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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 18 – 20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 02/13/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1 – 11, 14 - 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claims are directed to a
judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significant more.
Regarding to claim 1,
101 Analysis – Step 1
Claim 1 is directed to a method (i.e., a process). Therefore, claim 1 is within at least one of the four statutory categories.
101 Analysis – Step 2A, Prong I
Regarding Prong I of the Step 2A analysis in the 2019 PEG, the claims are to be analyzed to determine whether they recite subject matter that falls within one of the follow groups of abstract ideas: a) mathematical concepts, b) certain methods of organizing human activity, and/or c) mental processes.
Independent claim 1 includes limitations that recite an abstract idea (emphasized below) and will be used as a representative claim for the remainder of the 101 rejection. Claim 1 recites:
A method of facilitating an operation of a first electric vehicle of a group of electric vehicles, the method comprising:
determining, by a battery management system of a first motoring battery of the first electric vehicle, first motoring battery information indicating discharge of the first motoring battery over a first period of time during which the first electric vehicle is operational;
receiving at least one wireless communication including second motoring battery information for a second motoring battery of a second electric vehicle of the group, the second motoring battery information indicating discharge of the second motoring battery over a second period of time during which the second electric vehicle is operational; and
displaying a graphical interface on a display associated with the first electric vehicle, the graphical interface presenting the first motoring battery information and the second motoring battery information in real-time.
The examiner submits that the foregoing bolded limitation(s) constitute a “mental process” because under its broadest reasonable interpretation, the claim covers performance of the limitation in the human mind. Specifically, the “determining first monitoring battery information …” encompasses a person using observation, evaluation, and judgment to determine the first battery information based collected data. Accordingly, the claim recites at least one abstract idea.
101 Analysis – Step 2A, Prong II
Regarding Prong II of the Step 2A analysis in the 2019 PEG, the claims are to be analyzed to determine whether the claim, as a whole, integrates the abstract into a practical application. As noted in the 2019 PEG, it must be determined whether any additional elements in the claim beyond the abstract idea integrate the exception into a practical application in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception. The courts have indicated that additional elements merely using a computer to implement an abstract idea, adding insignificant extra solution activity, or generally linking use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use do not integrate a judicial exception into a “practical application.”
In the present case, the additional limitations beyond the above-noted abstract idea are as follows (where the underlined portions are the “additional limitations” while the bolded portions continue to represent the “abstract idea”):
A method of facilitating an operation of a first electric vehicle of a group of electric vehicles, the method comprising:
determining, by a battery management system of a first motoring battery of the first electric vehicle, first motoring battery information indicating discharge of the first motoring battery over a first period of time during which the first electric vehicle is operational;
receiving at least one wireless communication including second motoring battery information for a second motoring battery of a second electric vehicle of the group, the second motoring battery information indicating discharge of the second motoring battery over a second period of time during which the second electric vehicle is operational; and
displaying a graphical interface on a display associated with the first electric vehicle, the graphical interface presenting the first motoring battery information and the second motoring battery information in real-time.
For the following reason(s), the examiner submits that the above identified additional limitations do not integrate the above-noted abstract idea into a practical application.
Regarding the additional limitations of “battery management system”, the examiner submits that these limitations are an attempt to generally link additional elements to a technological environment. In particular, the “battery management system” is recited at a high generality, therefore acting as a generic computer to perform the abstract idea. The additional limitation of “receiving …” is related to data gathering, thus being directed to insignificant extra-solution activities. The additional limitation of “displaying …” is directed to post solution activities. There are no additional limitation that would integrate the claim into practical application.
