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 .
Response to Amendment
The response filed on June 27th, 2025 is acknowledged. Four pages of amended claims were received on 6/27/2025. Claims 6, 9, and 17 have been amended. The claims have been amended to overcome previous claim objections in the non-final rejection mailed 3/31/2025, however Claims 1-5 and 18-20 remain rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and Claims 6-8 remain rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as noted below.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 9-17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on 3/5/2025 in response to the requirement for restriction mailed 1/17/2025. The examiner responded to the traversal in the non-final rejection mailed 3/31/2025. The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102(a)(1)
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 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US PGPUB 2011/0259230 A1 to Sawka et al. (“Sawka”) and as evidenced by US PGPUB 2012/0103479 A1 to Katzakian et al. (“Katzakian”), which Sawka incorporates by reference (See Paragraph 0031 of Sawka).
As to Claim 1, Sawka discloses a fire suppression system (See Figs. 1A-1B and 13 of Sawka and See Paragraphs 0006 and 0035 of Sawka disclosing fire suppression) comprising:
an electric solid propellant (ESP) configured as a solid mass (See #102 in Figs. 1A-1B of Sawka and See Paragraph 0031 of Sawka disclosing using electrically ignitable propellants of Katzakian, which per Paragraph 0080 of Katzakian are electrically controlled solid propellants), the ESP comprising:
a polymer material (See Paragraph 0017 of Katzakian disclosing a binder that is polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinyl amine nitrate);
an oxidizer (See Paragraphs 0017 and 0033 of Katzakian disclosing an oxidizer which can be hydroxylamine nitrate and various formulation incorporating co-oxidizers hydrazine nitrate and ammonium nitrate); and
at least one chemical additive (See Paragraphs 0017 and 0024 of Katzakian disclosing a cross-linking agent comprising boric acid); and
a circuit configured to flow current through the ESP (See Figs. 1A-1B of Sawka showing a circuit that is made up of #120, #101a, and #101b per Paragraphs 0039-0040 of Sawka), the circuit comprising:
a power source (#120, See Paragraphs 0039-0040 of Sawka);
an anode in physical communication with the ESP (See Fig. 1A of Sawka showing electrodes #101a and #101b that surround #102 and See Paragraph 0045 of Sawka. A negative one of the two electrodes is the anode.); and
a cathode in physical communication with the ESP and oppositely disposed from the anode (See Fig. 1A of Sawka showing electrodes #101a and #101b that surround #102 and See Paragraph 0045 of Sawka. A positive one of the electrodes is the cathode.).
As to Claim 2, in reference to the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian as applied to Claim 1 above, Katzakian further discloses wherein the polymer material comprises at least one of polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinyl amine nitrate (See Paragraph 0017 of Katzakian disclosing a binder that is polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinyl amine nitrate).
As to Claim 3, in reference to the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian as applied to Claim 1 above, Katzakian further discloses wherein the oxidizer comprises at least one of hydroxyl-ammonium nitrate, hydrazine nitrate, and ammonium nitrate (See Paragraphs 0017 and 0033 of Katzakian disclosing an oxidizer which can be hydroxylamine nitrate and various formulation incorporating co-oxidizers hydrazine nitrate and ammonium nitrate).
As to Claim 4, in reference to the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian as applied to Claim 1 above, Katzakian further discloses wherein the at least one chemical additive comprises at least one of a burn rate modifier and a cross-linking agent (See Paragraphs 0017 and 0024 of Katzakian disclosing a cross-linking agent comprising boric acid).
As to Claim 5, in reference to the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian as applied to Claim 1 above, Sawka discloses the fire suppression system further comprising:
at least one container having an internal volume (See Paragraphs 0038-0040 disclosing a housing that is not shown and that covers a bottom axial surface of #100. See Fig. 13 showing a housing that is a gun barrel that has an internal volume that the ESP is disposed in.);
wherein the ESP is disposed within the internal volume of the at least one container (See Fig. 1 showing #102 inside of #100, thus #102 is disposed within an internal volume of the housing that covers part of #100. Also see the gun barrel in Fig. 13.).
