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 without traverse of Species A, figs. 1-5 and claims 1-2, 5-7 and 10 in the reply filed on 11/22/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 3-4 and 8-9 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 11/22/2025.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao (US Publication No.: 2017/0367217) in view of Sun et al. (US Publication No.: 2023/0061299 hereinafter “Sun”).
With respect to claim 1, Xiao discloses a water-cooling heat dissipation device (Fig. 1), comprising: a water block (Fig. 4), comprising a main body (Fig. 2 is the main body), a water inlet joint communicating with the main body (Fig. 4, inlet joint 31 communicated with 4), a water outlet joint communicating with the main body (Fig. 4, outlet joint 32 communicated with 4); and a fan module, installed on the water block (Fig. 1, fan 14 is installed on 12), comprising a base and a fan, the base connected to the main body and comprising a first vane wheel located outside the main body (Fig. 1, fan 14 has a housing that 15 joins the fan to the main body and fan inside the housing and has a first vane wheel outside of 12) and the is fan rotatably coupled to the base (Fig. 1, screws 15 rotate to couple the fan 14 to 12 which meets the broad limitation of “rotatably coupled”).
Xiao does not disclose a first connector disposed on the main body and comprising a second connector electrically coupled to the first connector and the fan.
Sun teaches a first connector on a main body (Fig. 4, 31) and a second connector on a fan to couple the two together (Fig. 4, 112). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the fan and main body of Xiao with the electrical connectors as taught by Sun to have ease of connection for assembly and repair (Para 0022).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao (US Publication No.: 2017/0367217) in view of Sun et al. (US Publication No.: 2023/0061299 hereinafter “Sun”) and further in view of Kostrzewski et al. (US Publication No.: 2021/0294396 hereinafter “Kostrzewski”).
With respect to claim 2, Xiao and Sun teach the water-cooling heat dissipation device according to claim 1 as discussed above. Xiao also discloses wherein the fan further comprises a frame (Fig. 1, fan 14 has a frame).
Xiao does not disclose the frame comprises a first ring and a second ring coupled to the first ring, the second ring and the first ring are arranged side by side with each other, the first ring is adapted to sheathe the base, and the first vane wheel is installed in the second ring.
Kostrzewski teaches a frame for a fan that has two rings side by side with each other (Fig. 13 two rings 1510 for fans), the first ring is adapted to sheathe the base, and the first vane wheel is installed in the second ring (Fig. 13 and Para 0075-0076). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the fan and fan housing of Xiao with two fans and two rings as taught by Kostrzewski to increase heat transfer and thermal performance (Para 0007).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao (US Publication No.: 2017/0367217) in view of Sun et al. (US Publication No.: 2023/0061299 hereinafter “Sun”) and further in view of Deng (US Publication No.: 2020/0284264).
With respect to claim 6, Xiao and Sun teach the water-cooling heat dissipation device according to claim 1 as discussed above. Xiao does not disclose further comprising a light emitting module installed on the fan module and electrically coupled to the fan module.
Deng teaches a light emitting module on a fan module electrically coupled to the fan (Para 0004, 0022-0023 and Fig. 3, led strip 31). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to have modified the fan of Xiao with the light emitting module as taught by Deng to aid in a visual effect achieving a ring-shaped lighting effect (Para 0002-0004).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 7 and 10 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 an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art does not anticipate nor render obvious the combination set forth in the independent claims, and specifically does not show “the base comprises a plurality of embedding plates and a plurality of positioning grooves, the main body comprises a plurality of embedded grooves and a plurality of positioning columns, each of the embedding plates is plugged in each of the embedded grooves correspondingly, and each of the positioning columns is accommodated in each of the positioning grooves correspondingly” per claim 5, "the light emitting module comprises a base plate, a third connector, a light emitting body and a light-penetrable cover, the third connector is fixed on the base plate and electrically coupled to the second connector, the light emitting body and the third connector are electrically coupled to each other, and the light-penetrable cover covers the light emitting body and is coupled to the base plate" per claim 7 and “wherein the first connector comprises a socket, a circuit board and a plurality of conductive terminals, each of the conductive terminals is electrically coupled to the socket through the circuit board, the socket is disposed on a side edge of the main body, and each of the conductive terminals is disposed on a top of the main body” per claim 10. The closest prior art of record Xiao discloses screws to fasten the fan housing to the main body, but not the embedding plates, positioning grooves and positioning columns as claimed. Although it is well known to provide fastening grooves for ease of installation, there is no teaching in the prior art of record that would, reasonably and absent impermissible hindsight, motivate one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of the prior art to incorporate the groove, plates and columns on a base of a fan as claimed. The closest prior art of record Deng discloses a led within a housing of the fan, but not the multiple plates and covers as claimed. Although it is well known to provide light emitted diodes on fans, there is no teaching in the prior art of record that would, reasonably and absent impermissible hindsight, motivate one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of the prior art to incorporate additional plating and covers for a light emitted diode. The closest prior art of record Sun teaches electrical connected to connect the fan and a main body but not the multiple connections in the exact locations as claimed. Although it is well known to provide electrical sockets for connecting a fan and a main body, there is no teaching in the prior art of record that would, reasonably and absent impermissible hindsight, motivate one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of the prior art to incorporate multiple conductive terminals each electrically coupled to the socket at a side edge and each of the conductive terminals are on a top of the main body as claimed . Thus, for at least the foregoing reasons, the prior art of record neither anticipates nor rendered obvious the present invention as set forth in claims 5, 7 and 10.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLAIRE E ROJOHN III whose telephone number is (571)270-5431. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:00 M-F.
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, Len Tran can be reached at (571)272-1184. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/CLAIRE E ROJOHN III/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763