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 .
Response to Amendments
This is a final office action in response to applicant's arguments and remarks filed on
07/28/2026.
Status of Rejections
The previous rejection of claim 23 has been updated in response to the Applicant’s amendments.
New grounds of rejection are necessitated by the Applicant’s amendments.
Claims 1-23 are pending and under consideration for this Office Action.
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 23 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 23: The limitation claiming “two adjacent bipolar plates” lacks antecedent basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park et al (WO 2021080064 A1, SEARCH translation used for citations).
Claim 23: Park discloses an electrolysis cell (see e.g. page 5, paragraph starting with “From”) comprising:
a membrane (see e.g. page 8, paragraph starting with “Here”), an anode electrode (see e.g. page 8, paragraph starting with “Here”), a cathode electrode (see e.g. page 8, paragraph starting with “Here”), an anode flow field and a cathode flow field (“upstream lines”, see e.g. connecting paragraph of pages 6 and 7); and
a bipolar plate assembly (see e.g. #110 on Fig 2b), wherein the bipolar plate assembly comprises a fluid distribution frame (see e.g. #100 on Fig 2b) and plurality of repeating water delivery windows (see e.g. #121 and #122 on Fig 5) positioned adjacent to a leading edge of the anode flow field aligned with a y-axis, wherein each water delivery window is associated with a window length along a y-axis of an anode flow field (see e.g. holes on #110 in Fig 2b correspond to holes #111 and #112 on Fig 4 and #121 and #122 on Fig 5), wherein the fluid distribution frame is configured to locate, bound, and contain the cathode flow field, the cathode electrode, the membrane, the anode electrode, and the anode flow field between two adjacent bipolar plates (see e.g. Fig 2b), wherein the fluid distribution frame is further configured to uniformly distribute water flow from the plurality of repeating water delivery windows to the leading edge of the anode flow field (see e.g. connecting paragraph of pages 6 and 7) and wherein the electrolysis cell is configured such that a number, an effective diameter, or the window length of the water delivery windows is selected to maintain a water flow resistance below a target threshold for the electrolyzer cell (“uniform flow”, see e.g. connecting paragraph of pages 6 and 7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-22 contain allowable subject matter.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 1: The prior art does not disclose nor render obvious all of the cumulative
limitations of claim(s) 1 with special attention given to the limitation claiming “A method of manufacturing a bipolar plate assembly for an electrolysis cell, the method comprising: providing a bipolar plate, a cathode flow field, a fluid distribution frame, and a hydrogen seal; embedding a hydrogen seal in the cathode flow field…wherein the hydrogen seal is embedded in the cathode flow field and bonds to the cathode flow field, the bipolar plate, and the fluid distribution frame such that these components are bonded together as a physical unit, and the cathode flow field is sealed against the environment”.
The closest prior art is Stahl et al (US 2020/0161673 A1). Stahl discloses a seal embedded into a part of the cell (see e.g. [0138] and #104 on Fig 1 and Fig 2 of Stahl). However, the seal of Stahl is not embedded into the cathode flow field and is instead a part of a gas diffusion layer. Furthermore, the seal of Stahl has a different thickness from the layer it is embedded in and protrudes above it (see e.g. Fig 2 of Stahl). There is no teaching or motivation that would having the seal thickness because equal to the thickness of the cathode flow field obvious.
Claim 13: This claim incorporates all of the steps of claim 1 and is allowable for the same reasons.
Claim 22: This claim incorporates all of the product-by-process steps of claim 1 and is allowable for the same reasons.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/28/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page(s) 9-12, the Applicant argues that Park does not disclose “any structure that receives water from a plurality of repeating water delivery windows” and instead “describes water flowing from individual inlets”. This is not considered persuasive. As argued above, Park discloses a bipolar plate assembly (see e.g. #110 on Fig 2b), wherein the bipolar plate assembly comprises a fluid distribution frame (see e.g. #100 on Fig 2b) and plurality of repeating water delivery windows (see e.g. #121 and #122 on Fig 5) positioned adjacent to a leading edge of the anode flow field aligned with a y-axis, wherein each water delivery window is associated with a window length along a y-axis of an anode flow field (see e.g. holes on #110 in Fig 2b correspond to holes #111 and #112 on Fig 4 and #121 and #122 on Fig 5), wherein the fluid distribution frame is configured to locate, bound, and contain the cathode flow field, the cathode electrode, the membrane, the anode electrode, and the anode flow field between two adjacent bipolar plates (see e.g. Fig 2b), wherein the fluid distribution frame is further configured to uniformly distribute water flow from the plurality of repeating water delivery windows to the leading edge of the anode flow field (see e.g. connecting paragraph of pages 6 and 7) and wherein the electrolysis cell is configured such that a number, an effective diameter, or the window length of the water delivery windows is selected to maintain a water flow resistance below a target threshold for the electrolyzer cell (“uniform flow”, see e.g. connecting paragraph of pages 6 and 7).
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 ALEXANDER W KEELING whose telephone number is (571)272-9961. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM. 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, Luan Van can be reached at 571-272-8521. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALEXANDER W KEELING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1795
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