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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-8, 12, and 15-17 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues with respect to claim 1 that the combination of Kutkut and Ryu fail to disclose, “generating, by the cloud server, a first unique identifier according to the vehicle identification number and the target vehicle type information.” Particularly, the applicant contends Ryu's generation of an identifier using a "random number" is entirely distinct from Claim 1, which requires generating the unique identifier according to the "target vehicle type information."
The examiner disagrees. Ryu discloses:
generating, by the cloud server, a first unique identifier according to a vehicle identification number and a target vehicle type information, and transmitting, by a cloud server, the first unique identifier to a vehicle communication apparatus ([0048], particularly, “In some embodiments, the pseudonymous identifier may be generated by applying a one-way hash algorithm to the VII (e.g., VIN data). The one-way hash algorithm makes it impossible to extract the VII or other useful information from the generated pseudonymous identifier. The pseudonymous identifier may be generated by applying the one-way hash algorithm to a combination of the VII and a random number generated by the data collection server 35.” And [0050]-[0051], particularly, “The VII database server 32 may store the VII delivered from the data collection server 35 in the VII database 31.”)
To clarify, the VII in Ryu is not necessarily the VIN alone as it specifically states other information is included with it in [0041]-[0042], “Here, the VII is information for uniquely identifying a vehicle, and may include, for example, a vehicle identification number (VIN), which may be collected from ECUs in the vehicle, a unique identifier used by the communication device 13 for communication, and a certificate (long-term or short-term certificate) assigned to the vehicle for V2X communication…In addition, the event report message may further contain additional information such as a geographical location, date, and time of the event, a vehicle model, the year of manufacture, a manufacturer, etc. At least a part of the additional information may be stored along with the event data in the event database 21, may be stored along with the VII in the VII database 31, or may be stored in both databases 21, 31.” Thus, it is clear VII can include the broadly termed, “target vehicle type information” as well as the VIN.
The applicant further argues the combination of Kutkut and Ryu fails to disclose the second determination branch of claim 1.
The examiner disagrees and notes the language in the claim is as an alternative and the examiner highlighted this in the rejection by italicizing the language. That is, claim recites, “in response to a first determination…or in response to a second determination…”
Specifically, the method executes and can may only make one determination in a single iteration and the broadest reading of the claim includes a single iteration. The combination of Kutkut and Ryu discloses the first determination and need not disclose the second determination to read on the claim.
In other words and by way of example, the claim clearly recites, “a unique identifier acquisition request” and the determining after. How can the claim make two mutually exclusive determinations from a single request? It cannot and thus the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim only includes one branch of the determination step given how the claim is written.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-8, 12, and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kutkut et al (US Pub. No. 2018/0300968; cited on IDS), hereafter, “Kutkut,” in view of Ryu et al (US Pub. No. 2020/0218729), hereafter, “Ryu.”
As to claim 1, Kutkut discloses (alternative language in italics) a battery data management method for a vehicle, applied to a battery data management system (Abstract), wherein the method comprises:
transmitting, by a vehicle communication apparatus, a unique identifier acquisition request to the cloud server, wherein a unique identifier is configured to bind battery data acquired by the vehicle communication apparatus from the vehicle ([0032]-[0033], particularly, “Configuration of the vehicle identification devices 30a-30n will now be described. The vehicle identification devices 30a-30n may be configured using the software application. Upon installation, the device ID, the vehicle or truck ID, and vehicle or truck serial number may be entered and saved into a vehicle identification device 30a-30n using the mobile wireless communications device 70 or tablet connected wirelessly to the LAN and the cloud application 63… The software application will also sync all the battery monitoring device programmed values to the cloud and will be tagged with the battery monitor serial number and ID. Additional parameters such as the location where the wireless battery monitor is installed, installation date, customer and dealer contact info, along with other data can be saved to the cloud rather than locally into the wireless battery monitor 40a-40n and tagged with the battery monitoring device serial number and ID.”), wherein the battery data management system comprises the vehicle communication apparatus (Fig. 3, labels 30a-n) and a cloud server (Fig. 3, label 60), the vehicle communication apparatus is configured to be communicatively connected with a vehicle and the cloud server, and the cloud server is configured to be further communicatively connected with a user terminal (Fig. 3, label 70);
