What the patent claims
Claim 1 of US 9,448,603 transfers power to a receptor mobile device from a donor mobile device that has a battery. A wireless transmit application configures the donor’s transfer mechanism, and a wireless receive application configures the receptor’s. Current in the donor’s primary coil produces a magnetic field that induces current in the receptor’s secondary coil, and the receptor converts it into electric current. The receptor circuit includes a capacitor that stores charge which increases battery life when the capacitor is discharged.
The complaint accuses Hyundai Wireless Charging, with the Hyundai Santa Fe as the example.
What we found
Samsung’s US 7,791,311 (Korean priority October 2005) shares power wirelessly between portable devices by induction. Each device has a battery, a rectifier, an inverter, a power control and conversion unit, an inductive coil that can be set as a primary or a secondary coil, and a communication unit. When one device’s charge falls below a set amount, it asks a neighbouring device for power. One device is told to switch to supply mode with its coil as the primary, and the other receives energy through its coil as the secondary. A user interface shows the neighbour’s charge state.
Samsung’s US 9,246,350 (March 2010) has a mobile terminal find nearby wirelessly rechargeable terminals and exchange power-state information with them. It sets itself as the supplying or receiving terminal and then charges the other terminal.
Access Business Group’s US 8,531,153 (July 2008) receives wireless power in a portable device into a charge-storage capacitor. A charging subcircuit then charges the battery from the capacitor, so battery charging continues after the device is removed from the charger.
None of the three is cited on the ’603 or its family (eight references in total).
Why it matters to the defendant
Samsung’s 2005 patent covers the core of claim 1, inductive transfer from one battery-powered portable device to another through primary and secondary coils, six years before the priority date. Its 2010 patent adds software on each phone that decides the roles. Access Business Group supplies the receptor-side capacitor that stores charge and then feeds the battery. The open points are the claim’s “wireless transmit application” and “wireless receive application” wording, which the Samsung references meet only as device software and a user interface. The other open point is whether a combination with Access Business Group is needed for the capacitor. With so few references cited across the family, the examiner saw little of this field.
The answer in Patent Mechanics
The search as it appears in the app, abridged.
| Reference | Assignee | Priority | Citation record | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 7,791,311 | Samsung | 2005 | Not cited | Strong |
| US 9,246,350 | Samsung | 2010 | Not cited | Partial |
| US 8,531,153 | Access Business Group | 2008 | Not cited | Partial |
| Element | Claim language (abridged) | ’311 | ’350 | ’153 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1[a] | Configure the donor and receptor with transmit and receive applications | ? | ? | – |
| 1[b] | Transfer power from the donor mobile device to the receptor | ✓ | ✓ | ? |
| 1[c] | Receptor converts received power into current | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 1[d] | Primary coil in the donor induces current in a secondary coil | ✓ | ? | ✓ |
| 1[e] | Receptor capacitor stores charge that extends battery life | – | – | ✓ |
References
| Reference | Title | Priority | Covers | Gaps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 7,791,311 | Wirelessly sharing power by an inductive method (Samsung) | 2005-10-24 | Battery-to-battery inductive sharing between portable devices; coils switch between primary and secondary; communication of charge state; user interface | No receptor capacitor; configuration by an “application” not stated in those words |
| US 9,246,350 | Wirelessly charging a mobile terminal (Samsung) | 2010-03-12 | Phone finds rechargeable phones, exchanges power state, sets itself as supplier or receiver and charges the other | Coil and capacitor details not in the text we hold |
| US 8,531,153 | Wireless charging system (Access Business Group) | 2008-07-09 | Wireless power received into a charge-storage capacitor that then charges the device battery | Charger-to-device, not device-to-device |
Limits of this analysis
- We used the September 2011 provisional date, and all references predate it.
- Our index holds the full claims and roughly the first 10,000 characters of each description. Qi-standard documents and pre-2011 phone-to-phone charging products are likely further evidence and are outside this search.
- Whether a vehicle charging pad is a “donor mobile device” is a non-infringement question we do not address.
“Not cited” means the reference does not appear in the examiner or applicant citations of the patent or its family in our index. This article is research, not legal advice, and makes no finding that any claim is invalid.
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