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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 03 March 2026. Claims 4-5 are presently pending and are presented for examination. Claims 1-3 were previously cancelled.
Response to Amendment
In response to Applicant’s amendments dated 03 March 2026, Examiner withdraws the previous claim objections; withdraws the previous drawings objections; withdraws the previous 35 U.S.C. 112(a) rejections; maintains the previous 35 U.S.C. 112(b); and withdraws the previous 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) rejections.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see Remarks, filed 03 March 2026, have been fully considered but they are either not persuasive or moot.
Applicant states, see Remarks, pg. 6, that claim 4 has been amended “to correct each of the deficiencies specifically pointed out by the Examiner.” Examiner respectfully disagrees. The relative terms discussed in the previous Office Action are still present in claim 4. For this reason, examiner is unpersuaded and maintains the corresponding rejections. For more details regarding the relative terms in claim 4, see the Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 section, below.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, pg. 6-7, with respect to claim(s) 4-5 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
The remaining arguments are essentially the same as those addressed above and/or below and are unpersuasive for at least the same reasons. Therefore, examiner is unpersuaded and maintains the corresponding rejections.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority based on an application JP2022/006348 filed in Japan on 17 February 2022.
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome potential future rejections made using references falling between the filing date and the foreign priority date, because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216. No action is required by Applicant at this time.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 4 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 4: “the control device starts the engine if the condition H is satisfied” should be “the control device starts the engine if a condition H is satisfied”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The terms “more strictly” and “more loosely” in claim 4 are relative terms which render the claim indefinite. The terms “more strictly” and “more loosely” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degrees, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. As claim 5 depends on claim 4, it is similarly rejected. Examiner is interpreting “more strictly” and “more loosely” as: when the battery output is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the engine will be turned on within an amount of time in the normal mode that is less than the amount of time in the EV priority mode for turning on the engine.
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 (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 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.
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JP-2018008544-A, hereinafter “Murase”.
Regarding claim 4, Murase discloses A hybrid vehicle (translated document of Murase, para. 0001: “The present disclosure relates to a hybrid vehicle, and more particularly, to a switching control between an electric driving mode and a hybrid driving mode.”) comprising:
an engine and a motor that operate independently of each other (translated document of Murase, para. 0008: “A hybrid vehicle according to at least one embodiment of the present invention is driven by using an electric drive mode in which an electric motor [i.e., a motor] is driven with only electric power from a drive battery to travel [i.e., operate independently of each other] and a power generated by the engine [i.e., an engine] and power generated by the electric motor…”);
a battery that stores electric power to drive the motor and to start the engine (translated document of Murase, para. 0008: “A hybrid vehicle according to at least one embodiment of the present invention is driven by using an electric drive mode in which an electric motor is driven with only electric power from a drive battery [i.e., battery that stores electric power to drive the motor and to start the engine] to travel and a power generated by the engine and power generated by the electric motor…”); and
a control device that controls operating states of the engine and the motor (translated document of Murase, para. 0027: “The hybrid vehicle 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a front motor ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 19 for controlling the front motor 3A and the generator 11, a rear motor ECU 21 for controlling the rear motor 3B, an engine ECU 23 for controlling the engine 5 , A battery ECU 25 for controlling the driving battery 13, and an integrated ECU 27 [i.e., a control device that controls operating states of the engine and the motor] for controlling the front motor ECU 19, the rear motor ECU 21, the engine ECU 23, and the battery ECU 25. These ECUs are connected by CAN (Controller Area Network) communication inside the vehicle.”),
wherein if a condition A is satisfied when the motor is operating but the engine is not operating, the control device starts the engine, the condition A is that a state where a battery output of the battery is a predetermined value or more continues for a predetermined time or more (translated document of Murase, para. 0022: “According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, in a hybrid vehicle, even when the voltage value of the driving battery [i.e., a battery output of the battery] drops to the engine starting voltage during traveling in the EV running mode [i.e., when the motor is operating but the engine is not operating], the engine is started [i.e., the control device starts the engine] without starting the engine immediately [i.e., a state where a battery output of the battery is a predetermined value or more continues for a predetermined time or more] It is possible to reduce the fuel consumption of the engine by the EV running and to maintain quietness.”; para. 0045: “When the EV travel mode cancellation control unit 43 switches to the hybrid travel mode 1 or the hybrid travel mode 2, if the EV priority switch 31 is operated to be ON, the cancellation delay unit 53 of the second cancellation unit 55, The timing at which the engine 5 automatically starts operation is delayed.”; para. 0057: “As shown in FIG. 5 (D), the voltage of the driving battery 13 rapidly drops when the current at the time of accelerator pedal depression shown in FIG. 5 (E) increases and thereafter decreases with the decrease of the SOC. At time t 1, Decreases to the threshold (Vt) and reaches the point R. As shown in FIG. 5 (E), the current rapidly rises when the output at the time of depression of the accelerator is increased, and then changes in accordance with the voltage. In this case, it is set to be substantially constant from t 0 to t 1.”),