Thus, taken alone, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Further, looking at the additional limitation(s) as an ordered combination or as a whole, the limitation(s) add nothing that is not already present when looking at the elements taken individually. For instance, there is no indication that the additional elements, when considered as a whole, reflect an improvement in the functioning of a computer or an improvement to another technology or technical field, apply or use the above-noted judicial exception to effect a particular treatment or prophylaxis for a disease or medical condition, implement/use the above-noted judicial exception with a particular machine or manufacture that is integral to the claim, effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, or apply or use the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is not more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception (MPEP § 2106.05). Accordingly, the additional limitation(s) do/does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
101 Analysis – Step 2B
Regarding Step 2B of the Revised Guidance, representative independent claim 1 does not include additional elements (considered both individually and as an ordered combination) that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception for the same reasons to those discussed above with respect to determining that the claim does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of “battery management system” amounts to nothing more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. The additional limitation of “receiving …” is related to data gathering, thus being directed to insignificant extra-solution activities. The additional limitation of “displaying …” is directed to post solution activities. Hence, the claim is not patent eligible.
Dependent claim(s) 2 – 11, 14 - 16 do not recite any further limitations that cause the claim(s) to be patent eligible. Rather, the limitations of dependent claims are directed toward additional aspects of the judicial exception and/or well-understood, routine and conventional additional elements that do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. Claim 2 and 3 are related to mere displaying of information, therefore, it is directed to post-solution activities. Claims 4 - 6 are related to mere transmission of data over network, thus does not integrate the claim into practical application or to provide inventive concept. Claims 7, 9 - 11 do not provide any additional limitation that integrates the claim into practical application or to provide inventive concept. regarding to claim 8, the limitation “determining …” is directed to abstract idea as it encompasses a person using evaluation and judgment to determine the battery information based on collected data. The limitation of “receiving …” is directed to insignificant extra-solution activities. The additional limitation of “displaying …” is directed to post-solution activities. Therefore, the claim does not integrate the claim into practical application or to provide inventive concept. Claims 14 – 16 do not provide any additional limitation that integrates the claim into practical application or to provide inventive concept. Therefore, dependent claims 2 – 11, 14 – 16 are not patent eligible under the same rationale as provided for in the rejection of claim 1.
The analysis of claim 17 is similar as the analysis of claim 1 above. The additional limitation of “display”, “first monitoring battery”, “electric motor”, “processor”, “non-transitory machine-readable memory” are generic components that do not amount more than the judicial exception.
Therefore, claim(s) 1 – 11, 14 – 17 are ineligible under 35 USC §101.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3 – 7, 9, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shibita, Tomohiro (Publication No. US 20210254987 A1; hereinafter Shibata) in view of Trnka et al. (Publication No. US 20190315237 A1; hereinafter Trnka) in further view of Wells et al. (Publication No. US 20210183174 A1; hereinafter Wells).
Regarding to claim 1, Shibita teaches A method of facilitating an operation of a first electric vehicle of a group of electric vehicles, ([Par. 0020], “determine a scheduled travelling route of the electric vehicle 100 (which may be described as the own vehicle) in which the in-vehicle device 200 is mounted, acquire the battery information indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 110 of each of a plurality of other electric vehicles 100 (which may be described as the other vehicles) travelling at least a part of the scheduled travelling route,”) the method comprising:
determining, by a battery management system of a first motoring battery of the first electric vehicle, ([Par. 0013 – 0014], “The system 10 includes in-vehicle devices 200 and a management server 300. The system 10 may include electric vehicles 100. The system 10 may include charge stands 30. [0014] Each of the in-vehicle devices 200 is mounted in one of the electric vehicles 100.”; [Par. 0015], “The management server 300 is configured to collect information related to the electric vehicle100 from the in-vehicle device 200.”; [Par. 0017], “The information related to the electric vehicle 100 may include battery information indicating a remaining capacity of the battery 110. For example, the battery information indicates a SOC (State Of Charge).”)
