DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to applicant’s amendment received 12/16/2025. Amended claims 1-5, 7-15 and 17-20 are acknowledged. Claims 1-5, 7-15 and 17-20 are pending. Claims 6 and 16 are cancelled.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because, in newly amended figure 21, character number 671 should read 672 as was indicated in original figure 21 filed 08/07/2023 in order to comply with the instant specification PGPub paragraph 0167 which clearly indicates that “…each plate body 613 includes a body part 671 and a connecting part 672. The body parts 671 of the at least two plate bodies 613 are stacked on each other. One end of the connecting part 672 is connected to the body part 671, and the other end of the connecting part 672 is connected to the collecting tube 620.” Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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 1-5, 7-15 and 17-20 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.
Regarding claims 1, 12 and 17, it is unclear, in lines 24-26, 24-26 and 31-33, respectively, regarding “…and wherein the heat dissipating component or the plurality of electronic components is thermally connected to the first plate body or the second plate body,” what the claim is referring to. If, per lines 22-24 of claims 1 and 12, and lines 29-31 of claim 17, the “…heat exchanger serves…as a heat dissipating component for a plurality of electronic components in the electronic box,” it will necessary be thermally connected to its own first plate body and second plate body since the first and second plate bodies are parts of the heat exchanger serving as heat dissipating component.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103:
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 1-2, 5, 10-13, 15, 17-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yanpo (CN 103574969A, machine translation submitted with OA mailed 11/06/2025) in view of Gao (CN 102062549A, machine translation submitted with OA mailed 11/06/2025).
Regarding claim 1, Yanpo discloses:
an air conditioning system (fig. 1) [par. 0025], comprising:
an electric box (fig. 8) [par. 0041]; and
a heat exchanger (62),
wherein the heat exchanger (62) serves as a heat dissipation component for a plurality of electronic components (of board 612) in the electronic box (fig. 8) [par. 0041].
Yanpo does not disclose:
the heat exchanger comprising at least two plate bodies and a collecting tube, as claimed.
Gao, directed to a tube-plate type heat exchanger (figs. 1-2), discloses:
a heat exchanger (figs. 1-2), comprising:
at least two plate bodies (2), wherein each of the at least two plate bodies (2) is provided with a plurality of micro-channels (4) (seen in fig. 2),
each of the at least two plate bodies (2) comprises a body part and a connecting part, a first end of a respective connecting part is connected to a respective body part, and the body parts of the at least two plate bodies (2) are stacked on each other (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, below) [par. 0018]; and
a collecting tube (1), wherein a wall of the collecting tube (1) defines at least two connecting holes (where plate bodies 2 joint tube 1) (fig. 1) [par. 0021],
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a second end of the connecting parts of each of the at least two plate bodies (2) faces a corresponding one of the at least two connecting holes and is fixed to the collecting tube (1) by welding (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, above) [par. 0021]; and
wherein a first spacing (d1) is defined between two adjacent connecting holes of the at least two connecting holes, a second spacing (d2) is defined between the body parts of two adjacent plate bodies (2) of the at least two plate bodies (2), and the first spacing (d1) is greater than the second spacing (d2) (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4),
wherein the at least two plate bodies (2) comprising a first plate body (2) and a second plate body (2),
the first plate body (2) being provided with a plurality of first micro-channels (4) for a first refrigerant medium to flow, and the second plate body (2) being provided with a plurality of second micro-channels for a second refrigerant medium to flow [par. 0022, “…two fluids at different temperatures…”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to simply substitute one known element for another to obtain predictable results. See MPEP-2143 (I) (B). In the instant case, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to substitute the heat exchanger (62) of Yanpo for the heat exchanger of Gao to have, upon modification,
the heat exchanger (Yanpo, 62; Gao, 6) serving as a heat dissipating component, wherein the plurality of electronic components (Yanpo, electronic components of board 612) are thermally connected to the first plate body (Gao, 2) or the second plate body (Gao, 2) (of the heat exchanger),
to obtain the predictable result of optimizing heat transfer based on the user’s requirements.
