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 18/627, 573 filed on 04/05/2024 is presented for examination. Claims 1-15 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statment
The Information Disclosure Statements dated 04/10/2025, 05/23/2025 and 03/20/2026 are acknowledged and the cited references have been considered in this examination.
Priority
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 § 102
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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-9 and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Song (US 2015/0048797).
With respect to claims 1, 8 and 15, Song discloses an apparatus for charging and discharging a battery (Figs. 1-3; Para. # 0026) included in a device comprising a motor (Para. # 0022: the battery pack and a motor driven by electric energy stored in the battery pack), the apparatus comprising: a first cell discharged during driving of the device to supply power to the motor of the device (Para. #0057, 146: supplying power to the motor 624 while the electric car 600 is driven); a second cell charged with
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power supplied from the motor by regenerative braking during deceleration of the device (Para. # 0147: recover and store regenerative braking energy of the motor 624 that operates as a generator during braking); a first switch on a charging/discharging path of the first cell; a second switch on a charging/discharging path of the second cell (Fig. 2, charge/discharge switch 261/262); and a processor electrically connected to the first switch and the second switch configured to control charging/discharging of the first cell and the second cell (Fig. 2, microcontroller 240; para. # 0009, 0076 and 161/) separately for the first cell and the second cell during charging/discharging of the first cell and the second cell (Para. #0052, 109 and 104: control the charging and discharging operations of the battery 110 based on the measured parameter).
With respect to claims 2 and 9, Song discloses the apparatus for charging and discharging the battery as disclosed above, further discloses wherein battery charging/discharging rates (C-rates) of the first cell and the second cell are different from each other (Para. # 0010: a cell voltage of the battery cell, the temperature of the battery, and a charging and discharging current of the battery).
With respect to claims 4-5 and 11-12, Song discloses the apparatus for charging and discharging the battery as disclosed above, further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to obtain a connection signal of an external charger of the device or a regenerative charging mode, measure a charging current on a charging/discharging path connected to the external charger or the motor, determine which charging cell of the first cell and the second cell is to be charged, based on the connection signal of the external charger, the regenerative charging mode signal, a magnitude of the charging current and control charging of the charging cell (Para. # 146/147: supplying power to the motor 624 while the electric car 600 is driven and may recover and store regenerative braking energy of the motor 624 that operates as a generator during breaking).
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With respect to claims 6 and 13, Song discloses the apparatus for charging and discharging the battery as disclosed above, further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain a driving mode signal corresponding to acceleration of the device; measure a voltage of the first cell and a voltage of the second cell (Fig. 2, 130), based on the driving mode signal; determine a discharging cell having a greater voltage between the first cell and the second cell; and control discharging of the discharging cell (Para. # 0077 and 0079: he measures unit 230 includes a cell voltage measuring unit 231 for measuring the cell voltages. The cell voltage measuring unit 231 may be connected to wires extending from nodes between the terminals 201 and the battery cells 211).
With respect to claims 7 and 14, Song discloses the apparatus for charging and discharging the battery as disclosed above, further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain an idle mode signal corresponding to an idle state of the device; measure a voltage of the first cell and a voltage of the second cell, based on the idle mode signal; and, if the voltage of the second cell is greater than the voltage of the first cell, discharge the second cell to control charging of the first cell (Para. # 0052: battery managing unit 120 monitors the state of the battery 110 and controls overall operations, such as charging and discharging, of the battery 110).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the 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.
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.
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.
Claims 3 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song (US as described above, further in view of Tanaka et al. (US 2015/0236529).
With respect to claims 3 and 10, Song discloses the apparatus/method for charging and discharging the battery as described above, but does not expressly disclose wherein the battery charge rate (C-rate) of the second cell is greater than the battery C-rate of the first cell.
Tanaka, on the other hand, discloses wherein the battery charge rate (C-rate) of the second cell is greater than the battery C-rate of the first cell (Para. # 0047: change of the charging rate (SOC (state of charge)) of the secondary battery 2 as compared with the first charging and discharging control).
SONG and Tanaka are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor namely apparatus and method of managing battery pack and charge control apparatus.
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 added a charging/discharging rate controller to the controller/microcontroller of Song in viw of Tanaka for the benefit of adjusting charging/discharging rate for cells that have smaller charge rate from the others in order to keep charge/discharge balance for longer use of the rechargeable battery cells and keep rolling the vehicle from being short of energy or driving power (Para. # 0047).
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.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DREW A DUNN can be reached at 571-272-2312. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YALKEW FANTU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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