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 Applicants’ filing on January 27, 2026. Claims 1-20 were previously pending, of which claims 1 and 2 have been amended. Accordingly, claims 1-20 are currently pending and are being examined below.
Response to Arguments
With respect to Applicant's remarks, see pages 5-8 filed January 27, 2026; Applicant’s “Amendment and Remarks” have been fully considered. Applicant’s remarks will be addressed in sequential order as they were presented.
Applicant's arguments regarding 35 U.S.C. §103 Rejections have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., selectively prohibit the vehicle from at least one of: (i) traveling on a wireless charging lane, or (ii) receiving power from the wireless charging lane) are clearly defined in the prior art and maintained for the rejection below in view of the amended claims. Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, the new limitations from the amended claims are not persuasive . Therefore, the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103 are maintained, as presented in the Final Office Action below.
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, 2 and 5-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joao et al., US 20220299337 A1 (Hereinafter, “Joao”), in view of Cella et al., WO 2021/178385 A1 (Hereinafter, “Cella”) in further view of Makino et al., US 20210387535 A1 (Hereinafter, “Makino”).
Regarding Claim 1, Joao discloses a control apparatus to be applied to a vehicle, the control apparatus being configured to charge a battery of the vehicle, the control apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors; See at least Fig. 1 and [0107], “The apparatus and methods of the present invention can be utilized to facilitate the monitoring of, and/or the recharging of, a battery or batteries of an electric vehicle and/or a hybrid vehicle by using any one of, any one or more of, or any combination of, a wide variety of vehicle battery recharging methods and/or technologies.” Also in [0182], “The vehicle computer 30 also includes a random access memory device(s) 30B (RAM) and a read only memory device(s) 30C (ROM), each of which is connected to, or linked with, the CPU 30A, and a user input device 30D, for entering data and/or information and/or commands into the vehicle computer 30.”
a fee to be generated when charging is performed by the wireless charging lane; and a fee to be generated when the charging is performed by the charging facility. See at least [0287], “At step 1006, the electric road/vehicle recharging system computer 60 can process information regarding any of the vehicle battery recharging activities or services provided or performed… the charges for products and/or services provided or performed. At step 1006, the electric road/vehicle recharging system computer 60 can process any financial transaction involving the vehicle's recharging account and/or refueling account, and can store any information regarding the same in the databases 60H.”
wherein the one or more processors are configured to: analyze future action data indicating a driver's estimated intention to stop at a charging facility; See [0121], “FIG. 1, the apparatus 100 also includes a navigation information system computer 50 which, in a preferred embodiment, is linked to or connected with the central processing computer … information regarding recharging stations or locations, information regarding eroad recharging locations and the respective recharging systems utilized therein … which can include, real-time information, past or historic information, present information, future information, and/or predicted information.”
Joao discloses a vehicle charging apparatus but does not explicitly disclose optimizing charging fees. However, Cella teaches: compare a wireless charging lane fee with a charging facility fee; and based on analyzing the future action data and comparing the wireless charging lane fee with the charging facility fee, See [0166], “ In embodiments an AI system/expert system may use or optimize one or more parameters for a charging plan, such as for charging a battery of an electric or hybrid vehicle. Charging plan parameters may include routing (such as to charging locations), amount of charge or fuel provided, duration of time for charging, battery state, battery charging profile, time required to charge, value of charging, indicators of value, market price, bids for charging, available supply capacity (such as within a geofence or within a range of a set of vehicles), demand (such as based on detected charge/refueling state, based on requested demand, or the like), supply, and others.”
As both are in the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Joao’s device with the wireless charging limitations disclosed in Makino with reasonable expectation of success. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a route ascribed various parameters of value, such as parameters of value that may be optimized to improve user experience, see Cella [0162].
Joao discloses a vehicle charging apparatus but does not explicitly disclose prohibiting the use of a charging lane. However, Makino teaches: selectively prohibit the vehicle from at least one of: (i) traveling on a wireless charging lane, or (ii) receiving power from the wireless charging lane. See Makino [0193], “vehicle 100 may have to travel on the charging lane 200 even in a case of not using the charging lane 200. In that case, a configuration may be adopted that enables selection of not performing charging of the onboard battery 103 even though the vehicle 100 travels on the charging lane 200. And [0194], “This makes it possible to prevent a usage fee from being collected against the user's intention in a situation where the vehicle 100 has to travel on the charging lane 200.”
As both are in the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Joao’s device with the wireless charging limitations disclosed in Makino with reasonable expectation of success. The motivation for doing so would have been to suppress unnecessary use and relieve congestion on the charging lane , see Makino [0111].
Regarding Claim 2, Joao discloses the following limitation dependent on Claim 1:
wherein the future action data comprises data related to an action of the driver to stop at a rest area having the charging facility. See at least [0266-0267], “At step 1004, the vehicle computer 30 can provide navigation information and/or navigation instructions to the vehicle operator so as to direct the vehicle operator to the selected battery recharging facility or venue and/or fuel cell refueling facility or venue.”
