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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/01/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 8-9, 11-13, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kooken (US20130116849) in view of Pernegger (US20070187377) and in further view of Daniel (US20140263226).
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Fig. 1 Kooken
Regarding claim 1, Kooken teaches a welding-type power supply comprising:
power conversion circuitry ([0005, 0013] power conversion module, shown as the combination of rectifier 101, regulated stage 103, unregulated stage 105, and output circuit 107 as in Fig. 1) configured to receive input power ([0005, 0013] rectifier 101 to receive input AC signal) and convert the input power to welding-type power for a welding-type application ([0005, 0013] output circuit 107 to output a welding or cutting output),
one or more sensors ([0015-0016] processing circuits 102, 104, 106, and 108) configured to sense welding-type data of the welding-type application and generate a sensor signal comprising sensed welding type data ([0015-0016] processing circuits 102, 104, 106, and 108 able to receive and process voltage, current, frequency, and power signals, determined from the input signals, receiving of the voltage, current, frequency and power signals taken to be equivalent to sensing a welding type data);
a user interface (113) configured to: display for selection, a plurality of welding jobs ([0017] display screen which displays operational information of the welding or cutting operation);
Kooken is silent on a user interface configured to enable an operator to select the first selected welding job from the plurality of welding jobs, processing circuitry configured to: in response to determining, at a first time and based on a first selection, that a first selected welding job comprises the first welding job, monitor the sensor signal to associate first monitored welding-type data of the sensed welding-type data with the first selected welding job of the plurality of welding jobs, and store in memory the first monitored welding-type data associated with the first selected welding job, in response to determining, at a second time later than the first time and based on a second selection, that a second selected welding job comprises the first welding job, monitor the sensor signal to associate second monitored welding-type data of the sensed welding-type data with the first welding job, add the second monitored welding-type data to the first monitored welding-type data in association with the first welding job; and switch back and forth between the first and second welding jobs in response to selections of the first and second welding jobs, wherein monitored welding-type data collected while one of the first or second welding jobs is selected is added to the monitored welding-type data stored in association with the selected one of the first or second welding job.
Pernegger teaches a user interface (push button 30) configured to enable an operator to select the first selected welding job from the plurality of welding jobs ([0059-0064] one of welding jobs 35 to 39 may be selected by user by means of push button 30),
and processing circuitry (27) configured to determine at a first time and based on a first selection, that a first selected welding job comprises the first welding job and at a second time later than the first time and based on a second selection,
that a second selected welding job comprises the first welding job ([0023] a welding job may be chosen as a second selection, being the same as the first welding job selected),
and switch back and forth between the first and second welding jobs in response to selections of the first and second welding jobs ([0069] jump back from the current welding job 39, for example, to welding job 38).
Kooken and Pernegger are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of welding type devices. It would have been obvious to have modified Kooken to incorporate the teachings of Pernegger to determine a welding job based on a welding job selection so that specific welds may be repeated without having to be reprogrammed (Pergnegger [0023]), and to have user interface configured to enable an operator to select a welding job out of a plurality of welding jobs and switch between a first and second job in order to allow the operator be able to choose the parameters needed for a welding , selected specifically for the material to be welded and the respective component geometry, to achieve optimum weld seam qualities (Pernegger [0002]).
Daniel teaches and processing circuitry (300) configured to:
in response to determining, at a first time and based on a first selection, that a first selected welding job comprises the first welding job ([0069] weld sequencer for configuring two or more welds, understood to perform operations for a first weld)
monitor the sensor signal to associate first monitored welding-type data of the sensed welding-type data ([0070] monitored welding parameters and sensor data) with the first selected welding job of the plurality of welding jobs (306);
and store in memory the first monitored welding-type data associated with the first selected welding job ([0070-0071] checkpoint component 306 stores monitoring data (eg, video, images, results, sensor data, and the like, stored and associated with just completed job),
in response to determining, at a second time later than the first time and based on a second selection, that a second selected welding job comprises the first welding job ([0069] weld sequencer for configuring two or more welds, understood to perform operations for a second weld),
monitor the sensor signal to associate second monitored welding-type data of the sensed welding-type data ([0070] monitored welding parameters and sensor data) with the first welding job (36);
add the second monitored welding-type data to the first monitored welding-type data in association with the first welding job ([0070-0071] checkpoint component 306 stores monitoring data (eg, video, images, results, sensor data, and the like, stored and associated with just completed job),
wherein monitored welding-type data collected while one of the first or second welding jobs is selected ([0070-0071] checkpoint component 306 stores monitoring data (eg, video, images, results, sensor data, and the like, stored and associated with just completed job) is added to the monitored welding-type data stored in association with the selected one of the first or second welding job ([0070] stored and associated with just completed job)).
