DETAILED ACTION
1. This is the first action on the merits relating to U.S. Application Serial No. 18/548,422 filed on August 30, 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 30, 2023. Currently claims 1-23 remain in the examination.
Priority
4. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Drawings
5. The drawings are objected to because the drawings are informal. All the label numbers and figure numbers in the figures must be formalized.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
6. Claim 23 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 23, line 2: please replace “volatile or non-volatile medium” with “storage medium”
In claim 23, line 4: please replace “claim 1” with the actual text of claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Claims 1, 4, 6, 17-20, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2022/0385091 A1 to ZHANG et al. (hereinafter “ZHANG”).
Regarding claim 1, ZHANG discloses a method of deep discharging a battery (see paragraph 0004) comprising providing a battery to be discharged (step 101 of figure 1 and paragraph 0033); a target voltage is selected (see step 104 in figure 1 and paragraph 0039); and as shown in figure 2, if needed, a different target voltage is selected and discharging is continued (see figure 2 and paragraph 0072), and this process is repeated. Although ZHANG does not explicitly disclose a battery is to be recycled, “a battery to be recycled” in the preamble of claim 1 can be considered “intended use”, and any battery to be determined to be defective, or not meeting the user’s guideline may be recycled.
Regarding claim 4, when the battery of the mobile device is initially acquired, and the discharge current of the battery is acquired (see step 201 of figure 2 and paragraph 0056), which can be interpreted as a default state of the battery.
Regarding claims 6 and 7, the discharging voltage is dynamically detected (see paragraph 0053) and the discharging voltage is output voltage.
Regarding claim 17, the target voltage is adopted and the process as shown in figures 1 and 2 is repeated (see abstract). It appears that the adopting the target volage is done in discrete steps.
Regarding claim 18, see the description for claim 1 above. The terminal as shown in figure 5 can be interpreted as a system.
Regarding claim 19, the current determining unit 302 is a sensor (see figure 3 and paragraph 0079).
Regarding claim 20, the terminal 401 used in ZHANG includes a central processing unit 402 and a storage device 403 connected to the central processing unit (see figure 5 and paragraph 0116).
Regarding claim 23, the steps shown in figures 3 and 4 are the steps performed by various computer programs stored in the storage device 403 (see paragraph 0117 and 0118).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. Claims 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 21, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0385091 A1 to ZHANG et al. in view of US 2021/0247453 A1 to PAYNE et al. (hereinafter “PAYNE”).
Regarding claims 2, 21, and 22, the teachings of ZHANG have been discussed above.
ZHANG, however, fails to disclose or suggest of acquiring identification data from the battery and determining battery related data including initial discharge current and a predetermine schedule for a discharge current in the discharge process.
PAYNE discloses a method, system and devices for charging batteries (see abstract) wherein the battery identification data such as a charge profile is used and compared against a plurality of charge profiles (see abstract). The profile may include a voltage to be charged to a battery (see paragraph 0024); and intervals (or frequency) for the charging (see abstract and paragraphs 0007 and 0023). PAYNE also teaches use of database (see paragraph 0041 and figure 3) to store battery related data used in the system
In view of PAYNE’s disclosure it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to employe battery profile data to the teachings of ZHANG in order to improve overall functionalities of battery charging and discharging. Although terminal 401 of ZHANG discloses a storage device 403 (see ZHANG figure 5 and paragraph 0117), ZHANG do not disclose or suggest battery identification data used for charging and discharging. Using battery data profile and the database as data storage for the battery charging and discharging is well within one ordinary skill in the art would contemplate.
Regarding claim 3, the battery installed in a vehicle (see paragraph 0004) can be identified, and battery information includes initial state of charge (see paragraph 0043).
Regarding claim 5, the battery profile is stored in the database, and the profile includes the charging characteristics (see paragraphs 0013-0015, 0024, and 0025).
Regarding claims 7 and 8, discharge current is monitored and compared to a threshold value (see step 202 and paragraph 0060).
14. Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0385091 A1 to ZHANG et al. in view of US 2020/0132779 A1 to Kechmir et al. (hereinafter “Kechmir”).
The teachings of ZHANG have been discussed above.
ZHANG, however, fails to disclose or suggest that a cooling process is used in controlling the temperature of the battery during the charging/discharging process.
Kechmir discloses a battery charging system (see abstract) wherein the battery may be deep discharged (see paragraph 0003) and the battery connected to a load may be cooled during the operation of the battery (see paragraphs 0046 and 0047).
In view of Kechmir’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 methods of waiting for the temperature of the battery to cool to an acceptable temperature before performing the next operation on the battery in order not to damage the battery and keep the battery in good operating order.
Allowable Subject Matter
15. Claims 9-15 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.
16. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The claims are directed at a method of deep discharging a battery to be recycled. The limitations in these objected clams are neither disclosed nor suggested by the cited references. Applicant should pay attention to the dependencies of the claims including all the intervening claims.
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].
PTO employees do not engage in Internet communications where there exists a possibility that sensitive information could be identified or exchanged unless the record includes a properly signed express waiver of the confidentiality requirements of 35 U.S.C. 122. This is more clearly set forth in the Interim Internet Usage Policy published in the Official Gazette of the Patent and Trademark on February 25, 1997 at 1195 OG 89.
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/AHSHIK KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
July 3, 2026
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