DETAILED ACTION
1. This is the first action on the merits relating to U.S. Application Serial No. 18/548,294 filed on August 29, 2023.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Preliminary Amendment
3. Receipt is acknowledged of the preliminary amendment filed on August 29, 2023. Currently claims 1-42 remain in the examination.
Drawings
4. Drawings originally filed on August 29, 2023 is approved.
Claim Objections
5. Claims 11, 13, 14, 26, and 27 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 11, last line: please replace “the jump starting apparatus” with “the jump starting device.” The preamble of claim 1 is “A jump starting device.” This must be corrected to avoid a potential 35 USC 112 issue (lack of antecedent basis).
Claims 13 and 14 should be changed in the same manner as claim 11.
Appropriate correction is required.
The limitation of claim 26 is fully disclosed in claim 11. Claim 26 should be canceled, and claim 27 should be amended to depend from claim 11.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 8-10, 28, and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2024/0039315 A1 to WU (hereinafter “WU”).
Regarding claim 1, WU discloses a jump starting device 100 for charging a dead or discharged battery (see paragraph 0004); comprising a rechargeable battery (see abstract and paragraph 0007); a clamp that is connected to the dead vehicle battery (see paragraph 0054 and 0059 and 0069); and the clamp is comprised of a positive connector connectable to the positive terminal of the battery and a negative connector connectable to the negative terminal of the battery; a power switch positioned on the shell (see paragraphs 0013 and 0017) for powering the device to let the power flow to the battery; a polarity detection circuit 806 (see figure 8 and paragraph 0066) which is connected to the positive and negative terminal; a reverse charging protection circuit 808; a polarity detection circuit 810 can be interpreted as a first detector, a second detector and a third detector; all of which has wired connection to the positive and negative connection to the respective terminals of the depleted battery (see figure 8 and paragraph 0071 and thereafter).
Regarding claims 2, 5, and 6, voltage and polarity detection circuit 910 (see figure 9; mislabeled as 810 in figure 9) can detect the voltage of the car battery (see paragraph 0091). The volage and polarity detector 910 can be a first detector, a second detector, or a third detector in the description for claim 1 above.
Regarding claims 8-10, one of the detectors is a reverse polarity detector and short circuit detector (see figure 8 and paragraphs 0071, 0074, and 0075).
Regarding claims 28 and 29, WU further discloses USB interface, USB indicator and the switch on the shell (see paragraph 0105 and 0106).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0039315 A1 to WU in view of US 2016/0303983 A1 to Rotary et al. (hereinafter “Rotary”).
The teachings of WU have been discussed above. WU further discloses that lithium battery is used (see paragraphs 0005 and 0043).
WU, however, fails to disclose or suggest of a battery is a lithium-ion battery
Rotary discloses a method for monitoring on-vehicle battery (see abstract) wherein the battery used in the vehicle is a lithium ion battery (see paragraph 0014).
A lithium battery in WU and a lithium ion battery of Rotary is functionally equivalent devices. Using one in place of the other would not produce unexpected outcome, which is obvious to one ordinary skill in the art.
13. Claim 39 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0039315 A1 to WU in view of US 2022/0069574 A1 to LIAO et al. (hereinafter “LIAO”).
The teachings of WU have been discussed above.
WU, however, fails to disclose or suggest of an active battery detector causing the power switch not provide power if the active battery is detected by the detector.
LIAO discloses a jumper cable to provide power to a vehicle (see abstract) wherein when the jumper cable determines there’s no battery (see paragraph 0004) the jumper cable is not switched to and not provide power to the vehicle (see paragraph 0004).
In view of LIAS’s disclosure, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to employe well-known battery detection means to the teachings of WU in order to provide the power when a depleted battery is detected. Using such a detector would be a safeguarding means for both the power receiving vehicle and power supplying vehicle. Using the battery detecting means as shown in LIAO is well within one ordinary skill in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
14. Claims 3, 4, 7, 11, 13-27, 30-38, and 40-42 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.
15. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claims are directed at a jump starting device for charging or boosting a depleted or discharged battery, the jump starting device comprising:
a rechargeable battery;
a positive battery connector for connecting the jump starting device to a positive terminal of the battery;
a negative battery connector for connecting the jump starting device to a negative terminal of the battery;
a power switch for connecting the rechargeable battery to the depleted or discharged battery when connected to the jump starting device during a jump starting operation of the depleted or discharged battery;
a first detector for detecting presence of the depleted or discharged battery connected to the positive and negative battery connectors; and
a second detector for detecting presence of the depleted or discharged battery connected to the positive and negative battery connectors; wherein the first detector comprises one or more opto-isolators.
Above is a combination of claims 1 and 3 as an example. The limitations in other objected claims are also allowable. Such a jump starting device is neither disclosed nor suggested by the cited references. Even if some teachings may be found in other references, Examiner finds no grounds to combine them.
Conclusion
The pertinent prior arts made of record but not relied are listed in the attached form PTO-892. These are considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure. Applicant is respectfully suggested to carefully review these references.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ahshik Kim whose telephone number is (571)272-2393. The examiner can normally be reached between the hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday. Examiner’s fax phone number is (571)273-2393.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Thomas Pham, can be reached on (571)272-3689. The fax phone number for this Group is (571)273-8300.
Communications via Internet e-mail regarding this application, other than those under 35 U.S.C. 132 or which otherwise require a signature, may be used by the applicant and should be addressed to [ahshik.kim@uspto.gov].
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/AHSHIK KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
June 19, 2026
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