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 .
Status of Claims
This office action is in response to the patent application filed on February 10, 2025. Claims 16-34 are currently pending.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in Application No. EP22191458.3, filed on August 22, 2022.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed June 30, 2026 have overcome the claim objection and the 35 USC 112(b) rejection of the non-final rejection dated April 1, 2026. Further, a new 35 USC 103 rejection has been made.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pgs. 8-12, filed June 30, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 16-17 & 19-34 under 35 USC 102 & 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US 10131242 B2, to Marathe et al., hereafter Marathe.
Further, the 35 USC 112(b) rejection has been withdrawn in light of the applicant’s arguments.
The claim objection is withdrawn in light of the amendments.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 16-17, 25, 28-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0399917 A1 to Shen in view of US 10131242 B2, to Marathe et al., hereafter Marathe.
Regarding Claim 16, Shen discloses A method for a vehicle and for unlocking and/or opening a refill access cover of the vehicle, the refill access cover comprising at least one the group consisting of a charging cover and tank cover, the method comprising (Shen [0007], Examiner Note: Shen discloses a vehicle charging base on an automobile which is opened via communication with the charging pile):…
… wherein the access operation comprises at least one of the group consisting of: unlocking the refill access cover; and opening the refill access cover. (Shen [0065], Examiner Note: Shen discloses the charging pile issuing a command (i.e. signal) to open the vehicle charging cover door. [0063] further discloses the communications being done via Bluetooth).
However, Shen does not specifically disclose …receiving a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signal from a charging/fuel station for the vehicle generated by the charging/fuel station in response to an advertisement message sent by the vehicle; and performing at least one access operation based on the BLE signal,
Marathe, directed to the same problem, teaches…receiving a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signal from a charging/fuel station for the vehicle generated by the charging/fuel station in response to an advertisement message sent by the vehicle; and performing at least one access operation based on the BLE signal (Marathe Col. 3 Rows 11-31, Examiner Note: Marathe teaches a Bluetooth signal (i.e. advertisement signal) sent by the vehicle to the charging station to authorize the vehicle to accept electrical power from the charging station (i.e. access operation)),…
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable likelihood of success, to modify the charging control method of Shen with the authentication of Marathe in order to ensure security in the charging transaction (Marathe Col. 3 Rows 32-33).
Regarding Claim 17, Shen in view of Marathe teaches The method of claim 16,
Shen further discloses wherein performing the at least one access operation comprises: determining a signal strength of the BLE signal (Shen [0070]-[0071] & Figs. 2-3, Examiner Note: Shen discloses determining if the communication connection between the charging pile and vehicle is within a preset signal strength is changed as required based on physical distance)); and performing the at least one access operation if the signal strength is equal to or greater than a predefined threshold for the signal strength (Shen [0094] & Fig. 2, Examiner Note: After Step S10 of determining if the communication connection is within a preset range, the charging pile may send an instruction to open the cover door).
With respect to Claim 25, all the limitations have been analyzed in view of claim 17, and it has been determined that claim 25 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond those previously recited in Claim 17. Therefore, claim 25 is also rejected over the same rationale as claim 17.
Regarding Claim 28, Shen in view of Marathe teaches A non-transitory computer readable medium having program code for performing the method of claim 16 when the program code is executed on a computer, a processor, or a programmable hardware component (Shen [0030], Examiner Note: Shen discloses a processor and memory which runs instructions for the method disclosed).
With respect to Claim 29, all the limitations have been analyzed in view of claims 16, and it has been determined that claim 29 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond those previously recited in Claims 16. Therefore, claim 29 is also rejected over the same rationale as claims 16.
Regarding Claim 30, Shen discloses The method of claim 29,
Shen further discloses further comprising: obtaining a first identifier indicating that a charging or fueling is desired; and checking whether the advertisement message is indicative of the first identifier (Shen [0079], Examiner Note: Shen discloses a vehicle identification number (VIN) (i.e. first identifier) which is communicated to the charging pile upon arrival for charging), and wherein transmitting the BLE signal comprises transmitting the BLE signal if the advertisement message is indicative of the first identifier (Shen [0094] & Fig. 2, She discloses charging the vehicle as a result of receiving the VIN of the vehicle in step S10).
Regarding Claim 31, Shen discloses The method of claim 29,
Shen further discloses wherein the BLE signal comprises a scan request (Shen [0074], Examiner Note: Shen discloses periodically scanning a vehicle communication module in a parking space range).
With respect to Claim 32, all the limitations have been analyzed in view of claim 28, and it has been determined that claim 32 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond those previously recited in Claim 28. Therefore, claim 32 is also rejected over the same rationale as claim 28.
Regarding Claim 33, Shen in view of Marathe teaches An apparatus comprising: one or more interfaces for communication (Shen [0101] & Fig. 9, Examiner Note: Shen discloses a charging device with a vehicle communication module, 241); and a data processing circuit configured to: control the one or more interfaces; and execute, using the one or more interfaces, the method of claim 29 (Shen [0106] & Fig. 9, Examiner Note: Shen discloses a processor, 231, which executes the instructions of the method disclosed).
With respect to Claim 34, all the limitations have been analyzed in view of claim 33, and it has been determined that claim 34 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond those previously recited in Claim 33. Therefore, claim 34 is also rejected over the same rationale as claim 33.
Claims 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0399917 A1 to Shen in view of US 10131242 B2, to Marathe et al., hereafter Marathe as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of US 2018/0022596 A1, to Grice et al., hereafter Grice.
Regarding Claim 26, Shen in view of Marathe teaches An apparatus comprising:… and execute, using the one or more interfaces, the method of claim 16.
