DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a reply to the amendment dated June 16, 2026.
Claims 1 and 8 have been amended; and, claims 4, 6, 7, 11 and 13-21 have been canceled.
Claims 1-3, 5, 8-10 and 12 remain pending in this application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Takahashi et al. (WO 2024/224500 A1), hereafter Takahashi.
Regarding claims 1 and 8, Takahashi discloses a method to determine and engine anomaly (line 14-17), comprising: determine a crank angle (line 147) associated with one or more cylinders of an engine; determine an intake manifold pressure (8) at least during an intake stroke phase and a compression stroke phase of the one or more cylinders; and determine a pre-ignition event associated with the one or more cylinders based on the intake manifold pressure (lines 41-50; 175-192; Fig. 14).
engine speed determination circuitry (51) configured to determine a speed of the engine;
misfire event detection circuitry to determine a misfire event associated with the one or more cylinders based on the engine speed (lines 208-212);
fuel control circuitry (54) configured to adjust fuel delivered to the one or more cylinders;
mitigation determination circuitry to determine a first mitigation strategy for a pre-ignition event; wherein the mitigation determination circuitry to generate a first control signal to be used by the fuel control circuitry to reduce a fuel delivered to the one or more cylinders experiencing the pre- ignition event; and a second mitigation strategy for a misfire event; wherein the mitigation determination circuitry to generate a second control signal to be used by the fuel control circuitry to increase fuel delivered to the one or more cylinders experiencing the misfire event (line 700-739).
Regarding claims 2 and 9, Takahashi discloses the method further comprising: determine which cylinder, from among a plurality of cylinders, is experiencing the pre-ignition event based on the crank angle of the one or more cylinders (line 19-24).
Regarding claims 3 and 10, Takahashi discloses the method further comprising: compare the intake manifold pressure to a selected pressure threshold and determine the pre-ignition event based on the difference between the intake manifold pressure and the selected pressure threshold (lines 175-182).
Regarding claims 5 and 12, Takahashi discloses the method further comprising: determine which cylinder, from among a plurality of cylinders, is experiencing the event based on the crank angle of the one or more cylinders (lines 19-21).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 16, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that prior art Tkahashi does not disclose a step of determining a pre-ignition event associated with the one of more cylinders based on the intake manifold pressure. Page 7.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Examiner asserts that claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specifications. In this instance, Fig. 1 depicts an engine with only one pressure sensor (8) positioned in the intake manifold (12). Takahishi further discloses: “The operating state of the internal combustion engine may include the state of the amount of intake gas in the cylinder (e.g., the gas pressure Pin in the intake pipe, the amount of intake air, etc.), the air-fuel ratio, the rotational speed (rotational angular velocity), etc.” Since the applicant merely states “based on the intake manifold pressure”, then observation and data collected from sensor inside an intake manifold pressure would be required for determining Pin – pressure in the intake pipe.
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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/TEUTA HOLBROOK/
Examiner
Art Unit 3747
/GEORGE C JIN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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