MPEP 2114 II clearly states “Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does" and “A claim containing a ‘recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus’ if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim.” Because Claim 1 fails to further limit the apparatus in terms of structure, but rather only recite further functional limitations, regarding the “the second refrigerant medium is configured to absorb heat from the first refrigerant medium to subcool the first refrigerant medium, and wherein the heat exchanger serves as an economizer for the air conditioning system” limitations, the invention as taught by the combination of Yanpo and Gao is deemed fully capable of performing such function. Refer to MPEP 2114 (II). In the instant case, the system disclosed by the combination of Yanpo and Gao, having the structure claimed, is capable of functioning in a similar manner.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Yanpo and Gao discloses:
at least a portion of respective connecting parts of the at least two plate bodies (Gao, 2) is bent (see annotated fig. 1 – GAO, page 4).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Yanpo and Gao discloses:
a third spacing (Gao, d3) being defined between at least part of respective connecting parts of the two adjacent plate bodies (Gao, 2), and the third spacing (Gao, d3) being gradually increasing at least from the body part to the collecting tube (Gao, 1) (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Yanpo and Gao discloses:
a connecting sheet (Gao, 5) being disposed between the body part of the first plate body (Gao, 2) and the body part of the second plate body (Gao, 2, fig. 2), each of two opposite sides of the connecting sheet (Gao, 5) being provided with a solder, and the solder is configured to weld and fix the connecting sheet (Gao, 5) with the body part of the first plate body (Gao, 2) and the body part of the second plate body (2) that are respectively disposed on the two opposite sides of the connecting sheet (Gao, 5) [Gao, par. 0020].
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Yanpo and Gao discloses:
the connecting sheet (Gao, 5) being a metal foil sheet [Gao, par. 0020].
Regarding claim 12, Yanpo discloses:
an electric control box (fig. 8) [par. 0041], comprising:
a box body (61) provided with a mounting cavity (611) (fig. 8); and
a heat exchanger (62), wherein the heat exchanger (62) is located in the mounting cavity (611) and configured to dissipate heat (fig. 8) [par. 0042].
Gao discloses:
a heat exchanger (figs. 1-2), comprising:
at least two plate bodies (2), wherein each of the at least two plate bodies (2) is provided with a plurality of micro-channels (4) (seen in fig. 2),
each of the at least two plate bodies (2) comprises a body part and a connecting part, a first end of a respective connecting part is connected to a respective body part, and the body parts of the at least two plate bodies (2) are stacked on each other (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4) [par. 0018]; and
a collecting tube (1), wherein a wall of the collecting tube (1) defines at least two connecting holes (where plate bodies 2 joint tube 1) (fig. 1) [par. 0021],
a second end of the connecting parts of each of the at least two plate bodies (2) faces a corresponding one of the at least two connecting holes and is fixed to the collecting tube (1) by welding (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4) [par. 0021]; and
wherein a first spacing (d1) is defined between two adjacent connecting holes of the at least two connecting holes, a second spacing (d2) is defined between the body parts of two adjacent plate bodies (2) of the at least two plate bodies (2), and the first spacing (d1) is greater than the second spacing (d2) (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4),
wherein the at least two plate bodies (2) comprising a first plate body (2) and a second plate body (2),
the first plate body (2) being provided with a plurality of first micro-channels (4) for a first refrigerant medium to flow, and the second plate body (2) being provided with a plurality of second micro-channels for a second refrigerant medium to flow [par. 0022, “…two fluids at different temperatures…”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to simply substitute one known element for another to obtain predictable results. See MPEP-2143 (I) (B). In the instant case, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to substitute the heat exchanger (62) of Yanpo for the heat exchanger of Gao to have, upon modification,
the heat exchanger (Yanpo, 62; Gao, 6) serving as a heat dissipating component, wherein the plurality of electronic components (Yanpo, electronic components of board 612) are thermally connected to the first plate body (Gao, 2) or the second plate body (Gao, 2) (of the heat exchanger),
to obtain the predictable result of optimizing heat transfer based on the user’s requirements.