the hybrid vehicle has an electric vehicle (EV) priority mode and a normal mode (translated document of Murase, para. 0008: “And an electric priority switch that requests to prioritize the electric travel mode [i.e., the hybrid vehicle has an electric vehicle (EV) priority mode] by delaying the switching timing when the electric priority mode switch is OFF [i.e., a normal mode]…”),
each of the EV priority mode and the normal mode has a requirement for starting the engine when the motor is operating but the engine is not operating (translated document of Murase, para. 0008: “An electric traveling mode cancellation control unit that releases the electrically driven traveling mode and switches to the hybrid traveling mode to drive the engine [i.e., a requirement for starting the engine when the motor is operating but the engine is not operating], and a hybrid traveling mode is switched from the electric traveling mode to the hybrid traveling mode And an electric priority switch that requests to prioritize the electric travel mode [i.e., the EV priority mode] by delaying the switching timing when the electric priority mode switch is OFF [i.e., the normal mode]…”),
the requirement in the EV priority mode is set more strictly in contrast to the normal mode, and the requirement in the normal mode is set more loosely in contrast to the EV priority mode (translated document of Murase, para. 0009: “…when the electric priority switch is turned on, the condition that the release by the first canceling unit is satisfied, that is, the condition that the voltage of the driving battery is lowered to a predetermined threshold value or less is satisfied, And thereafter has a second canceling section for switching to the hybrid drive mode when the release condition of the delay section is satisfied. Accordingly, when the electric priority switch is turned on, the delay unit delays the switching timing to the hybrid traveling mode compared with the case where the electric priority switch is turned off [i.e., requirement in the EV priority mode is set more strictly in contrast to the normal mode, and the requirement in the normal mode is set more loosely in contrast to the EV priority mode], so the time of the EV traveling by driving the electric motor is lengthened, and by the EV traveling It is possible to reduce the fuel consumption of the engine and maintain quietness.”),
the predetermined value is less than a first upper limit value and more than a second upper limit value (translated document of Murase, para. 0022: “…in a hybrid vehicle, even when the voltage value of the driving battery drops to the engine starting voltage during traveling in the EV running mode, the engine is started without starting the engine immediately [i.e., the predetermined value is less than a first upper limit value and more than a second upper limit value] It is possible to reduce the fuel consumption of the engine by the EV running and to maintain quietness.”; para. 0045: “When the EV travel mode cancellation control unit 43 switches to the hybrid travel mode 1 or the hybrid travel mode 2, if the EV priority switch 31 is operated to be ON, the cancellation delay unit 53 of the second cancellation unit 55, The timing at which the engine 5 automatically starts operation is delayed [i.e., the predetermined value is less than a first upper limit value and more than a second upper limit value].”; para. 0051: “Further, the predetermined threshold value (Vt) is a lower limit value of the voltage range in which the driving battery 13 can repeatedly charge and discharge. That is, from the viewpoint of prevention of deterioration of the driving battery 13, the voltage range that can be repeatedly charged and discharged is fixed and is set to the lower limit value of the range.”),
the first upper limit value is an upper limit value of the battery output in the EV priority mode (translated document of Murase, para. 0057: “As shown in FIG. 5 (D), the voltage of the driving battery 13 rapidly drops when the current at the time of accelerator pedal depression shown in FIG. 5 (E) increases and thereafter decreases with the decrease of the SOC. At time t 1, Decreases to the threshold (Vt) and reaches the point R. As shown in FIG. 5 (E), the current rapidly rises when the output at the time of depression of the accelerator is increased, and then changes in accordance with the voltage. In this case, it is set to be substantially constant from t 0 to t 1 [i.e., the first upper limit value is an upper limit value of the battery output in the EV priority mode].”; Note: Since the engine turn on point is delayed in the EV priority mode, an upper limit value of the battery output could be the change in State of Charge, ΔSOCEVmode.),
the second upper limit value is an upper limit value of the battery output in the normal mode (translated document of Murase, para. 0058: “Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (D), when the accelerator pedal is increased and then the accelerator is made constant, the voltage of the driving battery 13 decreases to a predetermined threshold (Vt) at the time t 2 and reaches the point R . At this time t 2, if the EV priority switch 31 is OFF, the engine 5 is started to switch to the hybrid drive mode 1 or the hybrid drive mode 2.”; Note: Since the engine turn on point is not delayed in the normal mode, an upper limit value of the battery output could be the change in State of Charge, ΔSOCNormalMode.),
