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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tsuchiya et al (US20210053459, Applicant’s IDS).
RE 1, Tsuchiya discloses a charging control device for controlling charging of a secondary battery (130) mounted on an electrified vehicle (50), the charging control device comprising: a charging information acquisition unit for acquiring information on the charging of the secondary battery (par 72-73); and a charging control unit for controlling the charging of the secondary battery (par 74-75), wherein the charging control unit executes (Fig 11), when a first charging mode in which the charging is performed based on a predetermined operation plan is set, a first charging process (s47) for executing the charging in a range in which a state of charge of the secondary battery is less than a predetermined charging threshold value (Fig 8, s11 through s19, Fig 7 time 0 to t11), and executes, when a second charging mode in which a plan for the charging is determined by a user of the electrified vehicle is set, a second charging process (s46) for executing the charging until the state of charge becomes a value equal to or greater than the predetermined charging threshold value (fig 8, s11 no, s14 to s19, Fig 7 time t11-t13).
RE 2, wherein: the electrified vehicle is controlled such that charging power of the secondary battery is reduced (Fig 7, t11-t12) when the state of charge is equal to or greater than a specified value as compared with a case in which the state of charge is less than the specified value (Y1); and the predetermined charging threshold value is a value less than the specified value (CV period).
Re 3, wherein: the charging information acquisition unit acquires information on a target value (Y2) of the user related to the state of charge; and when the target value is greater than the predetermined charging threshold value, the charging control unit executes the charging until the state of charge reaches the target value by the second charging process after the first charging process (CV period to CP2 period, Fig 8 s17-s19).
RE 4, wherein the charging control unit reduces a time period in which the first charging process is executed based on the operation plan as a difference between the target value and the predetermined charging threshold value is large (fig 7).
RE 5, Tsuchiya discloses a charging control method (Fig 11 and Fig 8) for controlling charging of a secondary battery mounted on an electrified vehicle, the charging control method comprising: a step (s41) of acquiring information on the charging of the secondary battery; a step (s47) of executing, when a first charging mode in which the charging is performed based on a predetermined operation plan is set, a first charging process for executing the charging in a range in which a state of charge of the secondary battery is less than a predetermined charging threshold value (Fig 8, s11 through s19, Fig 7 time 0 to t11); and a step (s46) of executing, when a second charging mode in which a plan for the charging is determined by a user of the electrified vehicle is set, a second charging process for executing the charging until the state of charge becomes a value equal to or greater than the predetermined charging threshold value (fig 8, s11 no, s14 to s19, Fig 7 time t11-t13).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christle I. Marshall whose telephone number is (571) 270-3086. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday 7:30AM - 4:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Paik can be reached on (571) 272-2404. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Christle I Marshall/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
Prosecution Insights