DETAILED ACTION
Notice to Applicant
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. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Priority
3. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copies have been filed in parent Application No. 18/714,783, filed on 05/30/2024.
Claim Rejections - Nonstatutory Double Patenting
4. 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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5. Claim 1 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 in view of Berman et al. (US 2016/0059726 – hereinafter “Berman”).
The following table summarizes the correspondence between limitations of claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 and limitations of claim 1 of the present application.
Claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322
Claim 1 of the Present Application
An apparatus for diagnosing a battery located in a battery system including one or more batteries, the apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
a memory configured to store instructions executed by the at least one processor to:
collect state of charge information of the battery when the battery system is in a standby mode;
calculate an amount of power change of the battery during a maintaining period of the standby mode based on the collected state of charge information and pre-stored initial state of charge information; and
compare the calculated amount of power change with an expected amount of discharge power of the battery and to determine whether a leakage current occurs in the battery system based on the comparison.
An apparatus for diagnosing a battery located in a battery system including one or more batteries and a battery management system, the apparatus comprising:
at least one processor; and
a memory configured to store instructions executed by the at least one processor to:
calculate an amount of power change of the battery when the battery system is in a state of supplying power to the battery management system based on state of charge information of the battery and pre-stored initial state of charge information; and
determine whether a leakage current occurs in the battery system based on a comparison of the calculated amount of power change and a predefined threshold.
Claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 does not explicitly teach the apparatus comprising a battery management system wherein the amount of power change is calculated when the battery system is in a state of supplying power to the battery management system. Claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 states that the amount of power change is calculated during a maintaining period of a standby mode.
In contrast, Berman teaches a battery device comprising a battery management system (BMS) 35 having a battery management processor 25 that is configured to operate in a low-power mode (Fig. 2; ¶22 and 27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus of claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 such that the standby mode is a mode where a battery management system is configured to receive power from the battery system. One of ordinary skill would make such a modification for the purpose of enabling a battery management system to operate in a low-power mode (Berman; ¶27).
6. Claims 2 and 5-10 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 2 and 5-10, respectively, of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 in view of Berman.
Dependent claims 2 and 5-10 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 correspond to dependent claims 2 and 5-10, respectively, of the present application. Therefore, claims 2 and 5-10 of the present application are obvious over claims 2 and 5-10, respectively, of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 in view of Berman.
7. Claim 11 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 in view of Berman.
The following table summarizes the correspondence between limitations of claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 and limitations of claim 11 of the present application.
Claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322
Claim 11 of the Present Application
A method for diagnosing a battery by a battery diagnosis apparatus located in a battery system including one or more batteries, the method comprising:
collecting state of charge information of the battery when the battery system is in a standby mode;
calculating an amount of power change of the battery during a maintaining period of the standby mode based on the collected state of charge information and pre-stored initial state of charge information; and
comparing the calculated amount of power change with an expected amount of discharge power of the battery and determining whether a leakage current occurs in the battery system based on the comparison.
A method for diagnosing a battery by a battery diagnosis apparatus located in a battery system including one or more batteries, the method comprising:
calculating an amount of power change of the battery when the battery system is in a state of supplying power to a battery management system, based on state of charge information of the battery and pre-stored initial state of charge information; and
determining whether a leakage current occurs in the battery system based on a comparison of the calculated amount of power change and a predefined threshold.
Claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 does not explicitly teach the method wherein the amount of power change is calculated when the battery system is in a state of supplying power to a battery management system. Claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 states that the amount of power change is calculated during a maintaining period of a standby mode.
In contrast, Berman teaches a battery device comprising a battery management system (BMS) 35 having a battery management processor 25 that is configured to operate in a low-power mode (Fig. 2; ¶22 and 27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 such that the standby mode is a mode where a battery management system is configured to receive power from the battery system. One of ordinary skill would make such a modification for the purpose of enabling a battery management system to operate in a low-power mode (Berman; ¶27).
8. Claims 12-14 and 16-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 12-14 and 16-19, respectively, of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 in view of Berman.
Dependent claims 12-14 and 16-19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 correspond to dependent claims 12-14 and 16-19, respectively, of the present application. Therefore, claims 12-14 and 16-19 of the present application are obvious over claims 12-14 and 16-19, respectively, of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 in view of Berman.
9. Claim 20 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 in view of Berman.
The following table summarizes the correspondence between limitations of claim 20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 and limitations of claim 20 of the present application.
Claim 20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322
Claim 20 of Present Application
A battery system comprising:
a plurality of batteries; and
a battery management apparatus for monitoring and controlling the plurality of batteries, wherein the battery management apparatus is configured to:
collect state of charge information of each battery when the battery system is in a standby mode;
calculate an amount of power change of each battery during a maintaining period of the standby mode based on the collected state of charge information and pre-stored initial state of charge information; and
compare the calculated amount of power change with an expected amount of discharge power for each battery and determining whether a leakage current occurs in the battery system based on the comparison.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations for diagnosing a battery by a battery diagnosis apparatus located in a battery system including one or more batteries and a battery management system, the operations comprising:
calculating an amount of power change of each battery when the battery system is in a state of supplying power to the battery management system based on state of charge information of the battery and pre-stored initial state of charge information; and
determining whether a leakage current occurs in the battery system based on a comparison of the calculated amount of power change and a predefined threshold.
Claim 20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 does not explicitly teach the system comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the amount of power change is calculated when the battery system is in a state of supplying power to a battery management system. Claim 20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 states that the amount of power change is calculated during a maintaining period of a standby mode.
In contrast, Berman teaches a battery device comprising a battery management system (BMS) 35 having a battery management processor 25 and a non-transitory storage medium 37. The battery management processor 25 that is configured to operate in a low-power mode (Fig. 2; ¶22 and 27).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of claim 20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,235,322 such that it comprises a non-transitory computer readable medium wherein the standby mode is a mode where a battery management system is configured to receive power from the battery system. One of ordinary skill would make such a modification for the purpose of executing software instructions and enabling a battery management system to operate in a low-power mode (Berman; ¶22 and 27).
Claim Objections
10. Claims 3-4 and 15 are 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.
Per claim 3, the prior art of record is silent on the apparatus of claim 2, wherein the instructions are further executed by the processor to determine the state of charge (SOC) value of the battery at each predefined time when the battery system is in the state of supplying the power to the battery management system. Claim 4 is consequently objected to due to its dependence on claim 3.
Per claim 15, the prior art of record is silent on the method of claim 14, wherein the predefined threshold corresponds to a value obtained by multiplying a predefined weighting coefficient by a sum of the amount of self-discharge power and an amount of power supplied from the battery to the battery management system (BMS).
Pertinent Prior Art
11. Fasching et al. – US 2022/0057455
This document discloses a system for in-situ leakage current testing of cells in a multi-cell battery pack wherein a tested cell is charged to an initial SOC, kept offline for a period of time, and an SOC decrease of the tested cell is measured with respect to the initial SOC. The SOC decrease is then used to determine a leakage current of the tested cell (¶118).
However, this document is silent on, in particular, the following feature substantially described in independent claims 1, 11, and 20 of the present application: calculating an amount of power change of the battery when the battery system is in a state of supplying power to a battery management system, based on state of charge information of the battery and pre-stored initial state of charge information; and determining whether a leakage current occurs in the battery system based on a comparison of the calculated amount of power change and a predefined threshold.
Conclusion
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAS A. SANGHERA whose telephone number is (571)272-4787. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, alt. Fri, 8-5 EST.
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/JAS A SANGHERA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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