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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of group 1 including claims 10-20 in the reply filed on 12/09/2025 is acknowledged.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 10-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Okamoto et al. (US 2020/0169117).
Re Claims 10 and 17 and 20; Okamoto discloses
A wireless power transfer system and a method comprising:
Okamoto discloses a wireless power transfer system (Figs. 1–2).
a transmitter comprises a transmitter coil;
Okamoto teaches a power transmitting device 100 including transmitting coils CL, CLA, CLB, etc. (Figs. 1–3).
and a module (800) adapted for underwater use comprising a cylindrical housing…
Okamoto teaches an underwater AUV (power receiving device 200) with a cylindrical body (Figs. 14–19).
…enclosing a receiver comprising a receiver coil…
Okamoto shows the receiving coil CLB located inside the AUV body (Figs. 14–19).
…positioned adjacent an inner surface of the cylindrical housing… (Figs. 14).
…and radially aligned with the cylindrical housing,
Okamoto’s receiving coils are annular and coaxial with the cylindrical AUV body (Figs. 14–19).
…the receiver coil for extracting power from a field generated by the transmitter coil…
Okamoto teaches wireless power transfer via magnetic resonance (Figs. 1–2).
…when the transmitter coil at least partially surrounds the cylindrical housing…
Okamoto’s underwater charging stands (Figs. 20–25) show the transmitting coil surrounding the AUV body.…and is radially aligned with the receiver coil.
Okamoto’s coils are coaxially aligned in all embodiments (Figs. 1–3, 8–10).
Re Claim 11; Okamoto discloses further comprising: a transmitter housing (En3) enclosing the transmitter (CL). (Fig. 13)
Re Claim 12; Okamoto discloses wherein the transmitter housing (En3) is adapted to receive the cylindrical housing (800) therein, and/or wherein an inner radius of the transmitter housing is greater than an outer radius of the cylindrical housing. (Fig. 13A, Par 0157)
Re Claim 13; Okamoto discloses wherein the transmitter coil is adjacent the inner surface of the transmitter housing and radially aligned with the transmitter housing, and wherein the transmitter coil comprises a plurality of windings. (Fig. 13A)
Re Claim 14; Okamoto discloses wherein the windings are positioned adjacent the inner surface of the transmitter housing and radially aligned with the transmitter housing. (Fig. 13A)
Re Claim 15; Okamoto discloses each winding the plurality of windings is positioned adjacent the inner surface of the transmitter housing and radially aligned with the transmitter housing, and wherein the transmitter coil is adapted to transfer power to the receiver when the plurality of windings of the transmitter coil at least partially surrounds the cylindrical housing and is radially aligned with the plurality of windings of the receiver coil. (Fig. 13A)
Re Claim 16; Okamoto discloses further comprising: a lifting arrangement (engines, propellers etc.) for lifting the module from an environment and positioning the cylindrical housing within the transmitter housing. (Par 0175)
Re Claim 18; Okamoto discloses further comprising: detecting, at the receiver, that the transmitter coil at least partially surrounds the cylindrical housing and is radially aligned with the receiver coil. (Par 0219).
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) 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Okamoto et al. (US 2020/0169117)
Re Claim 19; Okamoto discloses further comprising: communicating, from the receiver to the transmitter, a parameter of a wireless link between the transmitter and receiver coils; (Par 0089, 97 For example, the information communication unit 250 receives control information from the power transmitting device 100 transmitted to the power receiving device 200 via the coil CL.) and
Okamoto discloses does not disclose received control information from the power transmitting device 100 transmitted to the power receiving device 200 via the coil CL includes transitioning, at the transmitter, from a search mode to a power transfer mode in response to receiving the communicated parameter.
However, because the Okamoto already discloses charging and wireless power transfer, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective fling of the invention to have used the control information to transition from a search mode to a power transfer mode in order to effectively charge the battery when the receiver is close to the transmitter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL KESSIE whose telephone number is (571)272-4449. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pmEst.
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/DANIEL KESSIE/
02/19/2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836