DETAILED ACTION
This is a first Office Action on the merits and is responsive to the originally filed application papers. Claims filed on 07/17/2024 are being examined. Claims 1-20 are being considered and further pending examination.
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 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.
Claims 1-20 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.
Independent Claims 1 and 14 recite “when a decrement of the low voltage battery exceeds a reference value” however this is unclear as a prior limitation recites “when the SOC of the low voltage battery is equal to or less than a first threshold value”. This is unclear as it is uncertain if the limitation is simply defining what is the criteria for determining the low voltage battery is equal to or less than a first threshold value or if it is a second criteria indicating a third threshold value of which the low voltage battery must be compared to.
Claims 2-13 and 15-20 are dependent on independent claims 1 and 14 and do not cure the deficiencies thereof, therefore they are rejected for the same reason.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
101 Analysis - Step 1: Applicant’s independent claim 1 is directed toward an apparatus for controlling a vehicle. Therefore, it can be seen that it/they fall(s) within one of the four statutory categories of invention.
101 Analysis - Step 2A, Prong I: Regarding Prong I of the Step 2A analysis in the 2019 PEG, the claims are to be analyzed to determine whether they recite subject matter that falls within one of the following groups of abstract ideas: a) mathematical concepts, b) certain methods of organizing human activity, and/or c) mental processes.
Independent claim 1 includes limitations that recite and abstract idea (emphasized below) and will be used as a representative claim for the remainder of the 101 rejection. Claim 1 recites :
An apparatus for controlling a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
a sensor configured to
acquire a state of charge (SOC) of a low voltage battery,
acquire an SOC of a high voltage battery when an IGN3 power is turned off,
compare the SOC of the high voltage battery with a second threshold value, when the SOC of the low voltage battery is equal to or less than a first threshold value, when a decrement of the low voltage battery exceeds a reference value, and
determine whether to transmit a signal related to a recharging operation for the low voltage battery based on a comparison result; and
a processor configured to
determine whether to wake up, based on whether the signal related to the recharging operation for the low voltage battery is received, and
determine whether to perform the recharging operation for the low voltage battery, in response to the signal related to the recharging operation for the low voltage battery when waking up.
The examiner submits that the foregoing bolded limitation(s) constitute a “mental process” because under its broadest reasonable interpretation, the claim covers performance of the limitation in the human mind. Specifically, the steps “compare” and “determine” encompasses a user making an observation, evaluation, or judgement, first a simple comparison of values, then a determination to carry out an action based on the comparison followed by a second determination to carry out an action based on the comparison with a final determination of an action based on a signal/value. Accordingly, the claim recites at least one abstract idea.
101 Analysis - Step 2A, Prong II: Regarding Prong II of the Step 2A analysis in the 2019 PEG, the claims are to be analyzed to determine whether the claim, as a whole, integrates the abstract idea into a practical application. As noted in the 2019 PEG, it must be determined whether any additional elements in the claim beyond the abstract idea integrate the exception into a practical application in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception. The courts have indicated that additional elements merely using a computer to implement an abstract idea, adding insignificant extra solution activity, or generally linking use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use do not integrate a judicial exception into a “practical application.”
In the present case, the additional limitations beyond the above-noted abstract idea are as follows (where the underlined portions are the “additional limitations” while the bolded portions continue to represent the “abstract idea”):
An apparatus for controlling a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
a sensor configured to
acquire a state of charge (SOC) of a low voltage battery,
acquire an SOC of a high voltage battery when an IGN3 power is turned off,
compare the SOC of the high voltage battery with a second threshold value, when the SOC of the low voltage battery is equal to or less than a first threshold value, when a decrement of the low voltage battery exceeds a reference value, and
determine whether to transmit a signal related to a recharging operation for the low voltage battery based on a comparison result; and
a processor configured to
determine whether to wake up, based on whether the signal related to the recharging operation for the low voltage battery is received, and
determine whether to perform the recharging operation for the low voltage battery, in response to the signal related to the recharging operation for the low voltage battery when waking up.
