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 .
This Office Action responses to the Application filed on 07/31/2025.
Priority
Applicant's claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 120 is acknowledged. This application is a Continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2024/004500, filed February 9, 2024, which claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Applications No. 2023-027472, filed February 24, 2023, and No. 2023-061307, filed April 5, 2023. The certified copies have been filed in parent Application No. JP 2023-027472 and JP 2023-061307.
Information Disclosure Statement
Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) filed on 07/31/2025 was considered.
Claims 1-6 are pending for examination.
Note to Applicant
In the case of amending the claimed invention, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 1-6 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.
Regarding independent claim 1, lines 4-5, 7-8, and 9 recite “a second transmission unit”. However, lines 2-3 already cited “a power receiving apparatus”. Therefore, it is unclear whether or not the “a power receiving apparatus” in lines 4-5, 7-8, and 9 are the same “a power receiving apparatus” as in lines 2-3.
In addition, lines 6-12 recite “wherein, in a case where the second transmission unit receives a request for transmission of information regarding an electronic certificate from a power receiving apparatus before the first transmission unit receives a request for transmission of information regarding an electronic certificate from a power receiving apparatus and the first transmission unit transmits the information regarding the electronic certificate, the second transmission unit transmits a signal different from the information regarding the electronic certificate”. It is not clear how the second transmission unit received the request from the power receiving (assuming “the first power receiving”) “before” the first transmission unit received the request from the power receiving (assuming “the first power receiving”) and still received the signal different from the information regarding the electronic certificate (the signal indicate response cannot be currently made according to claims 2; or the signal is an error or busy according to claims 4). In another word, the second transmission unit determine and send out an error or a busy signal even “before” the first transmission unit received the request.
For examination purpose, the claim will be construed according to the disclosure (Figs. 2-4 and 6B), as:
A power transmission apparatus comprising:
a first transmission unit configured to wirelessly transmit power to a first power receiving apparatus; and
a second transmission unit configured to wirelessly transmit power to a second power receiving apparatus,
wherein, in a case where the second transmission unit receives a request for transmission of information regarding [an] a first electronic certificate from [a] the second power receiving apparatus [before] after the first transmission unit receives a request for transmission of information regarding an electronic certificate from [a] the first power receiving apparatus and the first transmission unit transmits the information regarding [the] a second electronic certificate, the second transmission unit transmits a signal different from the information regarding the first electronic certificate.
Regarding independent claim 5, the claim is rejected for the similar reason as in claim 1 above.
Regarding dependent claims 2-4 and 6, the claims are rejected due to the rejections of claims 1 and 5 above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by LEE et al. (US 20230402853 A1); hereinafter LEE.
Regarding claim 1, LEE discloses a power transmission apparatus (Fig. 5, 500 and Fig. 6, 600) comprising:
a first transmission unit (Fig. 5, 330 and Fig. 6, 601a) configured to wirelessly transmit power to a (first) power receiving apparatus (Fig. 5, 392 and Fig. 6, 602a); and
a second transmission unit (Fig. 5, 320 and Fig. 6, 602a) configured to wirelessly transmit power to a (second) power receiving apparatus (Fig. 5, 391 and Fig. 6, 602b),
wherein, in a case where the second transmission unit (Fig. 6, 601a) receives a request for transmission of information regarding an (a first) electronic certificate (Fig. 6, 620, authentication relating to certify for allowing the power transmitter and the power receiver continue to operating together) from a (second) power receiving apparatus (Fig. 5, 391 and Fig. 6, 602b) after) the first transmission unit receives a request for transmission of information regarding an (a second) electronic certificate from a (the first) power receiving apparatus (Fig. 6, second power receiver 602b sending request 620 after the first power receiver 601) and the first transmission unit transmits the information regarding the (second) electronic certificate (and Fig. 6, first response 642 to the first power receiver 601b), the second transmission unit transmits a signal different from the information regarding the (first) electronic certificate (Fig. 6, request re-request for authentication sign 650, request resending a re-request is different from authentication).
Regarding claim 1, LEE discloses a method performed by a power transmission apparatus (Fig. 5, 500 and Fig. 6, 600) that includes a first transmission unit (Fig. 5, 330 and Fig. 6, 601a) configured to wirelessly transmit power to a (first) power receiving apparatus (Fig. 5, 392 and Fig. 6, 602a), and a second transmission unit (Fig. 5, 320 and Fig. 6, 602a) configured to wirelessly transmit power to a (second) power receiving apparatus (Fig. 5, 391 and Fig. 6, 602b), the method comprising:
transmitting, in a case where the second transmission unit (Fig. 6, 601a) receives a request for transmission of information regarding an (a first) electronic certificate (Fig. 6, 620, authentication relating to certify for allowing the power transmitter and the power receiver continue to operating together) from a (the second) power receiving apparatus (Fig. 5, 391 and Fig. 6, 602b) before (after) the first transmission unit receives a request for transmission of information regarding an (the) electronic certificate from [a] (the first) power receiving apparatus (Fig. 6, second power receiver 602b sending request 620 after the first power receiver 601) and the first transmission unit transmits the information regarding the (second) electronic certificate (and Fig. 6, first response 642 to the first power receiver 601b), a signal different from the information regarding the (first) electronic certificate with the second transmission unit (Fig. 6, request re-request for authentication sign 650, request resending a re-request is different from authentication).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 and 6 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAI H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-0668. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 8:30 - 5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rexford Barney can be reached at 571-272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THAI H TRAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
/REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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