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 .
Priority
Application 18/962,135 was filed on November 27, 2024 and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-207657 filed on December 8, 2023.
Status of the Claims
Claims 1-9 are currently pending. Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, and 9 were amended in the reply filed December 22, 2025. No claims were cancelled and no new claims were added.
Response to Arguments
112(f):
Applicant's amendments overcome the invocation of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) and it is withdrawn.
Objections:
Applicant's amendments overcome the objection made to claims 2-4 and 8 and it is withdrawn.
112(b):
Applicant's amendments overcome the rejection made under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) to claims 1, 5, and 9 and it is withdrawn. Applicant’s amendments do not overcome the rejection to claims 2-4 and 6-8. The rejection to claims 2-4 and 6-8 is restated below.
112(a):
Applicant's amendments overcome the rejection made under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) to claims 1-9 and it is withdrawn. However, Examiner notes that there is a new 112(a) rejection below.
101:
Applicant's amendments overcome the rejection made under 35 U.S.C. § 101 to claims 1-9 and it is withdrawn. Examiner notes that the limitation “wherein the processor commands the battery table and the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars to actuate to swap the first battery with the selected second battery as a battery installed in the electrified vehicle” as set forth in independent claims 1, 5, and 9, integrates the abstract idea into a practical application. However, Examiner also notes that there is a 112(a) rejection regarding this limitation.
103:
Applicant's arguments filed with respect to the rejections made under 35 U.S.C. § 103 have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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 2-4 and 6-8 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.
Claims 2 and 6 recite “wherein the electrical requirement information includes at least one of information on a voltage, information on output power, information on input power, and information on a remaining capacity which are required of the second battery” (emphasis added). The claims then recite limitations regarding the priority of the received information “wherein the processor is configured to give a higher priority to the battery installation information …”. However, because the claims only require “at least one of” the listed types of information, the system may not have all of the information necessary to implement the recited priority order. For example, if the system receives information on “output power” but not “voltage”, it is unclear how voltage information can be given higher priority than output power. For the purposes of examination, the limitations of “wherein the processor is configured to give a higher priority to the battery installation information and the information on the voltage than to the information on the output power, the information on the input power, and the information on the remaining capacity” and “wherein the processor is configured to select the at least one candidate for the second battery from the at least one replacement battery by giving a higher priority to the battery installation information than to the information on the voltage” are interpreted as being optional because they depend on optionally receiving all of the required information. Therefore, they are not given any patentable weight.
Claims 3 and 7 recite “wherein the processor is configured to make a priority of the information on the output power and a priority of the information on the input power equal to each other” (emphasis added). Claim 3 and 7 depend on claims 2 and 6, respectively. As described in the rejection for claims 2 and 6 above, it is possible that the system only receives information on the output power or input power – not both. As such, it is unclear how the recited priorities can be obtained. Furthermore, it is generally unclear what this limitation means as it is not clear what is prioritized or what the priority is in reference to (i.e., what the output and input powers are given priority over). Examiner notes that the language “make a priority of” is particularly confusing. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, this claim is interpreted to mean that input and output power information are prioritized. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 4 and 8 recite, “and information of cost for swapping for the candidate for the second battery to the electrified vehicle” (emphasis added). This limitation is unclear. Claims 1 and 5, upon which claims 4 and 8 depend, say that the first battery is swapped for the second battery. However, the wording of claims 4 and 8 is ambiguous and could be read as either swapping the first battery for the second battery, or swapping the second battery for something else. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the claims are interpreted to mean any sort of swap involving the candidate for the second battery. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(a)
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The claim is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement thereof since the limitations “the battery table and the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out the first battery for a second battery” and “wherein the processor commands the battery table and the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars to actuate to swap the first battery with the selected second battery as a battery installed in the electrified vehicle” (emphasis added) is not supported by the original disclosure. The original disclosure does not reasonably convey to a designer of ordinary skill in the art that the inventor was in possession of the design now claimed at the time the application was filed. See In re Daniels, 144 F.3d 1452, 46 USPQ2d 1788 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Rasmussen, 650 F.2d 1212, 211 USPQ 323 (CCPA 1981).