Kooken, Pernegger, and Daniel are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of welding type devices. It would have been obvious to have modified Kooken and Pernegger to incorporate the teachings of Daniel to monitor sensors associated with each weld and store the data associated with each weld such that quality control and inspection may be determined upon completion of each weld job (Daniel [0071]).
Regarding claim 8, Kooken, Pernegger, and Daniel teach the welding-type power supply of claim 1, and Kooken teaches wherein the user interface ([0017] user interface 113) is configured to display welding-type data ([0017] user interface 113 includes a display screen which displays operational information of the welding or cutting operation, the weld data displayed understood to display relevant weld type data associated with a weld type job in progress) being one of a plurality of weld type jobs the power supply is used), but is silent on welding-type data associated with each of the plurality of welding jobs.
Pernegger teaches welding-type data ([0062] individual welding parameters may be organized in parameter groups 34) associated with each of the plurality of welding jobs ([0062] each of which may define a separate welding job 35, 36, 37, 38).
It would have been obvious to have modified displaying weld type data on the user interface of Kooken and Daniel to incorporate the teachings of Pernegger to display welding-type data associated with each of the plurality of welding jobs to allow an operator to select a welding job out of a plurality of welding jobs in order to allow the operator be able to choose the parameters needed for a welding, selected specifically for the material to be welded and the respective component geometry, to achieve optimum weld seam qualities (Pernegger [0002]).
Regarding claim 9, Kooken, Pernegger, and Daniel teach the welding-type power supply of claim 8, and Kooken teaches wherein the processing circuitry (([0025] module 109) is configured to associate the welding-type data with costs ([0025] module 109 can calculate the cost of a welding or cutting process or operation), and wherein the user interface (user interface 113) is configured to display costs associated with each of the plurality of welding jobs ([0025] module 109 can display (on the user interface) and/or transmit to another device (via the data connection 115) the cost of a welding or cutting process or operation).
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Fig. 3 of Kooken
Regarding claim 11, Kooken, Pernegger, and Daniel teach the welding-type power supply of claim 1, and Kooken teaches further comprising communications circuitry ([0017, 0025] data connection 115) configured to communicate welding-type data to an external computing device ([0017, 0025] data connection 115, coupled to module 109 and storage device 11, to transmit cost of welding, being the welding data, to another external device, such as a computer 301 or mobile communication device 303 as shown in Fig. 3), but is silent on welding-type data associated with each of the plurality of welding jobs.
Pernegger teaches welding-type data ([0062] individual welding parameters may be organized in parameter groups 34) associated with each of the plurality of welding jobs ([0062] each of which may define a separate welding job 35, 36, 37, 38).
It would have been obvious to have modified communicating weld type data as taught by Kooken and Daniel to incorporate the teachings of Pernegger to communicate welding-type data associated with each of the plurality of welding job, as the modification of Kooken and Daniel would be understood to communicate welding type data associated with a selected one of a plurality of welding jobs, which enables the operator be able to choose and communicate parameters needed for a welding, selected specifically for the material to be welded and the respective component geometry, to achieve optimum weld seam qualities (Pernegger [0002]).