Regarding Claim 5-8, Joao discloses the following limitation dependent on Claims 1-4:
wherein the one or more processors are configured to acquire the future action data, based on a traveling route of the vehicle. See at least [0261] “In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus 100 and methods of the present invention can also be utilized in order to identify and/or locate a battery recharging facility… based on navigation instructions or information on or regarding a current or expected travel route.”
Regarding Claim 9-12, Joao discloses a vehicle charging apparatus, but does not disclose acquiring future action data. However, Makino teaches a vehicle charging apparatus and the following limitation dependent on Claims 1-4:
wherein the one or more processors are configured to acquire the future action data, based on congestion data. See at least [0186], “As described above, various processes may be executed each time the vehicle 100 reaches the starting point or the endpoint of the charging lane 200. Notification may be issued to the vehicle 100 at a timing of the server detecting occurrence of an accident or traffic congestion, and the processor 106 of the vehicle 100 may execute the series of processes illustrated in FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9 at a timing of receiving the notification.”
Regarding Claim 13-16, Joao discloses the following limitation dependent on Claims 1-4:
wherein the one or more processors are configured to acquire the future action data, based on an input of an operation to be performed by the driver. See at least [0267], “At step 1004, the vehicle computer 30 can provide navigation information and/or navigation instructions to the vehicle operator so as to direct the vehicle operator to the selected battery recharging facility or venue and/or fuel cell refueling facility or venue.”
Regarding Claim 17-20, Joao discloses a vehicle charging apparatus, but does not explicitly disclose driver state. However. Cella teaches the following limitation dependent on Claims 1-4:
wherein the one or more processors are configured to acquire the future action data, based on data on a state of the driver. See at least [0305], “Referring to Fig. 31, transportation systems having an artificial intelligence system for processing a voice of a rider in a vehicle to determine an emotional state and optimizing at least one operating parameter of the vehicle to improve the rider’s emotional state. Where a voice indicates stress, the system may recommend or provide a control signal to change a planned route to one that is less stressful (e.g., has less stop-and-go traffic, or that has a higher probability of an on-time arrival).”
As both are in the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Joao and Makino’s device with the driver state limitations disclosed in Cella with reasonable expectation of success. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a favorable rider satisfaction state, see Cella [0012].
Claims 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joao in view of Cella in further view of Makino in reference to Claim 1, in further view of Lee et al., US 2017/0028854 A1 (Hereinafter, “Lee”).
Regarding Claim 3, Joao discloses a vehicle charging apparatus, but does not explicitly disclose travel paths. However, Lee teaches the following limitation dependent on Claim 1:
wherein the future action data comprises data related to an action of the driver to travel from a freeway to a general road. See at least [0025], “As used herein, “roadway” means a thoroughfare, route, path or way between two places and upon which a vehicle can travel. The roadway may be paved or otherwise improved to facilitate travel by a vehicle thereon. In some instances, the roadway may be unpaved or undeveloped. The roadway may be a public road or a private road. The roadway can include or be a part of one or more bridges, tunnels, supporting structures, junctions, crossings, interchanges, and toll roads. Also in“[0055], ”At block 116, the travel path 44 can be presented to a vehicle occupant. For instance, the travel path 44 can be presented to the driver or operator via a display in the vehicle 12.” The travel path 44 can be shown on the display so that the driver or operator can drive along the travel path 44 depicted on the display. Alternatively, the travel path 44 can be automatically executed by the vehicle 12 where the vehicle 12 is an autonomous or highly automated vehicle.”
As both are in the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine Joao and Makino’s device with the travel path limitations disclosed in Lee with reasonable expectation of success. The motivation for doing so would have been to maximize the wireless charging of a vehicle, see Lee [0058].
Regarding Claim 4, Joao discloses a vehicle charging apparatus, but does not explicitly disclose branch points. However, Lee teaches the following limitation dependent on Claim 1:
wherein the future action data comprises data related to an action of the driver to select a route of traveling at a branch point of a freeway. See at least [0013], “A travel path for the vehicle can be determined based at least partially on the location of the one or more charge transmitters so that the charge receiver is positioned in substantial charging alignment with the one or more charge transmitters as the vehicle passes over the one or more charge transmitters. Arrangements described herein include methods, vehicles, and roadways configured for such wireless charging. Also in [0025], “As used herein, “roadway” means a thoroughfare, route, path or way between two places and upon which a vehicle can travel … The roadway can include or be a part of one or more bridges, tunnels, supporting structures, junctions, crossings, interchanges, and toll roads.” Additionally [0055], ”At block 116, the travel path 44 can be presented to a vehicle occupant. For instance, the travel path 44 can be presented to the driver or operator via a display in the vehicle 12.”
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.
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/B.K.P./Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/KENNETH M DUNNE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3669