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 .
The amendment filed on February 26, 2026 have been considered.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on February 26, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 1-13, 15-18, and 20 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.
Claims 1, 18, and 20, “generating a distribution profile indicating a correspondence relationship between the plurality of calculated target values and a number of the plurality of batteries that correspond to each of the plurality of target values” is not described in the original disclosure. For instance, the original specification discloses “generate a distribution profile indicating a correspondence relationship between a plurality of calculated target values and the number of each of the plurality of target values” (paragraph 0008, lines 5-7). However, paragraph 0008 does not disclose generating a distribution profile indicating a correspondence relationship between the plurality of calculated target values and a number of the plurality of batteries that correspond to each of the plurality of target values
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 1-13, 15-18, and 20 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 1, 18, and 20, “the plurality of target values” (claim 1, lines 10; claim 18, line 8; claim 20, line 10) lacks antecedent basis. Examiner interprets “the plurality of target values” to be -- the calculated plurality of target values --.
Prior Art Note
Claims 1-13, 15-18, and 20 do not have prior art rejections.:
The combination as claimed wherein a battery managing apparatus and method comprising generating a distribution profile indicating a correspondence relationship between the plurality of calculated target values and a number of the plurality of batteries that correspond to each of the plurality of target values (claims 1, 18, 20) is not disclosed, suggested, or made obvious by the prior art of record.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on February 26, 2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant’s arguments and amendments with respect to the rejections of under 35 USC 112(b) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections under 35 USC 112(b) have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection under 35 USC 112(b) has been issued, as discussed above.
Applicant’s amendments with respect to the nonstatutory double rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the nonstatutory double rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments and amendments with respect to the rejections of under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections under 35 USC 103 have been withdrawn.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Nghiem whose telephone number is (571) 272-2277. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrew Schechter can be reached at (571) 272-2302. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/MICHAEL P NGHIEM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857 March 21, 2026