in response to receiving, by the cloud server, the unique identifier acquisition request, acquiring, by the cloud server, target vehicle type information from the user terminal, and determining, by the cloud server, whether the vehicle supports reading a vehicle identification number according to the target vehicle type information ([0032]-[0033], particularly, “The vehicle identification devices 30a-30n may be configured using the software application. Upon installation, the device ID, the vehicle or truck ID, and vehicle or truck serial number may be entered and saved into a vehicle identification device 30a-30n using the mobile wireless communications device 70 or tablet connected wirelessly to the LAN and the cloud application 63. The software application may also sync all the vehicle ID device programmed values to the cloud. Additional parameters such as the geographical location 22 (i.e., where the vehicle is installed), installation date, customer contact info, along with other data can be saved to the cloud rather than locally into the vehicle ID device 30a-30n and tagged with the vehicle serial number and vehicle ID”; “Upon installation…” equating to “determining, by the cloud server,” i.e. the communications are via the application and thus a determination is made whether the communications can be made), and
in response to a first determination that the vehicle supports reading the vehicle identification number, acquiring, by the cloud server, the vehicle identification number via the vehicle communication apparatus ([0032]-[0033], particularly, “Upon installation, the device ID, the vehicle or truck ID, and vehicle or truck serial number may be entered and saved into a vehicle identification device 30a-30n using the mobile wireless communications device 70 or tablet connected wirelessly to the LAN and the cloud application 63. The software application may also sync all the vehicle ID device programmed values to the cloud. Additional parameters such as the geographical location 22 (i.e., where the vehicle is installed), installation date, customer contact info, along with other data can be saved to the cloud rather than locally into the vehicle ID device 30a-30n and tagged with the vehicle serial number and vehicle ID”); or
in response to a second determination that the vehicle does not support reading the vehicle identification number, acquiring, by the cloud server, a vehicle communication device apparatus identification from the vehicle communication apparatus and a user identification from the user terminal, generating, by the cloud server, a second unique identifier according to the vehicle communication apparatus identification, the user identification and the target vehicle type information, and transmitting, by the cloud server, the second unique identifier to the vehicle communication apparatus.
However, Kutkut does not explicitly disclose generating, by the cloud server, a first unique identifier according to the vehicle identification number and the target vehicle type information, and transmitting, by the cloud server, the first unique identifier to the vehicle communication apparatus
But, Ryu discloses generating, by the cloud server, a first unique identifier according to a vehicle identification number and a target vehicle type information, and transmitting, by a cloud server, the first unique identifier to a vehicle communication apparatus ([0048], particularly, “In some embodiments, the pseudonymous identifier may be generated by applying a one-way hash algorithm to the VII (e.g., VIN data). The one-way hash algorithm makes it impossible to extract the VII or other useful information from the generated pseudonymous identifier. The pseudonymous identifier may be generated by applying the one-way hash algorithm to a combination of the VII and a random number generated by the data collection server 35.” And [0050]-[0051], particularly, “The VII database server 32 may store the VII delivered from the data collection server 35 in the VII database 31.” See further, [0041]-[0042], “Here, the VII is information for uniquely identifying a vehicle, and may include, for example, a vehicle identification number (VIN), which may be collected from ECUs in the vehicle, a unique identifier used by the communication device 13 for communication, and a certificate (long-term or short-term certificate) assigned to the vehicle for V2X communication…In addition, the event report message may further contain additional information such as a geographical location, date, and time of the event, a vehicle model, the year of manufacture, a manufacturer, etc. At least a part of the additional information may be stored along with the event data in the event database 21, may be stored along with the VII in the VII database 31, or may be stored in both databases 21, 31.” Disclosing the additional information that may be VII aside from the VIN)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the application to combine the teachings of Kutkut and Ryu in order to provide a means to anonymize data and protect the privacy of users.
As to claims 6 and 12, they are rejected by a similar rationale to that set forth in claim 1’s rejection.
As to claims 2 and 7, the teachings of Kutkut and Ryu as combined for the same reasons set forth in claim 1’s rejection further disclose in response to the first determination that the vehicle supports reading the vehicle identification number, searching, by the cloud server, for a reading instruction corresponding to the target vehicle type information in a pre-set vehicle type database, and transmitting, by the cloud server, the reading instruction to the vehicle communication apparatus; and reading, by the vehicle communication apparatus, the vehicle identification number of the vehicle according to the reading instruction, and transmitting, by the vehicle communication apparatus, the vehicle identification number to the cloud server (Kutkut, [0032]-[0033], particularly, “Configuration of the vehicle identification devices 30a-30n will now be described. The vehicle identification devices 30a-30n may be configured using the software application. Upon installation, the device ID, the vehicle or truck ID, and vehicle or truck serial number may be entered and saved into a vehicle identification device 30a-30n using the mobile wireless communications device 70 or tablet connected wirelessly to the LAN and the cloud application 63… The software application will also sync all the battery monitoring device programmed values to the cloud and will be tagged with the battery monitor serial number and ID. Additional parameters such as the location where the wireless battery monitor is installed, installation date, customer and dealer contact info, along with other data can be saved to the cloud rather than locally into the wireless battery monitor 40a-40n and tagged with the battery monitoring device serial number and ID.”).
