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. Election/Restrictions Applicant's election with traverse of Group I (claims 1-17) in the reply filed on 01/16/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that “Claims 18, 19, 20 are all explicitly tied to performing the method of claim 1” This is not found persuasive because claim language of claims 18, 19, 20 indicates that the method of claim 1 merely the intended function of the apparatuses in claims 18, 19, 20. In addition, Invention I, II, III, and IV are Independent or distinct and there would be a serious search and examination burden as explained in Requirement for Restriction/Election sent on 11/18/2025 . The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b ) CONCLUSION.— The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the appl icant regards as his invention. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph , as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Regarding claim 6 , the limitation “the second phase angle of the periodic AC electrical power is between: 10 degrees less than a zero-crossing phase angle of the alternating current electrical power; and the zero-crossing phase angle of the alternating current electrical power; and the first phase angle of the AC electrical power is between 1 and 20 degrees less than the second phase angle of the AC electrical power” is indefinite. The range of the second phase angle of the periodic AC electrical power and the range of the first phase angle of the periodic AC electrical power are unclear. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale , or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1 -5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Guo ( CN113410816A ) (English translation refers to US 2023/0113919) . Regarding claim 1 , Guo teaches a method of controlling a system including a heating arrangement ( load 2 ) for heating a process medium ( water ; see para.[000 6 ]) , a current sensing arrangement ( current measuring device 10 ) , and a switching arrangement ( disconnection module 30 ) configured to selectively couple a power supply to the heating arrangement (See para.[00 31 ] “ may control connected and disconnected states of the current path through the disconnection module 30. ” ) , the switching arrangement (disconnection module 30) comprising at least one semiconductor switch ( circuit switch or relay; see para.[0034] ) , the method comprising: in response to a demand signal for starting heating of the process medium, operating the system in a test mode ( para.[ 00 61 ] “ After being connected to the power, the water dispenser receives a startup signal, and a heater therein operates at full power .”) , wherein operating the system in the test mode includes performing a test sequence comprising: controlling the switching arrangement (solid state relay 6) to couple the power supply to the heating arrangement for a predetermined period ( See para.[ 0031] and p ara.[0031] See para.[0031] “may control connected and disconnected states of the current path through the disconnection module 30. ” para.[00 61 ] “ After being connected to the power, the water dispenser receives a startup signal, and a heater therein operates at full power .” ) ; monitoring an electric current through the heating arrangement ( load 2 ) during the predetermined period using the current sensing arrangement (see para.[ 00 61 ] “ The current measuring device 10 of the current overload protection apparatus 1 performs the current measuring step S1 to measure a current on a current path and output a corresponding current signal. ”) ; comparing the monitored electric current to an electric current threshold during the predetermined period (See para.[ 0059] “Next, the overload determining sub-step S34 is performed for the control module 20 to perform comparison and determination according to the current value obtained in the current detection step S2 and the disconnection threshold value obtained in the threshold obtaining sub-step S33.”) ; and switching the system from operation in the test mode to operation in a dormant mode if the monitored electric current meets or exceeds the electric current threshold during the predetermined period, wherein: operation of the system in the dormant mode includes controlling the switching arrangement to decouple the power supply from the heating arrangement [Examiner’s note: The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. This step is performed only when the monitored electric current meets or exceeds the electric current threshold. Therefore, this contingent limitation will be interpreted to be not required to be performed under the broadest reasonable interpretation. In addition, paragraph[ 0059]-[0060] of Guo teaches this limitation.] . Regarding claim 2 , Guo teaches performing the test sequence further comprises switching the system from operation in the test mode to operation in a heating mode if the monitored electric current does not meet the current threshold during the predetermined period, wherein: operation of the system in the heating mode includes controlling the switching arrangement to couple the power supply to the heating arrangement for heating the process medium (See para.