DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Notice to Applicant
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
In the amendment dated 6/20/2025, no claims have been amended or added.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 1-2, 9-12, and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Marcinkiewicz US 2021/0218244 (of record).
As per claims 1-2, 9-12, and 17-19, Marcinkiewicz discloses Fig. 8 an electrical system (e.g. transient protection circuit 704) for a vehicle (Paragraph 2; The circuit is utilized within a vehicle environment.), comprising:
as per claim 1, a DC power source (e.g. left terminals which are connected to a DC source as stated in Fig. 8); a load component (related Fig. 7, compressor 204) to receive direct-current (DC) electrical energy from the DC power source through a DC bus comprising a positive voltage line (e.g. DC positive line 820) and a ground line (e.g. ground line 822); and a filter network (Paragraph 140, EMI filter (i.e. capacitors C3-C11) disposed between the lines 820 and 822) coupled to the DC bus between the DC power source and the load component and configured to suppress electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the DC bus (Paragraph 54; The EMI filter between lines 820 and 822 suppresses EMI noise within the lines.); wherein the filter network comprises: a first capacitor (e.g. capacitor C3) and at least a second capacitor (e.g. capacitor C4) conductively coupled in series with one another between the positive voltage line and the ground line (Capacitors C3 and C4 are connected in series between the lines 820 and 822.); wherein the first capacitor has a first capacitance value and the second capacitor has a second capacitance value different from the first capacitance value (Paragraph 138; The capacitances C1-C11 including C3 and C4 are different capacitances.); and wherein the first capacitance value and the second capacitance value are selected to provide a desired performance characteristic for suppressing EMI (Paragraph 138; The values of the capacitors determine frequency attenuation characteristics to attenuate noise as stated therein.);
as per claim 2, wherein the first capacitor and the second capacitor comprise a first leg of the filter network (e.g. series network of capacitors C3 and C4), wherein the filter network comprises a second leg (e.g. series network of capacitors C5 and C6) in parallel with the first leg, and wherein the second leg comprises: a third capacitor (e.g. capacitor C5) and at least a fourth capacitor (e.g. capacitor C6) conductively coupled in series with one another between the positive voltage line and the ground line; and wherein the third capacitor has a third capacitance value and the fourth capacitor has a fourth capacitance value that is different from the third capacitance value (Paragraph 138; The values of the capacitors determine frequency attenuation characteristics to attenuate noise as stated therein.);
as per claims 9-10, wherein the load component is a wireless communications module (i.e. electronic device) that generates the EMI to be suppressed by the filter network (Paragraphs 109 and 114; A motor 216 of compressor 204 is controlled by a control module 260 which unlocks a door via a wireless key fob (i.e. “wireless communications module”).);
as per claim 11, a filter network (e.g. EMI filter disposed between the lines 820 and 822) for suppression of EMI comprising: a first capacitor (e.g. capacitor C3) and at least a second capacitor (e.g. capacitor C4) conductively coupled in series with one another between a DC positive voltage line (e.g. DC positive line 820) and a ground line (e.g. ground line 822; Capacitors C3 and C4 are connected in series between the lines 820 and 822.); wherein the first capacitor has a first capacitance value and the second capacitor has a second capacitance value different from the first capacitance value (Paragraph 138; The capacitances C1-C11 including C3 and C4 are different capacitances.); wherein the first capacitance value and the second capacitance value are selected to provide a desired performance characteristic for suppressing EMI (Paragraph 138; The values of the capacitors determine frequency attenuation characteristics to attenuate noise as stated therein.);
as per claim 12, wherein the first capacitor and the second capacitor comprise a first leg of the filter network (e.g. series network of capacitors C3 and C4), wherein the filter network comprises a second leg (e.g. series network of capacitors C5 and C6) in parallel with the first leg, and wherein the second leg comprises: a third capacitor (e.g. capacitor C5) and at least a fourth capacitor (e.g. capacitor C6) conductively coupled in series with one another between the positive voltage line and the ground line; and wherein the third capacitor has a third capacitance value and the fourth capacitor has a fourth capacitance value that is different from the third capacitance value (Paragraph 138; The values of the capacitors determine frequency attenuation characteristics to attenuate noise as stated therein.);
