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 (RCE) under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection of 04/16/2026 and advisory action of 06/08/2026. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/30/2026 has been entered. The Office action on currently pending claims 1-12 follows.
Declarations Under 37 CFR 1.130(a)
In view of the Declarations Under 37 CFR 1.130(a) filed on 06/30/2026, the Office has concluded that the TW M613132 to Shih et al. does not constitute prior art under the exception granted by 35 USC 102(b)(1)(A) and 35 USC 102(b)(2)(c). Accordingly, all statutory rejections involving the TW M613132 to Shih et al. have been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by
CN 214151631U to SHI, SHUN-YOU and CAI, SHUI-FA (hereafter “Cai”, see English translation of record).
Regarding claim 1, Cai discloses (Figs. 1, 2) a water cooling assembly, configured to be mounted at an electrical connector of a circuit board (inherently, see the “expansion cards”, “graphics cards”, “sound cards”, “network cards”, “mother board”, etc. in pars. [0001]-[0005], etc.), the water cooling assembly comprising: a mounting plate (110), comprising a mounting portion (111) and a plugging portion (not numbered, but inherently present, since the assembly is an “expansion card”, see pars. [0001]-[0005], etc.), wherein the plugging portion is connected to a side of the mounting portion (inherently, since it must be positioned at the edge of (110)), and the plugging portion is inserted into the electrical connector of the circuit board (inherently, see the “expansion card”, “display cards”, “sound cards”, “network cards”, “mother board”, etc. in pars. [0001]-[0005], etc.); a water cooling radiator (220), fastened to the mounting portion (111) of the mounting plate (110); and an airflow generator (300); wherein the water cooling radiator comprises an accommodation space (S), the accommodation space receives the airflow generator therein (Fig. 1).
Regarding claim 3, Cai discloses that an appearance of the plugging portion is the same as an appearance of a PCIe electrical connecting portion (Fig. 2).
Claims 1-3 and 12, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 6, 955, 212 to Hsieh (of record).
Regarding claim 1, Hsieh discloses (Figs. 2-5) a water cooling assembly, configured to be mounted at an electrical connector of a circuit board (Figs. 3, 4), the water cooling assembly comprising: a mounting plate (Fig. 5), comprising a mounting portion (10) and a plugging portion (not numbered, but clearly seen on Fig. 5), wherein the plugging portion is connected to a side of the mounting portion (Fig. 5), and the plugging portion is inserted into the electrical connector of the circuit board (Figs. 3, 4); a water cooling radiator (34, 30, 310), fastened to the mounting portion (10) of the mounting plate; and an airflow generator (35); wherein the water cooling radiator comprises an accommodation space (Figs. 4, 5), the accommodation space receives the airflow generator therein (Figs 2-5).
Regarding claim 2, Hsieh discloses that the mounting plate is a dummy interface card (Fig. 4 shows two mounting plates (10) connected to two connectors on the mother board. Therefore, one of these two mounting plates (10) can be interpreted as the “dummy interface card”; col. 3, ll. 12-16).
Regarding claim 3, Hsieh discloses that an appearance of the plugging portion is the same as an appearance of a PCIe electrical connecting portion (Fig. 5; col. 2, ll. 23-31).
Regarding claim 12, Hsieh discloses (Figs. 2-5) an electronic assembly, comprising: a circuit board, having a plurality of electrical connectors (Figs. 3, 4); an interface card (Figs. 4, 5), inserted into and electrically connected to one of the plurality of electrical connectors of the circuit board (Figs. 3, 4); a water cooling heatsink (34), mounted on the interface card; and a water cooling assembly (31, 32, 33, 34, 310), comprising: a mounting plate, comprising a mounting portion (10) and a plugging portion (not numbered. But clearly seen on Figs. 4, 5), wherein the plugging portion is connected to a side of the mounting portion (Fig. 5), and the plugging portion is inserted into another of the plurality of electrical connectors of the circuit board (Fig. 4 shows two mounting portions (10) connected to two connectors on the mother board; col. 3, ll. 12-16); and a water cooling radiator (30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 310), fastened to the mounting portion (10) of the mounting plate and being in fluid communication with the water cooling heatsink via pipes (32, 33a, 33b); and an airflow generator (35) wherein the water cooling radiator comprises an accommodation space (inherently present to accommodate the airflow generator, Fig. 4), and the accommodation space receives the airflow generator (35) therein (Fig. 4).
Claims 1 and 3, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2017/ 0245357 to Shih et al. (hereafter “Shih”, of record).
