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 .
DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
This is the first Office action on the merits for Application No. 18/498,554, filed 10/31/2023. Claims 1-13 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) received on 10/31/2023 has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 9, 10 and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 9, the limitation “a second indicator” is unclear as to whether or not a first indicator is being claimed. Please replace it with limitation - -a first indicator- - for clarity.
Claim 10, the limitation “a third indicator” is unclear as to whether or not a first indicator and a second indicator are being claimed. Please replace it with limitation - -a first indicator- - for clarity.
Claim 12, the limitations “a second touch-sensitive portion” and “a second virtual key” are unclear as to whether or not a first touch-sensitive portion and a first virtual key are being claimed. Please replace them with limitations - - a first touch-sensitive portion- - and - - a first virtual key- - for clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 –
(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 1-2, 4-10 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Grider et al. (US 2017/0267117, from IDS filed 10/31/2023).
Regarding claim 1, Grider discloses a motor vehicle (10) comprising –
a rechargeable power source (16),
- a body portion (11),
- a charging compartment (i.e., compartment includes at least recharging port 20, hereinafter “ChargingC20”) on the body portion (11),
- a charge port (20) arranged inside the charging compartment and connected to the rechargeable power source (16),
- a door (24) having a first (28) and a second face (26) opposite one another according to the direction of a thickness of the door (24), the door (24) being coupled to the body portion (11) in a movable manner between a closing position, in which the door (24) closes the charging compartment (ChargingC20) with the first face (28) facing the charging compartment (ChargingC20), and
an opening position (figs. 1 and 2), in which the charging compartment (ChargingC20) can be accessed from the outside, so that an outer charging source can be connected to the charge port (20) in order to enable a charging process of the rechargeable power source (16), and
- a screen (30) to display one or more items of information relating to the charging process (paragraphs [0015 – 0025]), wherein the screen (30) is placed in a position so as to be covered by the door (24) in the closing position.
Regarding claim 2, Grider discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the screen (30) is arranged on the first face (28) in a manner to be visible when the door (24) is in the opening position (figs. 1 and 2).
Regarding claim 4, Grider discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the door (24) and/or the screen (30) have a circular (figs. 1 and 2) or elliptical shape.
Regarding claim 5, Grider discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the door (24) is hinged to the body portion (11) around a hinge axis (figs. 1 and 2, i.e., hinge connects cover 24 to recharging port 20, not labeled)
Regarding claim 6, Grider discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the screen (30) comprises a first indicator (44; par. [0018]) adapted to display a state of charge of the rechargeable power source (16).
Regarding claim 7, Grider discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the first indicator (15) comprises a graduated scale along a circular direction (fig. 2; par. [0018], i.e., lights 44 illuminate in an arc in a circular direction of the display assembly 30).
Regarding claim 8, Grider discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the screen (30) comprises at least one further additional indicator (32) within the circular direction (par. [0018], i.e., indicator 32 displays in a circular direction of indicator assembly 30).
Regarding claim 9, Grider discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the screen (30) comprises a second indicator (claims 10 and 11) adapted to display a time needed to complete the charging process or a time elapsed since the beginning of the charging process.
Regarding claim 10, Grider discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the screen (30) comprises a third indicator (paragraphs [0004], [0018], i.e., indicator 34) adapted to display a quantity indicative of a current residual range of the rechargeable power source (16; par. [0013], i.e., as indicated by the second indicator 34, the length of which correlates to the percentage of charge (current residual range) of the battery 16).
Regarding claim 13, Grider discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a control device (36) configured to turn the screen (30) on in response to an arrangement of the door (24) in the opening position (paragraphs [0014], [0016], [0023 - 0025]).
Claims 1, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Seo et al. (KR 2014/0118364 A).
Regarding claim 1, Seo discloses a motor vehicle (10; See figs. 2a, 2b, 6, and 7; machine translation attached) comprising –
a rechargeable power source (par. [0007], i.e., a battery of the electric vehicle 10),
- a body portion (i.e., body portion of electric vehicle 10),
- a charging compartment (figs. 2a/2b, i.e., portion 30) on the body portion,
- a charge port (i.e., recharging device 12) arranged inside the charging compartment (30) and connected to the rechargeable power source,
- a door (14) having a first (i.e., inner face of cover 14) and a second face (i.e., side surface of cover 14 or the face of the thickness of cover 14) opposite one another according to the direction of a thickness of the door (14), the door (14) being coupled to the body portion in a movable manner between a closing position, in which the door (14) closes the charging compartment (30) with the first face facing the charging compartment (30), and
an opening position (fig. 1; par. [0051]), in which the charging compartment (30) can be accessed from the outside, so that an outer charging source can be connected to the charge port (12) in order to enable a charging process of the rechargeable power source, and
- a screen (110) to display one or more items of information relating to the charging process (paragraphs [0035], [0044], [0056], [0058] – [0060], and [0062]), wherein the screen (110) is placed in a position so as to be covered by the door (14) in the closing position.
Regarding claim 11, Seo discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the screen (110) comprises a first touch-sensitive portion (520) defining a first virtual key configured to cause a start of the charging process (paragraphs [0040], [0042]).
Regarding claim 12, Seo discloses the motor vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the screen (110) comprises a second touch-sensitive portion (520) defining a second virtual key configured to cause an interruption of the charging process (par. [0058[, i.e., charging condition setting…includes charging stop control).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 3, the prior art of record fails to disclose or render obvious the planetary gear carrier assembly of claim 2 and in combination with the features recited.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ozawa et al. (US 5,757,594) discloses an apparatus for displaying battery charging of electric vehicle, se Figures 1-3; and
Yamazaki (US 10,189,361 B2) discloses a charging and discharging current quantity display device for electric vehicle, see Figures 1-9.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tinh T Dang whose telephone number is (571)270-1776. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9AM - 5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ernesto Suarez can be reached at Mon-Friday from 8AM-4:30PM at (571) 270-5565. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TINH T DANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3655
March 6, 2026