Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 13-17 in the reply filed on January 29, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-12 and 18-21 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected inventions, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.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.
Claim(s) 13 -17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keister et al (11,370,314) in view of Wagoner et al (2013/0107601).
In re Claims 13-17, Keister teaches a system as seen in Figure 8 comprising: an enclosure (810, col 11 lines 4-10); a plurality of first converters (840, col 12 lines 22-27) adapted within the enclosure to receive grid power at a distribution grid voltage (col 6 lines 6-9) and convert the distribution grid voltage to at least one second voltage (col 12 lines 28-39), each of the plurality of first converters comprising a first plurality of solid state switches (col 12 lines 25-27 and col 4 lines 34-56); at least one high frequency transformer (820, col 12 line 39) adapted within the enclosure, the at least one high frequency transformer coupled to the plurality of first converters to receive the at least one second voltage (col 12 lines 35-39); a plurality of second converters (860, col 13 lines 43-45) adapted within the enclosure and coupled to an output of the at least one high frequency transformer to receive the at least one second voltage and convert the at least one second voltage to at least to a third voltage (col 13 lines 33-50), the second converters comprising a second plurality of solid state switches (in re claim 14) (col 4 lines 34-56); and a dielectric fluid adapted within the enclosure, the dielectric fluid to provide dielectric isolation and wherein the plurality of first converters, the at least one high frequency transformer, and the plurality of second converters are immersed within the dielectric fluid so that the converters and transformer are provided with insulation (in re claim 17) (col 11 lines 19-45).
Keister does not specifically teach that the solid state switches are adapted on a circuit board as bare dies via solder bumps or bond wires.
Wagoner teaches immersing solid state switches (136 and 150) of converter devices (128 and 130) in a liquid 228 (paragraphs 41-43 and 46). Wagoner teaches that the solid state switches are each implemented as dies 202 that are coupled to a circuit board 204 via soldering (paragraph 41) to dissipate heat from the semiconductor switches into the liquid (paragraph 43).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the solid state switches of the first and second converters of Keister as dies soldered onto a circuit board as taught by Wagoner since Wagoner teaches a suitable arrangement for immersing said solid state switches in a dielectric fluid.
Conclusion
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/CHRISTOPHER J CLARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
/THIENVU V TRAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2838