Specifically, there is no support in the original disclosure for how the lifting bars actually swap out a battery. Examiner notes paragraph [0035] of Applicant’s specification, which describes the lifting bars 32a as being used to support the electrified vehicle 200 from below and states that “Battery swapping (battery removal and installation) is performed with the electrified vehicle 200 held horizontally by the lifting bars 32a”. However, the specification does not describe how the old battery is removed and/or how a new battery inserted by either the lifting unit or the lifting bars. Nor would one having ordinary skill in the art know how to use lifting bars (whose purpose appears to be lifting a vehicle) to remove and install a battery. Examiner further notes that Fig. 1 of Applicant’s specification shows lifting bars 32a, as a structure that appears capable of lifting a vehicle, but does not show any structure to perform the battery swap.
To overcome this rejection, applicant may attempt to demonstrate (by means of argument or evidence) that the original disclosure establishes that the inventor had possession of the amended claim or the specification may be amended to provide a disclosure regarding how a battery is swapped (i.e., and old battery removed and a new battery inserted) in an electrified vehicle.
Claims 2-4 are rejected by virtue of dependency on claim 1. Claims 6-8 are rejected by virtue of dependency on claim 5.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 5, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0069338 to Huang et al. (Huang) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0261017 to Uiterloo (Uiterloo) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0307068 to Gaffoglio et al. (Gaffoglio).
As to claim 1, Huang teaches an electrified vehicle equipped with a first battery; and a battery swap apparatus (“As shown in FIG. 1, the battery swapping system 100 may include an electric vehicle 110, a server 120, and a battery installing-and-removing device 130 …” [0046-0048]);
wherein: the electrified vehicle is configured to send battery installation information and electrical requirement information externally from the electrified vehicle (“In the step 201 described above, when the electric vehicle is driven into the battery swapping station and needs battery swapping, the battery swapping status information may be sent to the server in the battery swapping station by the electric vehicle …” and “In the above step 202, after the server receives the battery swapping status information sent by the electric vehicle …” [0061-0062 and 0090-0092] Examiner notes that, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, “a quick changing lock state of the electric vehicle” is battery installation information and “a high voltage state of the whole vehicle” is electrical requirement information),
and the electrical requirement information being an electrical characteristic required of the second battery (“… Wherein the second battery may be a battery having a power higher than that of the first battery, and the second battery may be adapted to the electric vehicle. For example, when the first battery is a power-loss battery with the power less than 30%, the second battery may be a fully charged battery with the power of 100%, and the structure of the first battery is the as the second battery” [0114-0118]);
and the battery swap apparatus includes a processor configured to select at least one candidate for the second battery from the at least one replacement battery by using the battery installation information and the electrical requirement information that are received from the electrified vehicle and battery information of the at least one replacement battery (“… Step 202: sending a battery removing instruction to the battery installing-and-removing device by the server based on the battery swapping status information …” and “In the above step 202, after the server receives the battery swapping status information sent by the electric vehicle, a battery removing instruction is sent to the battery installing-and-removing device by the server based on the battery swapping status information …” and “… Wherein the second battery may be a battery having a power higher than that of the first battery, and the second battery may be adapted to the electric vehicle. For example, when the first battery is a power-loss battery with the power less than 30%, the second battery may be a fully charged battery with the power of 100%, and the structure of the first battery is the as the second battery” [0052-0059 and 0090-0092 and 0114-0118]).
