DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a reply to the amendment dated March 9, 2026.
Claims 1 and 4 have been amended; and, claims 2, 3 and 6 have been canceled;
Claims 1, 4, 5 and 7-10 remain pending in this application.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “fuel heating device (13) …. upstream of the fuel distribution device (12)” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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 § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Boer et al. (US 2013/0081592 A1), hereafter Boer.
Regarding claim 1 and 4, Boer discloses a fuel injected temperature management system in an internal combustion engine (100, Fig. 1; [0033]) based on a mixture of air and fuel flow applicable to a vehicle, said engine being equipped with: at least one line for transporting fuel which carries a quantity of at least one fuel to be injected [0036], at least one fuel heater device (120, 135), at least one fuel heating control device associated with at least one fuel heating device [0006], at least one high pressure pump (115) associated with the fuel transport line, provided with at least one main duct (as shown in system 100, pump 115 supplies fuel to a fuel rail 125 and further to injector 130), so that said system performs the steps of applying an amount of pressure of 200 BAR (abstract) to the fuel at an initial temperature which is carried by the fuel transport line, perform fuel heating action; wherein the fuel heating action causes fuel to reach an injection target temperature determined by the fuel heating control device [0029], based on processing of vehicle parameters including at least the fuel temperature [0039], flow rate and fuel type (paragraph [0023] recites: “fuel pressure”, which is related to flow rate, and “fuel properties”, which is equivalent to recited fuel type; and, Claim 1 recites: “the injector individually regulates the temperature, pressure and fuel flow rate provided to the cylinder”, regulating means is a control device), and wherein the fuel heating device is positioned downstream of the high pressure pump (Fig. 1) and upstream of the fuel distribution device (heater 120) so that the pressurized fuel in heated directly to a target injection temperature to be injected into a combustion chamber ([0030], [0039]) thereby minimizing thermal losses associated with the thermal resistance of the pump and the line, and enabling atomization and emission reduction comparable to systems operating at pressures above 500 bar while using only around 200 bar (expected results; also provided in [0023-0027]).
Regarding claim 8, Boer discloses the method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines wherein the internal combustion engine comprises an engine with direct injection (Abstract).
Regarding claim 9, Boer discloses the method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines wherein the amount of pressure comprises a predetermined value [0029].
Regarding claim 10, Boer discloses the method of managing the temperature of fuel injected into internal combustion engines wherein the amount of pressure is associated with the fuel flow [0023-0030].
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.
Claim(s) 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Boer et al. (US 2013/0081592 A1), in view of Fukumoto et al. (JP 2010196576 A), hereafter Fukumoto.
Regarding claim 5, Boer is silent to the method wherein the step of performing a fuel heating action comprises the steps of determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel injection temperature value according to a fuel flow value at a current instant; performing an action to provide the amount of energy necessary for the injected fuel to reach the injection target temperature; performing the actions of comparing the heated fuel temperature in relation to the current injection target temperature; either heat the fuel until the current temperature of the fuel being heated is greater than or equal to the current fuel injection target temperature, or stop heating the fuel.
Fukumoto teaches a fuel temperature control device and a fuel temperature control method for controlling the temperature of fuel injected into a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine [0001], and determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel injection temperature value according to a fuel flow value at a current instant; performing an action to provide the amount of energy necessary for the injected fuel to reach the injection target temperature ([0025], [0036]); performing the actions of comparing the heated fuel temperature in relation to the current injection target temperature [0045]; either heat the fuel until the current temperature of the fuel being heated is greater than or equal to the current fuel injection target temperature, or stop heating the fuel [0046]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the heating control method of Fukumoto in the system of Boer in order to control the energy consumption in the vehicle while providing the necessary heating to fuel to improve the combustion efficiency.
Regarding claim 7, Boer as modified with Fukumoto discloses managing the temperature of fuel injected into an internal combustion engine, according to claim 5, wherein the step of determining an amount of energy required for the fuel to reach a target fuel injection temperature value is associated with an amount of pressure applied to the fuel at the current instant (Fig. 7 in Fukumoto).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed November 26, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s arguments in regards to Figure 1 objection, applicant explicitly states: “While not explicitly shown, Figure 1 does show the fuel heating device (13) arranged in the same block as and attached to the fuel distribution device (12), and spaced from the pump (2).” Page 7. However, Figure 1 depicts fuel heating device (13) downstream of fuel distribution device (12) and upstream of fuel injector (14). Therefore, the “fuel heating device (13) …. upstream of the fuel distribution device (12)” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
In regards to applicant’s arguments that prior art Boer does not disclose “the fuel heating control device based on process of vehicle parameters including at least the fuel temperature, flow rate and fuel type.”
Examiner asserts that claims are given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specifications. In this instance, in paragraph [0031] applicant merely discloses: “The operation of the heating system takes place from the start of the engine. System management aims to keep the temperature of the injected fuel always at the target temperature. For this, the system determines the amount of energy that must be supplied to the fuel, based on the fuel inlet temperature in the gallery, the fuel flow rate and the type of fuel.” Means for determining the inlet temperature and the fuel flow rate are not provided, and further detail and reasoning for the limitation is not disclosed. However, throughout the Boer’s invention, fuel flow rate and temperature are presented. For example, claim 11 recites: “the injector individually regulates the temperature, pressure and fuel flow rate provided to the cylinder.” And paragraph [0032] discloses “an electronic control system” and “controlling rates of pressure”. Further, Fig. 4 discloses a control charts based on rates and temperatures. And, lastly, paragraph [0023] recites that fuel properties are another control factor. Boer also discloses fuel in different phases, such as supercritical phase, gaseous phase and a liquid phase, and based on the BRI these phases could be interpreted as types.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEUTA B HOLBROOK whose telephone number is (571)270-3276. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8am-4:30pm EST.
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/TEUTA HOLBROOK/
Examiner
Art Unit 3747
/LINDSAY M LOW/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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