Regarding claim 1, Shih discloses (Figs. 1-4) a water cooling assembly (10), configured to be mounted at an electrical connector of a circuit board, the water cooling assembly comprising: a mounting plate (100), comprising a mounting portion and a plugging portion (not numbered, but clearly seen on Figs. 1-4), wherein the plugging portion is connected to a side of the mounting portion (Figs. 1-4), and the plugging portion is inserted into the electrical connector of the circuit board; a water cooling radiator (1-3, 6), fastened to the mounting portion of the mounting plate (100); and an airflow generator (4); wherein the water cooling radiator (1-3, 6) comprises an accommodation space, the accommodation space receives the airflow generator (4) therein (Figs. 1, 3).
Regarding claim 3, Shih discloses that an appearance of the plugging portion is the same as an appearance of a PCIe electrical connecting portion (Figs. 1-4).
Claims 1 and 3, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by US 10, 739, 831 to Shabbir et al. (hereafter “Shabbir”, of record).
Regarding claims 1 and 3, Shabbir discloses a water (col. 4, l. 17) cooling assembly ((200), Figs. 2A, 2B) including all of the limitation recited in claims 1 and 3 and as can be clearly seen on Figs. 2A and 2B, including a PCI plugging electrical connection portion (208) (col. 4, ll. 3-10).
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.
Claims 1-12, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over EP 3686714 to Saksager (of record) in view of CN 214151631 U to SHI, SHUN-YOU and CAI, SHUI-FA (hereafter “Cai”, see English translation of record) or in view of US 7, 382, 616 to Stefanoski (of record).
Regarding claim 1, Saksager discloses (Figs. 2-5) a water cooling assembly (100), configured to be mounted at an electrical connector of a circuit board (11) (see the PCIe connector (103), par. [0054]), the water cooling assembly comprising: a mounting plate (101), comprising a mounting portion and a plugging portion (103) (Fig. 3), wherein the plugging portion is connected to a side of the mounting portion (Fig. 3), and the plugging portion is inserted into the electrical connector of the circuit board (11); a water cooling radiator (130), fastened to the mounting portion of the mounting plate (101); and an airflow generator (110) wherein the water cooling radiator comprises an accommodation space (141).
Regarding claim 12, Saksager discloses (Figs. 2-5) an electronic assembly (10), comprising: a circuit board (11), having a plurality of electrical connectors (12-14) (par. [0063]); an interface card (1), inserted into and electrically connected to one of the plurality of electrical connectors (12) of the circuit board (11); a water cooling heatsink (2), mounted on the interface card (1); and a water cooling assembly (100), comprising: a mounting plate (101), comprising a mounting portion and a plugging portion (103), wherein the plugging portion is connected to a side of the mounting portion (Fig. 3), and the plugging portion (103) is inserted into another (one) of the plurality of electrical connectors (14) of the circuit board (11); and a water cooling radiator (130), fastened to the mounting portion of the mounting plate (101) and being in fluid communication with the water cooling heatsink via pipes (4, 6); and an airflow generator (110) wherein the water cooling radiator comprises an accommodation space (141).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Saksager does not disclose that the accommodation space receives the airflow generator therein.
Cai discloses (Figs. 1, 2) a radiator (220) wherein the airflow generator (300) is located in the accommodation space (S) between two heat dissipation channel structures (223, 224) for the benefits of more even and efficient cooling air distribution (par. [0056]).
Alternatively, Stefanoski also discloses (Fig. 3B) a radiator (380, 315) wherein the airflow generator (325) is located in the accommodation space between two heat dissipation structures (315a, 315b) for the benefits of more even and efficient cooling air distribution (par. col. 5, ll. 44-63).
It would have been obvious to a person of the ordinary skill in cooling art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified to Saksager according to the teachings of Cai and/or Stefanoski by locating the airflow generator in the accommodation space between the second heat dissipation channel structure and the third heat dissipation channel structure (e.g., by changing dimensions of relevant components, i.e., of the radiator bridges and spaces therebetween), for the benefits of more even and efficient cooling air distribution (Cai, par. [0058]; Stefanoski, col. 5, ll. 44-63). Also, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined / modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination / modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007). Also, a change in size (i.e., of the radiator bridges and spaces therebetween) is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955); In re Rinehart, 531 F.2d 1048, 189 USPQ 143 (CCPA 1976); Gardner v. TEC Syst., Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984).
Regarding claim 2, Saksager discloses that the mounting plate (101) is a dummy interface card (see “The electrical connections shown on the PCI-e plug are preferred but not required”, par. [0054]).
Regarding claim 3, Saksager discloses that an appearance of the plugging portion (103) is the same as an appearance of a PCIe electrical connecting portion (par. [0054]).