Regarding claim 12, Kooken, Pernegger, and Daniel teach the welding-type power supply of claim 11, and Kooken teaches wherein the processing circuitry ([0025] module 109) is configured to associate the welding-type data with costs ([0025] module 109 can calculate the cost of a welding or cutting process or operation), and wherein the communications circuitry ([0017, 0025] data connection 115) is configured to communicate the cost data associated with each of the plurality of welding jobs to the external computing device ([0017, 0025] data connection 115, coupled to module 109 and storage device 11, to transmit cost of welding, being the welding data, to another external device, such as a computer 301 or mobile communication device 303 as shown in Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 13, Kooken, Pernegger, and Daniel teach the welding-type power supply of claim 1, and Kooken teaches wherein the welding-type data comprises at least one of an amperage of the welding device, a voltage of the welding device, a wire feed speed of the welding device, a shielding gas usage, an arc count, an arc time, a consumable cost, a usage time, a system power on time, an auxiliary power usage time, or a wire deposition weight ([0015-0016] processing circuits 102, 104, 106, and 108 able to receive and process voltage, current, frequency, and power signals, determined from the input signals, receiving of the voltage, current, frequency and power signals taken to be equivalent to sensing a welding type data).
Regarding claim 16, Kooken, Pernegger, and Daniel teach the welding-type power supply of claim 1, but Kooken and Pernegger are silent on wherein the first welding job is automatically selected based on at least on of a detected location of the welding-type power supply, a detected configuration of the welding type power supply, the welding type data, or an operator.
Daniel teaches wherein the first welding job ([0061] automatically choosing a welding schedule or sequence) is automatically selected based on at least one of a detected location of the welding-type power supply, a detected configuration of the welding type power supply, the welding type data, or an operator ([0062] The automatic selection may be by way of elapsed time, a detection of welding operations, a detection of the amount of welding wire supplied for the welding operation, or a detection of the amount of energy supplied for the welding operation, taken to be a configuration of the welding type power supply).
It would have been obvious to have modified Kooken and Pernegger to incorporate the teachings of Daniel to have a first weld job to be selected based on one of a detected location of the welding-type power supply, a detected configuration of the welding type power supply, the welding type data, or an operator in order to allow an automatic weld sequencer to have information pertaining to the specific weld so as to automatically define the weld job or schedule that allows an operator to follow the sequence to create a final welded part, without having to spend time adjusting, selecting, or reviewing each individual weld schedule and/or sequence (Daniel [0038]).
Regarding claim 20, Kooken teaches a welding-type power supply comprising:
power conversion circuitry ([0005, 0013] power conversion module, shown as the combination of rectifier 101, regulated stage 103, unregulated stage 105, and output circuit 107 as in Fig. 1) configured to receive input power ([0005, 0013] rectifier 101 taking input AC signal) and convert the input power to welding-type power for a welding-type application ([0005, 0013] output circuit 107 outputting a welding or cutting output),
one or more sensor configured to sense welding type data of the welding type application and generate a sensor signal comprising sensed welding-type data ([0015-0016] processing circuits 102, 104, 106, and 108 able to receive and process voltage, current, frequency, and power signals, determined from the input signals, receiving of the voltage, current, frequency and power signals taken to be equivalent to sensing a welding type data);
a user interface (113) configured to: display for selection, a plurality of welding jobs ([0017] display screen which displays operational information of the welding or cutting operation);
Kooken is silent on prior to beginning a first welding operation, enable an operator to select a first welding job from a plurality of welding jobs and a second welding job from the plurality of welding jobs, and after completing the first welding operation and prior to beginning the second welding operation, enable the operator to select the first welding job and the second welding job, processing circuitry configured to: in response to determining, at a first time and based on a first selection, monitor the sensor signal during the first welding operation to associate the first monitored welding-type data of the sensed welding type data with the first welding job, in response to determining, at the first time and based on the first selection that the first selected welding job comprises the second welding job store in memory the first monitored welding-type data as being associated with the second welding job when the first selected welding job comprises the second welding job, monitor the sensor signal during the first welding operation to associate the first monitored welding-type data with the second welding job store in memory the first monitored welding-type data as being associated with the first welding job when the first selected welding job comprises the first welding job and store in memory the first monitored welding-type data as being associated with the second welding job when the first selected welding job comprises the second welding job in response to determining, at a second time later than the first time and based on a second selection, that a second selected welding job comprises the first welding job, monitor the sensor signal during the second welding operation to associate second monitored welding-type data of the sensed welding type data with the first welding job in response to determining, at the second time and based on the second selection, that the second selected welding job comprises the second welding job, monitor the sensor signal during the second welding operation to associate the second monitored welding-type data with the second welding job and store in memory the second monitored welding-type data as being associated with the first welding job when the second selected welding job comprises the first welding job and store in memory the second monitored welding-type data as being associated with the second welding job when the second selected welding job comprises the second welding job.