receiving at least one wireless communication including second motoring battery information for a second motoring battery of a second electric vehicle of the group, ([Par. 0020], “The in-vehicle device 200 according to the present embodiment is configured to determine a scheduled travelling route of the electric vehicle 100 (which may be described as the own vehicle) in which the in-vehicle device 200 is mounted, acquire the battery information indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 110 of each of a plurality of other electric vehicles 100 (which may be described as the other vehicles) travelling at least a part of the scheduled travelling route”; [Par. 0025], “in the candidate route 51, the remaining capacity 410 of one of the three electric vehicles 400 is relatively low, and, in the candidate route 52, the remaining capacities 410 of all of the three electric vehicles400 are relatively low.”) and
displaying a graphical interface on a display associated with the first electric vehicle, ([Par. 0054], “The route navigation executing unit 210 may provide display including an own vehicle object610 for indicating the own vehicle, a destination object 620 for indicating the destination, a charge stand object 630 for indicating the charge stand, a candidate route object 640 for indicating the candidate route, an other vehicles information object 650 on which the number of low SOC vehicles in the candidate route is reflected.”)
Shibata teaches to receive battery information of the first vehicle and the plurality of vehicles within network as described above, but does not explicitly disclose first motoring battery information indicating discharge of the first motoring battery over a first period of time during which the first electric vehicle is operational; the second motoring battery information indicating discharge of the second motoring battery over a second period of time during which the second electric vehicle is operational;
However, Trnka teaches first motoring battery information indicating discharge of the first motoring battery over a first period of time during which the first electric vehicle is operational; ([Par. 0032], “FIG. 2 is an operation histogram illustrating battery data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The operation histogram 212 illustrates how much charge went through a battery at a particular current amplitude, at a particular temperature and at a particular state of charge during operation of an electric vehicle. The operation histogram 212 includes current amplitude 214,temperature 222, state of charge 216, and charge throughput 218 data.”; [Par. 0035], “the current amplitude 214, temperature 222, state of charge 216, and the charge throughput 218 data can be collected using one or more sensors (e.g., sensors 103-1, 103-2 in FIG. 1) on the batteries (e.g., batteries 104-1, 104-2 in FIG. 1) and/or the electric vehicles (e.g., electric vehicles 102-1, 102-2 in FIG. 1). The battery use data can be sent to the database via the wide area network (e.g., wide area network 100 in FIG. 1) connected to the electric vehicles.”)
the second motoring battery information indicating discharge of the second motoring battery over a second period of time during which the second electric vehicle is operational; ([Par. 0032], “FIG. 2 is an operation histogram illustrating battery data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The operation histogram 212 illustrates how much charge went through a battery at a particular current amplitude, at a particular temperature and at a particular state of charge during operation of an electric vehicle. The operation histogram 212 includes current amplitude 214,temperature 222, state of charge 216, and charge throughput 218 data.”; [Par. 0035], “the current amplitude 214, temperature 222, state of charge 216, and the charge throughput 218 data can be collected using one or more sensors (e.g., sensors 103-1, 103-2 in FIG. 1) on the batteries (e.g., batteries 104-1, 104-2 in FIG. 1) and/or the electric vehicles (e.g., electric vehicles 102-1, 102-2 in FIG. 1). The battery use data can be sent to the database via the wide area network (e.g., wide area network 100 in FIG. 1) connected to the electric vehicles.”)
It would have been obvious to modify Shibata to incorporate the teaching of Trnka because Trnka teaches collecting battery use data over time, including charge throughput and time duration, from a battery management system. Incorporating such time-based battery usage information into Shibata’s system for sharing battery information among vehicles would have allowed the system to provide more informative battery status data reflecting battery discharge during vehicle operation.
Shibata teaches to displaying the battery information of the plurality of vehicle as described in par. [0054], but the combination of Shibata and Trnka does not explicitly teach the graphical interface presenting the first motoring battery information and the second motoring battery information in real-time.
