DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 4 and 15 have been amended. Claims 6-8 and 12 were previously withdrawn. Claims 18-21 are newly added. Claims 1-4, 9-11 and 13-21 are pending and being examined on the merits in this office action.
Remarks
Applicant’s amendments and arguments have been entered. A reply to the Applicant’s remarks/arguments is presented after addressing the claims.
Any rejections and/or objections made in the previous Office Action and not repeated below, are hereby withdrawn in view of Applicant’s amendments or/and arguments.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. References cited in the current Office action can be found in a prior Office action.
Specification
The specification filed Aug. 6, 2026 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph [0060]: Fig. 4 does appear to be Fig. 3.
In paragraph [0076]: Fig. 5 does appear to be Fig. 4.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 1-4, 9-11 and 13-21 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.
Claim 1 recites both “fluid circulation channels” and “pass channels”. It appears that they are referring to the same things. If so, why using two different terms? If not, what’s the difference? Thus, the scope of the claim is indefinite. The issue applies similarly to claims 15 and 18. For purposes of examination, they will be interpreted as the same thing. Since Applicant did not point out in the Arguments/Remars, filed Aug. 6, 2026, the difference of the two terms, they are interpreted as referring to the same thing. Note that although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
In claim 1, the recitation “pass channels being subdivided into as many subgroups as there are outlet channels” means that the pass channels are split into subgroups to match the number of outlets. In other words, there is one subgroup of pass channels for each outlet. However, the newly amended “each subgroup of pass channels including multiple channels” contradicts the above analysis. Thus, the scope of the claim is ambiguous, rendering the claim indefinite. The issue applies similarly to claims 15 and 18. For purposes of examination, both one pass channel and more than one pass channels are interpreted as constituting a subgroup.
Still in claim 1, the “a respective outlet channel” (last line) may refer to not only an outlet channel mentioned in “… being subdivided into as many groups as there are outlet channels” but also an outlet channel mentioned in “at least two outlet channels”. The two interpretations render the “a respective outlet channel” ambiguous and thus the claim is indefinite. The issue applies similarly to claims 15 and 18. For purposes of examination, either of the above-mentioned two types of outlet channel will read on “a respective outlet channel”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 1-4, 9-11 and 13-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Prashant et al. (US 20220173455 A1, hereafter Prashant).
Regarding claim 1, Prashant teaches a temperature regulation device (e.g., title) comprising:
an upper plate and a lower plate joined together (“2” and “3”, Fig. 1C) to form a plurality of circulation channels (“4”, Fig. 1B) for a heat transfer fluid (“temperature control fluid”, [0061]);
a fluid inlet zone and a fluid outlet zone (See the annotated figure below);
the plurality of fluid circulation channels including:
at least two groups of pass channels forming at least one fluid pass in a thermally operative region (See the annotated figure below);
at least one inlet channel (“4a”, “4b”), connecting the fluid inlet zone and one of the at least two groups of pass channels (See the annotated figure below);
at least two outlet channels, connecting another one of the at least two groups of pass channels to the fluid outlet zone, with pass channels being subdivided into as many subgroups as there are outlet channels, each subgroup of pass channels including multiple channels (one channel and more than one channels are both considered a subgroup, see the 112(b) rejection above) and being connected to a respective outlet channel. See the annotated figure below.
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Regarding claim 2, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of inlet channels is smaller than the number of outlet channels. See the annotated figure above.
Regarding claim 3, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of outlet channels is between 2 and 6 (See the annotated figure above).
Regarding claim 4, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the group of pass channels connected to the at least one inlet channel is nearest to one of the subgroups of the group of pass channels connected to the one of the at least two outlet channels, said subgroup having the highest number of pass channels among any other subgroups connected to any of the at least two outlet channels (the upper “a subgroup”, as shown in the annotated figure above).
Regarding claim 9, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the group of pass channels connected to the at least one inlet channel has more than 2 pass channels (See the annotated figure above).
Regarding claim 10, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pass channels in each group of pass channels are mutually parallel over the majority of their length (See the annotated figure above and Fig. 1B).
Regarding claim 11, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pass channels are substantially rectilinear over the majority of their length (See the annotated figure above and Fig. 1B).
Regarding claim 13, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in at least one of the fluid passes, the pass channels are disposed in a branching organization with at least one distribution node and at least one collection node wherein at least two pass channels are connected either, in case of the distribution nodes, to distribute the heat transfer fluid from one pass channel to two or more pass channels, or, for the collection nodes, to collect the heat transfer fluid from two or more pass channels into one pass channel. See the annotated figure below.
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Regarding claim 14, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 13, wherein, in at least one of the fluid passes, the total number of distribution nodes and that of the collection nodes are the same for all the pass channels (See the annotated figure above).
Regarding claim 15, Prashant teaches a system (See, e.g., Figs.) comprising:
an electrical component (“103”, “104”, Fig. 1); and a temperature regulation device (“1”, Fig. 1A and 1C) including: an upper plate (“2”, Fig. 1C) and a lower plate (“3”, Fig. 1C) joined together to form a plurality of circulation channels for a heat transfer fluid (Fig. 1A, 1B and 1C); a fluid inlet zone (“101” area) and a fluid outlet zone (“102” area); the plurality of fluid circulation channels including: at least two groups of pass channels each forming at least one fluid pass in a thermally operative region; at least one inlet channel, connecting the fluid inlet zone and one of the at least two groups of pass channels; at least two outlet channels, connecting another one of the at least two groups of pass channels to the fluid outlet zone, with pass channels being subdivided into as many subgroups as there are outlet channels, each subgroup of pass channels including multiple channels (one channel and more than one channels are both considered a subgroup, see the 112(b) rejection above) being connected to the respective outlet channel (See the annotated figure in the rejection of claim 1 and the rejection of claim 1); and the electrical component being in thermal contact with the upper plate of the cooling temperature regulation device (See Fig. 1A).
Regarding claim 16, Prashant teaches the system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the number of inlet channels is smaller the number of outlet channels. See the annotated figure above.
Regarding claim 17, Prashant teaches the system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the pass channels in each group of pass channels are mutually parallel over the majority of their length (See the annotated figure above and Fig. 1B).
Regarding claim 18, Prashant teaches a temperature regulation device (e.g., title) comprising:
an upper plate and a lower plate joined together (“2” and “3”, Fig. 1C) to form a plurality of circulation channels (“4”, Fig. 1B) for a heat transfer fluid (“temperature control fluid”, [0061]);
a fluid inlet zone and a fluid outlet zone (See the annotated figure below);
the plurality of fluid circulation channels including:
at least two groups of pass channels forming at least one fluid pass in a thermally operative region (See the annotated figure below);
at least two outlet channels, connecting another one of the at least two groups of pass channels to the fluid outlet zone, with pass channels being subdivided into as many subgroups as there are outlet channels, each subgroup of pass channels including multiple channels (one channel and more than one channels are both considered a subgroup, see the 112(b) rejection above). See the annotated figure below.
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Regarding claim 19, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 18, further comprising at least one inlet channel (“4a”, “4b”), connecting the fluid inlet zone and one of the at least two groups of pass channels (See the annotated figure above).
Regarding claim 20, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 18, wherein each of the pass channels of the at least two groups of pass channels are connected to a respective outlet channel (See the annotated figure above).
Regarding claim 21, Prashant teaches the temperature regulation device as claimed in claim 18, wherein the pass channels in each group of pass channels are mutually parallel over the majority of their length (See the annotated figure above).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed Aug. 6, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant's arguments are based on the claims as amended. The amended claims have been addressed in the new rejections above.
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.
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/ZHONGQING WEI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1727
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