CTNF 19/110,775 CTNF 84527 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yonezawa (US 2020/0309005) in view of Light-Holets(US 2022/0219674), and Nose (US 2021/0108584) As to claim 1 Yonezawa discloses a control method for a hybrid vehicle, comprising: exchanging electric power between a drive motor and a battery (Paragraph 37 “Battery 18 can store power generated by first MG 14 and received via first inverter 16 and can supply the stored power to second MG 15 via second inverter 17. Further, battery 18 can also store power generated by second MG 15 when the vehicle is decelerated, and received via second inverter 17, and can also supply the stored power to first MG 14 via first inverter 16 when engine 13 is started.”) ; charging the battery by a generator driven by an engine for power generation in response to a power generation request for driving associated with a driver operation (Paragraph 67 “HV-ECU 62 calculates requested driving force based on an accelerator position determined by an amount of pressing of the accelerator pedal. HV-ECU 62 calculates requested travelling power of vehicle 10 based on the calculated requested driving force and a vehicle speed. HV-ECU 62 calculates a value resulting from addition of requested charging and discharging power of battery 18 to requested travelling power as requested system power.”) ; and the engine is driven at a best fuel efficiency operating point at which an output efficiency of the engine is maximized in a coordinate space having a rotation speed and a torque of the engine as axes at the time of stopping the power generation request for driving, and the engine is driven at the best fuel efficiency operating point at the time of starting the power generation request for catalyst (Paragraph 89 “FIG. 8 shows an optimum fuel efficiency line which is an example recommended operation line of engine 13. Referring to FIG. 8, a line L5 is an operation line set in advance by initial assessment test or simulation to obtain minimum fuel consumption of engine 13. The operating point of engine 13 is controlled to be located on line L5, leading to optimum (minimum) fuel consumption of engine 13 for the requested power. A dotted line L6 is an isopower line of engine 13 which corresponds to the requested power.”) , Yonezawa does not explicitly disclose a case where the available input electric power is lower than electric power obtained by driving the engine at the best fuel efficiency operating point, an operating point is moved from the best fuel efficiency operating point to a location where the rotation speed becomes a predetermined lower limit rotation speed along an efficient operating line that includes the best fuel efficiency operating point in the coordinate space and that is represented as a trace of an efficient operating point at which fuel efficiency of the engine is minimized when the engine is driven at the operating point having a lower output than that of the best fuel efficiency operating point. Light-Holets teaches treating exhaust gas discharged from the engine by a catalyst, wherein available input electric power to the battery is set to be lower as a state of charge of the battery approaches a predetermined upper limit value (Paragraph 69 “The motor generator circuit 212 may also be structured to receive or acquire data regarding the battery 107 (i.e., the SOC) to control the motor generator 106 and battery 107. The motor generator circuit 212 is structured to manage the usage of electrical energy from the battery 107 to provide the necessary power to the motor generator 106. For example, when the engine circuit 210 decreases dependence on the engine 101 to have lower combustion temperatures, the SOC is measured to determine what demands may be provided by electric motor 106 to shift reliance from the engine 101 to the motor generator 106 thereby decreasing NOx production.”) , a power generation request for catalyst is started in a case where the temperature of the catalyst exceeds the predetermined temperature at the time of stopping the power generation request for driving (Paragraph 75 “As discussed herein, the adjustment may include increasing or decreasing the power output of the engine 101. For instance, higher combustion temperatures promotes NOx production, so to reduce emissions (e.g., NOx, particulate matter) the system 100 may reduce reliance on the engine 101 in favor of more power from the motor generator 106.”) , in a case where the available input electric power is lower than electric power obtained by driving the engine at the best fuel efficiency operating point, an operating point is moved from the best fuel efficiency operating point to a location where the rotation speed becomes a predetermined lower limit rotation speed along an efficient operating line that includes the best fuel efficiency operating point in the coordinate space and that is represented as a trace of an efficient operating point at which fuel efficiency of the engine is minimized when the engine is driven at the operating point having a lower output than that of the best fuel efficiency operating point (Paragraph 70 “As such, the motor generator circuit 212 may communicate with the engine circuit 210 based on the SOC of the battery 107. For example, the motor generator circuit 212 may determine whether