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 .
Claim Status
The claims filed 11/17/2025 are examined herein.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 1, 10, and 19 are independent.
Claims 1, 10, and 19 are currently amended.
Claims 2-9, 11-18, and 20 are original.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/17/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
35 U.S.C. 103
Regarding the prior rejection of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Penilla (US 2018/0111494 A1) in view of Publicover (US 2020/0242924 A1), Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by the current amendment which are presented herein.
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 (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.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Penilla (US 2018/0111494 A1) in view of Diamond (US 2020/0361325 A1), further in view of Publicover (US 2020/0242924 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 10, and 19, Penilla discloses a method and corresponding apparatus/computer program product for geofence-based electrical vehicle (EV) induction charging, the method comprising:
identifying, by vehicle identification circuitry, an EV (see para. 0204-0206);
identifying, based on geofence circuitry, a geofence charging area (see para. 0204-0206);
determining, based on the geofence circuitry, that the EV is in motion within the charging area (see para. 0204-0206);
causing charging, by an induction charging system, of the EV within the geofence charging area (see para. 0189, 0196) ; and
generating, by payment transaction circuitry, a charging transaction for the EV (see para. 0190-0191).
Penilla discloses a geofence charging area as discussed above. Penilla does not explicitly disclose, but Diamond teaches the charging area being associated with a charging lane (see para. 0008); and charging by induction while in motion within the charging lane (see para. 0008).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method, apparatus, and product of Penilla to include the features of Diamond, thereby resulting in a geofence charging area which is a charging lane capable of charging an EV by induction while in motion.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification because there is a need for wireless road charging which is economical (see paras. 0005, 0013).
Penilla discloses automatic dispensing of charge and billing as discussed above. Penilla does not explicitly disclose, but Publicover teaches generating, by token generation circuitry, an entry token for the vehicle; and generating, by the token generation circuitry, an exit token for the vehicle (see para. 0066).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method, apparatus, and product of Penilla to include the feature taught by Publicover.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification for use with a Parking System Controller (see Publicover, para. 0066, 0087).
Regarding claims 2, 11, and 20, Penilla discloses wherein identifying the EV further comprises:
causing transmission, by communications hardware to the EV, of an identification request requesting vehicle parameters for the EV, wherein the vehicle parameters comprise at least one or more of a vehicle identifier, a user account or billable account, a vehicle model, a battery type, a charging mode, a power consumption rate, or a self-charging rate, wherein one or more of the power consumption rate or the self-charging rate are variable based on a travel speed of the EV (see para. 0093, 0203);
receiving, by the communications hardware from the EV, the vehicle parameters of the EV (see para. 0093, 0203);
comparing, by the vehicle identification circuitry, the vehicle parameters with stored vehicle parameters associated with the EV (see para. 0093, 0203);
determining, by the vehicle identification circuitry, whether the vehicle parameters of the EV are valid (see para. 0093, 0203);
causing transmission, by the communications hardware to the EV, of a validation notification indicating whether the vehicle parameters are valid and whether an induction charging process is ready to start (see para. 0093, 0203); and
causing transmission, by the communications hardware to the induction charging system and based on whether the vehicle parameters are valid, an authorization indication indicating whether to allow or block the induction charging process (see para. 0093, 0203).
Regarding claims 3 and 12, Penilla discloses wherein identifying the geofence charging area further comprises:
receiving, by communications hardware, vehicle geolocation data comprising one or more of a location of an RFID scanner, a license plate camera, vehicle GPS data, a direction of travel, or a travel speed (see para. 0206);
comparing, by the geofence circuitry, the vehicle geolocation data with geofence charging area data (see para. 0206); and
determining, by the geofence circuitry and based on a geofence charging area database, the geofence charging area (see para. 0206, 0215).
Regarding claims 4 and 13, Penilla discloses wherein identifying the geofence charging area further comprises:
causing transmission, by the communications hardware to the EV, of a charging options indication indicating a plurality of lanes/zones, wherein each of the plurality of lanes/zones is associated with a respective charging speed, a respective charging rate, or one or more respective charge sources (see para. 0043-0044);
receiving from the EV, by the communications hardware, a selected charging option (see para. 0043-0044); and
remotely guiding the EV, by the communications hardware, to a selected lane/zone based on the selected charging option (see para. 0254-0255).
Regarding claims 5 and 14, Publicover teaches wherein the entry token comprises at least one or more of a vehicle identifier, an entry timestamp, an entry location, or an entry power level, wherein the exit token comprises at least one or more of the vehicle identifier, an exit timestamp, an exit location, an updated self-charging rate, an updated power consumption rate, or an exit power level (see para. 0066).
Regarding claims 6 and 15, Penilla discloses receiving, by communications hardware, an entry power level indication of the EV in response to the EV entering the geofence charging area (see Fig. 18).
Publicover further teaches wherein generating the entry token further comprises: capturing, by motion detection circuitry, an entry timestamp and entry location of the EV in response to the EV entering the geofence charging area (see para. 0063).
Regarding claims 7 and 16, Penilla discloses receiving, by communications hardware, an exit power level indication of the EV in response to the EV exiting the geofence charging area; receiving, by the communications hardware, an updated power consumption rate of the EV in response to the EV exiting the geofence charging area; and receiving, by the communications hardware, an updated self-charging rate of the EV in response to the EV exiting the geofence charging area (see para. 0054).
Publicover further teaches wherein generating the exit token further comprises: capturing, by motion detection circuitry, an exit timestamp and exit location of the EV in response to the EV exiting the geofence charging area (see para. 0063).
Regarding claims 8 and 17, Penilla discloses wherein generating the charging transaction further comprises: causing transmission, by communications hardware to the EV, of the charging transaction, wherein the charging transaction is based on the entry and the exit information (see Fig. 14, para. 0242); causing transmission, by the communications hardware to the EV, of one or more available payment options (see Fig. 14, para. 0242); and receiving, by the communications hardware from the EV, a payment option selection indicating at least one of the one or more available payment options (see Fig. 14, para. 0242).
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Penilla discloses wherein generating the charging transaction further comprises: initiating, by the payment transaction circuitry and based on the payment option selection, a payment of the charging transaction (see Fig. 14, para. 0242); receiving, by the payment transaction circuitry, a payment confirmation indicating whether the payment of the charging transaction is successful (see Fig. 14, para. 0242, 0101); and causing transmission, by the communications hardware to the EV, of the payment confirmation in an instance in which the payment of the charging transaction is successful or a payment failure in an instance in which the payment of the charging transaction is unsuccessful (see Fig. 14, para. 0242, 0101, wherein one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate displaying payment confirmation/failure as conventionally following a payment screen).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Dames (US 2018/0201139 A1) discloses a wireless vehicle recharging apparatus for an energy storage element of a vehicle. The apparatus has at least one drive unit arrangement coupled to at least one drive coil arrangement disposed for generating a magnetic field extending from the drive coil arrangement, and includes a corresponding vehicle-mounted pickup coil arrangement coupled to a power conditioning circuit arrangement for receiving the extending magnetic field. The drive unit arrangement is operable to excite the drive coil arrangement at a fundamental frequency and the drive coil arrangement is implemented to be substantially devoid of ferromagnetic components for providing a path for the extending magnetic field. Additional aspects of the invention relate to vehicle power coupling apparatus including pickup coil arrangements.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC T WONG whose telephone number is (571)270-3405. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael W Anderson can be reached at 571-270-0508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC T WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3693
ERIC WONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3693