However, Wells teaches the graphical interface presenting the first motoring battery information and the second motoring battery information in real-time. ([Par. 0332], “an alert message in real-time to the battery management application 30′ on the server network device 20 and the one or more network devices 12, 14, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 external to the vehicle via the communications network 18, 18′.The alert message including the determined location information 102, 98′ for the vehicle 104, the determined voltage information 176′ for the vehicle 104, the determined temperature level information171′ indicating, and the estimated battery usage required by the internal battery based on the determined temperature information 171′ on the mobile geofencing apparatus 172 is in a low voltage state.”; [Par. 0339], “displaying on a graphical user interface 32 on the server network device 20 and the one or more other network devices 12, 14,16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, a graphical display 188′ of battery operational information for the mobile geofencing apparatus 172 on the vehicle 104 and other mobile geofencing apparatus 172′ used with network devices 12, 14, 16, 21, 23 on or in other vehicles 104′. Step 215 can be used with and/or without Step 215a in Method 190.”;”;
Further see fig. 14 where the display 188’ displays battery information of vehicle 104a – 104c)
It would have been obvious to further modify the combination of Shibata and Trnka to incorporate the teaching of Wells because Wells teaches displaying battery operational information for a vehicle and other vehicles on a graphical user interface. Incorporating such a graphical display into the system of Shibata and Trnka would have allowed the battery information obtained from multiple vehicles to be presented to a user in an intuitive and easily interpretable manner.
Regarding to claim 3, the combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells teaches the method of claim 1.
Shibata teaches to display the first vehicle and battery information of the second monitoring battery information on a display of the first electric vehicle as described in par. [0054].
Wells further teaches to display the first monitoring battery information and the second monitoring battery information on the display as described in par. [0339].
See claim 1 for motivation for combining the combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells.
Regarding to claim 4, the combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells teaches the method of claim 1.
Shibata further teaches comprising transmitting the first motoring battery information to the group of electric vehicles. ([Par. 0020], “The in-vehicle device 200 according to the present embodiment is configured to determine a scheduled travelling route of the electric vehicle 100 (which may be described as the own vehicle) in which the in-vehicle device 200 is mounted, acquire the battery information indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 110 of each of a plurality of other electric vehicles 100 (which may be described as the other vehicles) travelling at least a part of the scheduled travelling route, and execute route navigation for the own vehicle based on the acquired battery information. The in-vehicle device 200may be one example of a route navigation device. The in-vehicle device 200 may receive the battery information of the other vehicles from the management server 300.”
Wherein because the in-vehicle device 200 is mounted on each electric vehicle in the group, it is reasonably understood that each vehicle transmits its battery information to the management server 300 and receives battery information of other vehicles in the group via the management server 300.)
Regarding to claim 5, the combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells teaches the method of claim 4.
Shibata further teaches wherein the transmitting of the first motoring battery information to the group of electric vehicles includes transmitting the first motoring battery information to the group of electric vehicles through a server remote from the group of electric vehicles. ([Par. 0020], “The in-vehicle device 200 according to the present embodiment is configured to determine a scheduled travelling route of the electric vehicle 100 (which may be described as the own vehicle) in which the in-vehicle device 200 is mounted, acquire the battery information indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 110 of each of a plurality of other electric vehicles 100 (which may be described as the other vehicles) travelling at least a part of the scheduled travelling route, and execute route navigation for the own vehicle based on the acquired battery information. The in-vehicle device 200may be one example of a route navigation device. The in-vehicle device 200 may receive the battery information of the other vehicles from the management server 300.”
Wherein because the in-vehicle device 200 is mounted on each electric vehicle in the group, it is reasonably understood that each vehicle transmits its battery information to the management server 300 and receives battery information of other vehicles in the group via the management server 300.)
Regarding to claim 6, the combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells teaches the method of claim 4.