MPEP 2114 II clearly states “Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does" and “A claim containing a ‘recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus’ if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim.” Because Claim 1 fails to further limit the apparatus in terms of structure, but rather only recite further functional limitations, regarding the “the second refrigerant medium is configured to absorb heat from the first refrigerant medium to subcool the first refrigerant medium, and wherein the heat exchanger serves as an economizer for the air conditioning system” limitations, the invention as taught by the combination of Yanpo and Gao is deemed fully capable of performing such function. Refer to MPEP 2114 (II). In the instant case, the system disclosed by the combination of Yanpo and Gao, having the structure claimed, is capable of functioning in a similar manner.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Yanpo and Gao discloses:
at least a portion of respective connecting parts of the at least two plate bodies (Gao, 2) is bent (see annotated fig. 1 – GAO, page 4).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Yanpo and Gao discloses:
a third spacing (Gao, d3) being defined between at least part of respective connecting parts of the two adjacent plate bodies (Gao, 2), and the third spacing (Gao, d3) being gradually increasing at least from the body part to the collecting tube (1) (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4).
Regarding claim 17, Yanpo discloses:
an air conditioning system (fig. 1) [par. 0025], comprising:
a compressor (20);
an outdoor heat exchanger (30);
an indoor heat exchanger (40); and
a heat exchanger (62), wherein the compressor (20) is configured to provide a circulating refrigerant medium between the outdoor heat exchanger (30) and the indoor heat exchanger (40) through connecting pipelines (67, 80, 81, 82, 89) (fig. 1), and the heat exchanger (62) is disposed between the outdoor heat exchanger (30) and the indoor heat exchanger (40) and communicated with the connecting pipelines (67, 80, 81, 82, 89) (fig. 1) [par. 0037].
Gao discloses:
a heat exchanger (figs. 1-2), comprising:
at least two plate bodies (2), wherein each of the at least two plate bodies (2) is provided with a plurality of micro-channels (4) (seen in fig. 2),
each of the at least two plate bodies (2) comprises a body part and a connecting part, a first end of a respective connecting part is connected to a respective body part, and the body parts of the at least two plate bodies (2) are stacked on each other (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4) [par. 0018]; and
a collecting tube (1), wherein a wall of the collecting tube (1) defines at least two connecting holes (where plate bodies 2 joint tube 1) (fig. 1) [par. 0021],
a second end of the connecting parts of each of the at least two plate bodies (2) faces a corresponding one of the at least two connecting holes and is fixed to the collecting tube (1) by welding (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4) [par. 0021]; and
wherein a first spacing (d1) is defined between two adjacent connecting holes of the at least two connecting holes, a second spacing (d2) is defined between the body parts of two adjacent plate bodies (2) of the at least two plate bodies (2), and the first spacing (d1) is greater than the second spacing (d2) (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4),
wherein the at least two plate bodies (2) comprising a first plate body (2) and a second plate body (2),
the first plate body (2) being provided with a plurality of first micro-channels (4) for a first refrigerant medium to flow, and the second plate body (2) being provided with a plurality of second micro-channels for a second refrigerant medium to flow [par. 0022, “…two fluids at different temperatures…”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to simply substitute one known element for another to obtain predictable results. See MPEP-2143 (I) (B). In the instant case, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to substitute the heat exchanger (62) of Yanpo for the heat exchanger of Gao to have, upon modification,
the heat exchanger (Yanpo, 62; Gao, 6) serving as a heat dissipating component, wherein the plurality of electronic components (Yanpo, electronic components of board 612) are thermally connected to the first plate body (Gao, 2) or the second plate body (Gao, 2) (of the heat exchanger),
to obtain the predictable result of optimizing heat transfer based on the user’s requirements.
MPEP 2114 II clearly states “Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does" and “A claim containing a ‘recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus’ if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim.” Because Claim 1 fails to further limit the apparatus in terms of structure, but rather only recite further functional limitations, regarding the “the second refrigerant medium is configured to absorb heat from the first refrigerant medium to subcool the first refrigerant medium, and wherein the heat exchanger serves as an economizer for the air conditioning system” limitations, the invention as taught by the combination of Yanpo and Gao is deemed fully capable of performing such function. Refer to MPEP 2114 (II). In the instant case, the system disclosed by the combination of Yanpo and Gao, having the structure claimed, is capable of functioning in a similar manner.
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Yanpo and Gao discloses:
at least a portion of respective connecting parts of the at least two plate bodies (Gao, 2) is bent (see annotated fig. 1 – GAO, page 4).
