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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/21/2025 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities:
at the one or more supply station” should read “at the one or more supply stations”
Appropriate correction is required.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 4-6, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-3 and 5 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the current amendments to the claims.
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) 1 and 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miura (JP 2007-148590 A) in view of Ryu (US Patent Application Publication 2015/0291036) and further in view of Yang (US Patent Application Publication 2010/0241301).
Regarding claims 1 and 3, Miura discloses an information processing apparatus comprising a controller (2) configured to:
acquire position information of a vehicle from a sensor included in the vehicle [0038];
output a notification that supply is necessary for the vehicle (5) based on information on a travelable distance of the vehicle and information on a distance from a position of the vehicle indicated by the acquired position information to a supply station (3) [0021: “…the charging station information providing server is configured to include a driving feasibility determination means for calculating a driving distance from the position of the electric vehicle each time it receives the vehicle type information, the location information, and the remaining fuel capacity information, determining whether or not there is a charging station within the calculated driving distance, and if not, issuing a warning to the electric vehicle via a communication network”] [0022: “According to the present invention, it is possible to notify the driver of an electric vehicle of the time when charging is required while the vehicle is traveling, thereby providing the driver with a sense of security”]; wherein
the controller:
calculates a first distance obtained by subtracting a predetermined distance from the travelable distance of the vehicle [0095-0096, a warning is issued to the vehicle and then the driver is notified when there will be no more available charging stations within the driving distance (travelable distance) after a predetermined time based on the driving speed and direction. There are no available charging stations within a distance obtained by subtracting a predetermined distance corresponding to the product of the predetermined time and driving speed from the travelable distance when said distance is less than a distance from the vehicle to the nearest charging station].
Miura does not disclose the controller acquires an input from a user or an administrator for setting the predetermined distance, wherein the controller acquires the predetermined distance from a terminal of the user of the vehicle or from the vehicle.
Ryu discloses a device and method for controlling an electric vehicle (Title) comprising a controller that acquires an input from a user or an administrator for setting a predetermined distance that is subtracted from a travelable distance of the vehicle to calculate a first distance [0005-0006, 0093-0094, 0103, as shown in Figures 8-9];
wherein the controller acquires the predetermined distance from a terminal (403) of the user of the vehicle or from the vehicle [0094].
Ryu teaches that the travelable distance of the vehicle changes in response to the power consumption of electric loads on the vehicle [0004]. By adjusting calculation of the travelable distance, to calculate a first distance, in response to user input, optional electrical loads can be deactivated to achieve the desired vehicle range [0015-0016].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to acquire the input from the user as disclosed by Ryu that is used to adjust a travelable distance to calculate the first distance disclosed by Miura in order to achieve a desired vehicle range and/or to accurately reflect changes in the travelable distance in response to active electric loads on the vehicle.
Miura, as modified by Ryu, does not disclose the controller outputs a notification in response to a number of the supply stations existing within the first distance being less than or equal to a predetermined number.
Yang discloses a method of power management for a plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle (Title) wherein a controller outputs a notification in response to a number of supply stations existing within a first distance from a vehicle being less than or equal to a predetermined number [0010].
Yang teaches that this method can inform the user of an electric vehicle if there are a limited number of supply stations within range of the vehicle [0010]. Yang suggests that informing the user in this manner allays the driver’s fear of running out of electricity while driving the vehicle [0003-0004].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to output the notification to the user of the vehicle disclosed by Yang, using the first distance disclosed by Miura, as modified by Ryu, in order to inform the user to stop at a supply station when a limited number of supply stations are in a range that the vehicle is capable of travelling to.
Regarding claim 2, Miura further discloses wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle with a battery [0019-0020];
the supply station is a charging station that supplies power to the battery [0026].
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miura (JP 2007-148590 A) in view of Ryu (US Patent Application Publication 2015/0291036) in view of Yang (US Patent Application Publication 2010/0241301) and further in view of Darrat (DE 10 2019 002 450 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Miura discloses the apparatus of claim 1 as discussed above but does not disclose wherein the controller is configured to: acquire information on a usage status of a plurality of the charging stations; identify the nearest charging station from among available charging stations; and reserve the nearest charging station.
Darrat discloses an information processing apparatus comprising a controller configured to:
acquire information on a usage status of a plurality of charging stations [0019];
identify the a nearest charging station from a vehicle from among available charging stations [0019]; and
reserve the nearest charging station [0019].
