Ex Parte Brown

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Nov 14, 2016

12427892 (P.T.A.B. Nov. 14, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
12/427,892 0412212009
22200 7590 11/16/2016
PARK, VAUGHAN, FLEMING & DOWLER LLP
2820 FIFTH STREET
DA VIS, CA 95618
Wendell Brown
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
WB-016 7819
EXAMINER
GRANT, ROBERT J
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2859
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
11/16/2016 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
DAN@PARKLEGAL.COM
j eannie@parklegal.com
wendy@parklegal.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte WENDELL BROWN
Appeal2015-004884
Application 12/427,892
Technology Center 2800
Before ROMULO H. DELMENDO, DONNA M. PRAISS, and
JENNIFER R. GUPTA, Administrative Patent Judges.
GUPTA, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellant1 appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner's
decision2 finally rejecting claims 1---6, 8-18, and 23-28. We have
jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We AFFIRM.
1 Appellant identifies the real party in interest as Wendell Brown. Appeal
Brief filed October 6, 2014 ("Br."), 1.
2 Final Office Action mailed April 15, 2014 ("Final Act.").
Appeal2015-004884
Application 12/427,892
The claims are directed to an apparatus and method for automatically
charging or recharging an electrical vehicle. Spec. i-f 2.
Claims 1, 16, and 23, reproduced below, are illustrative of the claims
on appeal.
1. An apparatus for automatically charging an electrically
powered vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
a sensor included in the apparatus and configured to:
detect the vehicle's proximity to the apparatus; and
activate a guiding mechanism to assist an operator of the
vehicle in positioning the vehicle to permit coupling of the
apparatus and the vehicle;
multiple chargers of different current configurations, each of
which is configured to automatically mate with and supply
electrical power to the vehicle; and
a communication link between the vehicle and the apparatus,
wherein information exchanged via the communication link
includes:
configuration information received and used by the
apparatus to select one of the multiple chargers to activate and to
use to charge the vehicle; and
billing information for automatically billing for the
charging of the vehicle.
16. An apparatus for automatically charging an electrically
powered vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
trigger means configured to:
activate a guiding mechanism to assist an operator of the
vehicle in positioning the vehicle to permit coupling of the
apparatus and the vehicle; and
initiate automatic charging of the vehicle;
multiple charging means configured to charge the vehicle,
each charging means having a different current configuration;
and
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Appeal2015-004884
Application 12/427,892
communication means for exchanging data between the
apparatus and the vehicle, wherein the data includes:
configuration information for selecting one of the
multiple charging means; and
billing information for automatically billing for the
charging of the vehicle;
wherein the trigger means is external to the vehicle and is
initiated without communication from the vehicle.
23. A method of automatically charging an electrically
powered vehicle, the method comprising:
receiving at a sensor of an automatic charging apparatus a
first electronic signal signifying presence of the vehicle in
proximity to the automatic charging apparatus;
activating a guiding mechanism to assist an operator of the
vehicle in positioning the vehicle to permit coupling of the
automatic charging apparatus and the vehicle;
automatically establishing a communication link between
the automatic charging apparatus and the vehicle, wherein
information transmitted to the automatic charging apparatus
from the vehicle via the communication link includes:
configuration information received and used by the
apparatus to select one of multiple charger interfaces to activate
and use to charge the vehicle, each charger interface having a
different current configuration; and
billing information for automatically billing for the
charging of the vehicle;
automatically mating the selected charger interface with a
corresponding receptacle of the vehicle without action on the
part of the operator of the vehicle;
charging an electrical power storage device of the vehicle
via the selected charger interface; and
automatically billing for the charging, based on the billing
information.
Br. (Claims Appendix) A-1-A-4.
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Appeal2015-004884
Application 12/427,892
REJECTIONS ON APPEAL
1. Claims 1-5, 8-18, 23, and 26-28 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious over Kuki et al. (US 5,821,731,
issued October 13, 1998) (hereinafter "Kuki") in view of Reddy
(US 2009/0079388 Al, published Mar. 26, 2009) (hereinafter
"Reddy") and further in view of Buchanan et al.
(US 2004/0130292 Al, published Jul. 8, 2004) (hereinafter
"Buchanan");
2. Claim 6 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious over
Kuki in view of Reddy and further in view ofNor (US 5,594,318,
issued Jan. 14, 1997) (hereinafter "Nor");
3. Claims 24 and 25 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
obvious over Kuki in view of Reddy and Buchanan and further in
view of Lara et al. (US 5,461,298, issued Oct. 24, 1995)
(hereinafter "Lara").
DISCUSSION
Appellant's arguments are substantially the same for independent
claims 1, 16, and 23. Appellant presents arguments for patentability of
dependent claim 25, discussed separately below, but does not present
arguments for patentability of any other dependent claim depending from
independent claims 1, 16, and 23. Accordingly, claims 2---6 and 8-15 will
stand or fall with claim 1, claims 17 and 18 will stand or fall with claim 16,
and claims 24 and 26-28 will stand or fall with claim 23.
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Appeal2015-004884
Application 12/427,892
Claims 1-6, 8-18, 23, 24, and 26-28
Appellant presents three principal arguments for reversal of the
obviousness rejection of claims 1, 16, and 23 discussed below. None of
Appellant's arguments dispute the Examiner's reasoning for combining
Kuki, Reddy, and Buchanan. We address each of Appellant's arguments in
tum.