For the following reason(s), the examiner submits that the above identified additional limitations do not integrate the above-noted abstract idea into a practical application.
Regarding the additional limitations of “a sensor configured to” and “a processor configured to” the examiner submits that these limitations constitute mere implementation of the abstract idea with a generic computer acting in its typical capacity.
Regarding the additional limitations of “acquire a state of charge (SOC) of a low voltage battery” and “acquire an SOC of a high voltage battery when an IGN3 power is turned off” the examiner submits that these limitations amount to no more than the extra solution activity of data gathering.
101 Analysis - Step 2B: Regarding Step 2B of the Revised Guidance, representative independent claim 1 does not include additional elements (considered both individually and as an ordered combination) that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception for the same reasons as those discussed above with respect to determining that the claim does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application the additional elements of “a sensor configured to” and “a processor configured to” amount to no more than a generic computing device acting in its typical capacity”. Further, the additional limitations of “acquire a state of charge of a low voltage battery” and “acquire an SOC of a high voltage battery…” amount to no more than the extra solution activity of data gathering. Therefore, as a whole the claim is directed to an abstract idea implemented on a generic computer with insignificant extra solution activities of data selection and data gathering.
Dependent claim(s) 2-13 do not recite any further limitations that cause the claim(s) to be patent eligible. Rather, the limitations of dependent claims are directed toward additional aspects of the judicial exception and/or well-understood, routine and conventional additional elements that do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application as discussed below. Therefore, dependent claims 2-13 are not patent eligible under the same rationale as provided for in the rejection of claim 1.
Therefore, claim(s) 2-13 is/are ineligible under 35 USC §101.
Regarding claim 2, which is dependent on claim 1, it merely adds the limitation “wherein the sensor is configured to transmit, to the processor,
A signal for a request for the recharging operation for the low voltage battery, which is included in the signal related to the recharging operation for the low voltage battery, when the SOC of the high voltage battery is equal to or greater than the second threshold value” which merely recites a further determination to based on a comparison to send a signal where the transmission of a signal amounts to no more than a generic computing device acting in its typical capacity regarding signal transmission with the extra solution activity of data selection regarding the composition of the signal.
Regarding claim 5, which is dependent on claim 1, it merely adds the limitation “wherein the sensor is configured to determine whether to transmit, to the processor, the signal related to the recharging operation for the low voltage battery based on the SOC of the low voltage battery, when the SOC of the high voltage battery is less than the second threshold value” which is merely adding another mental process of making a determination based on a comparison value.
Regarding claim 6, which is dependent on claim 5, it merely adds the limitation “wherein the sensor is configured to determine not to transmit, to the processor, a signal for a request for the recharging operation for the low voltage battery, which is included in the signal related to the recharging operation for the low voltage battery, when the SOC of the low voltage battery is in a first range equal to or less than the first threshold value” which is merely adding another mental process of making a determination based on a comparison value.
Regarding claim 7, which is dependent on claim 6, it merely adds the limitation “wherein the processor is configured to:
maintain a sleep state, when failing to receive the signal for the request for the recharging operation for the low voltage battery, which is included in the signal related to the recharging operation for the low voltage battery” which is merely a computing device acting in its typical capacity of maintaining a current state.
Regarding claim 8, which is dependent on claim 6, it merely adds the limitation “wherein the sensor is configured to determine to transmit, to the processor, a user notification signal, which is included in the signal related to the recharging operation for the low voltage battery, when the SOC of the low voltage battery is in a second range less than a lower limit of the first range” which is merely adding another mental process of making a determination based on a comparison value.