Darrat teaches that reserving the charging station based on its determined usage status ensures that the selected charging station is not being occupied by another vehicle [0010]. Darrat also teaches that the reservation prevents the charging station from being “snatched away” from the vehicle user [0010], for example, having another vehicle occupy the charging station while the vehicle is en route to the station. Darrat teaches that acquiring information on the usage status and identifying which stations are free or occupied allows the vehicle is an alternative to direct communication with the charging stations when direct communication is impossible [0011].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to reserve the first charging station based on the usage status and distance from the vehicle as disclosed by Darrat using the controller disclosed by Miura in order to minimize downtime of the vehicle due to charging by ensuring that the vehicle only stops when the charging station is vacant. Furthermore, it would have been obvious to acquire information on the usage status to simplify charge management when the vehicle or driver cannot directly communicate with the charging station.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miura (JP 2007-148590 A) in view of Ryu (US Patent Application Publication 2015/0291036) in view of Yang (US Patent Application Publication 2010/0241301) and further in view of Lee (KR 2012-0088162 A).
Regarding claim 6, Miura discloses an information processing apparatus comprising a controller (2) configured to:
acquire position information of a vehicle from a sensor included in the vehicle [0038];
output a notification that supply is necessary for the vehicle (5) based on information on a travelable distance of the vehicle and information on a distance from a position of the vehicle indicated by the acquired position information to a supply station (3) [0021: “…the charging station information providing server is configured to include a driving feasibility determination means for calculating a driving distance from the position of the electric vehicle each time it receives the vehicle type information, the location information, and the remaining fuel capacity information, determining whether or not there is a charging station within the calculated driving distance, and if not, issuing a warning to the electric vehicle via a communication network”] [0022: “According to the present invention, it is possible to notify the driver of an electric vehicle of the time when charging is required while the vehicle is traveling, thereby providing the driver with a sense of security”]; wherein
the controller:
calculates a first distance obtained by subtracting a predetermined distance from the travelable distance of the vehicle, calculates a second distance from the position of the vehicle to a nearest supply station from the vehicle, and outputs the notification in response to the first distance being less than or equal to the second distance [0095-0096, a warning is issued to the vehicle and then the driver is notified when there will be no more available charging stations within the driving distance (travelable distance) after a predetermined time based on the driving speed and direction. There are no available charging stations within a distance obtained by subtracting a predetermined distance corresponding to the product of the predetermined time and driving speed from the travelable distance when said distance is less than a distance from the vehicle to the nearest charging station].
Miura does not disclose the controller acquires an input from a user or an administrator for setting the predetermined distance or excludes one or more supply stations that cannot be used when the vehicle arrives at the one or more supply stations from targets for calculating the second distance.
Ryu discloses a device and method for controlling an electric vehicle (Title) comprising a controller that acquires an input from a user or an administrator for setting a predetermined distance that is subtracted from a travelable distance of the vehicle to calculate a first distance [0005-0006, 0093-0094, 0103, as shown in Figures 8-9];
wherein the controller acquires the predetermined distance from a terminal (403) of the user of the vehicle or from the vehicle [0094].
Ryu teaches that the travelable distance of the vehicle changes in response to the power consumption of electric loads on the vehicle [0004]. By adjusting calculation of the travelable distance, to calculate a first distance, in response to user input, optional electrical loads can be deactivated to achieve the desired vehicle range [0015-0016].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to acquire the input from the user as disclosed by Ryu that is used to adjust a travelable distance to calculate the first distance disclosed by Miura in order to achieve a desired vehicle range and/or to accurately reflect changes in the travelable distance in response to active electric loads on the vehicle.
Miura, as modified by Ryu, does not disclose the controller excludes one or more supply stations that cannot be used when the vehicle arrives at the one or more supply stations from targets for calculating the second distance.
Yang discloses a method of power management for a plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle (Title) wherein a controller excludes one or more supply stations that cannot be used when a vehicle arrives at the one or more supply stations from targets for calculating the second distance [0010].
Lee teaches that while an electric vehicle is driving, the battery discharges based on both the distance traveled and time that has passed [0003]. Lee also teaches that if many vehicles are concentrated at a specific charging station, it will present an inconvenience to the driver who has to wait a long time due to waiting for an available charger in addition to the charging time [0013].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to exclude full charging stations as disclosed by Yang in calculating the second distance as disclosed by Miura, as modified by Ryu, in order to prevent inconvenience to the driver.
Conclusion
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/JOSHUA CAMPBELL/
Examiner, Art Unit 3747
/LOGAN M KRAFT/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747