Shibata further teaches wherein the transmitting of the first motoring battery information to the group of electric vehicles includes transmitting the first motoring battery information to the group of electric vehicles through a wireless connection defined between the electric vehicles of the group of electric vehicles. ([Par. 0015 – 0016], “The management server 300 is configured to collect information related to the electric vehicle 100 from the in-vehicle device 200. The management server 300 may collect information related to the electric vehicle 100 from the in-vehicle device 200 via a network 20. [0016] The network 20 may be any network. For example, the network 20 includes a mobile communication network such as the so-called 3G (3rd Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G(4th Generation), and 5G (5th Generation). The network 20 may include the so-called WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) network. The network 20 may include the Internet.”; [Par. 0020], “The in-vehicle device 200 according to the present embodiment is configured to determine a scheduled travelling route of the electric vehicle 100 (which may be described as the own vehicle) in which the in-vehicle device 200 is mounted, acquire the battery information indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 110 of each of a plurality of other electric vehicles 100 (which may be described as the other vehicles) travelling at least a part of the scheduled travelling route, and execute route navigation for the own vehicle based on the acquired battery information. The in-vehicle device 200may be one example of a route navigation device. The in-vehicle device 200 may receive the battery information of the other vehicles from the management server 300.”
Note: Shibata teaches transmitting information related to electric vehicles through network 20, which may include wireless communication networks such as LTE, 4G, 5G, and WiFi (Shibata [0016]). Because each in-vehicle device communicates with the management server via the wireless network and receives information regarding other vehicles through the same network, the electric vehicles are wirelessly connected and exchange battery information through the wireless network.)
Regarding to claim 7, the combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells teaches the method of claim 1.
Shibata further teaches wherein the first period of time at least partially overlaps with the second period of time. ([Par. 0020], “The in-vehicle device 200 according to the present embodiment is configured to determine a scheduled travelling route of the electric vehicle 100 (which may be described as the own vehicle) in which the in-vehicle device 200 is mounted, acquire the battery information indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 110 of each of a plurality of other electric vehicles 100 (which may be described as the other vehicles) travelling at least a part of the scheduled travelling route, and execute route navigation for the own vehicle based on the acquired battery information. The in-vehicle device 200may be one example of a route navigation device. The in-vehicle device 200 may receive the battery information of the other vehicles from the management server 300.” This implies that the battery information of the first vehicle and the plurality of vehicles within the network is collected contemporaneously. Accordingly, the system presents battery information of multiple vehicles corresponding to the same point in time.)
Regarding to claim 9, the combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells teaches the method of claim 1.
Wells further teaches wherein, the first motoring battery has a first battery capacity and the second motoring battery has a second battery capacity different from the first battery capacity; and the first motoring battery information is based on the first battery capacity and the second motoring battery information is based on the second battery capacity. ((see fig. 14, and [Par. 0339], “displaying on a graphical user interface 32 on the server network device 20 and the one or more other network devices 12, 14,16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, a graphical display 188′ of battery operational information for the mobile geofencing apparatus 172 on the vehicle 104 and other mobile geofencing apparatus 172′ used with network devices 12, 14, 16, 21, 23 on or in other vehicles 104′. Step 215 can be used with and/or without Step 215a in Method 190.”;”; where the display 188’ show the capacity information of each of the vehicle in the group.)
Regarding to claim 17, Shibata teaches An electric vehicle comprising:
a display; (fig. 3, “display unit 212”)
a first motoring battery; (fig. 3, “battery information acquiring unit 206”)
an electric motor for propelling the electric vehicle, the electric motor being operatively connected to be driven by electric power from the first motoring battery; ([Par. 0014], “Each of the in-vehicle devices 200 is mounted in one of the electric vehicles 100.” Since the vehicle 100 is an electric vehicle, it should be obvious that the vehicle 100 is equipped with an electric motor for propelling the electric vehicle.)