Huang does not teach, and a battery swap apparatus having a battery table and a lifting unit having a pair of lifting bars, the battery swap apparatus including at least one replacement battery, the battery table and the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out the first battery for a second battery, the battery installation information being a battery installation position, a battery placement direction in the electrified vehicle, and an area where the first battery is disposed in the electrified vehicle including information on size and shape of the area and information on a relative position of the area with respect to a vehicle body, the battery placement direction including position information of a connector that is connected to the first battery in the electrified vehicle; wherein the processor commands the battery table and the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars to actuate to swap the first battery with the selected second battery as a battery installed in the electrified vehicle. However, Uiterloo teaches, and a battery swap apparatus having a battery table and a lifting unit (“… When using this embodiment, an automatic lifting platform as might be used for lifting batteries towards an unmounted position directly below the opening, only needs to lift the battery to that position, and does not need to support the battery or rotate it relative to the battery receiving unit as the battery it is lifted from the unmounted position to the mounted position by moving the first and second engagement elements” and “… Further, such sensors may be set up to interact with any automatic lifting platform, enabling the lifting platform to place the battery below the receiving unit in the correct position …” [0021 and 0033]);
the battery installation information being a battery installation position, a battery placement direction in the electrified vehicle, and an area where the first battery is disposed in the electrified vehicle including information on size and shape of the area and information on a relative position of the area with respect to a vehicle body (“In an embodiment, the battery receiving unit is provided with sensors, arranged at or near the bottom side of the battery receiving unit, for sensing a position and/or orientation of the battery unit relative to the central axis when the battery unit is arranged below the opening …” and “… The battery unit 20 has a circumferential side surface 23 which has a shape which substantially corresponds to the circumferential shape of the receiving unit's circumferential side surface 17 which defines the opening 11, so that when the battery unit is received in the battery receiving unit it fits with some play in the housing …” and “… For trucks and other heavy vehicles these dimensions may be scaled up depending on their power requirements and/or size constraints” [0033 and 0051 and 0054] Examiner notes that, per paragraph [0046] of Applicant’s specification, “information on the area where the battery is disposed in the electrified vehicle 200 (including information on size and shape of the area), and information on the relative position of the area with respect to the vehicle body” is “information regarding the battery installation position”);
the battery placement direction including position information of a connector that is connected to the first battery in the electrified vehicle (“… An electrical connector 24 is provided at a top side of the container 28 and is arranged to coincide substantially with the central axis when the battery unit is in the mounted position …” [0054]);
wherein the processor commands the battery table and the lifting unit (“… Preferably, the one or more actuators are adapted for moving in a common plane substantially normal to the central axis of the battery receiving unit during lifting or lowering of the battery unit” and “… When the second engagement elements are driven in this manner, they can engage the tracks, and further movement of the first engagement element relative to and second engagement elements will cause these to move relative to each other along respective sloping paths, which are indicated in the bottom view of FIG. 4B by arrows S11-S13, thus lifting or lowering the battery unit” [0019 and 0070]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filling date of the invention to include, and a battery swap apparatus having a battery table and a lifting unit having a pair of lifting bars, the battery swap apparatus including at least one replacement battery, the battery table and the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out the first battery for a second battery, the battery installation information being a battery installation position, a battery placement direction in the electrified vehicle, and an area where the first battery is disposed in the electrified vehicle including information on size and shape of the area and information on a relative position of the area with respect to a vehicle body, the battery placement direction including position information of a connector that is connected to the first battery in the electrified vehicle; wherein the processor commands the battery table and the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars to actuate to swap the first battery with the selected second battery as a battery installed in the electrified vehicle, as taught by Uiterloo with the system and method for battery swapping of Huang. Motivation to do so comes from the teachings of Uiterloo that doing so would reduce the time and effort to exchange a battery [0003-0004].
Huang in view of Uiterloo does not teach, a lifting unit having a pair of lifting bars, the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out the first battery for a second battery. However, Gaffoglio teaches, a lifting unit having a pair of lifting bars, the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out the first battery for a second battery (“FIGS. 4-44 show examples relating to battery swap processes …” [0047-0058] Examiner particularly notes FIG. 21 showing a vehicle raised on a pair of lifting bars);
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filling date of the invention to include, a lifting unit having a pair of lifting bars, the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out the first battery for a second battery, as taught by Gaffoglio with the system and method for battery swapping of Huang in view of Uiterloo. Motivation to do so comes from the teachings of Gaffoglio that doing so would provide a more rapid way of replenishing the electric energy for the electric vehicle and can enable electric vehicles to travel essentially nonstop on long road trips [0045].
