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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s response and amendment dated 8/11/26 are acknowledged and entered. Claims 6-7 are added. Thus, claims 1-7 are pending.
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.
Claims 1-?? are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishii (US 2015/0042288, previously cited) in view of Jin, et al. (US 2019/0217712, herein Jin).1 Regarding claims 1 and 4-5, Ishii teaches a vehicle electric power supply device, method of controlling a relay device, and non-transitory computer readable medium comprising: an electric power storage device that is charged with supplied electric power output from an external electric power supply (paragraph 0074: electric storage device 11); a relay device provided between the external electric power supply and the electric power storage device (paragraph 0089: charge relay 121b); an electric current sensor that measures an electric current value of an electric power line that connects the external electric power supply and the electric power storage device (paragraph 0090: current/voltage sensor 121e); and a control device that is connected to each of the electric power storage device, the relay device, and the electric current sensor, and that controls the relay device (paragraph 0090: control unit 121c), wherein the control device is configured to instruct the external electric power supply to stop outputting the supplied electric power when an abnormality in the electric current value is detected during charging of the electric power storage device (paragraph 0091). Ishii does not explicitly teach when the external electric power supply does not stop outputting the supplied electric power even after being instructed by the control device to stop outputting, open a switch of the relay device to cut off power between the external electric power supply and the electric power storage device, wherein the control device controls a timing at which the switch is opened based on a state of the electric current value and a state of an amount of electric power charged to the electric power storage device. Jin teaches when the external electric power supply does not stop outputting the supplied electric power even after being instructed by the control device to stop outputting, open a switch of the relay device to cut off power between the external electric power supply and the electric power storage device, wherein the control device controls a timing at which the switch is opened based on a state of the electric current value and a state of an amount of electric power charged to the electric power storage device (paragraph 0026). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Ishii and Jin, because such a combination prevents dangerous situations (paragraph 0026 of Jin: e.g. arching or scouring). Regarding claim 2, Jin further teaches determine that the external electric power supply does not stop outputting the supplied electric power even after being instructed by the control device to stop outputting, based on the electric current value being not lower than a threshold value (paragraph 0026). Ishii further teaches the control device is configured to, after the instruction to stop output, keep the switch of the relay device on until a certain amount of time elapses from when the electric current value becomes no lower than a threshold value, when the amount of electric power charged to the electric power storage device is less than a predetermined amount of electric power (paragraph 0142). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to further combine the teachings of Ishii and Jin, because such a combination prevents dangerous situations (paragraph 0026 of Jin: e.g. arching or scouring). Regarding claim 3, Jin further teaches determine that the external electric power supply does not stop outputting the supplied electric power even after being instructed by the control device to stop outputting, based on the electric current value being not lower than a threshold value (paragraph 0026). Ishii teaches the control device is configured to, after the instruction to stop output, keep the switch of the relay device on from when the electric current value becomes no lower than a threshold value, until the amount of electric power charged to the electric power storage device becomes no less than a predetermined amount of electric power (paragraph 0142). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to further combine the teachings of Ishii and Jin, because such a combination prevents dangerous situations (paragraph 0026 of Jin: e.g. arching or scouring).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-7 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. New reference Jin has been used to teach the newly added limitations.
Conclusion
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 MATTHEW MIKELS whose telephone number is (571)270-5470. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 7:30 AM ET - 5:00 PM ET, Friday 7:30 AM ET - 9:30 AM ET, the Examiner is on central time.2
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/MATTHEW MIKELS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
1 In addition to the cited portions of each reference, please see also the associated figures.
2 The Examiner can also be reached at matthew.mikels@uspto.gov.
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