Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This communication is in response to the Application No. 18/973,756 filed on 12/09/24. Claims 1 – 18 has been examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Claim(s) 1, 16 – 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Youn et al. (US 2024/0372415, Youn hereafter).
Regarding claim 1, Youn teaches A device that is usable in combination with a compatible product, the device comprising:
a detection unit configured to detect that the device is combined with the compatible product (as shown in Fig. 3 the overview of devices with low or high power needed to charge; so when the wireless charger or the transmitter receives that one of the compatible devices is placed on them it detects whether it needs low or high power specifically as mentioned by For example, the WPC may categorize (or sort) the wireless power transmitters and the wireless power receivers as PC-1, PC0, PC1, and PC2, and the WPC may provide a standard document (or specification) for each power class (PC). The PC-1 standard relates to wireless power transmitters and receivers providing a guaranteed power of less than 5 W. The application of PC-1 includes wearable devices, such as smart watches, paragraph 68 - 70; also, As an example, a user can experience a smart wireless charging service in a hotel. When a user enters a hotel room and places the smartphone on the wireless charger in the room, the wireless charger transmits wireless power to the smartphone, and the smartphone receives wireless power. In this process, the wireless charger transmits information about the smart wireless charging service to the smartphone. When the smartphone detects that it is placed on the wireless charger, detects reception of wireless power, or when the smartphone receives information about the smart wireless charging service from the wireless charger, the smartphone enters a state where it asks the user for consent (opt-in) to additional features, paragraph 76);
an acquisition unit configured to detect a near field communication (NFC) tag in the compatible product and acquire one or more pieces of tag information from the detected NFC tag (In case of the ‘Kitchen’ profile, the PC may be defined as PC2, the communication protocol/method may be defined as NFC-based communication, and the operation frequency may be defined as less than 100 kHz, and kitchen/home appliances, and so on, may exist as the exemplary application; In the case of power tools and kitchen profiles, NFC communication may be used between the wireless power transmitter and the wireless power receiver. The wireless power transmitter and the wireless power receiver may confirm that they are NFC devices with each other by exchanging WPC NFC data exchange profile format (NDEF), paragraph 87 - 88); and
a processing unit configured to execute processing related to one of the acquired one or more pieces of tag information in accordance with whether predetermined conditions are satisfied (the wireless power transmitter may determine that the wireless power receiver supports MPP if all of the following conditions are met. Qi version: The Qi protocol version of the ID packet is set to (Major=1, Minor=TBD) or higher. MPP support notification: The subheader (byte 0) of the XID packet is set to the MPP selector. If the above two conditions are not satisfied, the wireless power transmitter can proceed with subsequent procedures according to the Qi v 1.3 specification, paragraph 433 – 436; as mentioned above in other embodiments and throughout the specification; when the object or device is detected other than foreign object by use of NFC or other tag information the charging is permitted and desired power is transferred such as 5W 20W and so on as shown in Fig. 3 and other figures).
Regarding claim 16, The device according to claim 1, Youn further teaches wherein the detection unit is a magnetic sensor (The wireless power transfer technique includes diverse methods, such as a method of transferring power by using magnetic coupling, a method of transferring power by using radio frequency (RF), a method of transferring power by using microwaves, and a method of transferring power by using ultrasound (or ultrasonic waves). The method that is based on magnetic coupling is categorized as a magnetic induction method and a magnetic resonance method. The magnetic induction method corresponds to a method transmitting power by using electric currents that are induced to the coil of the receiver by a magnetic field, which is generated from a coil battery cell of the transmitter, in accordance with an electromagnetic coupling between a transmitting coil and a receiving coil, paragraph 5, 49, 52).
Regarding claim 17, the method substantially has same limitations as claim 1, thus the same rejection is applicable.
Regarding claim 18, the non-transitory computer readable medium substantially has same limitations as claim 1, thus the same rejection is applicable (The communications & control unit (220) may be implemented in a computer or a similar device as hardware, software, or a combination of the same. When implemented in the form of hardware, the communications & control unit (220) may be provided as an electronic circuit performing control functions by processing electrical signals. And, when implemented in the form of software, the communications & control unit (220) may be provided as a program that operates the communications & control unit, paragraph 115).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Claim(s) 2 – 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Youn et al. (US 2024/0372415, Youn hereafter) in further view of Truettner et al. (US 2024/0413670, Truettner hereafter)
Regarding claim 2, Youn teaches The device according to claim 1, even though it discloses NFC tag and NDEF information and combability and authentication information however does not specifically disclose wherein the one or more pieces of tag information include authentication information for the device to authenticate the compatible product, and the processing unit executes an authentication process for the compatible product based on the authentication information.
Truttner teaches wherein the one or more pieces of tag information include authentication information for the device to authenticate the compatible product (upon initiating transmission of the AC electric field, the wireless charger 100 monitors for modulation of the AC electric field by the battery pack 400. If no modulation occurs, the wireless charger 100 stops or prevents transmission of the AC electric field. Such authentication may be used to determine compatibility between the wireless charger 100 and the battery pack 400, determine whether a non-chargeable object is placed on the wireless charger 100, and the like, paragraph 72), and
the processing unit executes an authentication process for the compatible product based on the authentication information (near field communication (NFC) is used for communication between the wireless charger 100 and the battery pack 400. The NFC communication may replace or supplement the in-band communication. In some embodiments, NFC communication is used for authentication of the battery pack 400. For example, the wireless charger 100 may transmit a charging request signal to the battery pack 400. If the wireless charger 100 fails to receive a response, the wireless charger 100 stops or prevents transmission of the AC electric field. In some embodiments, the wireless charger 100 performs authentication of the battery pack 400 using in-band communication, paragraph 72).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art at the time of the filing to combine the teachings of Truttner’s tag information with combability and authentication information with the system of Youn. One would be motivated to combine these teachings because in doing so it can allow or deny authentication which will help determine whether charging is allowed or not to compatible and not compatible products.
Regarding claim 3, Youn with Truttner teaches The device according to claim 2,
Truttner further teaches wherein the predetermined conditions include a first condition that the combination of the device and the compatible product is detected by the detection unit (near field communication (NFC) is used for communication between the wireless charger 100 and the battery pack 400. The NFC communication may replace or supplement the in-band communication. In some embodiments, NFC communication is used for authentication of the battery pack 400. For example, the wireless charger 100 may transmit a charging request signal to the battery pack 400. If the wireless charger 100 fails to receive a response, the wireless charger 100 stops or prevents transmission of the AC electric field. In some embodiments, the wireless charger 100 performs authentication of the battery pack 400 using in-band communication, paragraph 72), and a second condition that the compatible product is in a state of being authenticated by the authentication process (The indicators 245 are also connected to the charger controller 200 and receive control signals from the charger controller 200 to turn on and off or otherwise convey information based on different states of the wireless charger 100. The indicators 245 include, for example, one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or a display screen. The indicators 245 can be configured to display conditions of, or information associated with, battery packs coupled to the wireless charger 100, such as battery pack 400 illustrated in FIG. 4, paragraph 48).
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claims 4 – 15, 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.
Conclusion
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TANMAY K SHAH whose telephone number is (571)270-3624. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri - 8:00 - 5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chieh Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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TANMAY K. SHAH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2632
/TANMAY K SHAH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
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