DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-10 are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Saxena, Shivam, et al. "Design and field implementation of blockchain based renewable energy trading in residential communities." 2019 2nd international conference on smart grid and renewable energy (SGRE). IEEE, 2019 (hereinafter Saxena).
Regarding claims 1-10, Saxena discloses all the claimed limitations, as outlined below.
Claim 1. A blockchain transactive energy management system comprising: a transactive energy platform including a blockchain service engine connected to a distribution system operator software agent, a driver software agent (Abstract, Fig. 1, Fig. 5, Fig 9, Fig 10, Section labeled “IV. Permissioned blockchain implementation”, and Section labeled “B. Real-world result” - -
PNG
media_image1.png
372
534
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Saxena discloses that the transactive energy platform includes a blockchain service connected to software agents for distribution and driving);
an electric vehicle servicing entities software agent (Section labeled “I. Introduction – The DER includes EVs),
and a demand response software agent (Section labeled “I. Introduction – DER),
a physical network simulator platform connected to at least one charging station, a demand response dashboard, a distribution system operator dashboard, and an analytics engine including at least one forecast engine connected to at least one database, wherein the blockchain service engine is configured to communicate with the software agents and generate and manage smart contracts, based on inputs from the forecast engines and metered data from the physical network simulator platform (Abstract, Fig. 1, Fig. 5, Fig 9, Fig 10, Section labeled “IV. Permissioned blockchain implementation”, and Section labeled “B. Real-world result” - -
PNG
media_image2.png
760
558
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Saxena discloses the market place implemented on a permissioned blockchain infrastructure. Smart homes interact with the blockchain, placing bids, monitoring bids, and facilitating automated control of DERs. The user also interacts with the market via the dashboard).
Claim 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the physical network simulator platform further comprises at least one distribution network, one smart home network, and one advanced metering infrastructure (Fig 1 and Fig 5 - - distribution, smart homes, and metering).
Claim 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the distribution system operator dashboard communicates transactive energy web app data to the distribution system operator agent (Fig 9 - - Microgrid Transactive Energy Dashboard).
Claim 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the demand response dashboard communicates transactive energy web app data to the demand response software agent (Fig 9 - - Microgrid Transactive Energy Dashboard).
Claim 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the blockchain service engine comprises a smart the software agent based on metered data from the physical network simulator, wherein the software agents are configured to accept, reject, or counter offer the smart contract (Fig 5 - - smart contracts, and smart contract related transactions).
Claim 6. A blockchain transactive energy management method comprising: providing a transactive energy platform including a blockchain service engine connected to a distribution system operator software agent, a driver software agent (Abstract, Fig. 1, Fig. 5, Fig 9, Fig 10, Section labeled “IV. Permissioned blockchain implementation”, and Section labeled “B. Real-world result” - -
PNG
media_image1.png
372
534
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Saxena discloses that the transactive energy platform includes a blockchain service connected to software agents for distribution and driving);
an electric vehicle servicing entities software agent (Section labeled “I. Introduction – The DER includes EVs),
and a demand response software agent (Section labeled “I. Introduction – DER),
connecting a physical network simulator platform connected to at least one charging station, connecting a demand response dashboard and a distribution system operator dashboard to the transactive energy platform, utilizing an analytics engine including at least one forecast engine connected to at least one database to generate forecast data based on historical data from the database, and utilizing a blockchain service engine to communicate with the software agents and generate and manage smart contracts, based on inputs from the forecast engines and metered data from the physical network simulator platform (Abstract, Fig. 1, Fig. 5, Fig 9, Fig 10, Section labeled “IV. Permissioned blockchain implementation”, and Section labeled “B. Real-world result” - -
PNG
media_image2.png
760
558
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Saxena discloses the market place implemented on a permissioned blockchain infrastructure. Smart homes interact with the blockchain, placing bids, monitoring bids, and facilitating automated control of DERs. The user also interacts with the market via the dashboard).
Claim 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the physical network simulator platform further comprises at least one distribution network, one smart home network, and one advanced metering infrastructure (Fig 1 and Fig 5 - - distribution, smart homes, and metering).
Claim 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the distribution system operator dashboard communicates transactive energy web app data to the distribution system operator agent (Fig 9 - - Microgrid Transactive Energy Dashboard).
Claim 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the demand response dashboard communicates transactive energy web app data to the demand response software agent (Fig 9 - - Microgrid Transactive Energy Dashboard).
Claim 10. The method of claim 6, wherein the blockchain service engine includes a smart contract module, which is configured to generate at least one smart contracts for each of the software agent based on metered data from the physical network simulator, wherein the software agents are configured to accept, reject, or counter offer the smart contracts (Fig 5 - - smart contracts, and smart contract related transactions).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
1. Li, Zhiyi, et al. "Blockchain for decentralized transactive energy management system in networked microgrids." The Electricity Journal 32.4 (2019): 58-72 – relates to transactive energy systems.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLOS R ORTIZ RODRIGUEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-3766. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 10:00 am- 6:30 pm.
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, Mohammad Ali can be reached on 571-272-4105. 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.
/CARLOS R ORTIZ RODRIGUEZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2119