there is enough charge to use the battery 107 at a certain power output and for how long. If the battery 107 does not have enough power stored to compensate for a reduction in power from the engine 101, then the engine circuit 210 commands the engine 101 to remain operating at its current point.”) , and then the torque is reduced in a state in which the rotation speed is maintained at the predetermined lower limit rotation speed when the available input electric power is further reduced (Paragraph 70 “As such, the motor generator circuit 212 may communicate with the engine circuit 210 based on the SOC of the battery 107. For example, the motor generator circuit 212 may determine whether there is enough charge to use the battery 107 at a certain power output and for how long. If the battery 107 does not have enough power stored to compensate for a reduction in power from the engine 101, then the engine circuit 210 commands the engine 101 to remain operating at its current point. Although the engine circuit 210 and the motor generator circuit 212 are structured to alter the commands to the engine 101 and the motor generator 106 based on the various levels of the vehicle 100 (e.g., fuel level, SOC), adjusting the engine 101 to achieve optimal efficiency for reduced emission is prioritized. In other words, the increase or decrease of the engine 101 is determined first and operation of the motor generator 106 is adjusted to compensate for the change in power output from the engine based on the engine operating point command”) . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to modify Yonezawa to include the teachings of moving the operating point based on the available input electric power for the purpose of achieving optimal efficiency for reduced emissions. Yonezawa does not explicitly disclose a fuel supply to the engine is stopped in a case where a temperature of the catalyst is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature for suppressing deterioration of the catalyst at a time of stopping the power generation request for driving, Nose teaches fuel supply to the engine is stopped in a case where a temperature of the catalyst is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature for suppressing deterioration of the catalyst at a time of stopping the power generation request for driving (Paragraph 70-72 “Subsequently, the HVECU 70 determines whether or not to permit the execution of the catalyst temperature increase control routine, that is, the stop of the fuel supply to a part of cylinders 11 (hereinafter, “the stop of the fuel supply” is appropriately referred to as “fuel cut (F/C)”) according to a request from the engine ECU 100 (Step S460). In Step S460, the HVECU 70 calculates drive torque that is insufficient due to fuel cut of one cylinder 11, that is, torque (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as “insufficient torque”) that is not output from the engine 10 due to the fuel cut.”) , It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill to modify Yonezawa to include the teachings of stopping fuel supply to the engines for the purpose of suppressing deterioration of the catalyst. As to claim 2 Yonezawa discloses a control method for a hybrid vehicle wherein an output of the engine is stopped when the state of charge of the battery exceeds the predetermined upper limit value (Paragraph 62) . As to claim 3 Nose teaches discloses a control method for a hybrid vehicle wherein an output of the engine is controlled based on a rotation speed command value and a torque command value (Paragraph 46) , and the output of the engine is stopped in a case where a state in which a response to the rotation speed command value and the torque command value is delayed with respect to a delay time of a control system of the engine continues for a predetermined time or longer in a middle of reducing the output of the engine (Paragraph 46) . As to claim 4 Nose teaches a control method for a hybrid vehicle, wherein the fuel supply to the engine is stopped when the torque becomes zero and the temperature of the catalyst becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature in a state in which the rotation speed is the predetermined lower limit rotation speed (Paragraph 46) . As to claim 5 the claim is interpreted and rejected as in claim 1. As to claim 6 the claim is interpreted and rejected as in claim 4. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to IMRAN K MUSTAFA whose telephone number is (571)270-1471. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James J Lee can be reached at 571-270-5965. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. IMRAN K. MUSTAFA Primary Examiner Art Unit 3668 /IMRAN K MUSTAFA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3668 6/11/2026 Application/Control Number: 19/110,775 Page 2 Art Unit: 3668 Application/Control Number: 19/110,775 Page 3 Art Unit: 3668 Application/Control Number: 19/110,775 Page 4 Art Unit: 3668 Application/Control Number: 19/110,775 Page 5 Art Unit: 3668 Application/Control Number: 19/110,775 Page 6 Art Unit: 3668 Application/Control Number: 19/110,775 Page 7 Art Unit: 3668 Application/Control Number: 19/110,775 Page 8 Art Unit: 3668 Application/Control Number: 19/110,775 Page 9 Art Unit: 3668
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