DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I (claims 1-7 and 21) in the reply filed on December 22, 2025 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground that searching for the Groups I-III would not be a serious burden. This is not found persuasive because the features of the fuel cells I and III are different: the fuel cell of Group III requires a humidifier-degasser comprising at least one hydrogen removal section which is not required in Group I, and the method in Group II requires a hydrogen removal cell which is not required in the fuel cell of Group I.
Therefore, claims 1-7 and 14-22 are pending, with claims 14-20 and 22 withdrawn from consideration as being directed to non-elected inventions.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In par.0022 and par.0027 the limitation “product water passage” should be corrected to read “product water flow passage”.
The amendment is needed in order to maintain language consistency in the specification.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-7 are objected to because of the following informalities:
The examiner suggests that the limitation “at least one degasification section coupled via an MEA material to a reactant and a product water upstream of at least one humidifier section” in claim 1 is amended to read “at least one degasification section coupled upstream of at least one humidifier section, wherein the at least one degasification section comprises a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) between a reactant flow passage and a product water flow passage” (see par.0020 and par.0023 of the specification). The amendment enhances the clarity of the claim.
The limitation “product water passage” in claim 3, line 9 should be amended to read “product water flow passage”. The amendment is needed in order to maintain language consistency in claim 3.
Claims 2 and 4-7 are objected as being dependent on the objected claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 7 is 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 7 recites the limitation "said at least one catalyst" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Therefore, it is not clear what is the joint inventor claiming as the invention in claim 7 of the instant application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 102 that forms 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.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by McElroy et al. (US 2014/0072889).
McElroy et al. teach the cell fuel system 100A of fig.1:
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The fuel cell system (100A) comprises the stack (106)(par.0012), which may comprise cascading fuel cell stacks wherein the effluent of a plurality of stacks may be routed to another plurality of stacks(par.0060). This equivalent to the “series of cascaded cell stacks” in claim 21.
The fuel cell system (100A) comprises the hydrogen pumps (135) fed by the fuel exhaust stream (110), and the hydrogen pumps (135) work as hydrogen concentrator (par.0016).
Additionally, par.0024 of the specification of the instant application defines a hydrogen pump as inert concentrator.
Fig. 1 clearly shows that the hydrogen pumps (135) are placed downstream from the stack (106) proximate a stack vent for the fuel exhaust stream (110) (see also par.0016).
The hydrogen pumps (135) meet the limitations for “one inert concentrator cell coupled downstream from said cell stacks proximate a stack vent” in claim 21.
Therefore, the fuel cell system (100A) of McElroy et al. anticipates the fuel cell in claim 21.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-6 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objections set forth in this Office action.
JP 2002-542592 A (with attached machine translation) teach the fuel cell system of fig.4a:
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Refrigerant and oxidizing air passes through the degassing portion (51) of the degassing device (45) so as to be countercurrent. Mass transfer in the degassing section (51) causes a significant portion of the gas dissolved in the refrigerant to diffuse into the oxidant stream, thereby removing most of the dissolved gas from the refrigerant. This results in a refrigerant having acceptable conductivity and dissolved gas content. The oxidizing air is humidified, it is pumped out of the degasser (45) and supplied to the cathode of the fuel cell device (11)(see page 8 of the attached machine translation).
Takahiro et al. (JP 2007-193962 A, with attached machine translation) teach the fuel cell power generator of fig.1:
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The fuel cell power generator comprises impurity gas removing means (72) and a humidifier (8) (see page 7 of the attached machine translation).
However, the references above do not teach the fuel cell of claim 1.
There are no prior art teachings that would motivate one of ordinary skill to modify any of the references above and obtain the fuel cell in claim 1 of the instant application.
Conclusion
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/ANCA EOFF/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1722
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