DETAILED ACTION
Examiner’s Notes
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.1 7(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/11/2025 has been entered.
Remarks
Claims 1 and 13 are amended.
Claims 9, 13, 15-21, and 24 are withdrawn from further consideration.
Claim 24 is new.
Claims 1-24 are pending.
Election by Original Presentation
Amended independent claim 13 and new dependent claim 24 are directed to an invention that is not so linked as to form a single general inventive concept under PCT Rule 13.1 from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons:
Claims 13 and 24 would have been restricted from the originally presented (elected) invention, because the Claims 13 and 24 and the originally presented (elected) invention, claim 1, lack the same or corresponding special technical features for the following reasons:
The common technical feature between the Claims 13 and 24 and the originally presented (elected) invention, claim 1, is as follows: A photovoltaic receiver, comprising: a plurality of photovoltaic cells that are coupled to one another in series, the plurality of photovoltaic cells arranged to have rotational symmetry with respect to a reference point; and an energy storage element for a photovoltaic cell of the plurality of photovoltaic cells and being coupled to one of the plurality of photovoltaic cells in parallel.
These elements cannot be considered as a special technical feature under PCT Rule 13.2 because this feature is already known in IMANI (WO 2010059873 A2) in view of HUANG (US 20110095613 A1).
IMANI teaches a photovoltaic receiver (see the solar cell array in Fig. 3), comprising: a plurality of photovoltaic cells (see the plurality of triangular shaped solar cells 36a-36h) that are coupled to one another in series ([0021] If these are 16 typical solar cells each outputting a current having a potential of about 2.6 volts, the total voltage output of all the cells when electrically connected in series is about 42 volt), the plurality of photovoltaic cells arranged to have rotational symmetry with respect to a reference point (The plurality of triangular shaped solar cells 36a-36h are arranged to have rotational symmetry with respect to the center point) (see Fig. 3). Regarding the claimed “an energy storage element for a photovoltaic cell of the plurality of photovoltaic cells and being coupled to one of the plurality of photovoltaic cells in parallel”, HUANG discloses a solar generator, wherein each capacitor of the plurality of capacitors is couples to each solar chip of the plurality of solar chips in parallel (see Fig. 1), wherein the capacitors are used to balance or compensate energy [0023]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the plurality of capacitors so that each capacitor of the plurality of capacitors is couples to each solar cell of the plurality of solar cell in parallel in the device of IMANI as taught by HUANG, because the capacitors balance or compensate energy.
Accordingly, the special technical feature linking the Groups of inventions does not provide a contribution over the prior art, and no single general inventive concept exists.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits.
Accordingly, claims 13 and 24 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-8, 10-12, 14, and 22-23 are objected to because of the following informality:
Claim 1 is objected to because of the informality in the recitation “a plurality of energy storage element” in line 4. Examiner suggests changing the recitation to “a plurality of energy storage elements”. All claims which depend on clam 1 are objected by virtue of dependency. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112:
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-8, 10-12, 14, and 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 recites “a plurality of energy storage element for a photovoltaic cell of the plurality of photovoltaic cells” in lines 4-5, which is not supported by the specification or previously presented claims. Applicant’s specification, Figs. 3-4, does not support “a plurality of energy storage element for a photovoltaic cell”. All claims which depend on clam 1 are rejected by virtue of dependency. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 recites “each one of said plurality of energy storage elements coupled in parallel to a respective one of the plurality of photovoltaic cells and mitigating influence of atmospheric turbulence which leads to light intensity fluctuations” in lines 5-7, which is not supported by the specification or previously presented claims. Applicant’s specification, which discloses “The PV receiver consistent with the present disclosure, such as the PV receiver 201 of FIG. 2, may mitigate the effects of the inherently non-uniform Gaussian beam profile with a symmetrical arrangement of strings and by connecting the strings in parallel” [029], does not support “each one of said plurality of energy storage elements … mitigating influence of atmospheric turbulence which leads to light intensity fluctuations”. All claims which depend on clam 1 are rejected by virtue of dependency. Appropriate correction is required.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 12/11/2025 have been fully considered.
Regarding claim 1, Applicant’s argument regarding that the amendment to claim 1 would overcome the previous rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) in P8, is not persuasive.
The amended limitation “each one of said plurality of energy storage elements … mitigating influence of atmospheric turbulence which leads to light intensity fluctuations” is not supported by the Applicant’s specification. Therefore, the previous rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) is maintained.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAE-SIK KANG whose telephone number is 571-272-3190. The examiner can normally be reached on 9:00am – 5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey T. Barton can be reached on 571-272-1307. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TAE-SIK KANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726
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