As to Claim 18, Sawka discloses a fire suppression system (See Figs. 1A-1B and Fig. 13 of Sawka and See Paragraphs 0006 and 0035 of Sawka disclosing fire suppression) comprising:
at least one container (See Paragraphs 0038-0040 disclosing a housing that is not shown and that covers a bottom axial surface of #100. See Fig. 13 showing a housing that is a gun barrel that has an internal volume that the ESP is disposed in.) comprising:
an electric solid propellant (ESP) configured as a solid mass (See #102 in Figs. 1A-1B of Sawka and See Paragraph 0031 of Sawka disclosing using electrically ignitable propellants of Katzakian, which per Paragraph 0080 of Katzakian are electrically controlled solid propellants), the ESP comprising:
a polymer material (See Paragraph 0017 of Katzakian disclosing a binder that is polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinyl amine nitrate);
an oxidizer (See Paragraphs 0017 and 0033 of Katzakian disclosing an oxidizer which can be hydroxylamine nitrate and various formulation incorporating co-oxidizers hydrazine nitrate and ammonium nitrate); and
at least one chemical additive (See Paragraphs 0017 and 0024 of Katzakian disclosing a cross-linking agent comprising boric acid); and
a circuit at least configured to flow current through the solid mass (See Figs. 1A-1B of Sawka showing a circuit that is made up of #120, #101a, and #101b per Paragraphs 0039-0040 of Sawka), the circuit comprising:
a power source (#120, See Paragraphs 0039-0040 of Sawka);
an anode in physical communication with the ESP (See Fig. 1A of Sawka showing electrodes #101a and #101b that surround #102 and See Paragraph 0045 of Sawka. A negative one of the two electrodes is the anode.); and
a cathode in physical communication with the ESP and oppositely disposed from the anode (See Fig. 1A of Sawka showing electrodes #101a and #101b that surround #102 and See Paragraph 0045 of Sawka. A positive one of the electrodes is the cathode.).
As to Claim 19, in reference to the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian as applied to Claim 18 above, Katzakian further discloses wherein:
the polymer material comprises at least one of polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinyl amine nitrate (See Paragraph 0017 of Katzakian disclosing a binder that is polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinyl amine nitrate);
the oxidizer comprises at least one of hydroxyl-ammonium nitrate, hydrazine nitrate, and ammonium nitrate (See Paragraphs 0017 and 0033 of Katzakian disclosing an oxidizer which can be hydroxylamine nitrate and various formulation incorporating co-oxidizers hydrazine nitrate and ammonium nitrate); and
the at least one chemical additive comprises at least one of a burn rate modifier and a cross-linking agent (See Paragraphs 0017 and 0024 of Katzakian disclosing a cross-linking agent comprising boric acid).
As to Claim 20, in reference to the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian as applied to Claim 18 above, Sawka further discloses wherein the power source is external to the at least one container (See #120 in Sawka Fig. 1A and See Sawka Paragraph 0040. The power source is included with #120, which can be used to control multiple structures #100. Thus #120 is external to the container. Also See Fig. 13 showing a gun barrel that is equivalent to a container with powered electrical contacts located outside of the container.).
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 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian and in view of US PGPUB 2014/0076586 A1 to Lemke et al. (“Lemke”).
As to Claim 6, in reference to the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian as applied to Claim 5 above, Sawka further discloses wherein the at least one container comprises:
an outlet fluidly connected to a fire suppression space (See Sawka Paragraph 0059 and Fig. 13 showing the container as a gun barrel, which has an outlet that is connected to some space that can have a fire).
Regarding Claim 6, Sawka does not disclose at least one the container comprising a plurality of air mixing apertures fluidly connecting the internal volume with ambient air external to the at least one container.
However, Lemke discloses, in the same field of endeavor of fire extinguishing (See Paragraph 0001), a fire suppression system (See Figs. 1-2) comprising an electric solid propellant (#16) disposed within an internal volume (See Annotated Fig. 2) of a container (#10, which includes #14 and #30), wherein the container comprises an outlet (#48) fluidly connected to a fire suppression space (#22, in which fire #26 is present) and a plurality of air mixing apertures (See Annotated Fig. 2 showing spaces to enter #36 that are equivalent to multiple apertures) fluidly connecting the internal volume with ambient air external to the container (See #38 in Annotated Fig. 2 and See Paragraphs 0037-0041. Air from #38 is fluidly connected to the internal volume that stores #16 at contact region #50.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian as applied to Claim 5 above such that the at least one container comprises a plurality of air mixing apertures fluidly connecting the internal volume with ambient air external to the at least one container, as taught by Lemke, since doing so would yield the predictable result of cooling generated fire extinguishing fluids, thus preventing risk of injuring people and damaging machines (See Lemke Paragraph 0049).
As to Claim 7, in reference to the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian and in view of Lemke as applied to Claim 6 above, Lemke further discloses wherein the outlet is directly fluidly connected to the fire suppression space (See Lemke Annotated Fig. 2).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian and in view of Lemke and US PGPUB 2007/0158085 A1 to Bourdet et al. (“Bourdet”).
As to Claim 8, in reference to the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian and in view of Lemke as applied to Claim 6 above, Sawka does not specifically disclose wherein the fire suppression space comprises at least one of an aircraft cargo hold and a gas turbine engine nacelle.
