FUEL CELL SYSTEM 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. Priority Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 8/9/2023 and 12/11/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. 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 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Kanazawa et al. (US 2010/0151337 A1). Regarding claim 1 , Kanazawa et al. teach a fuel cell system (Abstract) comprising: a fuel cell stack (Paragraph 0033; Fig. 5, element 2 discloses a fuel cell stack.) ; a humidifier (Fig s. 2 and 5, element 15 discloses a humidifier.) to which an oxygen-containing gas to be supplied to a cathode of the fuel cell stack (Paragraph 0042; Figs. 2 and 5, element 11 IN discloses an oxidizing gas inlet which sends oxidizing gas to the cathode of the fuel cell, element 2. ) and a cathode off- gas discharged from the fuel cell stack are introduced (Paragraph 0041; Figs. 2 and 5, element 73 IN discloses an oxidizing off gas inlet.) ; a pipe having a flow passage through which either the oxygen-containing gas having flowed through the humidifier or the cathode off-gas having flowed through the humidifier flows (Figs. 6-8 disclose a hose, element 210, as part of an outlet pipe, element 72 OUT .) ; an on-off valve provided at an outlet of the flow passage (Figs. 6-8 disclose a shut valve, element 201 at the outflow port, element 220.) and configured to open the flow passage while the fuel cell stack is in operation and close the flow passage while the fuel cell stack is not in operation (Paragraph 0063) ; and a water trap communicating with the flow passage (Fig. 7, element 230 discloses a portion where water accumulates in the flow passage.) , wherein with high or low defined using a vertical direction as a reference, the water trap is positioned lower than the flow passage (Fig. 7 shows element 230 formed at the lowest part of the arrangement.) and the on-off valve is positioned higher than the water trap (Fig. 7 shows element 201 positioned higher than element 230.) . Regarding claim 2 , Kanazawa et al. teach the fuel cell system according to claim 1, wherein the water trap is formed in the pipe as a recessed space continuous from the flow passage (Fig. 7 shows element 230 is formed in a recessed space.) , and the water trap is positioned lower than a lowest position of the outlet of the flow passage (Paragraph 0066 discloses element 230 is formed in the lowest position of the gravity direction.) , and the flow passage has a portion on the upstream side of the water trap (See Fig. 7) , the portion having the cross-sectional area decreasing toward the water trap (Fig. 7 clearly shows the beginning of element 210 decreasing in cross-sectional area.) . 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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kanazawa et al. (US 2010/0151337 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yamamoto et al. (US 2004/0062975 A1). Regarding claim 3 , Kanazawa et al. teach the fuel cell system of claim 1, wherein the water trap is formed so as to branch from the flow passage, and the pipe comprises: a communication path configured to allow the flow passage and the water trap to communicate with each other (Fig. 7 shows element 210 is connected and part of the water trap, element 230) . However, they do not teach wherein a purge gas supply path is configured to supply a purge gas to the water trap. Yamamoto et al. an apparatus for dilution of discharged fuel of a fuel cell is provided (Abstract) , which has an inlet for guiding purged hydrogen gas coming from the fuel cell (Fig. 6, element 20) , a reservoir for storing the purged hydrogen gas guided through the inlet (Fig. 6, element 18) , and a cathode exhaust gas pipe penetrating the reservoir (Fig. 6, element 14) . Further, a condensed water trap (Fig. 6, element 26) is located at the bottom of the reservoir (Fig. 6, element 18) which is contained in the purged hydrogen gas discharged. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kanazawa with Yamamoto in order to drain condensed water efficiently so as to maintain stable performance in terms of dilution. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kanazawa et al. (US 2010/0151337 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kanai et al. (JP 2001-256989 A). Regarding claim 7 , Kanazawa et al. teach the fuel cell system according to claim 1. However, they do not teach wherein the cathode off-gas flows through the flow passage. Kanai et al. teach an air electrode of the fuel cell (Fig. 1, element 1) is connected to an intake pipe (Fig. 1, element 11) that transfers the supply gas (in - taken outside air) to the fuel cell (Fig. 1, element 1) , and an exhaust pipe (Fig. 1, element 12) that transfers and exhausts the exhaust gas (off-gas) from the fuel cell (Fig. 1, element 1) . The intake pipe (Fig. 1, element 11) is provided with a hollow fiber membrane water recovery device (water permeation type humidifier) (Fig. 1, element 2) and an injector (Fig. 1,element 17) , and the exhaust pipe (Fig. 1, element 12) is provided with the hollow fiber membrane water recovery device (Fig. 1, element 2) , a gas-liquid separator (Fig. 1, element 3) , and an air electrode back pressure regulating valve (Fig. 1, element 5)(Paragraph 0024) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Kanazawa with Kanai in order to humidify a fuel cell at startup. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 4-6 are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the subject matter of claims 4-6 is not taught in the prior art of record. Further, modifying any of the prior art references with the subject matter of claims 4-6 would teach away from the respective inventions and not present a prima facie case of obviousness. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT DANIEL S GATEWOOD whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)270-7958 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 8:00-5:30 . Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. 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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. FILLIN "Examiner Stamp" \* MERGEFORMAT Daniel S. Gatewood, Ph.D. Primary Examiner Art Unit 1729 /DANIEL S GATEWOOD, Ph. D/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1729 March 4 th , 2026