one or more data processors operatively connected to the display, the first motoring battery, and to the electric motor; ([Par. 0077], “Blocks in flowcharts and block diagrams in the present embodiments may represent steps of processes in which operations are performed or “units” of apparatuses responsible for performing operations. Certain steps and “units” may be implemented by dedicated circuitry, programmable circuitry supplied with computer readable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium, and/or processors supplied with computer readable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium.”) and
a non-transitory machine-readable memory storing instructions executable by the one or more data processors and configured to cause the one or more data processors ([Par. 0078], “A computer readable storage medium may include any tangible device that can store instructions for execution by a suitable device, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which can be executed to create means for performing operations specified in the flowcharts or block diagrams.”) to:
determine first motoring battery information; ([Par. 0013 – 0014], “The system 10 includes in-vehicle devices 200 and a management server 300. The system 10 may include electric vehicles 100. The system 10 may include charge stands 30. [0014] Each of the in-vehicle devices 200 is mounted in one of the electric vehicles 100.”; [Par. 0015], “The management server 300 is configured to collect information related to the electric vehicle100 from the in-vehicle device 200.”; [Par. 0017], “The information related to the electric vehicle 100 may include battery information indicating a remaining capacity of the battery 110. For example, the battery information indicates a SOC (State Of Charge).”)
receive second motoring battery information for a second motoring battery of a second electric vehicle, the second electric vehicle travelling with the electric vehicle in a group of electric vehicles; ([Par. 0020], “The in-vehicle device 200 according to the present embodiment is configured to determine a scheduled travelling route of the electric vehicle 100 (which may be described as the own vehicle) in which the in-vehicle device 200 is mounted, acquire the battery information indicating the remaining capacity of the battery 110 of each of a plurality of other electric vehicles 100 (which may be described as the other vehicles) travelling at least a part of the scheduled travelling route”; [Par. 0025], “in the candidate route 51, the remaining capacity 410 of one of the three electric vehicles 400 is relatively low, and, in the candidate route 52, the remaining capacities 410 of all of the three electric vehicles400 are relatively low.”) and
display a graphical interface on the display. ([Par. 0054], “The route navigation executing unit 210 may provide display including an own vehicle object610 for indicating the own vehicle, a destination object 620 for indicating the destination, a charge stand object 630 for indicating the charge stand, a candidate route object 640 for indicating the candidate route, an other vehicles information object 650 on which the number of low SOC vehicles in the candidate route is reflected.”)
Shibata teaches to receive battery information of the first vehicle and the plurality of vehicles within network as described above, but does not explicitly disclose first motoring battery information indicating discharge of the first motoring battery over a first period of time during which the electric vehicle is operational; the second motoring battery information indicating discharge of the second motoring battery over a second period of time during which the second electric vehicle is operational,
However, Trnka teaches first motoring battery information indicating discharge of the first motoring battery over a first period of time during which the electric vehicle is operational; ([Par. 0032], “FIG. 2 is an operation histogram illustrating battery data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The operation histogram 212 illustrates how much charge went through a battery at a particular current amplitude, at a particular temperature and at a particular state of charge during operation of an electric vehicle. The operation histogram 212 includes current amplitude 214,temperature 222, state of charge 216, and charge throughput 218 data.”; [Par. 0035], “the current amplitude 214, temperature 222, state of charge 216, and the charge throughput 218 data can be collected using one or more sensors (e.g., sensors 103-1, 103-2 in FIG. 1) on the batteries (e.g., batteries 104-1, 104-2 in FIG. 1) and/or the electric vehicles (e.g., electric vehicles 102-1, 102-2 in FIG. 1). The battery use data can be sent to the database via the wide area network (e.g., wide area network 100 in FIG. 1) connected to the electric vehicles.”)
the second motoring battery information indicating discharge of the second motoring battery over a second period of time during which the second electric vehicle is operational, ([Par. 0032], “FIG. 2 is an operation histogram illustrating battery data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The operation histogram 212 illustrates how much charge went through a battery at a particular current amplitude, at a particular temperature and at a particular state of charge during operation of an electric vehicle. The operation histogram 212 includes current amplitude 214,temperature 222, state of charge 216, and charge throughput 218 data.”; [Par. 0035], “the current amplitude 214, temperature 222, state of charge 216, and the charge throughput 218 data can be collected using one or more sensors (e.g., sensors 103-1, 103-2 in FIG. 1) on the batteries (e.g., batteries 104-1, 104-2 in FIG. 1) and/or the electric vehicles (e.g., electric vehicles 102-1, 102-2 in FIG. 1). The battery use data can be sent to the database via the wide area network (e.g., wide area network 100 in FIG. 1) connected to the electric vehicles.”)