Claims 14-15 and 18-20 recite limitations substantially the same as claims 1-2 and 5-6 above, therefore they are rejected for the same reason.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, and 35 U.S.C. 101 set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The closest prior arts found are :
Song et al (US 20230202343 A1) teaches a system relating to the technical field of electric vehicles, and in particular, to charging systems and methods. An example charging system includes: a low-voltage battery capable of supplying power to a low-voltage electrical device of a vehicle; a power battery module; a direct current-to-direct current (DC-DC) converter capable of receiving a voltage supplied by the power battery module in response to at least that a positive relay and a negative relay of the power battery module are closed, and converting the voltage into a charging voltage of the low-voltage battery to charge the low-voltage battery; and a DC-DC controller electrically connected to the low-voltage battery and capable of monitoring a voltage of the low-voltage battery in response to at least that the vehicle is in a dormant state.
Chen et al (US 20220324399 A1) teaches an electrical system in a vehicle has a battery is configured to supply electrical current when a driver ignition key is in a Key-Off state. A. A plurality of electrical loads are each configurable to receive the electrical current flowing from the battery during the Key-Off state depending upon predetermined Key-Off-Load (KOL) Modes. A vehicle locator determines a geographic location of the vehicle. A sleep-time database records daily Key-On and Key-Off events according to changes between the Key-On state and the Key-Off state, wherein each Key-Off event is associated with a respective geographic location from the vehicle locator. An analyzer identifies Key-Off events sharing a repetitive time span and a common geographic location. A scheduler activates a timed KOL sequence according to the identified Key-Off events so that repetitive time slots of vehicle usage can be used to reduce battery drain during times when vehicle usage is less likely.
Tian et al (Machine translation of CN 108638890 A) teaches a systems regarding a battery technology field, specifically claims a server, maintenance terminal, power battery maintenance method, device and system. aiming at solving the problem that the passive power battery to maintain and the maintenance mode is not flexible enough. The invention claims a power battery maintaining method, comprising obtaining health state of the power battery based on different health state with the preset different maintenance policy of one-to-one corresponding relation matched with the health state corresponding to the maintenance strategy, maintenance strategy, generating a maintenance plan of the power battery. The invention can actively obtains the health degree of the power battery, the power battery timely informing the user maintenance, improves the service life of the power battery, and according to the user habit, and generating the user habit of maintaining solution and improves the user experience. The power battery maintaining device, system, server and maintenance terminal of the invention also has the beneficial effect.
Ma et al (US 12384264 B2) teaches a wake-up circuit for a charge controller is provided, which includes a first-stage charging circuit and a second-stage charging circuit. The first-stage charging circuit includes a first capacitor. When an input terminal of the first-stage charging circuit receives a high level signal and the first capacitor is in a partially charged state, the first-stage charging circuit charges the first capacitor and outputs a first charging voltage to the second-stage charging circuit. When the input terminal of the first-stage charging circuit receives a low level signal, the first-stage charging circuit discharges the first capacitor. The second-stage charging circuit includes a second capacitor. When the second-stage charging circuit receives the first charging voltage output by the first-stage charging circuit, the second-stage charging circuit charges the second capacitor and outputs a wake-up signal to the charge controller, thereby increasing a scenario coverage of the wake-up circuit to ensure high applicability.
Watanabe et al (US 10291054 B2) teaches a start of a fuel cell system, (i) when the temperature of a high-voltage secondary battery obtained from a temperature sensor is higher than a predetermined reference value, a controller of the fuel cell system is configured to set an output voltage on a step-down side of a DC-DC converter to a higher voltage than a voltage of a low-voltage secondary battery and subsequently start an FC auxiliary machine using electric power from the high-voltage secondary battery. (ii) When the temperature of the high-voltage secondary battery obtained from the temperature sensor is equal to or lower than the predetermined reference value, on the other hand, the controller of the fuel cell system is configured to set the output voltage on the step-down side of the DC-DC converter to a lower voltage than the voltage of the low-voltage secondary battery and subsequently start the FC auxiliary machine using the electric power from the high-voltage secondary battery.
Conclusion
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/D.H./Examiner, Art Unit 3668
/JAMES J LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3668