the first upper limit value is larger than the second upper limit value (translated document of Murase, para. 0058: “Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (D), when the accelerator pedal is increased and then the accelerator is made constant, the voltage of the driving battery 13 decreases to a predetermined threshold (Vt) at the time t 2 and reaches the point R . At this time t 2, if the EV priority switch 31 is OFF, the engine 5 is started to switch to the hybrid drive mode 1 or the hybrid drive mode 2.”; Note: Since the engine turn on point is delayed in EV priority mode and not delayed in normal mode, the following relationship must exist: ΔSOCEVmode > ΔSOCNormalMode.),
the control device starts the engine if the condition A or a condition B is satisfied when the motor is operating but the engine is not operating in the EV priority mode (translated document of Murase, para. 0059: “If the EV priority switch 31 is ON [i.e., the motor is operating but the engine is not operating in the EV priority mode], the engine 5 is not started at the time t 2, the EV traveling mode is maintained and the E area is set in the S area at the time t 2 to t 3 in FIGS. 5C, 5 D, and 5 E As shown in the figure, the battery output is lowered by maintaining the voltage of the predetermined threshold (Vt). That is, the voltage is kept at a predetermined threshold (Vt) voltage to lower the current to lower the battery output. Then, at the time t 3, the battery output cannot maintain the current vehicle speed and reaches the point P where the vehicle speed changes to the deceleration state [i.e., the control device starts the engine if the condition A or a condition B is satisfied]. For example, on the basis of the detection signal from the vehicle speed sensor 33, it is determined on the basis of whether or not the vehicle speed has dropped by a predetermined value or more, and it is determined whether or not it reaches the point P.”),
the condition B is that the battery output reaches the first upper limit value (translated document of Murase, para. 0059: “If the EV priority switch 31 is ON [i.e., the motor is operating but the engine is not operating in the EV priority mode], the engine 5 is not started at the time t 2, the EV traveling mode is maintained and the E area is set in the S area at the time t 2 to t 3 in FIGS. 5C, 5 D, and 5 E As shown in the figure, the battery output is lowered by maintaining the voltage of the predetermined threshold (Vt). That is, the voltage is kept at a predetermined threshold (Vt) voltage to lower the current to lower the battery output. Then, at the time t 3, the battery output cannot maintain the current vehicle speed and reaches the point P where the vehicle speed changes to the deceleration state [i.e., the condition B is that the battery output reaches the first upper limit value]. For example, on the basis of the detection signal from the vehicle speed sensor 33, it is determined on the basis of whether or not the vehicle speed has dropped by a predetermined value or more, and it is determined whether or not it reaches the point P.”),
the control device starts the engine if the condition H is satisfied when the motor is operating but the engine is not operating in the normal mode, and the condition H is that the battery output reaches the second upper limit value (translated document of Murase, para. 0058: “Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (D), when the accelerator pedal is increased and then the accelerator is made constant, the voltage of the driving battery 13 decreases to a predetermined threshold (Vt) at the time t 2 and reaches the point R [i.e., a certain ΔSOCNormalMode has been reached; the condition H is that the battery output reaches the second upper limit value]. At this time t 2, if the EV priority switch 31 is OFF [i.e., the motor is operating but the engine is not operating in the normal mode], the engine 5 is started [i.e., the control device starts the engine] to switch to the hybrid drive mode 1 or the hybrid drive mode 2.”).
Regarding claim 5, Murase discloses The hybrid vehicle according to claim 4,
wherein the predetermined time is set shorter than a period starting from time when the battery output comes to be the predetermined value or more to time when a voltage of the battery declines to reach a lower limit voltage (translated document of Murase, para. 0016: “(5) In some embodiments, in the configuration (3) or (4), the voltage of the driving battery controlled to be constant is within a voltage range in which the driving battery can repeatedly charge and discharge And is a voltage of a lower limit value [i.e., the predetermined time is set shorter].”; para. 0017: “According to the configuration (5), from the viewpoint of prevention of deterioration of the driving battery, the voltage of the predetermined threshold used for the judgment of the first canceling section and the allowable voltage of the control of lowering the output power of the driving battery are set to be lower than the driving battery Is the voltage of the lower limit value of the voltage range that can be repeatedly charged and discharged [i.e., a period starting from time when the battery output comes to be the predetermined value or more to time when a voltage of the battery declines to reach a lower limit voltage]. In other words, the voltage range that can be repeatedly charged and discharged is fixed, and it is set to the lower limit value of the range. Therefore, traveling by the electric motor can be prolonged as long as deterioration of the driving battery does not occur, and reduction in fuel consumption and quietness of the engine by EV running can be maintained.”).
Conclusion
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 Leah N Miller whose telephone number is (703)756-1933. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30am - 5:30pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abby Flynn can be reached at (571) 272-9855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/L.N.M./Examiner, Art Unit 3663
/ABBY J FLYNN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3663
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