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 .
Acknowledgement is made of application #18/309,956 filed on 05/01/2023 in which claims 1-14 have been presented for prosecution in a first action on the merits.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 05/01/2023 has been considered and placed of record. An initialed copy is attached herewith.
Claim Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: In claim 14, the words “LV-DC ring bus” and the “MV-DC/DC converter” must be defined in the claim as it was done in 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 14 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 14 recites in lines 3-4 the underlined limitations of, “detecting a malfunctioning energy storage connected to a section of the LV-DC ring bus;”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this underlined limitations in the claim.
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 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reddy USPAT 9,991,701 B2 in view of Kimball et al., (Kimball) USPAT 4,929,901.
Regarding claim 13: Reddy at least discloses and shows in Fig. 3: A method for distributing power in a direct current (DC) distribution system(300; Fig. 3)(see abstract), comprising: detecting a malfunctioning power providing device connected to a section of a low voltage (LV) DC ring bus(see Fig. 3-4 at output 310/410); disconnecting(via protection devices 336; see col. 4, lines 38-49) the power providing device from the section of the LV-DC ring bus(308)(see col. 3, lines 63-col. 4, line 47).
Reddy discloses all the claimed invention except for the limitations of:
and closing a normal-open LV-DC ring bus switch connecting the section of the LV-DC ring bus to a neighboring section of the LV-DC ring bus.
Instead, Reddy teaches that the event of a fault on positive DC ring bus 310, corresponding protection devices (336) disconnect the faulty segment of positive DC ring bus (310) to isolate the fault(col. 4, lines 44-47).
Kimball discloses(col. 3, lines 19-24) factual evidence of closure of a normally open switch (222) which can be manually effected or be by electromechanical means on the occurrence of a ground fault condition.
Reddy and Kimball are Power distribution system analogous art.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kimball by incorporating a normally open switch into the DC distribution system of Reddy in order to effect or remedy a ground fault condition by closing the normally open switch, as per the teachings of Kimball(col. 3, lines 19-24).
Accordingly claim 13 would have been obvious.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 are allowed over the prior art of record.
Regarding claim 1, the prior art of record either taken alone or in combination thereof fails to teach or reasonably suggest, among other patentable features, a direct current (DC) distribution system, comprising: a plurality of power consumer clusters, each comprising at least one power consumer, wherein the power consumer clusters are arranged as a ring structure with a common low voltage (LV) DC ring bus, and wherein each power consumer is connected to the LV-DC ring bus; a plurality of normal-open ring switches, wherein each power consumer cluster is separated from its adjacent power consumer clusters by one of the plurality of normal-open ring switches; wherein each power consumer cluster is fed by a respective medium voltage (MV) DC/DC converter that is fed by a respective MV AC/DC converter connected to a MV-AC grid.
Claim 14 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
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M'BAYE DIAO
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2859
/M BAYE DIAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2859 February 4, 2026