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 . Claims 1-11 and 13-15 have been reviewed and are under consideration by this office action.
Notice to Applicant
The following is a Final Office action. Applicant, on 06/23/2026, amended claims. Claims 1-11 and 13-15 are pending in this application and have been rejected below.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments are received and acknowledged.
The amended claims overcome the 102/103 rejection and are therefore withdrawn.
Response to Arguments - 35 USC § 101
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 35 USC 101 rejections have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive.
Applicant contends that the claims are rooted in battery technology and vehicle-fleet maintenance and does not recite mental processes.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claims recite the mental processes of acquiring data, determining a state of health, identifying energy storages, determining number of vehicles to fulfill missions, computing ( i.e. calculating) an energy storage reshuffle, and providing an instruction all of which are concepts capable of being performed in the human mind (i.e. via pen and paper).
Applicant contends at Step 2A-P1 that the claims are not directed towards certain methods of organizing human activity as the claims do not recite economic practices, legal obligation, etc.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claims are directed towards improving lifetimes of energy storages of a fleet of vehicles (See Specification, [pg. 2, para. 1]) and further vehicle -fleet maintenance which are commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations) and/or managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions)
Applicant contends at Step 2A-P2 that the claims applies SOH and aging-predictions in a concrete technical maintenance process which improves fleet -level battery maintenance and is not merely apply it on a computer. Applicant further contends that the claimed improvement is not merely displaying a result but claimed computation is integrated into a practical battery maintenance application.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The additional elements are identified below and are determined to be performing the steps would be no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. See MPEP 2106.05(f) and/or amounts to no more than generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h) and as such don not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The asserted improvement merely improves upon the abstract idea itself and does not constitute an improvement to the overall technology or technological field.
Applicant contends at Step 2B that the claims are significantly more than the judicial exception and contends that the ordered limitation are not generic instruction to use a computer.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The additional elements are considered both individually as well a s in combination and determined to be performing the steps would be no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. See MPEP 2106.05(f) and/or amounts to no more than generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h) and as such don not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application nor do they amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
The 101 rejection is updated and maintained below.
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 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step One - First, pursuant to step 1 in the January 2019 Guidance on 84 Fed. Reg. 53, claim(s) 1-11 and 13-15 is/are directed to statutory categories.
Step 2A, Prong One – The claims are found to recite limitations that set forth the abstract idea(s), namely in independent claims recite a series of steps for the abstract idea recited below.
Regarding the claims, (additional elements bolded)
Regarding Claim(s) 1, A computer-implemented method for improving lifetimes of electrical energy storages of a fleet of vehicles each associated with one of several missions, the method comprising:
acquiring, by a processor device of a computer system, data indicating hard vehicle fleet performance constraints including: a total energy and power constraints in the fleet electrical energy storages for fulfilling the fleet missions, and energy and power requirements for fulfilling vehicle missions for individual vehicles,
determining, by the processor device, present state of health (SOH) of each of the electrical energy storages of the fleet,
identifying, by the processor device, electrical energy storages of vehicles in the fleet with SOH such that the energy and power requirement for its mission is not fulfilled,
acquiring, by the processor device, data of warehouse inventory of available electrical energy storages and their SOH, and data of on-road inventory comprising electrical energy
storages currently installed in vehicles of the fleet and available for reshuffling,
acquiring, by the processor device, a schedule of planned workshop visits of vehicles of the fleet including the vehicles having electrical energy storages with insufficient SOH and at least one other vehicle of the fleet,
for a given distribution of vehicle missions on a fleet level, determining, by the processor device, a required minimum number of vehicles to fulfil the vehicle missions on the fleet level,
computing, by the processor device, a forecast SOH or an aging prediction for each of the electrical energy storages of the fleet for each of the missions of the fleet,
for the required minimum number of vehicles, computing, by the processor device, an electrical energy storage replacement/reshuffle strategy including a required electrical energy storage distribution among the required minimum number of vehicles that meet the hard constraints with their forecast SOH with minimum margin, and a replacement time slot schedule that minimizes vehicle downtime for reshuffling of electrical energy storage between vehicles and/or replacement from the warehouse by utilizing the already planned workshop visits, and
providing, by the processor device, an instruction including the electrical energy storages replacement/reshuffle strategy,
wherein the instruction identifies donor vehicles in the fleet whose electrical energy storage packs are to be reshuffled to receiver vehicles in the fleet, and identifies electrical energy storage packs to be supplied from warehouse inventory.
