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 .
Claims 2 – 21 are pending.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claim(s) 14 is/are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim(s) 11 of copending Application No. 18/025,439. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because they encompass substantially similar subject matter. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection.
The following table is presented for the purpose of a comparison of the conflicting claims between the applications.
Application No. 18/986,111
Co-pending Application No. 18/025,439
Claim 14
Claim 11
A battery management method for a battery pack including a plurality of battery cells connected in series, the battery management method comprising:
determining, by a control circuit, for each battery cell,
a first state of charge (SOC) change of the battery cell during a latest charging period of the battery pack;
determine, by the control circuit, for each battery cell, a second state of charge (SOC) change of the battery cell during a latest discharging period of the battery pack; and
for each battery cell, detecting, by the control circuit, an internal short circuit fault in the battery cell based on the first SOC change of the battery cell and the second SOC change of the battery cell.
A battery management method for a battery pack including a plurality of battery cells connected in series, the battery management method comprising:
determining, by a control circuit, for each battery cell,
a first state of charge (SOC) change which is a difference between a first SOC at a first charge time
and a second SOC at a second charge time by applying an SOC estimation algorithm to a state parameter of each of the plurality of battery cells acquired during charging of the battery pack;
for each battery cell, detecting, by the control circuit, an internal short circuit fault in the battery cell based on the first SOC change of the battery cell and the reference factor.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 – 13 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding Claim 2, the prior art of record does not teach claimed limitation: “determine, for each battery cell, a second state of charge (SOC) change of the battery cell during a latest discharging period of the battery pack; and for each battery cell, detect an internal short circuit fault in the battery cell based on the first SOC change of the battery cell and the second SOC change of the battery cell” in combination with all other claimed limitations of claim 4.
Regarding Claims 3 – 13, the claims are allowed as they further limit allowed claim 2.
Comments
The prior art of record found as a result of the search, does not teach alone or in combination all of the elements recited in claim(s) 14. Therefore, no prior art rejection for claim(s) 14 – 21 is/are presented in this action. However, Claim(s) 14 is/are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Jang et al. (US 2025/0273017 A1) teach a vehicle control apparatus, comprising: a communication circuit; a battery including battery cells; and a processor operably connected to the communication circuit and the battery, wherein the processor is configured to: transmit at least one characteristic value among standard deviations of voltages of the battery cells, standard deviations of temperatures of the battery cells, standard deviations of states of charge (SOCs) of the battery cells, or standard deviations of states of health (SOHs) of the battery cells, or any combination thereof to a server via the communication circuit (see claim 1).
Lee (US 2025/0231250 A1) discloses a method for diagnosing abnormality in a vehicle battery, the method comprising: determining, by a processor, and storing a defective cell candidate based on a voltage change of each of cells forming a battery module during an ignition (IG) OFF mode period of a vehicle; increasing a counter value based on a comparison result of a defective cell candidate during a recent ignition OFF mode period and a defective cell candidate during a previous ignition OFF mode period; and detecting a cell abnormality based on whether a current counter value is greater than or equal to a threshold counter value (see claim 1).
Yeom (US 2025/0306124 A1) suggests a battery diagnosis apparatus, comprising: a voltage sensing circuit configured to generate a voltage signal indicating a cell voltage of a battery cell; a storage medium configured to store time series data for the cell voltage; and a control circuit operably coupled with the voltage sensing circuit and the storage medium, wherein the control circuit is configured to: (i) receive the voltage signal and record the time series data for the cell voltage in the storage medium, (ii) determine a first cell voltage slope in a first time section and a second cell voltage slope in a second time section different from the first time section based on the time series data, (iii) determine an average slope of the cell voltage in a third time section between the first time section and the second time section based on the time series data, and (iv) set the first cell voltage slope and the second cell voltage slope as boundary conditions of a normal slope range, and (v) diagnose a voltage abnormality in the battery cell in response to the average slope of the cell voltage being outside the normal slope range (see claim 1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GIOVANNI ASTACIO-OQUENDO whose telephone number is (571)270-5724. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Phan can be reached at 571-272-7924. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GIOVANNI ASTACIO-OQUENDO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858 6/27/2026
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