As to claims 5 and 9, Huang teaches a battery swap apparatus (“As shown in FIG. 1, the battery swapping system 100 may include an electric vehicle 110, a server 120, and a battery installing-and-removing device 130 …” [0046-0048]),
the battery swap apparatus comprising: a communication interface configured to receive battery installation information and electrical requirement information from the electrified vehicle (“In the step 201 described above, when the electric vehicle is driven into the battery swapping station and needs battery swapping, the battery swapping status information may be sent to the server in the battery swapping station by the electric vehicle …” and “In the above step 202, after the server receives the battery swapping status information sent by the electric vehicle …” [0061-0062 and 0090-0092] Examiner notes that, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, “a quick changing lock state of the electric vehicle” is battery installation information and “a high voltage state of the whole vehicle” is electrical requirement information),
and the electrical requirement information being an electrical characteristic required of the second battery (“… Specifically, the above battery swapping status information may include a high voltage state of the whole vehicle…” [0062] Examiner notes that, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, a high voltage state of the vehicle is an electrical characteristic required of the second battery because it indicates that the vehicle requires a battery that can operate under high voltage);
and a processor configured to select at least one candidate for the second battery from the at least one replacement battery by using the battery installation information and the electrical requirement information that are received and battery information of the at least one replacement battery included in the battery swap apparatus (“… Step 202: sending a battery removing instruction to the battery installing-and-removing device by the server based on the battery swapping status information …” and “In the above step 202, after the server receives the battery swapping status information sent by the electric vehicle, a battery removing instruction is sent to the battery installing-and-removing device by the server based on the battery swapping status information …” [0052-0059 and 0090-0092]).
Huang does not teach, a battery swap apparatus having a battery table and a lifting unit having a pair of lifting bars, the battery swap apparatus including at least one replacement battery, the battery table and the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out a first battery installed in an electrified vehicle for a second battery; the battery installation information being a battery installation position, a battery placement direction in the electrified vehicle, and an area where the first battery is disposed in the electrified vehicle including information on size and shape of the area and information on a relative position of the area with respect to a vehicle body, the battery placement direction including position information of a connector that is connected to the first battery in the electrified vehicle; wherein the processor commands the battery table and the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars to actuate to swap the first battery with the selected second battery as a battery installed in the electrified vehicle. However, Uiterloo teaches, a battery swap apparatus having a battery table and a lifting unit (“… When using this embodiment, an automatic lifting platform as might be used for lifting batteries towards an unmounted position directly below the opening, only needs to lift the battery to that position, and does not need to support the battery or rotate it relative to the battery receiving unit as the battery it is lifted from the unmounted position to the mounted position by moving the first and second engagement elements” and “… Further, such sensors may be set up to interact with any automatic lifting platform, enabling the lifting platform to place the battery below the receiving unit in the correct position …” [0021 and 0033]);
the battery installation information being a battery installation position, a battery placement direction in the electrified vehicle, and an area where the first battery is disposed in the electrified vehicle including information on size and shape of the area and information on a relative position of the area with respect to a vehicle body (“In an embodiment, the battery receiving unit is provided with sensors, arranged at or near the bottom side of the battery receiving unit, for sensing a position and/or orientation of the battery unit relative to the central axis when the battery unit is arranged below the opening …” and “… The battery unit 20 has a circumferential side surface 23 which has a shape which substantially corresponds to the circumferential shape of the receiving unit's circumferential side surface 17 which defines the opening 11, so that when the battery unit is received in the battery receiving unit it fits with some play in the housing …” and “… For trucks and other heavy vehicles these dimensions may be scaled up depending on their power requirements and/or size constraints” [0033 and 0051 and 0054] Examiner notes that, per paragraph [0046] of Applicant’s specification, “information on the area where the battery is disposed in the electrified vehicle 200 (including information on size and shape of the area), and information on the relative position of the area with respect to the vehicle body” is “information regarding the battery installation position”);
the battery placement direction including position information of a connector that is connected to the first battery in the electrified vehicle (“… An electrical connector 24 is provided at a top side of the container 28 and is arranged to coincide substantially with the central axis when the battery unit is in the mounted position …” [0054]);