Regarding Claim(s) 10, A system for improving lifetimes of electrical energy storages of a fleet of vehicles each associated with one of several missions comprising:
a data collector acquiring data indicating hard vehicle fleet performance constraints including: a total energy and power constraints in the fleet of electrical energy storages for fulfilling the fleet missions, and energy and power requirements for fulfilling vehicle missions for individual vehicles, wherein the data collector is computer instructions stored in memory and executed by a processor,
a data acquisitor retrieving present state of health (SOH) data of each of the electrical energy storages of the fleet, wherein the data acquisitor is computer instructions stored in memory and executed by the processor
a comparator identifying electrical energy storages of vehicles in the fleet with SOH such that the energy requirement for its mission is not fulfilled, wherein the comparator is computer instructions stored in memory and executed by the processor,
a memory storage having stored data of warehouse inventory of available electrical energy storages and their SOH, data of on-road inventory comprising electrical energy storages currently installed in vehicles of the fleet and available for reshuffling, and a schedule of planned workshop visits of vehicles of the fleet including the vehicles having electrical energy storages with insufficient SOH and at least one other vehicle of the fleet,
a control unit configured to: for a given distribution of vehicle missions on a fleet level, determine a required minimum number of vehicles to fulfil the vehicle missions on the fleet level,
compute a forecast SOH for each of the electrical energy storages of the fleet for each of the missions of the fleet,
for the required minimum number of vehicles, compute an electrical energy storage replacement/reshuffle strategy including an required electrical energy storage distribution among the required minimum number of vehicles that meet the hard constraints with their forecast SOH with minimum margin, and a replacement time slot schedule that minimizes vehicle downtime for reshuffling of electrical energy storage between vehicles and/or replacement from the warehouse by utilizing the already planned workshop visits, and
provide an instruction including the electrical energy storages replacement/reshuffle strategy, wherein the instruction identifies donor vehicles in the fleet whose electrical energy storage packs are to be reshuffled to receiver vehicles in the fleet, and identifies electrical energy
storage packs to be supplied from warehouse inventory, wherein the control unit is computer instructions stored in memory and executed by the processor.
Regarding Claim(s) 11, The system according to claim 10, wherein the control unit is configured to provide the instruction to a user interface and/or to store the electrical energy storage replacement/reshuffle strategy on a memory storage.
Regarding Claim(s) 13, A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor device, cause the processor device to perform the method of claim 1.
Further regarding Claim(s) 14, A control system comprising one or more control units wherein the control system is computer instructions stored in memory and executed by the processor, configured to perform:
acquiring, by the control system, data indicating hard vehicle fleet performance constraints including: a total energy and power constraints in the fleet electrical energy storages for fulfilling the fleet missions, and energy and power requirements for fulfilling vehicle missions for individual vehicles,
determining, by the control system present state of health (SOH) of each of the electrical energy storages of the fleet,
identifying, by the control system, electrical energy storages of vehicles in the fleet with
SOH such that the energy and power requirement for its mission is not fulfilled,
acquiring, by the control system, data of warehouse inventory of available electrical energy storages and their SOH, and data of on-road inventory comprising electrical energy storages currently installed in vehicles of the fleet and available for reshuffling,
acquiring, by the control system, a schedule of planned workshop visits of vehicles of the
fleet including the vehicles having electrical energy storages with insufficient SOH and at least
one other vehicle of the fleet,
for a given distribution of vehicle missions on a fleet level, determining, by the control
system, a required minimum number of vehicles to fulfil the vehicle missions on the fleet level,
computing, by the control system, a forecast SOH or an aging prediction for each of the electrical energy storages of the fleet for each of the missions of the fleet,
for the required minimum number of vehicles, computing, by the control system, an
electrical energy storage replacement/reshuffle strategy including a required electrical energy
storage distribution among the required minimum number of vehicles that meet the hard
constraints with their forecast SOH with minimum margin, and a replacement time slot schedule that minimizes vehicle downtime for reshuffling of electrical energy storage between vehicles and/or replacement from the warehouse by utilizing the already planned workshop visits, and
providing, by the control system, an instruction including the electrical energy storages
replacement/reshuffle strategy, wherein the instruction identifies donor vehicles in the fleet
whose electrical energy storage packs are to be reshuffled to receiver vehicles in the fleet, and identifies electrical energy storage packs to be supplied from warehouse inventory.