[0059]-[0060] “ When the current value is less than the disconnection threshold value, the time parameter continues to be accumulated, and the current measuring step S1, the current detection step S2, and the overload detection step S3 are sequentially performed again. If the current value is greater than or equal to the disconnection threshold value, the overload protection step S4 is performed. The overload protection step S4 is used to perform a current overload protection operation on the load 2 when the current value is determined to be greater than or equal to the disconnection threshold value corresponding to the time interval of the corresponding time parameter. The overload protection step S4 includes causing the control module 20 to send an overload signal to the disconnection module 30 connected to the current path, and causing the disconnection module 30 to switch the current path from a connected state to a disconnected state .”) Regarding claim 3 , Guo teaches operation of the system in the heating mode includes, in response to a terminate signal for ending heating of the process medium, switching the system from operation in the heating mode to operation in the dormant mode [Examiner’s note: As discussed above, Guo teaches operating the system and monitoring the current, control module 20 will send a terminate signal to disconnection module 30 for ending the heating operation when current is greater than or equal to the threshold valu e.] Regarding claim s 4-5 , Guo teaches when coupled to the heating arrangement, the power supply provides a periodic AC electrical power to the heating arrangement, and wherein a duration of the predetermined period is no greater than 25% of a duration of a characteristic time period of the periodic AC electrical power , wherein the duration of the characteristic time period of the periodic AC electrical power is no greater than 20 milliseconds . (See para.[0039] “flowing through the current path is utility power present in the form of alternating current with a voltage of 110V and a frequency of 60 Hz. Nonetheless, the voltage and the frequency thereof are not limited thereto. The specified time may also be greater than or equal to a quarter of the frequency period of the alternating current on the current path depending on the accuracy requirements. That is, assuming that the frequency of the alternating current of the current path is 60 Hz, then the specified time is greater than or equal to 4.17 milliseconds ( ms ).”) 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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo. Regarding claim 7 , Guo teaches the test sequence is keep processing until the current is greater than or equal to the current disconnection threshold value as discussed in the rejection of claim. Comparing to Guo, the combination of claims 1 and 7 is merely perform one more test sequence. However, i t would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date the claimed invention was made to modify the method of Guo by adding a duplication of the test sequence, in order to improve the safety of the system , since mere duplication of a sequence of the method involves only routine skill in the art. Claims 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo in view of Sathik (US 2017/0170715) . Regarding claims 13-14 , Guo does not explicitly teach the at least one semiconductor switch is a transistor or a thyristor, wherein the at least one semiconductor switch is selected from a group consisting of: a field-effect transistor, a gate turn-off thyristor, integrated-gate bipolar transistor, an integrated gate-commutated thyristor, and an injection- enhanced gate transistor. However, Sathik teaches in the same field of endeavor of a method of controlling switching arrangement, comprising an integrated-gate bipolar transistor configured to selectively couple a power supply (See para.[ 0005] “Power switches, such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) or metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET)”) . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date the claimed invention was made to modify the switching arrangement by replacing the switching arrangement of Guo with the insulated-gate bipolar transistor as taught by Sathik , in order to provide a conventional switch as power switch, since us ing of known technique to improve similar devices (methods, or products) in the same way involves only routine skill in the art (MPEP 2143). Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo in view of Lemke (US 2019/0281664) . Regarding claim 17 , Guo teaches when coupled to the heating arrangement, the power supply provides a polyphase periodic AC electrical power to the heating arrangement (See para.[0039] “flowing through the current path is utility power present in the form of alternating current with a voltage of 110V and a frequency of 60 Hz .), but does not explicitly teach the heating arrangement comprises a plurality of heating elements, each heating element being configured to receive a respective phase of the polyphase periodic AC electrical power from the power supply via the switching arrangement. However, Lemke teaches in the same field of endeavor of a control system for controlling a heater, comprising heating arrangement (heater system 102) comprises a plurality of heating elements (heating elements 104 1 to 104 N) , each heating element being configured to receive the power supply via the switching arrangement (See fig.1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date the claimed invention was made to modify the switching arrangement by adding the switching arrangement of Guo with heating elements as taught by Lemke, so that each heating element receive a respective phase of the polyphase periodic AC electrical power from the power supply via the switching arrangement, in order to provide desired number of heating elements in the system. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 8-12 and 15-16 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. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Reference Guo is the closest prior art. However, Guo does not teach or suggest the limitations in claims 8, 10, and 15. 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