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Yanpo and Gao discloses:
a third spacing (Gao, d3) being defined between at least part of respective connecting parts of the two adjacent plate bodies (Gao, 2), and the third spacing (Gao, d3) being gradually increasing at least from the body part to the collecting tube (1) (see annotated fig. 1-GAO, page 4).
Claims 3-4, 14 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yanpo and Gao, as it applies to claims 1-2, 5, 10-13, 15, 17-18 and 20, above, in view of Bahel et al. (US 7,908,126, herein “Bahel”).
Regarding claims 3-4, 14 and 19, the combination of Yanpo and Gao does not specifically disclose:
the first spacing being greater than or equal to 2 mm as claimed in claims 3, 14 and 19 and being less than or equal to 6 mm, as claimed in claim 4.
However, the spacing between two adjacent connecting holes of a collecting tube is considered to be an obvious design expedient, wherein a person of skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, would design the spacing between adjacent connecting holes according to the user's heat transfer requirements. Bahel, directed to designing micro-channel heat exchangers [Abs. lines 1-4; col. 14, lines 5-25], teaches that the geometry of a micro-channel heat exchanger regarding the tubing inputs may include, but are not limited to, tube length, outside minor diameter, outside major diameter, tube thickness, number of internal legs, leg thickness, material, micro-channels port (e.g., rectangle, triangle, round) and condenser passes. etc. [col. 14, lines 41-45] for the purpose of optimizing performance of the system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have the first spacing (d1) being greater than or equal to 2 mm as claimed in claim 3, and being less than or equal to 6 mm, as claimed in claim 4, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. (MPEP 2144.05, Section II). In this instance, the geometries of a micro-channel heat exchanger regarding the tubing are recognized as a result-effective variable, i.e. variables which achieve a recognized result. In this case, the recognized result is that having the optimal combination of those variables, heat transfer is optimized. Therefore, since the general conditions of the claim, i.e. that the geometry of a micro-channel heat exchanger tubing being defined by variables including spacing between two adjacent connecting holes, were disclosed in the prior art by the combination of Yanpo, Gao and Bahel, it is not inventive to discover the optimum workable range by routine experimentation.
Claims 1 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yanpo in view of Xiaoguo (CN 112146310A, machine translation submitted with OA mailed 11/06/2025, herein “Xiao”).
Regarding claim 1, Yanpo discloses:
an air conditioning system (fig. 1) [par. 0025], comprising:
an electric box (fig. 8) [par. 0041]; and
a heat exchanger (62),
wherein the heat exchanger (62) serves as a heat dissipation component for a plurality of electronic components (of board 612) in the electronic box (fig. 8) [par. 0041].
Yanpo does not disclose:
the heat exchanger comprising at least two plate bodies and a collecting tube, as claimed.
Xiao, directed to a tube-plate type heat exchanger (figs. 1-8), discloses:
a heat exchanger (figs. 1-8), comprising:
at least two plate bodies (5, 6), wherein each of the at least two plate bodies (5, 6) is provided with a plurality of micro-channels (seen in figs. 6-8),
each of the at least two plate bodies (5, 6) comprises a body part and a connecting part, a first end of a respective connecting part is connected to a respective body part, and the body parts of the at least two plate bodies (5, 6) are stacked on each other (see annotated fig. 4-XIAO, page 13); and
a collecting tube (1-4), wherein a wall of the collecting tube (1-4) defines at least two connecting holes (where plate bodies 5, 6 joint tubes 1-4) (figs. 3-4) [par. 0016-0017],
a second end of the connecting parts of each of the at least two plate bodies (5, 6) faces a corresponding one of the at least two connecting holes and is fixed to the collecting tube (1-4) (see annotated fig. 4-XIAO, below) [par. 0021]; and
wherein a first spacing (d1) is defined between two adjacent connecting holes of the at least two connecting holes, a second spacing (d2) is defined between the body parts of two adjacent plate bodies (5, 6) of the at least two plate bodies (5, 6), and the first spacing (d1) is greater than the second spacing (d2) (see annotated fig. 4-XIAO, page 13),
the at least two plate bodies (5, 6) comprising a first plate body (5) and a second plate body (6),
the first plate body (5) being provided with a plurality of first micro-channels (fig. 7) for a first refrigerant medium to flow, and the second plate body (6) being provided with a plurality of second micro-channels (fig. 8) for a second refrigerant medium to flow [par. 0048].
