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 .
Response to Arguments
1. Applicant’s arguments, filed on 06/18/2026, with respect to the amendments of claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Yoon et al (USPN 2021/0218070).
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.
2. Claims 1, 12, 13, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Yoon et al (USPN 2021/0218070).
Regarding claim 1, Yoon discloses a power supply circuit (shown in figure 2) for supplying power to a management unit (300) of a battery (a battery 10), wherein the battery (10) is connected to an external circuit (an external circuit 500) by a safety protection switch (a safety switch 110), the power supply circuit comprising:
a first line (a first branching line coupled to an output side of the switch 110 via a second switch 210);
a second line (a second branching line coupled to a first switch 230); and
a voltage conversion circuit (DCDC converter, see par. 0049),
wherein both terminals of the safety protection switch (110) are respectively connected to an input end of the voltage conversion circuit (the DCDC converter shown in figure 2) via the first line and the second line, and an output end of the voltage conversion circuit is connected to the management unit (300), the voltage conversion circuit (the DCDC converter) being configured to convert an output voltage of the battery (10) into an operating voltage of the management unit (300) and supply power to the management unit (see par. 0049, 0051),
wherein the second line comprises a first switch (a switch 230), the first switch being configured to be switched on when the safety protection switch (110) is switched off, to cause the battery ( the battery 10) to supply power to the management unit (300) via the second line (see par. 0059-0060).
Regarding claims 12, 20, Yoon discloses an energy storage device comprises a battery (10), and a battery monitoring circuit (see figure 2), comprising: the power supply circuit and the management unit (300).
Regarding claim 13, Yoon discloses wherein the management unit (300) is configured to control the first switch (230)to be switched off in response to an abnormal operating state of the battery (such as an overcurrent, overvoltage) being detected (see par. 0066).
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.
3. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon et al (USPN 2021/0218070) in view of Kim (USPN 2014/0218040).
Regarding claim 11, Yoon discloses all limitations of claim 1 as discussed above, but does not explicitly disclose an internal power supply as claimed.
Kim discloses a battery management system comprises an internal power supply (30) connected a management unit (1) to supply power to the management unit (see figure 1, par. 0045).
It 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 to have modified the management unit of Yoon to incorporate an internal power supply as disclosed by Kim in order to allow a battery management unit to remain continuous operation if a battery disconnected.
4. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon et al (USPN 2021/0218070) in view of Zhang (USPN 2019/0074555).
Regarding claim 2, Yoon all limitations of claim 1 as discussed above, but does not explicitly disclose the first switch as claimed.
Zhang discloses a battery charging system comprises a first switch (62) is manually switchable off by a user (e.g. see par. 0076, 0077).
It 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 to have modified a first switch of Yoon to incorporate a manually controllable switch as disclosed by Zhang in order to allow a user to manually switch power for various power needs.
5. Claims 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Yoon et al (USPN 2021/0218070) in view of Zhang (USPN 2019/0074555).
Regarding claim 14, Yoon discloses all limitations of claims 1 and 12 as discussed above, but do not explicitly discloses the first switch as claimed.
Zhang discloses a battery charging system comprises a first switch (62) is manually switchable off by a user (e.g. see par. 0076, 0077).
It 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 to have modified a first switch of Yoon to incorporate a manually controllable switch as disclosed by Zhang in order to allow a user to manually switch power for various power needs.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 3-10, 15-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
7. 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.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANNY NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2054. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Lewis can be reached at 571-271-1838. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANNY NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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