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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/05/2023 and 01/28/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Agassi et al. US Pub 2010/0141206 (hereinafter Agassi).
Regarding claim 1, Agassi teaches a battery replacement apparatus (Abstract and ¶ 0061: a battery exchange station a discharged battery is removed and a charged battery is inserted into an electric vehicle) for replacing a used first battery (Abstract: a discharged battery) attached to a vehicle body of an electrically powered vehicle (fig. 1, element 102 and ¶ 0062) with a charged second battery (Abstract and ¶ 0061; charged batteries), the battery replacement apparatus comprising:
a battery replacement station (Abstract and title: battery exchange station) which includes a first stop area where the electrically powered vehicle is to be stopped and a second stop area located at a position separated from the first stop area and in which removal of the first battery from the vehicle body and attachment of the second battery to the vehicle body are to be performed (¶¶ 0031, 0106 and claim 38; a first battery exchange system removes a discharged battery at a first location, then the car is conveyed to a second location where a second battery exchange system inserts a charged battery);
a removal device (¶¶ 0097-0098) that is provided below the first stop area and removes the first battery from the vehicle body stopped in the first stop area (Claim 29: removing a first rechargeable battery from a cavity in an underside of an at least partially electric vehicle by lowering the first rechargeable battery along a first axis substantially perpendicular to a plane formed by a bottom surface of the at least partially vehicle); and
an attachment device that is provided below the second stop area and attaches the second battery to the vehicle body stopped in the second stop area (Fig. 16B, step 1630 and Claim 29: inserting the second battery into the cavity in the underside of the at least partially electric vehicle by lifting the second battery along a second axis parallel to the first axis).
Regarding claim 2, Agassi discloses the battery replacement apparatus further comprising a moving unit that moves the vehicle body from the first stop area to the second stop area (¶ 0106; a first battery exchange system removes a discharged battery at a first location, then the car is conveyed to a second location where a second battery exchange system inserts a charged battery).
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 fails to teach or suggest further inclusion of the battery replacement apparatus includes the removal device, and the removal device is able to remove the first battery from the vehicle body in the first stop area, the control device causes the removal device to stop removing the first battery in the first stop area and causes the removal device to attach the first battery to the vehicle body again when the control device detects occurrence of abnormality during attachment.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZIXUAN ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)272-6739. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian Huffman can be reached at (571) 272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZIXUAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 07/08/2026
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