The recitation "a second end of the connecting parts…is fixed to the collecting tube by welding" is considered to be a product by process limitation (emphasis added). MPEP 2113 clearly states "Even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In this instance, the product taught by Xiao, is the same as or makes the product claimed obvious, meeting this limitation of the claim.
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to simply substitute one known element for another to obtain predictable results. See MPEP-2143 (I) (B). In the instant case, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to substitute the heat exchanger (62) of Yanpo for the heat exchanger of Xiao to have, upon modification,
the heat exchanger (Yanpo, 62) serving as a heat dissipating component, wherein the plurality of electronic components (Yanpo, electronic components of board 612) are thermally connected to the first plate body (Xiao, 5) or the second plate body (Xiao, 6) (of Xiao’s heat exchanger),
to obtain the predictable result of optimizing heat transfer based on the user’s requirements.
MPEP 2114 II clearly states “Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does" and “A claim containing a ‘recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus’ if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim.” Because Claim 1 fails to further limit the apparatus in terms of structure, but rather only recite further functional limitations, regarding the “the second refrigerant medium is configured to absorb heat from the first refrigerant medium to subcool the first refrigerant medium, and wherein the heat exchanger serves as an economizer for the air conditioning system” limitations, the invention as taught by the combination of Yanpo and Xiao is deemed fully capable of performing such function. Refer to MPEP 2114 (II). In the instant case, the system disclosed by the combination of Yanpo and Xiao, having the structure claimed, is capable of functioning in a similar manner.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Yanpo and Xiao discloses:
comprising a second collecting tube (Xiao, 4, for instance), wherein the collecting tube (Xiao, 3, for instance) and the second collecting tube (Xiao, 4) form two collecting tubes (Xiao, 3, 4), and
the second refrigerant medium is configured to subcool the first refrigerant medium (intended use, as it applies to claim 1, above).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Yanpo and Xiao discloses:
at least one (Xiao, 5) of the at least two plate bodies (Xiao, 5, 6) bypasses one (Xiao, 3) of the two collecting tubes (Xiao, 3, 4) and is communicated with a corresponding other one (Xiao, 4) of the two collecting tubes (Xiao, 3, 4) (best seen in figs. 3-4)
Claims 1 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yanpo in view of Zhidong (CN 103837025A, machine translation submitted with OA mailed 11/06/2025).
Regarding claim 1, Yanpo discloses:
an air conditioning system (fig. 1) [par. 0025], comprising:
an electric box (fig. 8) [par. 0041]; and
a heat exchanger (62),
wherein the heat exchanger (62) serves as a heat dissipation component for a plurality of electronic components (of board 612) in the electronic box (fig. 8) [par. 0041].
Yanpo does not disclose:
the heat exchanger comprising at least two plate bodies and a collecting tube, as claimed.
Zhidong, directed to a tube-plate type heat exchanger (100) (figs. 1-4) discloses:
a heat exchanger (100) (figs. 1-4), comprising:
at least two plate bodies (40, 50), wherein each of the at least two plate bodies (40, 50) is provided with a plurality of micro-channels (figs. 1-4) [par. 0028],
each of the at least two plate bodies (40, 50) comprises a body part and a connecting part, a first end of a respective connecting part is connected to a respective body part, and the body parts of the at least two plate bodies (40, 50) are stacked on each other (see annotated fig. 4-ZHIDONG, below); and
a collecting tube (20, 30), wherein a wall of the collecting tube (20, 30) defines at least two connecting holes (24, 34) (fig. 3) [par. 0038-0039],
a second end of the connecting parts of each of the at least two plate bodies (40, 50) faces a corresponding one of the at least two connecting holes (24, 34) and is fixed to the collecting tube (20, 30) (see annotated fig. 4-ZHIDONG, below) [par. 0021]; and
wherein a first spacing (d1) is defined between two adjacent connecting holes (24) of the at least two connecting holes (24, 34), a second spacing (d2) is defined between the body parts of two adjacent plate bodies (40, 50) of the at least two plate bodies (40, 50), and the first spacing (d1) is greater than the second spacing (d2) (see annotated fig. 4-ZHIDONG, below),
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the at least two plate bodies (40, 50) comprising a first plate body (40) and a second plate body (50),
the first plate body (40) being provided with a plurality of first micro-channels (seen in fig. 3) for a first refrigerant medium to flow [par. 0007], and the second plate body (50) being provided with a plurality of second micro-channels (seen in fig. 3) for a second refrigerant medium to flow [par. 0007].