wherein the processor commands the battery table and the lifting unit (“… Preferably, the one or more actuators are adapted for moving in a common plane substantially normal to the central axis of the battery receiving unit during lifting or lowering of the battery unit” and “… When the second engagement elements are driven in this manner, they can engage the tracks, and further movement of the first engagement element relative to and second engagement elements will cause these to move relative to each other along respective sloping paths, which are indicated in the bottom view of FIG. 4B by arrows S11-S13, thus lifting or lowering the battery unit” [0019 and 0070]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filling date of the invention to include, a battery swap apparatus having a battery table and a lifting unit actuate to swap the first battery with the selected second battery as a battery installed in the electrified vehicle, as taught by Uiterloo with the system and method for battery swapping of Huang. Motivation to do so comes from the teachings of Uiterloo that doing so would reduce the time and effort to exchange a battery [0003-0004].
Huang in view of Uiterloo does not teach, a lifting unit having a pair of lifting bars, the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out the first battery for a second battery. However, Gaffoglio teaches, a lifting unit having a pair of lifting bars, the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out the first battery for a second battery (“FIGS. 4-44 show examples relating to battery swap processes …” [0047-0058] Examiner particularly notes FIG. 21 showing a vehicle raised on a pair of lifting bars);
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filling date of the invention to include, a lifting unit having a pair of lifting bars, the lifting unit having the pair of lifting bars configured to swap out the first battery for a second battery, as taught by Gaffoglio with the system and method for battery swapping of Huang in view of Uiterloo. Motivation to do so comes from the teachings of Gaffoglio that doing so would provide a more rapid way of replenishing the electric energy for the electric vehicle and can enable electric vehicles to travel essentially nonstop on long road trips [0045].
Examiner notes that the language of claims 5 and 9 varies, however, the limitations are the same. Thus, the analysis is the same.
Claims 2 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0069338 to Huang et al. (Huang) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0261017 to Uiterloo (Uiterloo) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0307068 to Gaffoglio et al. (Gaffoglio), as applied to claims 1 and 5 above, and in further view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0064263 to Li et al. (Li).
As to claims 2 and 6, Huang in view of Uiterloo in view of Gaffoglio teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 5 as discussed above. Huang in view of Uiterloo in view of Gaffoglio does not teach, wherein the electrical requirement information includes at least one of information on a voltage, information on output power, information on input power, and information on a remaining capacity which are required of the second battery, wherein the processor is configured to give a higher priority to the battery installation information and the information on the voltage than to the information on the output power, the information on the input power, and the information on the remaining capacity, and wherein the processor is configured to select the at least one candidate for the second battery from the at least one replacement battery by giving a higher priority to the battery installation information than to the information on the voltage. However, Li teaches, wherein the electrical requirement information includes at least one of information on a voltage, information on output power, information on input power, and information on a remaining capacity which are required of the second battery, wherein the processor is configured to give a higher priority to the battery installation information and the information on the voltage than to the information on the output power, the information on the input power, and the information on the remaining capacity, and wherein the processor is configured to select the at least one candidate for the second battery from the at least one replacement battery by giving a higher priority to the battery installation information than to the information on the voltage (“… Correspondingly, in an example, the battery swapping request may include the first battery swapping time of 16:40 and the first swapping electricity amount of 80%, that is, the battery swapping request indicates that the vehicle requests to replace with the battery with 80% SOC at 16:40” and “… The first swapping electricity amount C1 may be a designated target swapping electricity amount, that is, the user wants to replace with a battery with this electricity amount. Or, it may be the minimum battery electricity amount that the user can accept …” [0077-0081 and 0086] Examiner notes that, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the “target swapping electricity amount” is information on a remaining capacity which are require of the second battery).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filling date of the invention to include, wherein the electrical requirement information includes at least one of information on a voltage, information on output power, information on input power, and information on a remaining capacity which are required of the second battery, wherein the processor is configured to give a higher priority to the battery installation information and the information on the voltage than to the information on the output power, the information on the input power, and the information on the remaining capacity, and wherein the processor is configured to select the at least one candidate for the second battery from the at least one replacement battery by giving a higher priority to the battery installation information than to the information on the voltage, as taught by Li with the system and method for battery swapping of Huang in view of Uiterloo in view of Gaffoglio. Motivation to do so comes from the teachings of Li that doing so would improve the user’s experience when swapping a battery [0037].