However, Bourdet discloses, in the same field of endeavor of fire suppression (See Paragraph 0001), a fire suppression system (See Fig. 1 and Figs. 5A-5C) comprising a propellant (#4, See Paragraph 0034) and an outlet (#20) fluidly connected to a fire suppression space (#22) that is a gas turbine engine nacelle (See Paragraph 0027 disclosing #1 being installed in a cargo compartment of an aircraft and being used for extinguishing a fire in a jet engine, which is equivalent to putting out a fire within a gas turbine engine nacelle)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the fire suppression system of Sawka as evidenced by Katzakian and in view of Lemke as applied to Claim 6 above such that the fire suppression space comprises a gas turbine engine nacelle, since doing so would yield the predictable result of putting out fires in locations where a risk of fire exists and rapid fire extinguishing is required (See Bourdet Paragraph 0027).
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Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/27/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding independent Claims 1 and 18 being rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated Sawka and as evidenced by Katzakian, applicant argues that Sawka does not teach a fire suppression system including the recited ESP, because Sawka does not teach or suggest use of the ESP of Katzakian in a fire suppression system and Katzakian does not teach or suggest the recited ESP for use in a fire suppression system. Applicant submits that the Office Action conflates the features of Sawka and Katzakian in a manner not reasonably taught by either reference to arrive at the present invention. Applicant argues that fire suppression is one of a wide range of potential applications Sawka discloses for electrode ignition of both solid and liquid propellants and that there is no teaching or suggestion of what materials would be suitable for fire suppression. Applicant argues that Katzakian teaches an ESP for rocket propulsion, which is one of the applications Sawka discloses for electrode ignition, and that there is no teaching or suggestion in Katzakain that the ESP would be suitable for fire suppression and there is no teaching or suggestion in Sawka of incorporating the ESP of Katzakian, developed for rocket propulsion, in a fire suppression application, thus Sawka fails to teach each and every limitation of independent claims 1 and 18.
These arguments are not found persuasive. In accordance with MPEP 2111.01, during examination, the claims must be interpreted as broadly as their terms reasonably allow. In re American Academy of Science Tech Center, 367 F.3d 1359, 1369, 70 USPQ2d 1827, 1834 (Fed. Cir. 2004). The law of anticipation does not require that the reference teach exactly what the appellant is claiming but only that the claims on appeal “read on” something disclosed in the reference. See Kalman v. Kimberly Clark Corp., 713 F.2d 760, 218 USPQ 781 (Fed. Cir. 1983). Where functional limitations are recited for the structure set forth in the claim, the reference must also include structure which is capable of performing the recited function in order for the reference to be properly anticipatory. See In re Mott, 557 F.2d 266, 194 USPQ 305 (CCPA 1977).
Paragraph 0006 of Sawka states “The present invention relates generally to electrode ignition and control of combustible materials, and in one particular example to electrode ignition and control of an electrically ignitable propellant which may be used for thrusters, motors, gas generators, explosives, igniters, electric matches, pyrotechnic displays, oil field down hole gas generators, fire suppression devices, air bags, electric guns, and the like”. Furthermore, Paragraph 0035 of Sawka states “Exemplary structures described herein may be applicable to various fields including, but not limited to, defense, aerospace, liquid (monopropellant) rocket engines, automotives, air bags, electronics, blasting (mining/oil field services, e.g., oil field down hole gas generators for rock fracturing and enhanced oil/gas recovery), electric guns, industrial tools, fire suppression, entertainment-special effects, and the like. In one particular example, the structures may be used to ignite, throttle, extinguish, and re-start the combustion of high performance solid or liquid rocket propellants”. Paragraph 0031 of Sawka states “In one example, a structure includes energetic materials that may be broadly described as electrically ignitable propellants (for example, as described in Nos. 10/136,786, 10/423,072, 11/787,001, and 08/758,431 to Katzakian et al”. US PGPUB 2012/0103479 A1 to Katzakian et al., which corresponds to US Application 11/787,001, discloses an ESP as claimed. Katzakain also disclose in Paragraph 0005 that “For a number of applications, it is desirable to control the ignition, burn rate, and extinguishment of a propellant by the application of an electrical current. For instance, orbital attitude control rockets typically fire in short, controlled bursts to incrementally adjust the satellite's position. In these instances, an electrically controlled propellant may very precisely control the duration and burn rate of the rocket.”. Paragraph 0039 of Sawka additionally discloses that “The power supplied to electrodes 101 a and 101 b may be stopped or varied as described herein to control the rate of combustion of propellant 102”. The examiner notes that controlling a rate of combustion is also equivalent to suppressing fire, since preventing combustion rate from going above a desired value suppresses fire from growing beyond a desired size. Therefore, based on a broadest reasonable interpretation of Sawka and Katzakian as a whole, Sawka is understood to teach using the ESP of Katzakian in a system which is capable of fire suppression. Therefore, Claims 1 and 18 remain rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as noted above.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 KEVIN E SCHWARTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-1770. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00AM - 5:00PM MST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arthur O Hall can be reached on (571)-270-1814. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN EDWARD SCHWARTZ/Examiner, Art Unit 3752 September 17, 2025
/QINGZHANG ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3752