Shen further discloses An apparatus comprising: one or more interfaces for communication (Shen [0058] & Fig. 1, Examiner Note: Shen discloses a vehicle communication module, 107);
However, the modification does not specifically disclose and a data processing circuit configured to: control the one or more interfaces…
Grice teaches and a data processing circuit configured to: control the one or more interfaces (Grice Fig. 2, Examiner Note: Grice teaches a CPU, 16, which controls the transceiver, speakers, and display screens (i.e. communication interfaces) of the vehicle)…
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable likelihood of success, to modify the charging control method of Shen in view of Marathe with the vehicle processor of Grice in order to allow the vehicle to process data and communications even without the need of a fuel dispenser processor.
With respect to Claim 27, all the limitations have been analyzed in view of claim 26, and it has been determined that claim 27 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond those previously recited in Claim 26. Therefore, claim 27 is also rejected over the same rationale as claim 26.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0399917 A1 to Shen in view of US 10131242 B2, to Marathe et al., hereafter Marathe as applied to claim 16 above, and further in view of US 2016/0042401 A1, to Menendez et al, hereafter Menendez.
Regarding Claim 19, Shen in view of Marathe teaches The method of claim 16,
However, the modification does not specifically teach wherein transmitting the at least one advertisement message comprises transmitting multiple advertisement messages within a predefined time interval.
Menendez, in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein transmitting the at least one advertisement message comprises transmitting multiple advertisement messages within a predefined time interval (Menendez [0096]-[0101] & Fig. 8, Examiner Note: Menendez teaches detecting if the vehicle is plugged in to the charging station, 806. If so, it retrieves data from the meter and displays the amount of time left, 808 & 810. It then selects and displays a promotional offer (i.e. advertisement), 812 & 814. It then detects if the charging is complete, if not, it repeats the process. If this loop is done more than once, it results in displaying the amount of time left (i.e. predefined time interval) and displaying more than one promotional offer (i.e. advertisements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable likelihood of success, to modify the charging control method of Shen in view of Marathe with the method of showing multiple advertisements of Menendez in order to streamline the process for selecting and providing advertisements to charging stations for electric vehicles (Menendez [0003]).
Claims 20-21 & 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0399917 A1 to Shen in view of US 10131242 B2, to Marathe et al., hereafter Marathe and further in view of US 2016/0042401 A1, to Menendez et al, hereafter Menendez as applied to claim 19 above and further in view of US 2018/0022596 A1, to Grice et al., hereafter Grice.
Regarding Claim 20, Shen in view of Marathe and in further view of Menendez teaches The method of claim 19,
However, the modification does not specifically teach further comprising determining information on a resource level, wherein the resource level is at least one of a charge level and a fuel level, and wherein transmitting the at least one advertisement message comprises transmitting the at least one advertisement message responsive to the resource level being lower than a predefined resource threshold.
Grice teaches further comprising determining information on a resource level, wherein the resource level is at least one of a charge level and a fuel level, and wherein transmitting the at least one advertisement message comprises transmitting the at least one advertisement message responsive to the resource level being lower than a predefined resource threshold (Grice [0025]-[0026], Examiner Note: Grice further teaches using advertisements based on vehicle data such as fuel types, fuel tank sizes, and fuel capacity (i.e. fuel being below a certain level)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable likelihood of success, to modify the charging control method of Shen in view of Marathe and in further view of Grice and Menendez with the advertising display of Grice in order to assist with selecting the correct amount of fuel for the vehicle being filled (Grice [0002]).
Regarding Claim 21, Shen in view of Marathe and in further view of Grice and Menendez teaches The method of claim 20,
However, the modification does not specifically teach wherein the at least one advertisement message is indicative of a first identifier indicating that a service increasing in the resource level is desired.
Shen further discloses wherein the at least one advertisement message is indicative of a first identifier indicating that a service increasing in the resource level is desired (Shen [0079], Examiner Note: Shen discloses a vehicle identification number (VIN) which is communicated to the charging pile upon arrival for charging).
With respect to Claim 23, all the limitations have been analyzed in view of claim 20, and it has been determined that claim 23 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond those previously recited in Claim 20. Therefore, claim 23 is also rejected over the same rationale as claim 20.
With respect to Claim 24, all the limitations have been analyzed in view of claim 21, and it has been determined that claim 24 does not teach or define any new limitations beyond those previously recited in Claim 21. Therefore, claim 24 is also rejected over the same rationale as claim 21.
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2024/0399917 A1 to Shen in view of US 10131242 B2, to Marathe et al., hereafter Marathe and further in view of US 2018/0022596 A1, to Grice et al., hereafter Grice and further in view of US 2016/0042401 A1, to Menendez et al, hereafter Menendez as applied to claims 16 & 18-21 above, and further in view of US 2012/0191242 A1, to Outwater et al., hereafter Outwater.
Regarding Claim 22, Shen in view of Marathe in further view of Grice and Menendez teaches The method of claim 21,
However, the modification does not specifically teach wherein the identifier is a universally unique identifier, UUID.
Outwater, directed to the same problem, teaches wherein the identifier is a universally unique identifier, UUID (Outwater [0096], Examiner Note: Outwater teaches using a certificate identifier in the form of a UUID in order to identify certification to the charging system).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art, before the filing date of the claimed invention and with a reasonable likelihood of success, to modify the charging control method of Shen in view of Marathe and in further view of Grice and Menendez with the UUID of Outwater in order to allow the system to track and report usage of the UUID certificate from logs (Outwater [0096]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL T DOWLING whose telephone number is (703)756-1459. The examiner can normally be reached M-T: 8-5:30, First F: Off, Second F: 8-4:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Erin Piateski can be reached at (571) 270-7429. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL T DOWLING/Examiner, Art Unit 3669
/Erin M Piateski/
Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3669
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