery based on the measured voltage in order to provide the SOC information used by Sharma in determining the respective charging and discharging power for each battery pack.
6. Claims 3 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sharma in combination with Chiba and in further view of Cahill et al (2023/0064473), hereinafter Cahill.
Sharma’s teachings in combination with the teachings of Chiba are discusses above. The combination however fails to specifically teach the battery management apparatus, wherein the controller controls an operation state of a bypass switch disposed in a bypass path connected in parallel to each of the plurality of batteries, to control the charge and discharge of the plurality of batteries.
With respect to claim 3, Cahill teaches a battery management apparatus, wherein the controller controls an operation state of a bypass switch disposed in a bypass path connected in parallel to each of the plurality of batteries, to control the charge and discharge of the plurality of batteries (paragraphs 0027 and 0050).
With respect to claim 15, Cahill teaches a battery management method, wherein the controlling includes controlling an operation state of a bypass switch disposed in a bypass path connected in parallel to each of the plurality of batteries, thereby controlling the charge and discharge of the plurality of batteries (paragraphs 0027 and 0050).
In view of Cahill’s teachings, it would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Sharma in combination with Chiba to provide controllable bypass switches in bypass paths connected in parallel with respective batteries as taught by Cahill. One would be motivated to provide the controllable bypass switches in order to selectively remove a battery from the charging/discharging loop by permitting continued operation of the battery system.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 2, 4-12, and 15-19 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.
The following is an examiner’s reason for allowance: Although Sharma in combination with Chiba a battery management apparatus and battery management method wherein the apparatus and method comprise measuring voltages of a plurality of batteries connected in series to each other; obtaining State of Charges (SOCs) of the plurality of batteries based on the voltages measured in the measuring, and controlling charge and discharge of the plurality of batteries to make the SOCs of the plurality of batteries estimated in the estimating fall within a plurality of usable SOC bands preset to correspond to the plurality of batteries, the above identified prior art of record, taken alone, or in combination with any other prior art, fails to teach or fairly suggest the specific features of claims 2, 4-12, and 15-19 of the present claimed invention. Specifically, prior art fails to teach the claimed battery management apparatus, wherein the plurality of usable SOC bands are divided based on preset non-usable SOC bands, and set to not overlap with each other. Prior art further fails to teach the claimed battery management apparatus and management method wherein during the charge of the plurality of batteries, the controller selects a target battery with an SOC reaching an upper limit value of a usable SOC band corresponding to the target battery, and controls the operation state of the bypass switch connected in parallel to the target battery to an ON state, thereby stopping the charge of the target battery or wherein during the discharge of the plurality of batteries, the controller selects a target battery with an SOC reaching a lower limit value of a usable SOC band corresponding to the target battery, and controls the operation state of the bypass switch connected in parallel to the target battery to an ON state, thereby stopping the discharge of the target battery. Prior art fails to teach the claimed battery management apparatus and management method wherein when the plurality of batteries are requested to be further discharged despite that the SOCs of the plurality of batteries have reached lower limit values of the usable SOC bands corresponding to the plurality of batteries, the controller sets priorities among the plurality of usable SOC bands in a decreasing order of band values of the plurality of usable SOC bands, and further discharges the plurality of batteries from batteries corresponding to a usable SOC band with a highest priority to batteries corresponding to a usable SOC band with a lowest priority. Further not disclosed in prior art is the claimed management apparatus, wherein the controller sets intervals of the plurality of usable SOC bands to be equal to each other; wherein the controller sets a different number of batteries to correspond to each of the plurality of usable SOC bands; wherein the plurality of preset usable SOC bands include a first usable SOC band of 60% to 90% and a second usable SOC band of 10% to 40%, and wherein the plurality of preset usable SOC bands include a first usable SOC band of 70% to 90%, a second usable SOC band of 40% to 60%, and a third usable SOC band of 10% to 30%. Lastly, prior art fails to teach the claimed battery management method, wherein in the controlling, when the SOCs of further discharged batteries reach a lower limit value of a usable SOC band with a subsequent priority, batteries corresponding to the usable SOC band with the subsequent priority are further discharged. The above limitations are not disclosed in prior art and moreover, one of ordinary skill in the art would not have been motivated to come to the claimed invention.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure: See attached PTO form 892, Refence Cited.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Allyson N. Trail whose telephone number is (571) 272-2406. The examiner can normally be reached between the hours of 7:30AM to 4:00PM Monday thru Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Pham, can be reached on (571) 272-3689. The fax phone number for this Group is (571) 273-8300.
Communications via Internet e-mail regarding this application, other than those under 35 U.S.C. 132 or which otherwise require a signature, may be used by the applicant and should be addressed to [allyson.trail@uspto.gov].
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/ALLYSON N TRAIL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
August 21, 2026
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