On November 26, 2024, Shenzhen Jinliheng E-Commerce Company, Limited (“Jinliheng”) sued Guangdong Miyear Mgxon Power System Company, Limited (“Mgxon”) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 10,103,412 (“the ’412 patent”).
The ’412 patent, titled “Universal Rechargeable Battery Constituted by Employing Lithium-Ion Battery and Control Method,” is directed to a rechargeable battery that includes an outer packaging housing and a charging/discharging controller. The ’412 patent, Abstract.
According to the ’412 patent, the charging/discharging controller includes a charging/discharging controller housing 551, a charging/discharging controller support frame 552, a charging/discharging control circuit solder body 560, and an insulating washer 562. The ’412 patent, 11:27-37. The solder body includes a positive electrode end cap 501, a PCB1 circuit substrate 571, and a PCB2 circuit substrate 581. Id. at 12:1-50.
The ’412 patent, Fig. 10 (annotated).
The ’412 patent describes various control conditions associated with the charging/discharging controller, including (1) detecting connection and disconnection of charging power source, the ’412 patent, 14: 21-28; id. at 14:45-58, (2) detecting output voltage, and based on the output voltage, selecting charging scheme according to the output voltage and regulating voltage output, id. at 4:29-44; id. at 4:59-26, and (3) detecting the temperature of the battery during charging and discharging, and cutting off charging when the temperature exceeds a threshold, id. at 15:27-60. Thus, the patent asserts that the controller protects the charging/discharging process from overcharge, overdischarge, and overheating. Id. at 3:63-67.
Claim 1of the ’412 patent recites:
A method for controlling a universal rechargeable battery constituted by employing lithium-ion battery, wherein
the universal rechargeable battery comprises therein a lithium-ion battery charging/discharging control circuit comprising a lithium-ion battery charging control circuit, a lithium-ion battery detection circuit and a DC-DC step-down regulator discharging circuit;
during a charging status, the lithium-ion battery charging/discharging control circuit detects an output voltage of the lithium-ion battery and selects a charging scheme of trickling charge, constant-current charge or constant-voltage charge to charge the lithium-ion battery according to the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery;
during a discharging status, the lithium-ion battery charging/discharging control circuit detects the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery, and performs a regulated voltage output by:
decreasing the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery to a first output voltage when the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery is greater than a low power voltage VL; decreasing the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery to a second output voltage when the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery is equal to or lower than the low power voltage VL; and cutoffing the regulated voltage output when the output voltage of the lithium-ion battery drops to be equal to or lower than the discharge cutoff voltage VD;
wherein VL is a preset low power voltage of the lithium-ion battery, and VD is a preset discharge cutoff voltage of the lithium-ion battery; and
wherein the first output voltage ranges from 1.35V to 1.725V, and the second output voltage ranges from 0.9V to 1.35V.
The ’412 patent, 31:61-32:29.
Jinliheng identifies three accused products that include rechargeable batteries with accompanying battery chargers. Below is one example:
Product listed on Amazon.com, https://shorturl.at/Grca5, first product image (last accessed Dec. 9, 2024); Dkt. 1, Ex. 3 at 2 (first Accused Product); see also Dkt. 1, Ex. 3 at 3 (second Accused Product); id. at 4 (third Accused Product).
This product allegedly offers protection against overcharge, overdischarge, overheating, and short circuits:
Product listed on Amazon.com, https://shorturl.at/Grca5, sixth product image (last accessed Dec. 9, 2024); see also Dkt. 1, Ex. 3 at 2.