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 .
This office action is a response to the amendment filed on 10/1/2025.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1, 8, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Razack (US 2022/0158273) in view of AI-Hallaj et al. (US PAT. 12,422,195).
Razack teaches an information handling system (as per claim 1) and a process of making an information handling system (as per claim 11), comprising: an outer housing (Fig. 5, 40); and a thermal management structure (42) disposed adjacent to an inner lateral surface of the outer housing, the thermal management structure comprising a porous layer configured to increase thermal resistance (a porous fire-retardant foam, paragraph [0194]) in a first direction orthogonal to the inner lateral surface of the outer housing (42).
However, Razack fails to teach a metal honeycomb structure of the porous layer. AI-Hallaj et al. teach a thermal management apparatus including a honeycomb lattice support structure (22, Figs. 1, 2 and 6) of a plurality of cavities or cells (24) such that the support structure includes one or more open cells or cavities for containing the thermal (or electrical) regulation material. The regulation material is offset a predetermined distance (e.g., up to a few millimeters) from one end of the support structure, and expands to reach the end upon a sufficient thermal change in the heat source (e.g., an overheating event). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify an information handling system of Razack by a metal honeycomb structure of the porous layer as taught by AI-Hallaj et al. in order to control a sufficient thermal changes in a heat source.
Reg. claim 8: Razack also teaches that the porous layer is approximately 0.2 to 0.4 millimeters thick (paragraph [0055]).
Reg. claim 9: Khateeb Razack teaches that the porous layer has a porosity greater than 20% and less than 85% (paragraph [0058]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21-23 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 8, 9, 11 and 21-23 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL D KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-4565. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 6:00 AM-2:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Hong can be reached at 571-272-0993. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL D KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3729
