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 .
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, 10, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Klintberg et al. (US 2022/0216704) in view of Oi et al. (JP 2006-038747 A, IDS filed 6/18/2025).
Regarding claims 1, 2, 10, and 11, Klintberg et al. discloses a battery detection circuit (element 1, Fig. 1) and method, comprising: a plurality of battery gauge circuits (i.e., not shown sensor units) (see par. [0082]) configured to read battery information of a plurality of batteries (see par. [0086]), wherein the battery information at least comprises a current battery capacity, a current temperature and a current cell voltage (see par. [0086]); a processing circuit (element 3, Fig. 1) electrically connected to the plurality of battery gauge circuits, wherein the processing circuit is configured to receive and process the battery information of the plurality of batteries (see par. [0086]).
Although Klintberg et al. does not appear to disclose adjusting a current battery capacity, Oi et al. shows that this feature is well known in the art. Oi et al. discloses battery detection circuit a processing circuit configured to perform the following: determining whether a battery temperature of any one of the plurality of batteries is greater than a designated temperature; determining whether the current cell voltage of any one of the plurality of batteries is lower than a designated voltage in response to determining that the battery temperature of each of the plurality of batteries is not greater than the designated temperature; and adjusting a corresponding current battery capacity to generate a reported battery capacity in response to determining that the current cell voltage of any one of the plurality of batteries is lower than the designated voltage (see Abstract), wherein the designated temperature ranges from -5°C to -15°C (see par. [0007]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply a known technique to a known device ready for improvement to yield predictable results, such as improved accuracy of capacity detection.
Claims 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Klintberg et al. (US 2022/0216704) in view of Oi et al. (JP 2006-038747 A as applied to claims 1, 2, 10, and 11 above, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 11,394,217).
Regarding claims 8 and 17, although Klintberg et al. does not appear to disclose detecting a connection status of a power source, Kim et al. shows that this feature is well known in the art. Kim et al. discloses a battery detection circuit comprising a power management circuit (element 420, Fig. 4) configured to detect a power status of an electronic device (element 400, Fig. 4) and a connection status of a power source (element 480, Fig. 4) (see col. 23, lines 34-42). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply a known technique to a known device ready for improvement to yield predictable results, such as improved operation of the electronic device.
Allowable Subject Matter
No art has been found for a prior art rejection of claims 3-7, 9, 12-16, and 18 at this time.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MILTON GONZALEZ whose telephone number is (571)270-7914. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, WALTER LINDSAY can be reached at (571) 272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WALTER L LINDSAY JR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2852
/M.G/Examiner, Art Unit 2852
8/25/2026