ALLOWABILITY NOTICE
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 .
Claim Status
Claims 1-5 and 8-19 are pending. Claims 1, 13, and 15 have been amended. Claims 6-7 and 20-21 are canceled.
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 applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13-19 are 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.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the vapor compression cycle" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
By virtue of dependency, claims 14-19 are also rejected.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the limitations
set forth in independent Claims 1 and 13 are not disclosed nor taught by the prior art. Examiner finds the amendment and arguments made by applicant in the amendment/remarks filed 06/26/2026 to be persuasive and overcome the prior art of record.
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 claim. The aforementioned references teach a vehicle system, a vapor cooling system, a vapor compression cycle, a first subsystem, and a second subsystem.
The closest prior art of record is Ando et al. (JP 2001010595 A, machine translation), Farkas (2,932,176), Muehthaler et al. (US 2012/0175080 A1), Lynn et al. (US 2021/0053689 A1), Pujar et al. (US 2021/0346841 A1), Mevenkamp et al. (US 2013/0111938 A1), Schiff (US 7,305,842 B1), Jung (US 2013/0255289 A1), and Fiterman et al. (US 9,669,936 B1).
However, the references relied upon fail to specifically teach the limitations of:
In Claim 1: the references fail to teach or make obvious the specific limitations regarding “…the vapor compression cycle including a reversing valve transformable between a first position and a second position, wherein the cooling medium is movable through the vapor compression cycle in a first direction when the reversing valve is in a
first position and the cooling medium is movable through the vapor compression cycle in
a second direction when the reversing valve is in a second position; a first medium
provided from a first subsystem, the first subsystem being fluidly coupled to the vapor
compression cycle;…”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Linert et al. (US 2017/0349290 A1).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 KIRSTIN U OSWALD whose telephone number is (571)270-3557. The examiner can normally be reached 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. 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.
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/KIRSTIN U OSWALD/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/ERIC S RUPPERT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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