As to claims 3 and 8, the teachings of Kutkut and Ryu as combined for the same reasons set forth in claim 1’s rejection further disclose in response to the second determination that the vehicle does not support reading the vehicle identification number, accessing, by the cloud server, a target account of the user terminal, and determining, by the cloud server, whether the vehicle type information in a vehicle type file under the target account matches the target vehicle type information; and in response to determining matching, selecting by the cloud server, a unique identifier of the vehicle type file to transmit to the vehicle communication apparatus; or in response to determining not matching, generating by the cloud server, the second unique identifier according to the vehicle communication apparatus identification, the user identification, and the target vehicle type information (Kutkut, [0032]-[0033], particularly, “Configuration of the vehicle identification devices 30a-30n will now be described. The vehicle identification devices 30a-30n may be configured using the software application. Upon installation, the device ID, the vehicle or truck ID, and vehicle or truck serial number may be entered and saved into a vehicle identification device 30a-30n using the mobile wireless communications device 70 or tablet connected wirelessly to the LAN and the cloud application 63… The software application will also sync all the battery monitoring device programmed values to the cloud and will be tagged with the battery monitor serial number and ID. Additional parameters such as the location where the wireless battery monitor is installed, installation date, customer and dealer contact info, along with other data can be saved to the cloud rather than locally into the wireless battery monitor 40a-40n and tagged with the battery monitoring device serial number and ID.” And Ryu, [0048], particularly, “In some embodiments, the pseudonymous identifier may be generated by applying a one-way hash algorithm to the VII (e.g., VIN data). The one-way hash algorithm makes it impossible to extract the VII or other useful information from the generated pseudonymous identifier. The pseudonymous identifier may be generated by applying the one-way hash algorithm to a combination of the VII and a random number generated by the data collection server 35.” And [0050]-[0051], particularly, “The VII database server 32 may store the VII delivered from the data collection server 35 in the VII database 31.”).
As to claim 4, the teachings of Kutkut and Ryu as combined for the same reasons set forth in claim 1’s rejection further disclose determining by the vehicle communication apparatus, a plugging state of the vehicle with the vehicle communication apparatus before transmitting the unique identifier acquisition request to the cloud server; and in response to determining that the plugging state is a plugged state, reading, by the vehicle communication apparatus, an identification number to be verified of the vehicle according to a local configuration file, determining by the vehicle communication apparatus, whether the identification number to be verified matches a local vehicle identification number, and in response to determining matching, selecting, by the vehicle communication apparatus, a local unique identifier as the unique identifier, or in response to determining not matching, transmitting, by the vehicle communication apparatus, a unique identifier acquisition request is transmitted to the cloud server; or in response to determining that the plugging state is an unplugged state, selecting, by the vehicle communication apparatus, a local unique identifier as the unique identifier (Kutkut, Fig. 9 and [0046]-[0047], particularly, “At Block 124 a determination is made as to whether a battery 21a-21n is connected to an associated vehicle 23a-23n. If at Block 124 an associated battery 21a-21n is connected to the associated vehicle 23a-23n, a determination is made as to whether a discharge cycle is occurring (Block 126), otherwise, the system 20, for example, the corresponding wireless battery monitor 40a-40n, polls for a connected battery 21a-21n.”).
As to claim 5, the teachings of Kutkut and Ryu as combined for the same reasons set forth in claim 1’s rejection further disclose after receiving, by the vehicle communication apparatus, the unique identifier, packaging, by the vehicle communication apparatus, the unique identifier and the battery data into battery data per frame, and transmitting, by the vehicle communication apparatus, the battery data per frame to the cloud server (Kutkut, Fig. 9 and [0046]-[0047]).
As to claims 15-17, the teachings of Kutkut and Ryu as combined for the same reasons set forth in claim 1’s rejection further disclose after receiving, by the vehicle communication apparatus, the unique identifier, packaging, by the vehicle communication apparatus, the unique identifier and the battery data into battery data per frame, and transmitting, by the vehicle communication apparatus, the battery data per frame to the cloud server (Kutkut, Fig. 9 and [0046]-[0047] and Ryu, [0048], particularly, “In some embodiments, the pseudonymous identifier may be generated by applying a one-way hash algorithm to the VII (e.g., VIN data). The one-way hash algorithm makes it impossible to extract the VII or other useful information from the generated pseudonymous identifier. The pseudonymous identifier may be generated by applying the one-way hash algorithm to a combination of the VII and a random number generated by the data collection server 35.” And [0050]-[0051], particularly, “The VII database server 32 may store the VII delivered from the data collection server 35 in the VII database 31.”)
Conclusion
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS J DAILEY whose telephone number is (571)270-1246. The examiner can normally be reached on 9:30am-6:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Umar Cheema can be reached on 571-270-3037. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THOMAS J DAILEY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458
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