DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This action is in response to the applicant’s preliminary amendment filed on September 10, 2024. Claims 13-25 are pending and examined below. Claims 1-12 have been canceled. Claims 13-25 have been added.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: page 9 line 11, the phrase “and a is” should be -- and a is --. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements. The applicant is advised to rewrite the claims into independent forms to overcome this rejection.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 19, the word “qual” should be -- equal --. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 13, 18-19 and 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al., US 2020/0070679 A1.
As to claim 13, Wang teaches a method for optimizing a use quality of an electric vehicle, the vehicle comprising an electric motor module, a battery module configured to power the electric motor module, a sensor group, and a control module, the method comprising the steps of (abstract and ¶ 24-25, 29 and Fig. 1; e.g. electric motor 16, traction battery pack 14, and sensing devices 28 of Fig. 1):
acquiring a measurement of (¶ 29 and Fig. 1):
an interval of vehicle usage time from an initial time (¶ 33; e.g. at a regular intervals of 100 milliseconds);
a vehicle speed (¶ 33);
a state of charge of the battery module (¶ 14, 39);
a value of power output from the electric motor (¶ 36-37; e.g. motor torque);
a transmission ratio of the torque generated by the electric motor to a wheel of the vehicle (¶ 55; splitting propulsion torque in a ratio);
an inclination angle of the vehicle with respect to a reference direction; and a load present on board the vehicle (¶ 48; e.g. roadway gradient data);
calculating at least one operating parameter characterizing the use of the vehicle at the predetermined usage time based on the acquired measurements as a function of at least one value of power output from the motor (¶ 56; e.g. calculating dSOC/dt);
defining a quality of use index of the vehicle as a function of said at least one operating parameter of the vehicle (¶ 56; e.g. cost function);
determining an optimal value of the power output value from the motor for which the quality of use index is equal to or greater than a threshold value (¶ 56); and
generating a control signal to modify the power output from the electric motor and the transmission ratio from the measured value to the optimal value within said predetermined interval of time (¶ 47, 55; e.g. optimizing powertrain operation by splitting propulsion torque in a ratio between engine torque output and motor torque output).
As to claims 18-19, Wang further teaches a step of imposing a power delivery dynamic based on time according to a linear function of time (¶ 48, 50-51; e.g. linear function provides output of y(t); Note: the limitation of 19 is based on the optional limitation introduced in claim 18, therefore, it is also an optional limitation).
Claims 24-25 are rejected based on the same rationale applied to claim 13 above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-17 and 20-23 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.
Inquiry
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mary Cheung whose telephone number is (571) 272-6705. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Christian Chace, can be reached on (571) 272-4190.
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The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceedings is assigned are as follows:
(571) 273-8300 (Official Communications; including After Final Communications labeled “BOX AF”)
(571) 273-6705 (Draft Communications)
/MARY CHEUNG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3665 March 6, 2026