Pernegger teaches a user interface ([0059-0064] push button 30) configured to:
prior to beginning a first welding operation, enable an operator to select a first welding job from a plurality of welding jobs and a second welding job from the plurality of welding jobs ([0059-0064] one of welding jobs 35 to 39 may be selected by user by means of push button 30);
and after completing the first welding operation and prior to beginning the second welding operation, enable the operator to select the first welding job and the second welding job (([0023] a welding job may be chosen as a second selection, to be started after the first welding operation),
determining, at a first time and based on a first selection, that a first selected welding job comprises the first welding job, determining, at the first time and based on the first selection, that the first selected welding job comprises the second welding job, determining, at a second time later than the first time and based on a second selection, that a second selected welding job comprises the first welding job, determining, at the second time and based on the second selection, that the second selected welding job comprises the second welding job (([0023] first or second welding jobs may be chosen as a first or second selection t any sequence, where the first selecting welding job may be the first of second welding job (35-40) and the second selected welding may be the first or second welding job 35-40),
switch back and forth between the first and second welding jobs in response to selections of the first and second welding jobs ([0069] jump back from the current welding job 39, for example, to welding job 38).
It would have been obvious to have modified Kooken to incorporate the teachings of Pernegger to determine a welding job based on a welding job selection so that specific welds may be repeated without having to be reprogrammed (Pergnegger [0023]), and to have user interface configured to enable an operator to select a welding job out of a plurality of welding jobs and enable a user to switch between jobs in order to allow the operator be able to choose the parameters needed for a welding , selected specifically for the material to be welded and the respective component geometry, to achieve optimum weld seam qualities (Pernegger [0002]).
Daniel teaches processing circuitry (300) configured to: in response to determining, at a first time and based on a first selection ([0069] in accordance to weld schedule), that a first selected welding job comprises the first welding job [0069] weld sequencer for configuring two or more welds, understood to perform operations for a first welding job),
monitor the sensor signal during the first welding operation to associate the first monitored welding-type data of the sensed welding type data with the first welding job ([0070] monitored welding parameters and sensor data, being the first welding job)
in response to determining, at the first time and based on the first selection ([0069] in accordance to weld schedule), that the first selected welding job comprises the second welding job [0069] weld sequencer for configuring two or more welds, understood to perform operations for a second welding job),
monitor the sensor signal during the first welding operation to associate the first monitored welding-type data with the second welding job ([0070] monitored welding parameters and sensor data, being the second welding job)
store in memory the first monitored welding-type data as being associated with the first welding job when the first selected welding job comprises the first welding job and store in memory the first monitored welding-type data as being associated with the second welding job when the first selected welding job comprises the second welding job ([0070-0071] checkpoint component 306 stores monitoring data (eg, video, images, results, sensor data, and the like, stored and associated with just completed job, being the second welding job);
in response to determining, at a second time later than the first time and based on a second selection ([0069] in accordance to weld schedule), that a second selected welding job comprises the first welding job ([0069] weld sequencer for configuring two or more welds, understood to perform operations for a first welding job),
monitor the sensor signal during the second welding operation to associate second monitored welding-type data of the sensed welding type data with the first welding job ([([0070] monitored welding parameters and sensor data, being the first welding job)
in response to determining, at the second time and based on the second selection ([0069] in accordance to weld schedule), that the second selected welding job comprises the second welding job ([0069] weld sequencer for configuring two or more welds, understood to perform operations for a second welding job),
monitor the sensor signal during the second welding operation to associate the second monitored welding-type data with the second welding job ([0070] monitored welding parameters and sensor data of the current job, being the second welding job)
and add the second monitored welding-type data to monitored welding-type data in association with the first welding job when the second selected welding job comprises the first welding job and store in memory the second monitored welding-type data as being associated with the second welding job when the second selected welding job comprises the second welding job ([0070-0071] checkpoint component 306 stores monitoring data (eg, video, images, results, sensor data, and the like, stored and associated with just completed job, being the first or second welding job respectively),
wherein monitored welding-type data collected while one of the first or second welding jobs is selected ([0070-0071] checkpoint component 306 stores monitoring data (eg, video, images, results, sensor data, and the like, stored and associated with just completed job) is added to the monitored welding-type data stored in association with the selected one of the first or second welding job ([0070] stored and associated with just completed job)).