as per claims 17-18, wherein the load component is a wireless communications module (i.e. electronic device) that generates the EMI to be suppressed by the filter network (Paragraphs 109 and 114; A motor 216 of compressor 204 is controlled by a control module 260 which unlocks a door via a wireless key fob (i.e. “wireless communications module”).); and
as per claim 19, a filter network (e.g. EMI filter disposed between the lines 820 and 822) for suppression of EMI comprising: a first leg comprising a first capacitor (e.g. capacitor C3) and at least a second capacitor (e.g. capacitor C4) conductively coupled in series with one another between a DC positive voltage line (e.g. DC positive line 820) and a ground line (e.g. ground line 822; Capacitors C3 and C4 are connected in series between the lines 820 and 822.); wherein the first capacitor has a first capacitance value and the second capacitor has a second capacitance value different from the first capacitance value (Paragraph 138; The capacitances C1-C11 including C3 and C4 are different capacitances.); and a second leg (e.g. series network of capacitors C5 and C6) in parallel with the first leg, and wherein the second leg comprises: a third capacitor (e.g. capacitor C5) and at least a fourth capacitor (e.g. capacitor C6) conductively coupled in series with one another between the positive voltage line and the ground line; and wherein the third capacitor has a third capacitance value and the fourth capacitor has a fourth capacitance value that is different from the third capacitance value (Paragraph 138; The values of the capacitors determine frequency attenuation characteristics to attenuate noise as stated therein.); and wherein the first leg and the second leg are conductively coupled to one another through a conductive element (e.g. center conductor element 824), wherein the conductive element is coupled to the first leg between the first capacitor and the second capacitor and coupled to the second leg between the third capacitor and the fourth capacitor (The center conductor element 824 is connected between a node between capacitors C3 and C4 and a node between capacitors C5 and C6.).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marcinkiewicz US 2021/0218244 (of record).
As per claims 7-8, Marcinkiewicz discloses the electrical system of claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the first capacitance value is between 10 pF and 10 nF, and the second capacitance value is between 10 pF and 10 nF, and wherein the first capacitance value is 50 pF to 50 nF higher or lower than the second capacitance value.
However, Marcinkiewicz further discloses that capacitors C1-C11 have different capacitances valuing between 1 nF and 1uF (Paragraph 138 of Marcinkiewicz). Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have designed the capacitances of each of the capacitors C3 and C4 of capacitors C1-C11 within Marcinkiewicz to have been any known value between 1 nF and 1 uF as exemplarily taught therein, such as for example capacitor C3 having a capacitance of 3 nF and capacitor having a capacitance of 4 nF, as being an obvious design consideration of yielding predictable results based on the exemplary teachings therein. As an obvious consequence of the modification, the combination would have necessarily included: wherein the first capacitance value is between 10 pF and 10 nF (e.g. 3nF), and the second capacitance value is between 10 pF and 10 nF (e.g. 4 nF), and wherein the first capacitance value is 50 pF to 50 nF higher or lower than the second capacitance value (The capacitance of capacitor C3 is 1 nF lower than the capacitance of capacitor C4, which is necessarily between 50 pF to 50 nF.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6, 13-16, and 20 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, see pages 1-6 of Applicant’s Remarks, filed 6/20/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-2, 9-12, and 17-19 under 35 USC 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the same reference of record Marcinkiewicz using another interpretation for “a positive voltage line and a ground line” as explained above. Although Applicant states on page 4 of Applicant’s arguments that center conductive element 824 is a “ground line”, the Examiner respectfully states that line 822 is also a ground line since the line is directly connected to ground 712 as shown in Fig. 8 of Marcinkiewicz. Thus, a proper interpretation of “a positive voltage line” corresponding to line 820 and “a ground line” corresponding to line 822 has been made and explained above. This action has been made second action non-final.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAKESH PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-0961. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F.
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/RAKESH B PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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