The recitation "a second end of the connecting parts…is fixed to the collecting tube by welding" is considered to be a product by process limitation (emphasis added). MPEP 2113 clearly states "Even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process." In this instance, the product taught by Zhidong, is the same as or makes the product claimed obvious, meeting this limitation of the claim.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to simply substitute one known element for another to obtain predictable results. See MPEP-2143 (I) (B). In the instant case, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to substitute the heat exchanger (62) of Yanpo for the heat exchanger of Zhidong to have, upon modification,
the heat exchanger (Yanpo, 62; Zhidong, 100) serving as a heat dissipating component, wherein the plurality of electronic components (Yanpo, electronic components of board 612) are thermally connected to the first plate body (Zhidong, 40) or the second plate body (Zhidong, 50) (of the heat exchanger),
to obtain the predictable result of optimizing heat transfer based on the user’s requirements.
MPEP 2114 II clearly states “Apparatus claims cover what a device is, not what a device does" and “A claim containing a ‘recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus’ if the prior art apparatus teaches all the structural limitations of the claim.” Because Claim 1 fails to further limit the apparatus in terms of structure, but rather only recite further functional limitations, regarding the “the second refrigerant medium is configured to absorb heat from the first refrigerant medium to subcool the first refrigerant medium, and wherein the heat exchanger serves as an economizer for the air conditioning system” limitations, the invention as taught by the combination of Yanpo and Zhidong is deemed fully capable of performing such function. Refer to MPEP 2114 (II). In the instant case, the system disclosed by the combination of Yanpo and Zhidong, having the structure claimed, is capable of functioning in a similar manner.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Yanpo and Zhidong discloses:
a baffle plate (Zhidong, 21, 31), wherein the collecting tube (Zhidong, 20, 30) serves as a main collecting tube, the baffle plate (Zhidong, 21, 31) is disposed in the main collecting tube (Zhidong, 20, 30), and the main collecting tube (Zhidong, 20, 30) is divided into a first collecting tube (Zhidong, 22/32) and a second collecting tube (Zhidong, 23/33) (Zhidong, figs. 3-4) [Zhidong, par. 0040-0041].
Response to Arguments
The objection to the drawings as set forth in the Office Action mailed 11/06/2025 is withdrawn in light of the amendments. However, the newly amended drawings are also objected. Please refer to the objection to the drawings, above.
The rejections of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as set forth in the Office Action mailed 11/06/2025 are withdrawn in light of the amendments.
Applicant's arguments filed 12/16/2025, directed to amended claim 1, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In pages 8-9, Applicant argues that “as explained in paragraph 68 of the application as filed, the claimed air conditioning system of claim 1 allows heat exchange to be conducted between the refrigerant medium in each of the first heat exchange passages and the refrigerant medium in each of the second heat exchange passages to realize subcooling of the refrigerant medium in each of the first heat exchange passages 610. Thus the heat exchanger is used as an economizer of the air conditioning system…” and that “as a result, Gao does not describe every feature recited in claim 1 as amended…”
In page 9, Applicant argues that “the cited portions of Xiaoguo do not describe a heat exchanger that serves as an economizer of the air conditioning system and as a heat dissipating component for a plurality of electronic components in the electric control box,” and that “as a result, Xiaoguo does not describe every feature recited in claim 1 as amended…”
Similar arguments are also presented in page 9 regarding Zhidong, and in page 10 regarding independent claims 12 and 17.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. First, the arguments are made against references individually but the new grounds of rejections are based on a combination of references. Second, the arguments presented by Applicant focus on functional limitations which the presented combination of references are capable of performing since the combination of references structurally meets the invention as claimed. Please refer to the rejections, above, for a clear explanation on how the combination of references reads on the amended claims.
Conclusion
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.
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/GUSTAVO A HINCAPIE SERNA/Examiner, Art Unit 3763
/JENNA M MARONEY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763