Claims 3 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0069338 to Huang et al. (Huang) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0261017 to Uiterloo (Uiterloo) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0307068 to Gaffoglio et al. (Gaffoglio) in further view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0064263 to Li et al. (Li), as applied to claims 2 and 6 above, and in further view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2019/0207397 to Lai et al. (Lai).
As to claims 3 and 7, Huang in view of Uiterloo in view of Gaffoglio and in further view of Li teaches all of the limitations of claims 2 and 6 as discussed above. Huang in view of Uiterloo in view of Gaffoglio and in further view of Li does not teach, wherein the processor is configured to make a priority of the information on the output power and a priority of the information on the input power equal to each other. However, Lai teaches, wherein the processor is configured to make a priority of the information on the output power and a priority of the information on the input power equal to each other (“… To determine which energy storage device is to be provided to a user, the device-exchange station assigns a “swapping priority” to each of the energy storage devices therein …” and “Examples of the battery basic characteristics include a battery capacity (e.g., full charge capacity, FCC), a battery discharging capacity (e.g., how much power can a battery provide under certain conditions) …” [0017 and 0041]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filling date of the invention to include, wherein the processor is configured to make a priority of the information on the output power and a priority of the information on the input power equal to each other, as taught by Li with the system and method for battery swapping of Huang in view of Uiterloo in view of Gaffoglio and in further view of Li. Motivation to do so comes from the teachings of Lai that doing so would provide an improved system and method that can effectively manage or maintain multiple batteries [0003].
Claims 4 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2023/0069338 to Huang et al. (Huang) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0261017 to Uiterloo (Uiterloo) in view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0307068 to Gaffoglio et al. (Gaffoglio), as applied to claims 1 and 5 above, and in further view of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0376977 to Lee et al. (Lee).
As to claims 4 and 8, Huang in view of Uiterloo in view of Gaffoglio teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 5 as discussed above. Huang in view of Uiterloo in view of Gaffoglio does not teach, wherein the battery swap apparatus is configured to send information on the candidate for the second battery which is selected and information of cost for swapping for the candidate for the second battery to the electrified vehicle. However, Lee teaches, wherein the battery swap apparatus is configured to send information on the candidate for the second battery which is selected and information of cost for swapping for the candidate for the second battery to the electrified vehicle (“… Further, after the payment for the exchange of batteries is completed with the vehicle manager, the server 500 performs cost settlement for the exchange of batteries with the manager of the parking area. That is, the server 500 can be paid by the vehicle manager for the exchange cost first, and transfers the cost to the manager of the battery charger or manager of the parking area through payment …” [0039-0042]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the effective filling date of the invention to include, wherein the battery swap apparatus is configured to send information on the candidate for the second battery which is selected and information of cost for swapping for the candidate for the second battery to the electrified vehicle, as taught by Lee with the system and method for battery swapping of Huang in view of Uiterloo in view of Gaffoglio. Motivation to do so comes from the teachings of Lee that doing so would allow the vehicle owner to pay a fair price for a fully-charged battery and receive power conveniently [0041].
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. 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 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.
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/S.S.W./Examiner, Art Unit 3628
/RUPANGINI SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3628