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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/18/2025 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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Siegel (DE
102005028859, with reference to provided translation), and Schwede et al. (US 2018/0323362), both of record, and Das et al. (US 2015/0303315) and Yamazaki et al. (US 2014/0349105), both newly cited.
(Re Claim 1) Siegel teaches a solid state component, comprising: a cathode (A; ln. 135-145) being exposable to electromagnetic radiation (ln. 40-42); an anode (C; ln. 135-145); an interelectrode space (due to spacing caused by the presence of intervening layer B; ln. 135-145) being formed by opposing faces of said cathode and said anode (A, B, and C are sequentially formed; ln. 135-145); a semiconductor material (B; ln. 135-145) disposed in said interelectrode space; and wherein for achieving an electron flow between said cathode and said anode: a work function of a cathode material is greater than a work function of an anode material (graphite versus magnesium; ln. 81-85); said semiconductor material contacts said cathode (due to deposition directly on the surface of the cathode; ln. 116-122) in said interelectrode space and is an n-type semiconductor material (titanium (IV) oxide, i.e., TiO2) whose bandgap is greater than 2.0 eV (TiO2) and whose Fermi level position is not less than the work function of said cathode (due to being TiO2); there is an electron-conducting contact between said cathode, said n-type semiconductor material, and said anode (ln. 135-145); and regions of said cathode and of said anode which are not contacted with said n-type semiconductor material or with said coating material respectively are connectable to one another to form an electrical circuit via current collectors (the device is a thermovoltaic cell; short-circuit current and open circuit voltage are measured; ln. 7, 181-182).
Siegel does not explicitly teach a solid-state component comprising a coating material disposed in said interelectrode space, said coating material contacts said anode in said interelectrode space, said coating material has a negative electron affinity; there is electron-conducting contact between said cathode, said n-type semiconductor material, said coating material, and said anode.
Schwede teaches coating an anode (160; Fig. 2A) with a coating material (130; instead of the stack 110+105, a single layer from stack 105 may be utilized; Fig. 2A, ¶40) in order to capture electrons emitted from a cathode (¶54).
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find it obvious to introduce a coating material that contacts the side of the anode facing the interelectrode space, as taught by Schwede (Fig. 1 and 2A, ¶40), in order to capture electrons emitted (Schwede: ¶54) from the cathode A of Siegel (photoelectrons that leave the cathode are high energy and are “so-called ‘hot electrons’”; ln. 72-74).
Furthermore, Schwede teachings the coating material may be boron nitride (“includes a 2D material (e.g.,…BN…)”; ¶59).
Das teaches that hexagonal boron nitride is known to be a 2D material (¶5).
A PHOSITA would find it obvious to use hexagonal boron nitride as the 2D material for the coating material of modified Siegel, as taught by Schwede, as hexagonal boron nitride is a form of BN that is recognized as 2D (Das: ¶5) as desired by Schwede, and hexagonal boron nitride is known to have good chemical stability and heat resistance (Yamazaki: ¶18). See also In re Leshin, 277 F.2d 197, 125 USPQ 416 (CCPA 1960).
This results in modified Siegel teaching a solid-state component comprising a coating material (Schwede: 130; Fig. 2A, ¶40) disposed in said interelectrode space (due to coating an internal face of the anode; Schwede: Fig. 1 and 2A, ¶40), said coating material contacts said anode in said interelectrode space (Schwede: Fig. 2A, ¶40), and said coating material has a negative electron affinity; there is electron-conducting contact between said cathode, said n-type semiconductor material, said coating material, and said anode (due to the materials involved; Schwede: Fig. 1 and 2A, ¶¶40, 54).
(Re Claim 2) Modified Siegel teaches the solid-state component according to claim 1, wherein said cathode material is electron-conducting carbon (ln. 75-77).
(Re Claim 3) Modified Siegel teaches the solid-state component according to claim 1, wherein said anode material is magnesium (ln. 83-85) or a magnesium alloy.
(Re Claim 4) Modified Siegel teaches the solid-state component according to claim 1, wherein said coating material is an alkali metal oxide, an alkaline earth metal oxide, a rare earth oxide, a rare earth sulfide or is a binary or ternary compound consisting thereof, or a material having negative electron affinity (hexagonal boron nitride; Das: ¶5).
(Re Claim 5) Modified Siegel teaches the solid-state component according to claim 1, wherein said coating material is barium oxide BaO, calcium oxide CaO, strontium oxide SrO, cesium oxide Cs2O or hexagonal boron nitride hBN (hexagonal boron nitride; Das: ¶5).
(Re Claim 6) Modified Siegel teaches the solid-state component according to claim 1, wherein said n-type semiconductor material is ZnO, Fe2O3, PbO, FeTiO3, BaTiO3, CuWO3, BiFe2O3, SnO2, TiO2 (titanium (IV) oxide, i.e., TiO2; ln. 115), WO3, In2O3 or Ga2O3
(Re Claim 7) Modified Siegel teaches the solid-state component according to claim 1, but does not explicitly teach wherein said regions of said cathode and of said anode which are not contacted with said n-type semiconductor material or with said coating material respectively are connectable to one another to form said electrical circuit via said current collectors and a consumer.
Schwede teaches attaching the exterior sides of an anode and cathode using current collectors (respective electrical leads; Fig. 1) to a consumer (electrical load; Fig. 1).
A person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would find it obvious to form the claimed electrical circuit, using the current collector and consumer arrangement taught by Schwede (Schwede: ¶97), in order to do something useful such as providing power to a load. See Ruiz v. A.B. Chance Co., 357 F.3d 1270, 69 USPQ2d 1686 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/10/2025 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christopher A Schodde whose telephone number is (571)270-1974. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 1000-1800 EST.
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/CHRISTOPHER A. SCHODDE/Examiner, Art Unit 2898
/JESSICA S MANNO/SPE, Art Unit 2898