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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/02/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/02/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding rejections under 35USC102 of claim 1, applicant argues that Paine has no disclosure of a hierarchical designation based on “operational status and specification associated with each of said boilers”. Examiner respectfully disagrees. col. 10 lines 42 – 52 of Paine expressly teaches considering ignition status, output threshold, and blower speed range; Fig. 7 and Col. 2 Ln. 27-35 expressly consider the output capacity of the boiler. Paine considers ignition status, blower speed range, and capacity (col. 10 lines 42 – 52, Col. 10 Ln. 9-27; Col. 11 Ln. 3-Col. 12 Ln. 3; Fig. 7, Col. 2 Ln. 27-35).
Applicant argues that Paine does not suggest controlling the order of operation of the boilers. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Fig. 11 of Paine expressly teaches controlling an order of operation.
Applicant argues that Paine does not teach “changing the order of control”. Applicant’s argument is not substantiated by the language of the claims.
New claim 6 is restricted by original presentation. See below.
Election/Restrictions
Newly submitted claim 6 is directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons: Claim 6 is related to claim 1 and 5 as a method and an apparatus for its practice. Process and apparatus for its practice can be shown to be distinct inventions, if either or both of the following can be shown: (A) that the process as claimed can be practiced by another materially different apparatus or by hand; or (B) that the apparatus as claimed can be used to practice another materially different process. In the present case, the method of claim 6 does not required the sub boilers of claims 1 and 5.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claim 6 is withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Paine (US 8,651,064 B2) (hereinafter “Paine”). The specification and drawings of Paine show all of the elements recited in claim 21 of this application.
Regarding claim 1, Paine US8651064 discloses a networked boiler system comprising:
a first boiler (10);
at least one secondary boiler (15) in operative connection with said first boiler and (via unnumbered data line at the bottom of Fig. 3, see annotated Figs.1 and 3 below, the capitalized annotations denoting claim limitations) having a plurality of internal sub boilers (46 and 52 in Fig. 1);
an external boiler control connected to said first boiler (building automation system 200 or computer 204, Fig. 3); and
wherein said external boiler control enables said first boiler to control a boiler parameter of said first boiler (col. 7 lines 49 – 60), said at least one secondary boiler (15), and said plurality of internal sub boilers of said at least one secondary boiler (46 and 52, Fig. 1) according to a hierarchy for controlling said first boiler, said at least one secondary boiler and said plurality of internal sub boilers of said at least one secondary boiler (cascade control of first through fourth boiler units making up the first and second boiler, Fig. 11),
wherein the hierarchy for controlling said first boiler, said at least one secondary boiler, and said plurality of internal sub boilers of said at least one secondary boiler is based on operational status and specifications associated with each of said boilers (ignition status, blower speed range, capacity, col. 10 lines 42 – 52, Col. 10 Ln. 9-27; Col. 11 Ln. 3-Col. 12 Ln. 3; Fig. 7, Col. 2 Ln. 27-35).
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Regarding claim 5, Paine US8651064 discloses a networked boiler system, comprising:
a first boiler (Fig. 1, 10);
at least one secondary boiler in operative connection with said first boiler and having a plurality of internal sub boilers (Fig. 1, 15);
an external boiler control connected to said first boiler (Fig. 5, 30); and
wherein said external boiler control enables said first boiler to control an operational state of said first boiler, said secondary boiler, and said plurality of internal sub boilers according to a hierarchy, wherein said hierarchy for controlling said first boiler, said at least one secondary boiler, and said plurality of internal sub boilers is determined in association with operational status and specifications associated with each of said boilers (ignition status, blower speed range, capacity, col. 10 lines 42 – 52, Col. 10 Ln. 9-27; Col. 11 Ln. 3-Col. 12 Ln. 3; Fig. 7, Col. 2 Ln. 27-35).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20180225244 A1 teaches a building management system which performs an algorithm to determine a new master controller device from the slave devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Deepak Deean whose telephone number is (571)270-3347. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 10-4.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edelmira Bosques can be reached at (571)270-5614. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DEEPAK A DEEAN/ Examiner, Art Unit 3762 /MICHAEL G HOANG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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