CTNF 18/548,984 CTNF 81993 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. The instant application with Application Number 18/548,984 filed on 09/05/2023 is presented for examination. As per the preliminary amendments of 09/05/2023, claim 3 is cancelled. Claims 1, 2 and 4-5 are pending. Information Disclosure Statment The Information Disclosure Statement dated 09/05/2023 is acknowledged and the cited references have been considered in this examination. Priority 02-26 AIA Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-05 AIA Claim 4 recites the limitation " a control unit " in line 3. Claim 5, on line 2 recites the same limitation . There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 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. 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 07-20-aia AIA 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 of this title, 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. 07-23-fti The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-2 and 4-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoneyama et al. (US 2018/0292901) (Hereinafter, Yoneyama) in view of Ichikawa (US 2010/0076636) . With respect to claims 1 and 5 , Yoneyama discloses a power supply control device to be used in a power supply system (Fig. 1, 1) including a power supply unit (Fig. 1, 10) , a power storage unit (Fig. 1, 20) , a first power path along which power that is based on the power supply unit is supplied to a load (Fig. 1, 10 to load 40/50) , and a second power path along which power that is based on the power storage unit is supplied to the load (Fig. 1, battery 20 to load 40) , the power supply control device comprising: a first conductive path that is a path along which power that is based on the power supply unit is transmitted (Fig. 1, 10 through L1 to load 50 when switch 72 is closed: The switch unit 72 has a function of switching whether or not to supply the electric power coming from the sub-battery 61 via the regulation unit 71 to the normal load 30 and the voltage compensation load 50) ; a second conductive path that is a path along which power is transmitted to the second power path (Fig. 1, 20 through L1 to load 50 from T3 and T4 are connected to load 50 through line (L7)) , and a third conductive path that is configured to be electrically connected to PNG media_image1.png 766 1143 media_image1.png Greyscale the power storage unit (Fig. 1, storage 20 to load 50 through T3, T5 and T4 bypassing L7: para. # 0070) ; a voltage conversion unit configured to perform voltage conversion between the second conductive path and the third conductive path (Fig. 1, 71a; Para. # 0071-0074: DC-DC converter 71 a and a voltage (an output voltage Vdo) of an output terminal (a terminal connected with the line L4) of the DC-DC converter 71 a . The detection signals indicative of the input voltage Vdi and the output voltage Vdo of the DC-DC converter 71 a detected by the sensor 73 are transmitted to the ECU 74) ; a switch that is provided between the first conductive path and the second conductive path (Fig. 1, 11r , and is configured to switch between an on state where a current is allowed to flow from the first conductive path to the second conductive path and an off state where a current is blocked from flowing between the first conductive path and the second conductive path (See Para. # 0044/0051: the engine ECU turns on the starter relay 11 r to drive the starter 11, and also causes proper execution of operation; the voltage V1 of the main battery 20 becoming equal to or below a specified second voltage that is lower than the first voltage. When any one of the plurality of engine start conditions is satisfied, the engine is started) ; the converter (DC-DC converter to convert and reduce the incoming power) configured to step-down a voltage applied to the third conductive path and output the resulting voltage, and that is configured to, when a voltage applied to the second conductive path decreases to an extent where the voltage reaches a predetermined value that is less than or equal to an output voltage of the step-down circuit, cause a current that is based on the output voltage of the step-down circuit to flow to the second conductive path (Para. # 0016/0022: The power source system according to the above aspect may further include a fifth detection unit configured to detect the voltage of the sub-power source, wherein the regulation unit may include: a DC-DC converter configured to regulate an output voltage so as to switch whether or not to supply the electric power from the sub-power source to the first line and the second line; and a relay provided in a bypass route that bypasses the DC-DC converter to connect the first load and the second load to the sub-power source, and the control unit may be configured to stop actuation of the DC-DC converter and controls the relay to be in a connected state when the output electric power of the main-power source is less than the required electric power of the first load and the second load) ; PNG media_image2.png 853 750 media_image2.png Greyscale and a control unit configured to control the voltage conversion unit, wherein the step-down unit has a diode, the voltage output by the step-down circuit is applied to an anode of the diode, and a cathode of the diode is electrically connected to the second conductive path (Para. # 0011/0016: The power source system according to the above aspect may further include a second detection unit configured to detect power consumption of the first load, wherein the control unit may be configured to: control the regulation unit so that the electric