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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/17/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/17/2025 have been fully considered. Prior art Borchert is used to address the claim amendments.
Please see the rejection below.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 11/17/2025. These drawings are acceptable.
Claim Objections
The amendment to claim 9 overcomes the objection.
Specification
The objection to the specification has been overcome by the amendment to claim 13, removing discussion related to grooves.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The amendment to claim 13 overcomes the 112 rejection.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Muirhead (USPN 6661339 B2).
Regarding Claim 1, Muirhead discloses a liquid tank for a liquid system of a vehicle, the liquid tank comprising: a tank housing (48) for storage of a liquid of the liquid system, the tank housing being formed of at least three tank housing shells (554/556/558) that are joined to one another (Figs. 25–27), the at least three tank housing shells (554/556/558) including a bottommost tank housing shell (558), a middle tank housing shell (556) and a topmost tank housing shell (554); and at least one flow passage (120) integrated in the tank housing (48), the at least one flow passage being (120) formed by the middle tank housing shell (556) and the topmost tank housing shell (554) that are joined together (Col. 15. Lines 21–29), wherein portions of each of the bottommost tank housing shell (558), the middle tank housing shell (556) and the topmost tank housing shell (554) form exterior surfaces of the tank housing (48), where the flange portion of the middle tank housing shell is part of the tank housing.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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(s) 2–5, 7–9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muirhead (USPN 6661339 B2) in view of Chen et al. (CN 105835690 A).
Regarding Claim 2, Muirhead discloses that “one or more fuel system component packages” can be located in the at least one flow passage (120) formed by the middle tank housing shell (556) and the topmost tank housing shell (554) that are joined together (Col. 12, Lines 53–58) but does not explicitly disclose the fuel system component packages.
Chen teaches check valves in all passages (Para. 23) in order to prevent backflow and thus damage to the upstream circuit (Para. 43).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the passages of Muirhead with check valves as taught by Chen in order to prevent damage to the upstream circuits.
Regarding Claim 3, the Muirhead–Chen combination teaches the first valve is a check valve (Chen Para. 23).
Regarding Claim 4, the Muirhead–Chen combination teaches the tank housing
Regarding Claims 5 and 9, the Muirhead–Chen combination teaches the bottommost tank housing shell of the tank housing (Muirhead 48) forms the valve housing for the at least one second valve (As explained above, where “one or more fuel system component packages” either 140A or 140B, can be located in the at least one flow passage and where Chen teaches check valves are located within the passages).
Regarding Claim 7, the Muirhead–Chen combination teaches a liquid system of a vehicle, the liquid system comprising: the liquid tank (Muirhead 48) according to claim 1 for storage of a liquid of the liquid system (Muirhead Col. 4, Lines 17–18, fuel); and at least one liquid circuit (Muirhead Col. 4, Lines 17–18, a fuel circuit) that is connected in a flow-conducting manner to the liquid tank (Muirhead 48) and has the at least one flow passage (Muirhead 120) in which the liquid circulates through the liquid tank (Muirhead 48).
Regarding Claim 8, the Muirhead–Chen combination teaches the liquid system has at least one second valve (As explained above, where “one or more fuel system component packages” either 140A or 140B, can be located in the at least one flow passage and where Chen teaches check valves are located within the passages) for controlling at least one liquid flow of the liquid in the liquid system, the at least one second valve being (As explained above, where “one or more fuel system component packages” either 140A or 140B, can be located in the at least one flow passage and where Chen teaches check valves are located within the passages) connected in a flow- conducting manner to the at least one liquid circuit and/or to the liquid tank (Muirhead 48), and wherein the tank housing (Muirhead 48) includes a valve housing (As explained above, where “one or more fuel system component packages” either 140A or 140B, can be located in the at least one flow passage and where Chen teaches check valves are located within the passages) for the at least one second valve of the liquid system, where this is an inherent function of the Muirhead–Chen combination.
Regarding Claim 13, the Muirhead–Chen combination teaches the middle tank housing shell (Muirhead 556) is provided with a bottom part (Muirhead 558) of the at least one flow passage (Muirhead 140A/140B) and the topmost tank housing shell (Muirhead 554) is provided with an upper part of the at least one flow passage (Muirhead 140A/140B), and wherein when the middle tank housing shell (Muirhead 556) is joined to the topmost tank housing shell (Muirhead 554), the bottom part is joined to the upper part to form the at least one flow passage (Muirhead 140A/140B) therebetween.
Claim(s) 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muirhead (USPN 6661339 B2) in view of Chen et al. (CN 105835690 A), in further view of Mark et al. (US PGPub 20190170053 A1).
Regarding Claim 10, the Muirhead–Chen combination teaches a liquid system but does not teach the liquid system being a coolant system of the vehicle.
Mark teaches the liquid system is a coolant system of the vehicle (Mark Para. 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the utility of the Muirhead–Chen combination to be a tank for a coolant system of Mark so that the coolant tank is free from potential leakage by being constructed through thermoforming method and is thus, more economical and easily reproducible (Col. 4, Lines 27 and Col. 15, Line 62 through Col. 16, Line 8) of the Muirhead–Chen combination performs the task of utilizing a thermoformed tank in the coolant system of Mark.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 11–12 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
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Angelisa L. Hicks whose telephone number is 571-272-9552. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (9:30AM-5:00PM EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Craig Schneider can be reached at 571-272-3607 or Kenneth Rinehart can be reached at 571-272-4881. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Angelisa L. Hicks/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3753