DETAILED ACTION
Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 11-30 are currently pending in this application.
Priority
2. Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/10/2023 was received. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
4. The drawings submitted on 11/10/2023 are in compliance with 37 CFR § 1.81 and 37 CFR § 1.83 and have been accepted by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 Non-Statutory
5. 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.
6. Claims 11-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Specifically, representative Claim 1 recites:
11. (New): A method for operating a battery system control unit based on a maximum current limit of a battery system comprising at least two batteries, comprising:
(i) detecting a respective individual current for each of the at the at least two batteries; detecting a total current of the battery system;
determining a respective current ratio of the detected individual currents to the detected total current;
determining maximum individual current limits of the battery system for each of the at least two batteries, proceeding from the respective determined current ratio and a nominal maximum current limit of the respective battery; and/or (ii)
receiving or estimating a respective individual resistance of the at least two batteries;
receiving or estimating a total resistance of the battery system;
determining a respective resistance ratio of the received or estimated individual resistances to the received or estimated total resistance;
determining maximum individual current limits of the battery system for each of the at least two batteries, proceeding from the respective determined resistance ratio and a nominal maximum current limit of the respective battery;
selecting the smallest determined maximum individual current limit as the maximum current limit of the battery system; and
generating a maximum current limit signal based on the determined maximum current limit and utilizing the maximum current limit signal to modify operation of the battery system control unit.
The claim limitations in the abstract idea have been highlighted in bold above; the remaining limitations are “additional elements.”
Similar limitations comprise the abstract ideas of Claims 18 and 25.
Under Step 1 of the analysis, claim 1 does belong to a statutory category, namely it is a process claim. Likewise, claim 18 is a apparatus claim and claim 15 a system claim.
Under Step 2A, prong 1, claim 1 is found to include at least one judicial exception, that being a mathematical concept and/or mental process. This can be seen in the claim limitation of “determining a respective current ratio of the detected individual currents to the detected total current; determining maximum individual current limits of the battery system for each of the at least two batteries, proceeding from the respective determined current ratio and a nominal maximum current limit of the respective battery; and/or (ii) receiving or estimating a respective individual resistance of the at least two batteries; receiving or estimating a total resistance of the battery system; determining a respective resistance ratio of the received or estimated individual resistances to the received or estimated total resistance; determining maximum individual current limits of the battery system for each of the at least two batteries, proceeding from the respective determined resistance ratio and a nominal maximum current limit of the respective battery; selecting the smallest determined maximum individual current limit as the maximum current limit of the battery system; and generating a maximum current limit signal based on the determined maximum current limit and utilizing the maximum current limit signal to modify operation of the battery system control unit.…”, which is the judicial exception of a mental process and/or a mathematical concept because it is merely a data evaluation including calculations, and/or judgements capable of being performed mentally.
Similar limitations comprise the abstract ideas of Claims 18 and 25.
Step 2A, prong 2 of the eligibility analysis evaluates whether the claim as a whole integrates the recited judicial exception(s) into a practical application of the exception. This evaluation is performed by (a) identifying whether there are any additional elements recited in the claim beyond the judicial exception, and (b) evaluating those additional elements individually and in combination to determine whether the claim as a whole integrates the exception into a practical application.
In addition to the abstract ideas recited in claim 1, the claimed method recites additional elements including “(A) detecting a respective individual current for each of the at the at least two batteries; (B) detecting a total current of the battery system” (claims 1, 18, and 25) which are merely data gathering steps recited at a high level of generality and therefore merely amount to “insignificant extra-solution” activity(ies). See MPEP 2106.05(g) “Insignificant Extra-Solution Activity,”. The claim also recites “a control unit/device” (claims 1, 18, and 25) however the “control unit/device ” is recited at a high level of generality, e.g. Spec. [page 9, paragraph 2] describing a microprocessor or microcontroller that may be used, and merely amounts to the use of computer technology as a tool to apply the abstract idea (see MPEP 2106.05(f)) and/or the use of “a control unit/device” to perform the predictions, that are otherwise abstract, is merely an attempt at limiting the abstract to a particular field of use (See MPEP 2106.05(h)).
The generic data gathering, processing, and output steps, and other elements, are recited so generically (no details whatsoever are provided) that it represents no more than mere instructions to apply the judicial exceptions on a computer. It can also be viewed as nothing more than an attempt to generally link the use of the judicial exceptions to the technological environment of a computer. Noting MPEP 2106.04(d)(I): “It is notable that mere physicality or tangibility of an additional element or elements is not a relevant consideration in Step 2A Prong Two. As the Supreme Court explained in Alice Corp., mere physical or tangible implementation of an exception does not guarantee eligibility. Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208, 224, 110 USPQ2d 1976, 1983-84 (2014) ("The fact that a computer ‘necessarily exist[s] in the physical, rather than purely conceptual, realm,’ is beside the point")”.
Thus, under Step 2A, prong 2 of the analysis, even when viewed in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application and the claim is directed to the judicial exception. No specific practical application is associated with the claimed system. For instance, the modification of the operation of the battery system maybe eligible if more detail were provided, but as written encompasses ideas that maybe considered abstract.
Under Step 2B, the claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements, as described above with respect to Step 2A Prong 2, merely amount to a general purpose computer system that attempts to apply the abstract idea in a technological environment, limiting the abstract idea to a particular field of use, and/or merely insignificant extra-solution activity (claims 1, 8, and 15). Such insignificant extra-solution activity, e.g. data gathering and output, when re-evaluated under Step 2B is further found to be well-understood, routine, and conventional as evidenced by MPEP 2106.05(d)(II) (describing conventional activities that include transmitting and receiving data over a network, electronic recordkeeping, storing and retrieving information from memory, and electronically scanning or extracting data from a physical document).
Therefore, similarly the combination and arrangement of the above identified additional elements when analyzed under Step 2B also fails to necessitate a conclusion that claim 11, as well as claims 18 and 25, amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
With regards to the dependent claims, claims 12-17, 19-24, and 26-30, merely further expand upon the algorithm/abstract idea and do not set forth further additional elements therefore these claims are found ineligible for the reasons described for independent claims 11, 18, and 25.
See Supreme court decision in Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. V. CLS Bank International, et al.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 11-30 would be allowable if they were amended to overcome the USC 101 rejection.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Karippumannil Prasad et al. US 2018/0321324 teaches voltage based zero configuration battery management.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADITYA S BHAT whose telephone number is (571)272-2270. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8 am-6pm.
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11. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shelby Turner can be reached on 571-272-6334. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ADITYA S BHAT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857 April 17, 2026
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