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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Figure 2 shows “I0”; however, the specification recites “Ii”. Figure 8 shows “2nC”; however, the specification recites “27C”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by MASAHIRO (JPH11146575) (Document provided on the IDS of 9/10/2025).
With respect to claim 1, MASAHIRO discloses a storage battery system (uninterruptible power supply device 13, figure 1) comprising: a plurality of storage battery boards (plurality of battery units 11-1 to 11-n); and a control device that controls the plurality of storage battery boards (control 7), wherein the storage battery board includes a switch to control connection between the storage battery board and a power supply device (switches 10-1 to 10-n), wherein in response to a power failure caused as power supplied to the power supply device from an external power source is interrupted, the control device controls the switch of the plurality of storage battery boards based on a magnitude of a load connected to the power supply device (paragraphs 0025-0027 discloses selecting the required number of battery units according to the number of load devices), and wherein the control device calculates as the magnitude of the load connected to the power supply device a sum in magnitude of currents flowing from the plurality of storage battery boards to the power supply device (paragraphs 0027-0029 discloses selecting the number of battery units based on the capacity/remaining amount detection mechanism 4 and the load).
With respect to claim 10, MASAHIRO discloses the storage battery system according claim 1, wherein the power supply device is an uninterruptible power supply device. Paragraph 0001, figure 1 discloses that the plurality of batteries are connected to an uninterruptible power supply.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MASAHIRO (JPH11146575) in view of MOON (US 2011/0175451).
With respect to claim 11, MASAHIRO discloses the storage battery system according claim 1; except for, wherein the storage battery board includes a lithium ion battery.
MOON discloses an uninterruptible power supply to provide power to a load from a grid or from a battery unit 100; each of the battery units comprises switches elements to connect the each of the battery units to the load. The battery 100 may be lithium ion batteries, for example. Figure 4, paragraph 0042.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention, to have modify MASAHIRO and include lithium ion batteries for providing uninterruptible power supply to a load, for the purpose of selecting a battery that meets the requirements of a load, for example (paragraph 0042).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9, 12-21 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.
Claim 3 is allowable over the prior art of record, because the prior art of record does not disclose wherein the control device determines, based the sum in magnitude of currents flowing from the plurality of storage battery boards to the power supply device, a first number which is a number of storage battery boards to be connected to the power supply device in response to the power failure, and calculates a second number which is a total number of available storage battery boards, wherein the control device determines the second number of any storage battery boards from available storage battery boards as storage battery boards to be held committed and determines any other storage battery boards as storage battery boards which is not to be held committed when the second number is equal to or larger than the first number, and wherein the control device determines all storage battery boards as storage battery boards to be held committed when the second number is smaller than the first number.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Jezierski, JR. et al. (US 2024/0072317) discloses a battery energy storage system comprises a plurality of battery strings each connected to a bus via switch unit 106, figure 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CARLOS AMAYA whose telephone number is (571)272-8941. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00AM-4:00PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Taelor Kim can be reached at (571) 270-7166. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CARLOS AMAYA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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