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 § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
The examiner notes that the Extended European Search Report for European Application No. 23208078.8, dated April 23, 2024 is regarded as highly applicable and is excerpted heavily hereinbelow.
It is noted that offices in Australia and China also found the claims not to be allowable based on much of the same art.
Claims 1 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2022/0004239).
Yang et al. teaches a power conversion system ("circuit diagram for a battery management system connected to a battery pack 101 and a multiphase converter 117", figure 1, paragraph [0018]), comprising a battery management system ("The MCU 115 is paired with the AFE 109, in this embodiment, to handle control, protection, and monitoring processing", figure 1, paragraph [0024]) and an auxiliary power supply ("first auxiliary power Aux P1 113", figure 1, paragraph [0019]), wherein a positive electrode of the auxiliary power supply is connected to a positive electrode of a battery rack ("auxiliary power can be provided from either the battery, at Aux P1 113", figure 1, paragraph [0025]), the auxiliary power supply is configured to obtain power from the battery rack, convert the power obtained from the battery rack, and supply the converted power to the battery management system and a load in the power conversion system ("first auxiliary power Aux P1113 is providing auxiliary power for controllers and other rails", figure 1, paragraph [0019], a conversion is implicitly required to provide a constant voltage for the controllers); and the battery management system is configured to sample a voltage of the battery rack and a current of the battery rack, and control charging and discharging of the battery rack based on the voltage and the current ("the BMS can monitor the voltage, current, cell and package temperature, state of charge (SOC), and state of health (SOH) of the battery packages. Based on the monitoring parameters, the BMS can include the over voltage, over current, over temperature, under voltage protections with cell balancing, and charging/ discharging controls", paragraph [0015]).
Claims 2-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Zuhai (CN 211 880 118) SK ON Co. (KR 2022 0088039) and Changzhou (CN 217 198 119 U) all of which are of record in the applicant’s information disclosure.
The features of claims 2-9 are obvious in combination with the above references.
Re claim 2: Changzhou (fuse 1, Q1 and Q3 in figure 1, using a further fuse is expected to be straightforward for the person skilled in the art)
Claim 3: Changzhou (K1 in figure 1)
Claim 4: Changzhou (R1 and Q2 in figure 1, slight constructional change)
Claim 5: Yang et al. (112 in figure 1, slight constructional change)
Claim 6: Yang et al. (figure 3)
Claims 7, 8: Using a further switchable slow-starting circuit is expected to be straightforward for the person skilled in the art.
Claim 9: Document Yang et al. (figure 1), Zuhai (figure 1), and SK ON Co. (figure 2).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL A HESS whose telephone number is (571)272-2392. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, from 9 AM to 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael G. Lee can be reached at (571)272-2398. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL A HESS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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