First, Appellant argues that the Examiner erred in finding that Kuki
teaches or suggests an apparatus or method for automatically charging an
electrically powered vehicle that includes a guiding mechanism to assist an
operator of the vehicle in positioning the vehicle to permit coupling of the
apparatus and the vehicle as recited in claims 1, 16, and 23. Br. 2--4.
Kuki teaches a charging system for automatically charging an electric
vehicle (Kuki 16:41--46; Fig. 36) that includes primary coil 10 (a charger)
installed in the ground of a parking lot, contact pressure sensor 150 (sensor
or trigger means) for detecting a contact or load acting from above, and
lamp 151 (guiding mechanism) that turns on (activates) when pressure
sensor 150 detects a load to notify the driver that the vehicle is in proper
charging position (id. at 16:47-57 and 16:64--17:4). Thus, a preponderance
of the evidence supports the Examiner's finding that lamp 151 is "a guiding
mechanism" in the broadest reasonable sense as used in claims 1, 16, and 23.
See Final Act. 3. Accordingly, Appellant's first argument is not persuasive
of reversible error in the Examiner's rejection of claims 1, 16, and 23.
Second, Appellant argues that the Examiner erred in finding that
Buchanan teaches or suggests: (1) an apparatus for automatically charging
an electrically powered vehicle that includes multiple chargers having
different current configurations, each of which is configured to
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Appeal2015-004884
Application 12/427,892
automatically mate with and supply electrical power to the vehicle (claim 1)
or multiple charging means configured to charge the vehicle, each charging
means having a different current configuration (claim 16), or (2) a method of
automatically charging an electrically powered vehicle that includes
selecting multiple charger interfaces to activate and use to charge the
vehicle, each charger interface having a different current configuration
(claim 23). Id. at 4--6.
Buchanan teaches a vehicle charging system (Buchanan i-fi-141--43;
Fig. 4) including power controller 122, DC modules 124, and secondary
power ports (multiple chargers) 128 and 130 (id. i143). Power
controller 122 serves as a point of allocation for assignment of available
power to individual DC modules 124 based on power requirements (id.
i143). Each DC module 124 then regulates the output power to each power
port 128 and 130. Thus, Buchanan teaches or suggests that its power ports
(multiple chargers) could have different amounts of power and as a result
different current configurations. Thus, Appellant's second argument is not
persuasive of reversible error in the Examiner's rejection of claims 1, 16,
and 23.
Lastly, Appellant argues that the Examiner erred in finding that Reddy
teaches or suggests: ( 1) an apparatus for automatically charging an
electrically powered vehicle that includes a communication link (claim 1) or
a communication means (claim 16) between the apparatus and the vehicle
for exchanging information/ data that includes billing information for
automatically billing for the charging of the vehicle, or (2) a method of
automatically charging an electrically powered vehicle that includes
automatically establishing a communication link between the automatic
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Application 12/427,892
charging apparatus and the vehicle, where information transmitted via the
communication link includes billing information for automatically billing for
the charging of the vehicle (claim 23). Br. 6-9.
Reddy discloses an automated recharging system to automatically
recharge a vehicle (Reddy Abstract; Fig. 1 b) that includes charging
device 10 and housing 12 with electrical circuitry 20 (id. i-f 26; Fig. 2).
Electrical circuitry 20 of charging device 10 includes communication unit 15
that can communicate with the vehicle to be recharged by the recharging
device 10, and communication unit 17 that can communicate with central
server 67 on a network (id. i-f 32; Fig. 2). Server 67 can receive recharge
information from recharging device 10, which can include payment
information (billing information) for automatically billing for charging of
the vehicle (id. i-fi-168, 78, 86; Fig. 6, 7, 12). Thus, Appellant's third
argument is not persuasive of reversible error in the Examiner's rejection of
claims 1, 16, and 23.
In view of the foregoing, we sustain the rejection of claims 1---6, 8-18,
23, 24, and 26-28.
Claim 25
Claim 25 depends from claim 23 and requires the method of
automatically charging an electrically powered vehicle to further comprise
"receiving a second electronic signal signifying likely operation of the
vehicle[,] and automatically disconnecting the at least one charger interface
from the corresponding receptacle."
Appellant argues that the Examiner erred in finding Lara teaches or
suggests a method of automatically charging an electrically powered vehicle
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Application 12/427,892
where the method includes a step in which a sensor receives "a signal that
indicates or signifies likely operation of the vehicle." Br. 9.
Lara teaches a charging station for an electric vehicle (Lara 1: 8-11 ).
When vehicle 10 approaches charging station 20, electromagnetic signal 30
is sent from vehicle 10 to charging station 20 to alert the charging system
that the vehicle is approaching (id. at 3:51-53). Once vehicle 10 is in
appropriate proximity to charging station 20, charging probe 40 extends to
the proper position and couples with the vehicle's charging port 50 (id. at
3:60-63). Charging station 20 delivers power to vehicle 10 via charging
probe 40 (id. at 3:67--4:2). "After the vehicle 10 has been fully charged, or
in the event the vehicle is attempted to be driven away, charging probe
retracts to allow vehicle 10 to depart." Id. at 4:19-21 (emphasis added).
That disclosure in Lara implies or at least suggests a second signal is sent
from vehicle 10 to charging station 20 to alert the charging station that the
vehicle is attempting to drive away from the charging station so charging
probe 40 can automatically disengage from charging port 50 on the vehicle
and retract (id. at 4:19-30). Thus, Appellant's argument is not persuasive of
reversible error in the Examiner's rejection of claim 25.
DECISION
For the above reasons, the Examiner's rejections of claims 1---6, 8-18,
and 23-28 are affirmed.
No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with
this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a).
AFFIRMED
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