It would have been obvious to modify Shibata to incorporate the teaching of Trnka because Trnka teaches collecting battery use data over time, including charge throughput and time duration, from a battery management system. Incorporating such time-based battery usage information into Shibata’s system for sharing battery information among vehicles would have allowed the system to provide more informative battery status data reflecting battery discharge during vehicle operation.
Shibata teaches to displaying the battery information of the plurality of vehicle as described in par. [0054], but the combination of Shibata and Trnka does not explicitly teach the graphical interface presenting the first motoring battery information and the second motoring battery information in real-time.
However, Wells teaches the graphical interface presenting the first motoring battery information and the second motoring battery information in real-time. ([Par. 0332], “an alert message in real-time to the battery management application 30′ on the server network device 20 and the one or more network devices 12, 14, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 external to the vehicle via the communications network 18, 18′.The alert message including the determined location information 102, 98′ for the vehicle 104, the determined voltage information 176′ for the vehicle 104, the determined temperature level information171′ indicating, and the estimated battery usage required by the internal battery based on the determined temperature information 171′ on the mobile geofencing apparatus 172 is in a low voltage state.”; [Par. 0339], “displaying on a graphical user interface 32 on the server network device 20 and the one or more other network devices 12, 14,16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, a graphical display 188′ of battery operational information for the mobile geofencing apparatus 172 on the vehicle 104 and other mobile geofencing apparatus 172′ used with network devices 12, 14, 16, 21, 23 on or in other vehicles 104′. Step 215 can be used with and/or without Step 215a in Method 190.”;”;
Further see fig. 14 where the display 188’ displays battery information of vehicle 104a – 104c)
It would have been obvious to further modify the combination of Shibata and Trnka to incorporate the teaching of Wells because Wells teaches displaying battery operational information for a vehicle and other vehicles on a graphical user interface. Incorporating such a graphical display into the system of Shibata and Trnka would have allowed the battery information obtained from multiple vehicles to be presented to a user in an intuitive and easily interpretable manner.
Claim(s) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Shibita, Trnka, and Wells in further view of Li et al. (Publication No. US 20170127249 A1; hereinafter Li).
Regarding to claim 10, the combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells teaches the method of claim 1.
The combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells teaches to communicate among a group of vehicles to receive battery information of the vehicles in the group as described in claim 1 above, but do not explicitly disclose comprising receiving, from an operator interface of the first electric vehicle, a request to join the group of electric vehicles.
However, Li teaches comprising receiving, from an operator interface of the first electric vehicle, a request to join the group of electric vehicles. ([Par. 0038], “transmitting a confirmation to the second to the second if the first receives an confirmation to add the second to the input by the user; allocating a icon for the second and adding the second to the when the first receives the confirmation response transmitted by the second ; the confirmation response is generated after the second receives the confirmation , exhibits the driving information of the first and instructs the user to confirm whether or not to the , and receives an instruction of confirming to the input by the user; the icon of the second and the driving information of the second on the interface by the first .”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention to modify the combination of Shibata, Trnka, and Wells to incorporate the teaching of Li. The modification would have been obvious because displaying a request and confirmation for adding a second vehicle to the group enables acknowledgment that the vehicle has been successfully added to the group.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 8, 11 – 16 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN V NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7320. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday 11am - 7pm EST.
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/STEVEN VU NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3668