Regarding claim 4, Saksager discloses (Figs. 2-4) that the water cooling radiator (130) comprises a first water tank (120, 121, 123, 125), a second tank (120, 122, 124), a first heat dissipation channel structure (131), a second heat dissipation channel structure (132), a third heat dissipation channel structure (133) and a fourth heat dissipation channel structure (134), the first water tank has a first chamber (121), a second chamber(123) and a third chamber (125) which are not in fluid communication with each other directly, the second water tank has a fourth chamber (122) and a fifth chamber (124) which are not in fluid communication with each other directly, two opposite ends of the first heat dissipation channel structure (131) are in fluid communication with the first chamber (121) of the first water tank and the fourth chamber (122) of the second water tank, respectively, two opposite ends of the second heat dissipation channel structure (132) are in fluid communication with the second chamber (123) of the first water tank and the fourth chamber (122) of the second water tank, respectively, two opposite ends of the third heat dissipation channel structure (133) are in fluid communication with the second chamber (123) of the first water tank and the fifth chamber (124) of the second water tank, respectively, and two opposite ends of the fourth heat dissipation channel structure (134) are in fluid communication with the third chamber (125) of the first water tank and the fifth chamber (124) of the second water tank, respectively (Figs. 2-4).
Regarding claim 5, Saksager discloses that each of the first heat dissipation channel structure (131) to the fourth heat dissipation channel structure (134) has a plurality of heat dissipation structures (150).
Regarding claim 8, Saksager discloses that the second heat dissipation channel structure (132) and the third heat dissipation channel structure (133) are spaced apart from each other so as to form an accommodation space (141) therebetween (Fig. 3).
Regarding claim 9, Saksager as modified by Cai discloses (Fig. 3), wherein the airflow generator (110) is located in the accommodation space, and the airflow generator is configured to generate an airflow flowing through the first heat dissipation channel structure (131) to the fourth heat dissipation channel structure (134) of the water cooling radiator (130).
Regarding claim 10, Saksager discloses that the water cooling radiator (130) further comprises a liquid inlet connector (126) and a liquid outlet connector (127), the liquid inlet connector and the liquid outlet connector are mounted on the first water tank (120, 121, 123, 125) , and the liquid inlet connector and the liquid outlet connector are in fluid communication with the first chamber (121) and the third chamber (125), respectively (Fig. 3).
Regarding claims 6 and 7, Saksager as modified by Cai or Stefanoski does not disclose that distance between each two of the plurality of heat dissipation structures (150) that are adjacent to each other of the first heat dissipation channel structure (131) and the fourth heat dissipation channel structure (134) (i.e., 2.6 mm) is smaller than a distance between each two of the plurality of heat dissipation structures (150) that are adjacent to each other of the second heat dissipation channel structure (132) and the third heat dissipation channel structure (133) (i.e., 3.2 mm).
It would have been obvious to a person of the ordinary skill in cooling art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have adjusted said distances in any suitable optimal way, including as claimed, in order to achieve the most efficient and uniform heat dissipation, since, it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result (the result is effectiveness and uniformity of heat dissipation) effective variable (the variable is the aforementioned claimed distance) involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980). Also, it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges (i.e., for said claimed distances) involves only routine skill in the art. See In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233. Also, a change in size (i.e., of the size of the gap between the heat dissipation structures) is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955); In re Rinehart, 531 F.2d 1048, 189 USPQ 143 (CCPA 1976); Gardner v. TEC Syst., Inc., 725 F.2d 1338, 220 USPQ 777 (Fed. Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 830, 225 USPQ 232 (1984). Also, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined / modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination / modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Regarding claim 11, Saksager or Saksager-Cai combination does not disclose a cover, wherein the cover is mounted on the mounting plate, and the cover and the mounting plate surround the water cooling radiator.
Stefanoski discloses (Figs. 3A-3C) a cooling assembly (300) comprising: a fan (325, 335) centrally positioned between two radiators/fins (315a, 315b) and a cover (305) mounted on a mounting plate (320), and the cover and the mounting plate surround the radiators/fins, for the benefits of inducing a swirl effect of the reflected cooling air, thus enhancing cooling efficiency (col. 5, ll. 44-63).
It would have been obvious to a person of the ordinary skill in cooling art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified to Saksager-Cai combination according to the teachings of Stefanoski by providing a cover, wherein the cover is mounted on the mounting plate, and the cover and the mounting plate surround the water cooling radiator for the benefits of inducing a swirl effect of the reflected cooling air, thus enhancing cooling efficiency (Stefanoski, col. 5, ll. 44-63). Further, the cover would also provide additional benefit of protecting the inner components of the device from accidental touching and damage. Also, all claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined / modified the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination / modification would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. See KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S.___, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection as presented above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Anatoly Vortman whose telephone number is (571)272-2047. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, between 10 am and 8:30 pm.
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/Anatoly Vortman/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2841
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