It would have been obvious to have modified Kooken and Pernegger to incorporate the teachings of Daniel to monitor sensors associated with each weld and store the data associated with each weld such that quality control and inspection may be determined upon completion of each weld job (Daniel [0071]).
Claims 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kooken (US20130116849) in view of Pernegger (US20070187377) and further in view of Kowaleski (US11110538B2) with a priority date of 3/20/2012.
Regarding claim 21, Kooken teaches a welding-type power supply comprising: power conversion circuitry ([0005, 0013] power conversion module, shown as the combination of rectifier 101, regulated stage 103, unregulated stage 105, and output circuit 107 as in Fig. 1) configured to receive input power ([0005, 0013] rectifier 101 to receive input AC signal) and convert the input power to welding-type power for a welding-type application ([0005, 0013] output circuit 107 to output a welding or cutting output),
one or more sensors ([0015-0016] processing circuits 102, 104, 106, and 108) configured to sense welding-type data of the welding-type application ([0015-0016] processing circuits 102, 104, 106, and 108 able to receive and process voltage, current, frequency, and power signals, determined from the input signals, receiving of the voltage, current, frequency and power signals taken to be equivalent to sensing a welding type data);
but is silent on processing circuitry configured to: automatically select a first selected welding job from a plurality of welding jobs based on at least a detected location of the welding-type power supply; associate the welding-type data with the first selected welding job; and store in memory the welding-type data associated with the first selected welding job.
Pernegger teaches processing circuitry (microprocessor controller 27) configured to: associate the welding-type data (([0062] individual welding parameters may be organized in parameter groups 34) with a first selected welding job of a plurality of welding jobs ([0062] individual welding parameters may be organized in parameter groups 34, each of which may define a separate welding job 35, 36, 37, 38, 39); and store in memory the welding-type data associated with the first selected welding job ([0062] The individual welding parameters may be organized in parameter groups 34, each of which may define a separate welding job 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, which is stored in the memory device 28).
Kooken and Pernegger are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of welding type devices. It would have been obvious to have modified Kooken to incorporate the teachings of Pernegger to associate and store weld data associated with a first selected welding job of a plurality of welding jobs because in order to achieve an optimum weld seam quality, it is often necessary to set and take into account a plurality of parameters adapted to a welding processes, so associating and storing weld data associated with a first welding job out of a plurality of welding jobs allows for the desired welding parameters to be set easily and rapidly for a varied range of requirements (Pernegger [0002-0005]).
Kowaleski teaches automatically select a first selected welding job (Col. 7 lines 5-30 an automatic indication, the welding system, induction heating system, or plasma cutting system (e.g., welding power supply 12) adjusts the multiple user adjustable system settings (e.g., welding power supply 12 settings) that correspond to the indication (block 136)) from a plurality of welding jobs based on at least a detected location of the welding-type power supply (Col. 7 lines 5-30 a physical location of the system is received (block 130)).