Further regarding Claim(s) 15, A server comprising- a control system comprising one or more control units wherein the control system is computer instructions stored in memory and executed by the processor, configured to perform:
a control system comprising one or more control units wherein the control system is computer instructions stored in memory and executed by the processor, configured to perform:
acquiring, by the one or more control units, data indicating hard vehicle fleet
performance constraints including: a total energy and power constraints in the fleet electrical
energy storages for fulfilling the fleet missions, and energy and power requirements for fulfilling
vehicle missions for individual vehicles,
determining, by the one or more control units, present state of health (SOH) of each of
the electrical energy storages of the fleet,
identifying, by the one or more control units, electrical energy storages of vehicles in the
fleet with SOH such that the energy and power requirement for its mission is not fulfilled,
acquiring, by the one or more control units, data of warehouse inventory of available
electrical energy storages and their SOH, and data of on-road inventory comprising electrical
energy storages currently installed in vehicles of the fleet and available for reshuffling,
acquiring, by the one or more control units, a schedule of planned workshop visits of
vehicles of the fleet including the vehicles having electrical energy storages with insufficient
SOH and at least one other vehicle of the fleet,
for a given distribution of vehicle missions on a fleet level, determining, by the one or
more control units, a required minimum number of vehicles to fulfil the vehicle missions on the
fleet level,
computing, by the one or more control units, a forecast SOH or an aging prediction for
each of the electrical energy storages of the fleet for each of the missions of the fleet,
for the required minimum number of vehicles, computing, by the one or more control units, an electrical energy storage replacement/reshuffle strategy including a required electrical energy storage distribution among the required minimum number of vehicles that meet the hard constraints with their forecast SOH with minimum margin, and a replacement time slot schedule that minimizes vehicle downtime for reshuffling of electrical energy storage between vehicles and/or replacement from the warehouse by utilizing the already planned workshop visits, and
providing, by the one or more control units, an instruction including the electrical energy storages replacement/reshuffle strategy, wherein the instruction identifies donor vehicles in the fleet whose electrical energy storage packs are to be reshuffled to receiver vehicles in the fleet, and identifies electrical energy storage packs to be supplied from warehouse inventory.
As drafted, this is, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, within the Abstract idea groupings of “Mental processes—concepts performed in the human mind” (observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion) as the claims are directed towards acquiring data, determining a state of health, identifying energy storages, determining number of vehicles to fulfill missions, computing ( i.e. calculating) an energy storage reshuffle, and providing an instruction all of which are concepts capable of being performed in the human mind (i.e. via pen and paper).
Further the claims are directed towards the abstract idea grouping of “Certain methods of organizing human activity” — commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations) and/or managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions) as the claims are directed towards improving lifetimes of energy storages of a fleet of vehicles (See Specification, [pg. 2, para. 1]).
Step 2A, Prong Two - This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The independent claims utilize the additional elements bolded above. The additional elements are performing the steps would be no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. See MPEP 2106.05(f) and/or amounts to no more than generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h).
Step 2B - The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements are just “apply it” on a computer. (See MPEP 2106.05(f) – Mere Instructions to Apply an Exception – “Thus, for example, claims that amount to nothing more than an instruction to apply the abstract idea using a generic computer do not render an abstract idea eligible.” Alice Corp., 134 S. Ct. at 235) and/or amounts to no more than generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h).
Regarding Claim(s) 2-9, the claim further narrows the abstract idea or recite additional elements previously rejected in the independent claims.
Accordingly, the claim fails to recite any improvements to another technology or technical field, improvements to the functioning of the computer itself, use of a particular machine, effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, adding unconventional steps that confine the claim to a particular useful application, and/or meaningful limitations beyond generally linking the use of an abstract idea to a particular environment. See 84 Fed. Reg. 55. Viewed individually or as a whole, these additional claim element(s) do not provide meaningful limitation(s) to transform the abstract idea into a patent eligible application of the abstract idea such that the claim(s) amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea itself.
