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 .
Claims 1-12 are presently pending in this application.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Applicants’ Priority Document was filed on June 2, 2023.
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.
Claims 5 and 6 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.
Claims 5 and 6 are indefinite for lacking antecedent basis for the limitation “the second condition”. Claim 4, from which claims 5 and 6 depend, does not recite a “second condition”.
It appears that line 2 of claim 5 should be amended to recite “in response to a second condition being satisfied…”, instead of reciting “in response to the second condition being satisfied…”.
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.
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.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (KR 2007 0098072, Applicants’ submitted art; English translation provided).
Regarding claims 1-12, Kim et al. teach a fuel cell system comprising a (1) fuel cell stack comprising (a) an electrolyte, (b) an anode, and (c) a cathode, (2) a nitrogen selection means defined as a fuel cell stack having a collector plate removed therefrom, (3) a nitrogen buffer tank, and (4) a nitrogen storage tank, and a method for its operation. The fuel cell system further comprises valves to control both storage of the nitrogen in the nitrogen storage tank and supplying of the nitrogen to the fuel cell stack. Additionally, the nitrogen storage tank has a pressure sensor therein, that detects when the pressure inside the nitrogen storage tank is lower than a predetermined value. See Figure 1 and pages 8-11 of Kim et al.
The fuel cell system further comprises a controller to receive output signals of oxygen and hydrogen sensors installed in the nitrogen selection means, said controller selectively controlling (a) supply of hydrogen and air to the nitrogen selection means and (b) supply of nitrogen to the nitrogen storage tank. See page 11 of Kim et al.
Kim et al. additionally teach the presence of input and output valves near the nitrogen storage tank (elements 34 and 42 in Figure 1 of Kim et al.), along with a compressor (element 35 in Figure 1 of Kim et al.). When pressure inside the nitrogen storage tank reaches a set pressure, the operation of the compressor is stopped by the output of the controller that has received the output signal of the pressure sensor. See pages 12 and 13 of Kim et al.
In the fuel cell system, the nitrogen selection means receives reaction gas discharged from the fuel cell stack and generates water by consuming hydrogen and oxygen from the reaction gas, leaving a large amount of nitrogen remaining. The nitrogen selection means is connected to a buffer tank performing a buffering function of the nitrogen generated in the nitrogen selection means, which is connected to the nitrogen storage tank.
It is considered that because the fuel cell stack comprises the anode and the cathode, the skilled artisan would anticipate that when the nitrogen selection means receives the reaction gas from the fuel cell stack in its entirety, and when the nitrogen storage tank receives the nitrogen generated in the nitrogen selection means, the skilled artisan would anticipate the nitrogen obtained from the reaction gas to include that obtained from the cathode in the fuel cell stack, thereby reading upon the claim limitation “nitrogen drained from the cathode”, as recited in claim 1.
Kim et al. further teach that operation of the fuel cell system includes purging of said system, which involves supplying nitrogen gas stored in the nitrogen storage tank to the fuel cell stack; see page 13 of Kim et al. It is considered that because the fuel cell stack comprises the anode and the cathode, the skilled artisan would anticipate that the supplying of nitrogen to the fuel cell stack in its entirety reads upon the claim limitation “supply the stored nitrogen to the anode”, as recited in claim 1.
In view of these teachings, Kim et al. anticipate claims 1-12.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Exemplary prior art includes:
Miyata et al. (U. S. Patent No. 8,007,945), which teaches a fuel cell system comprising a compressor configured to send air to the cathode and the anode in a fuel cell, wherein the air serves as an air supply gas and as a scavenging gas during scavenging of the fuel cell. Miyata et al. teach an embodiment in which the compressor is used as a scavenging gas-supply device, wherein nitrogen can be used as a scavenging gas, and a nitrogen tank configured to store nitrogen can be used as a scavenging gas-supply device (Figure 1; col. 5, lines 9-17), this reference does not teach or suggest removal of nitrogen from the cathode, or supplying of nitrogen to the anode.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/Patricia L. Hailey/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1732 December 16, 2025