Kooken, Pernegger, and Kowaleski are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of welding type devices. It would have been obvious to have modified Kooken and Pernegger to incorporate the teachings of Kowaleski to automatically select a welding job based on the location of the welding-type power supply to reduce the amount of time spent configuring welding parameters that change due to geographic regions and changes in work environments by allowing welding systems to be configured more efficiently and in a simplified manner (Kowaleski Col. 1 lines 35-50).
Claims 22 and 23 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kooken (US20130116849), Pernegger (US20070187377), and Kowaleski (US11110538B2) as applied to claim 21 above, and further in view of Daniel (US20140263226).
Regarding claim 22, Kooken, Pernegger, and Kowaleski teach the welding-type power supply of claim 21, but are silent on wherein the automatic selection of the first welding job is further based on a detected configuration of the welding-type power supply.
Daniel teaches wherein the first welding job ([0061] automatically choosing a welding schedule or sequence) is further based on a detected configuration of the welding-type power supply ([0062] The automatic selection may be by way of elapsed time, a detection of welding operations, a detection of the amount of welding wire supplied for the welding operation, or a detection of the amount of energy supplied for the welding operation, taken to be a configuration of the welding type power supply).
It would have been obvious to have modified Kooken, Pernegger, and Kowaleski to incorporate the teachings of Daniel to have a first weld job to be selected based on a detected configuration of the welding type power supply in order to allow an automatic weld sequencer to have information pertaining to the specific weld so as to automatically define the weld job or schedule that allows an operator to follow the sequence to create a final welded part, without having to spend time adjusting, selecting, or reviewing each individual weld schedule and/or sequence (Daniel [0038]).
Regarding claim 23, Kooken, Pernegger, Kowaleski, and Daniel teach the welding-type power supply of claim 22, but wherein the automatic selection of the first welding job is further based on the welding-type data sensed by the one or more sensors.
Daniel teaches the automatic selection of the first welding job is further based on the welding-type data sensed by the one or more sensors ([0062] The automatic selection may be by way of elapsed time, a detection of welding operations, a detection of the amount of welding wire supplied for the welding operation, or a detection of the amount of energy supplied for the welding operation, taken to be data sensed by sensors).
It would have been obvious to have modified Kooken, Pernegger, and Kowaleski to incorporate the teachings of Daniel to have a first weld job to be selected based on a detected data sensed by sensors in order to allow an automatic weld sequencer to have information pertaining to the specific weld so as to automatically define the weld job or schedule that allows an operator to follow the sequence to create a final welded part, without having to spend time adjusting, selecting, or reviewing each individual weld schedule and/or sequence (Daniel [0038]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/01/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding applicant’s arguments towards amended claims 1 and 20, applicant argues that the previous art does not teach the amended limitations and particularly argues that Daniel teaches away from the amended limitation of “switches back and forth between the first and second welding job.” The amended limitation is found in previous art, where the limitation of “switches back and forth between the first and second welding job” is found in previously cited reference Pernegger, which teaches a switching from a first or second weld job in [0069]. Applicant’s argument that Daniel would not “allow[ing] the operator to even change welding schedules,” so would not have been obvious to combine with Kooken and Pernegger is not persuasive, as Daniel is used to teach the limitations in relation to storing and updating welding-type data, and the fact the Pernegger teaches a change in weld schedule and Daniel does not explicitly teach a change in weld schedule, would not be seen as a teaching away as Daniel does not explicitly teach that switching from weld jobs cannot occur, nor would it render Daniel’s invention inoperable. In the case of Daniel, the portion cited by applicant of Pg. 9 of the Remarks is understood to teach the benefits of having weld schedule but does not teach that the weld schedules cannot be changed or switched between.
Regarding applicant’s arguments towards claim 21, the claim is now rejected in view of Kooken (US20130116849) in view of Pernegger (US20070187377) and further in view of Kowaleski (US11110538B2).
Conclusion
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/ABIGAIL H RHUE/Examiner, Art Unit 3761 3/12/2026
/VY T NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761