Examining Claims with Respect to Prior Art
Claims 1, 10-11, and 13-15, though directed to non-statutory subject matter, are deemed to define over the currently known prior art under 35 USC 102 and 103. Examiner interprets based upon the claim limitations that there is no currently known prior art that discloses the features relating to: “A computer-implemented method for improving lifetimes of electrical energy storages of a fleet of vehicles each associated with one of several missions, the method comprising: acquiring, by a processor device of a computer system, data indicating hard vehicle fleet performance constraints including: a total energy and power constraints in the fleet electrical energy storages for fulfilling the fleet missions, and energy and power requirements for fulfilling vehicle missions for individual vehicles, determining, by the processor device, present state of health (SOH) of each of the electrical energy storages of the fleet, identifying, by the processor device, electrical energy storages of vehicles in the fleet with SOH such that the energy and power requirement for its mission is not fulfilled, acquiring, by the processor device, data of warehouse inventory of available electrical energy storages and their SOH, and data of on-road inventory comprising electrical energy storages currently installed in vehicles of the fleet and available for reshuffling, acquiring, by the processor device, a schedule of planned workshop visits of vehicles of the fleet including the vehicles having electrical energy storages with insufficient SOH and at least one other vehicle of the fleet, for a given distribution of vehicle missions on a fleet level, determining, by the processor device, a required minimum number of vehicles to fulfil the vehicle missions on the fleet level, computing, by the processor device, a forecast SOH or an aging prediction for each of the electrical energy storages of the fleet for each of the missions of the fleet, for the required minimum number of vehicles, computing, by the processor device, an electrical energy storage replacement/reshuffle strategy including a required electrical energy storage distribution among the required minimum number of vehicles that meet the hard constraints with their forecast SOH with minimum margin, and a replacement time slot schedule that minimizes vehicle downtime for reshuffling of electrical energy storage between vehicles and/or replacement from the warehouse by utilizing the already planned workshop visits, and providing, by the processor device, an instruction including the electrical energy storages replacement/reshuffle strategy, wherein the instruction identifies donor vehicles in the fleet whose electrical energy storage packs are to be reshuffled to receiver vehicles in the fleet, and identifies electrical energy storage packs to be supplied from warehouse inventory.”
The reason to withdraw the 35 USC 103 rejection of claims 1-11 and 13-15 in the instant application is because the prior art of record fails to teach the overall combination as claimed. Therefore, it would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the prior art to meet the combination above without unequivocal hindsight and one of ordinary skill would have no reason to do so. Upon further searching the examiner could not identify any prior art to teach these limitations. The prior art on record, alone or in combination, neither anticipates, reasonably teaches, not renders obvious the Applicant’s claimed invention.
Known Prior Art (patent)
US 20210284043 A1
MULTI-LEVEL BATTERY SYSTEMS FOR BATTERY-OPERATED ENTITIES, METHODS FOR RAPID CHARGE TRANSFER THEREBETWEEN, AND METHODS FOR OPTIMIZING ENTITY ROUTING AND NETWORK CHARGE DISTRIBUTION
US 20130046457 A1
METHOD AND GUIDANCE-UNIT FOR GUIDING BATTERY-OPERATED TRANSPORTATION MEANS TO RECONDITIONING STATIONS
US 20190197798 A1
Fleet Maintenance Management for Autonomous Vehicles
US 20160052505 A1
VEHICLE PROPULSION SYSTEM HAVING AN ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM AND OPTIMIZED METHOD OF CONTROLLING OPERATION THEREOF
US 20220171450 A1
METHOD FOR PREDICTING SERVICE LIFE OF A BATTERY UNIT
US 20240157836 A1
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ENERGY DISTRIBUTION ENTITIES AND NETWORKS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE ENERGY DELIVERY
US 20210373082 A1
METHOD AND DEVICE FOR OPERATING AN ELECTRICALLY DRIVABLE MOTOR VEHICLE DEPENDING ON A PREDICTED STATE OF HEALTH OF AN ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORE
US 20220099743 A1
Method and Apparatus for Operating a System for Providing Predicted States of Health of Electrical Energy Stores for a Device Using Machine Learning Methods
US 20230016228 A1
Method and Apparatus for Operating a System for Providing Predicted Confidence Intervals for States of Health of Electrical Energy Stores for at Least One Device With the Aid of Machine Learning Methods
Known Prior Art (NPL)
WO2012072679A1
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CHARGING A FLEET OF BATTERIES
Known Prior Art (foreign)
Fei L, Shahzad M, Abbas F, Muqeet HA, Hussain MM, Bin L. Optimal Energy Management System of IoT-Enabled Large Building Considering Electric Vehicle Scheduling, Distributed Resources, and Demand Response Schemes. Sensors (Basel). 2022 Sep 30
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEREMY L GUNN whose telephone number is (571)270-1728. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 6:30-4:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jerry O'Connor can be reached on (571) 272-6787. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEREMY L GUNN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3624
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