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 .
This is in response to Amendments/REMARKS, filed on 10/05/2026:
Claim 1-16, are pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Allamsetty” et al. (US 11962579 B2 ) in view of “Aabye” et al. (US 2026/0121422 A1).
Regarding Claim 1/9. Allamsetty discloses A method/A system for leveraging a single contract certificate stored in a vehicle for accommodating multiple charging contacts in a Plug and Charge ecosystem (see Abstract and FIG.1), the method/system comprising: at least one computer processor; and at least one memory device having instructions thereon which, when executed by the at least one computer processor, cause the at least one computer processor to carry out the method of:
a charge station authenticating a vehicle in response to a charging request from the vehicle [see FIG.1, where Allamsetty discloses vehicle 130 charging on Charger 110 authenticated by Charger Data Processing System 180];
in response to the authenticating, validating a contract certificate of the vehicle and authorizing the charging request [see FIG.1, where Allamsetty discloses charger data processing system 180 including digital certificate 185; see also Retrieve Certificate 405, FIG.4];
mapping the contract certificate of the vehicle to the contract certificate of the vehicle [Allamsetty discloses “The cloud data processing system can perform further authentication or verification, for example, based on a mapping between identifiers of charging systems (e.g., serial numbers) and certificates for the charging systems “ (col.1, lines 33-37); see also Charger To Certificate Map 255 (FIG.2). Allamsetty further discloses certificate map 255 (FIG.2) that “include relationships or links between identifiers of charger 110 and corresponding data for verifying the certificate 185” (col.13, lines 4-10)];
Allamsetty does not; buy, Aabye, analogues art, discloses multiple charging contracts [Aabye discloses “The electric vehicle and an energy supply terminal can communicate with each other using a protocol such ISO-15118 and can automatically negotiate multiple charge session parameters… The standard provides multiple use cases like secure communication, smart charging and plug and charge features used by some electric vehicle networks” (par.0002-0003), see also FIG.7, where Aabye discloses offering different charging option (par.0094-0111). Aabye further discloses “contract certificates” pursuant to ISO 15118 (par.0080), “a plug and charge service that uses a charging contract identifier to obtain electricity (this is an ISO 15118 plug & charge contract)” (par.0125, with FIG.8)].
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the system of Allamsetty by incorporating the multiple charging of Aabye for enhancing the efficiency and flexibility of electric vehicle charging systems.
Allamsetty in view of Aabye further discloses,
and authorizing the charge station to provide charging services to the vehicle in accordance with the one of multiple charging contracts [Allamsetty discloses Establish Communication 4530/520, FIGS.4/5; see also PERFORM PLUG & CHARGE TRANSACTION S734, FIG.7 of Aabye].
Allamsetty in view of Aabye further disclose claim 2/10. The method/system of claim 1/9, wherein the mapping is performed by a service provider computing system [Allamsetty discloses Cloud Processing System 190 performing mapping (see FIG.2)].
Allamsetty in view of Aabye further disclose claim 3-4/11-12. The method/system of claim 2/10, wherein the service provider computing system is a centralized computing system; and wherein the service provider computing system is a decentralized computing system [see FIGS.1-2 can be implemented as in a centralized/decentralized system].
Allamsetty in view of Aabye further disclose claim 5/13. The method/system of claim 1/9, wherein the authenticating is based on an EMAID associated with the vehicle [Aabye discloses, “In some embodiments, the service provider account may be identified by a service provider account number such as eMobility account ID (eMAID)” (par.0050)].
The motivation to combine is the same as that of claim 1 above.
Allamsetty in view of Aabye further disclose claim 6-7/14-15. The method/system of claim 1/9, wherein the contract certificate is stored in a memory device of the vehicle; wherein the contract certificate is stored in a removable memory device that can be selectively coupled with the vehicle [storing certificate in device memory and removable memory is well known in the art (see FIGS.1-2 of Allamsetty)].
Allamsetty in view of Aabye further disclose claim 8/16. The method/system of claim 1/9, wherein the mapping is based on at least one of a charge point operator or a mobility operator [see FIG.1, where Allamsetty discloses vehicle 130 charging on Charger 110 authenticated by Charger Data Processing System 180; and see also Charger To Certificate Map 255, FIG.2].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed, on 10/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. It is argued that, (i) “Allamsetty’s map therefore relates an identifier of a charger to a certificate of that charger, it does not map a contract certificate of a vehicle to a one or more of multiple charging contracts linked to that contract certificate”; and (ii) “Charge session parameters, use cases, and charging options [of Aabaye] are not charging contracts, and are certainly not multiple charging contracts linked to a single contract certificate of a vehicle” [REMARKS, p.6].
Examiner respectfully disagrees, and notes that, these features are obvious over the cited arts. For example, (i) The system of Allamsetty discloses certificate map 255 (FIG.2) that “include relationships or links between identifiers of charger 110 and corresponding data for verifying the certificate 185” (col.13, lines 4-10). It is noted that, the claimed “contract certificate” has “Contract ID” too (FIG.3, par.0039). (ii) Aabaye discloses “contract certificates” pursuant to ISO 15118 (par.0080), “a plug and charge service that uses a charging contract identifier to obtain electricity (this is an ISO 15118 plug & charge contract)” (par.0125, with FIG.8), etc.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMARE F TABOR whose telephone number is (571) 270-3155. The examiner can normally be reached Mon.—Fri.: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ALI SHAYANFAR can be reached at (571) 270-1050. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AMARE F TABOR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2434