power from the sub-power source is supplied to the first line and the second line while controlling the switch unit so that the electric power from the sub-power source is supplied to the first load via the regulation unit and the first line, when the output electric power of the main-power source is less than the required electric power of the first load and the second load and the electric power supplied from the sub-power source to the second load is more than the electric power supplied from the sub-power source to the first load); the control unit (Fig. 1, 74-ECU) performs control for causing the voltage conversion unit to apply an output voltage of a target value to the second conductive path, and the target value is larger than a value obtained by subtracting a value of a forward voltage of the diode from a value of the output voltage of the step-down circuit (Para. # 0016/0020: the control unit may be configured to control the output voltage of the DC-DC converter so that the output voltage of the DC-DC converter falls within a range of a required voltage of the second load, when the output electric power of the main-power source is less than the required electric power of the first load and the second load) . Yoneyama, does not expressly disclose a first and a second LEDs activated in response to removable power source activities. Ichikawa, on the other hand, discloses a first and a second LEDs activated in response to removable power source activities (See Para. # 0018: a wireless communication unit configured to connect an external terminal, a plurality of LEDs mounted on an outer side of the first housing, and if event information is received via the wireless communication unit, a controller configured to control the event information to be provided to a user by controlling color, a turn-on order, a turn-on count, and the like of a plurality of the LEDs). Yoneyama, however, does not expressly disclose a step-down converter. Ichikawa, on the other hand, discloses a step-down converter (Para. # 0003: a boost/buck DC-DC converter). Yoneyama and Ichikawa are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor namely power supply system and vehicle power. At the time of the invention, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the DC-DC converter circuit of Yoneyama with the boost/buck DC-DC converter of Ichikawa for the benefit of using both a step-up and a step-down operation to output either a higher output voltage or a lower output voltage of the input voltage simplifying the circuitry using a single DC-DC convert that operates both ways as required. With respect to claim 2, the combined references of Yoneyama and Ichikawa disclose the power supply control device to be used in a power supply system as described above, Ichikawa further discloses, wherein the step-down circuit is a low dropout regulator (Para. # 0050: supply the resultant voltage to main positive bus MPL and main negative bus MNL, and step down the voltage of main positive bus MPL and main negative bus MNL to supply the resultant voltage to battery B1) . With respect to claim 4, the combined references of Yoneyama and Ichikawa disclose the power supply control device to be used in a power supply system as described above, Yoneyama further discloses comprising: a control unit configured to control the switch and the voltage conversion unit, wherein the control unit performs first control and second control, the first control is control for turning on the switch and causing the voltage conversion unit to perform a first conversion operation of stepping down or stepping up a voltage applied to the second conductive path and applying the resulting voltage as an output voltage to the third conductive path, the second control is control for turning off the switch and causing the voltage conversion unit to perform a second conversion operation of stepping down or stepping up a voltage applied to the third conductive path and applying the resulting voltage as an output voltage of a target value to the second conductive path, the target value is a value that is higher than the predetermined value, and the step-down circuit outputs a voltage that is lower than the target value (Para. # 112, 149: When it is determined that the voltage V2 of the sub-battery 61 is not equal to or below the predetermined threshold value V2 th , the ECU 74 determines that the remaining capacity of the sub-battery 61 is not equal to or below the reference value prescribed in advance, and advances the processing to step S604. When the voltage V2 of the sub-battery 61 is equal to or below the predetermined threshold value V2 th , the ECU 74 determines that the remaining capacity of the sub-battery 61 is equal to or below the he reference value prescribed in advance, and advances the processing to step S618) . Contact Information Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YALKEW FANTU whose telephone number is (571)272-8928. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00AM-4:00PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DREW A DUNN can be reached at 571-272-2312. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/548,984 Page 2 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/548,984 Page 3 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/548,984 Page 4 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/548,984 Page 5 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/548,984 Page 6 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/548,984 Page 7 Art Unit: 2859 Application/Control Number: 18/548,984 Page 8 Art Unit: 2859
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