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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 1-7, 9, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE’033 (DE 10 2011 050 033) in view of Tanaka et al. (US 2002/0187380).
Regarding claims 1 and 3-4, DE’033 teaches a kit for a fuel cell device suitable for use in a motor vehicle (title and page 3 of the machine translation). The kit includes separate modules (i.e. fuel cell device, oxidizer, fuel supply device) to assembly a fuel cell device flexibly (abstract). FIG. 2 teaches an oxidizer supply module. FIG. 3 teaches a fuel cell module having one or more fuel cell blocks. FIG. 4 teaches a fuel supply module. FIG. 5 teaches a fuel storage module. FIG. 1 is a fuel cell device modular design with air cooling. FG. 6 is a fuel cell device modular design with liquid cooling. Each module has a housing wherein functional components are arranged and protected therein; each module has a communication interface; the modules communicates with each other (page 5 of the machine translation). DE’003 teaches each module and its corresponding housing can be secured via fasteners or insertion of damping plates on the vehicle (e.g. vehicle axles or chassis) (page 4 of the machine translation) and packed next to each other in a vehicle (FIG. 16).
DE’033 is silent to a stack end plate. However, FIG. 1 of Tanaka et al. teaches a fuel cell comprising a fuel cell stack having a plurality of stacked unit cells and end plates (60, 62) for clamping the fuel cell stack wherein the fuel cell is within a housing box 10 (FIG. 1, [0030]-[0031]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the fuel cell module having a fuel cell stack 14 shown in FIG. 3 of DE’033 with end plates because Tanaka et al. teaches a fuel cell having end plates clamping stacked unit cells together (i.e. fuel cell stack) to provide the appropriate pressure and secure the structural integrity of the fuel cell stack. Claim 1 requires the housing having a housing body for receiving and protecting the at least one fuel cell stack. The claimed housing reads on housing box 10 and end plates 60, 62 of Tanaka. The claimed invention does not require that the housing being a unitary and homogenous structure that directly contacts the fuel cell stack and the claimed invention fails to distinguish over the housing 10 and end plates 60 and 62 configuration of Tanaka.
Regarding claim 2, DE’033 teaches the module housing is closed, can be made gas-tight, transparent wherein a suitable material is Plexiglas (page 9 of the machine translation) which satisfies rigid and electrically insulating as claimed.
Regarding claim 5, the fuel supply module has a module housing 64 (FIG. 4) wherein the fuel supply module has connections 66 and 84 with fluidic communication (page 10 of the machine translation). Connection 84 communicates with the fuel cell stack module (132) as shown in FIG. 1.
The cooling module 146 is connected to the fuel cell device via coolant lines 154 having fluid communication by means of pumping coolant to the fuel cell device 12 as shown in FIG. 6.
The oxidizer supply module 30 dehumidify the air wherein the water separator 56 is an actuating element 58 associated with an outlet through which water can be drained (page 10 of the machine translation).
A control module 32 is electrically connected to the fuel cell device via 120 and communicates electrical energy and transmits control signals (page 12 of the machine translation, FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 6, the claimed further system module reads on the cooling module 34 that is connected to the exterior housing body of the fuel stack (FIG. 1 and FIG. 3: reference character 122 represent cooling fans of the cooling module). Alternatively, the claimed further system module reads on the cooling module 146 in FIG. 6 which is connected to the exterior housing body of the fuel stack 100.
Regarding claim 7, the claimed system module reads on oxidizer supply module 38 and the claimed further system module reads on the fuel supply module 64 which attaches to the exterior housing body of the fuel stack at connections 132 and 136 (FIG. 1 and FIG. 6).
Regarding claim 9, the resulting fuel cell system of DE’033 in view of Tanaka et al. would satisfy the claimed limitation because FIG. 1 of Tanaka et al. provides an end plate at each end of a fuel cell stack and a corresponding location in DE’033’s cell stack 26, 14 in FIG. 3 would be an interior side of a housing wall with connections 136, 132.
Regarding claim 13, FIG. 6 teaches the control module 32 connected to the exterior housing body of the fuel stack 100 at a connection 120 and the fuel supply module 64 and an oxidizer supply module 38 each connected to the exterior housing body of the fuel stack 100 at connections 132 and 136 respectively. The exterior wall of the housing body of the fuel stack with connections 132 and 136 is opposite the exterior wall of the housing body of the fuel stack having connection 120.
Claims 10-11 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE’033 (DE 10 2011 050 033) in view of Tanaka et al. (US 2002/0187380), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Blanchet (US 2019/0260062).
Regarding claim 10, DE’033 is silent to “at least two fuel cell stacks”. However, FIG. 5 of Blanchet teaches a fuel cell stack assembly for vehicles comprising two fuel cell sub-stacks connected electrically in series and fluidly in parallel. Such arrangement generates a higher electric potential (higher voltage) and passing a smaller electrical current [0034] and “having some or all locations on fuel-cell stack 11 be closer to the electric potential of the frame of the mechanism housing fuel-cell stack 11 (e.g. a vehicle chassis) may decrease the extent of damage or injury in the event of a short circuit between fuel-cell stack 11 and component held at the same potential as the frame or component at other lower electric potentials” [0037]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the fuel cell stack of DE’033 as two fuel cell stacks because Blanchet teaches a fuel cell stack assembly for vehicles comprising two fuel cell sub-stacks connected electrically in series to obtain a high-voltage fuel cell with a safety feature of reducing the injury or damage in an event of a short circuit.
Regarding claims 11 and 14, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the at least two fuel cells stacks spatially separated from one another by a partition wall because Blanchet provides insulating material 72 disposed between sub-stacks 40,41 to prevent short-circuits ([0036], FIG. 5).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/20/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 8 of the arguments, Applicant states “Tanaka suggests that the alleged stack end plate and the housing should be separate from one another… therefore, examiner’s proposed combination fails to teach or suggest a housing wall of a housing body that forms a stack end plate and/or an adapter plate as required by amended independent claim 1”.
In response, this argument is unpersuasive. The claimed limitation of “at least a portion of at least one of the housing walls (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) of the housing body (10) forms a stack end plate (92a, 92b) and/or an adapter plate (93a, 93b) of the at least one fuel cell stack (90a, 90b)” does not exclude the end plates 60,62 and housing box 10 configuration of Tanaka. Applicant’s attention is directed to FIG. 5 of the instant application reproduced below. The “exterior surface of the housing body” as shown in FIG. 5 below corresponds to the housing box 10 of Tanaka and “stack end plate / adapter plate” 92a, 93a, 92b, 93b corresponds to the end plates 60, 62 of Tanaka. Examiner maintains that Tanaka shows at least a portion of the housing walls of the housing body forms a stack end plate and/or adapter plate because Tanaka shows a structure that is the same as the instant application. The claimed housing reads on housing box 10 and end plates 60, 62 of Tanaka. The claimed invention fails to distinguish over the housing 10 and end plates 60 and 62 configuration of Tanaka.
PNG
media_image1.png
716
957
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENDRA LY whose telephone number is (571)270-7060. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:00-5:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Katelyn B Smith can be reached at 571-270-5545. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. 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.
/KENDRA LY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1749
Prosecution Insights