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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/18/25 has been entered.
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 rejection of claims 1, 6, 7, and 12 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), set forth in the Office Action mailed 09/18/25, is hereby withdrawn due to amendments made by the Applicant.
However, the amendments to claims 1 and 7 raise the following new issues under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Claims 1, 6, 7, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1, lines 6-7 recite the limitation “modular transfer switches configured to add to the energy management system one or more energy sources”.
However, as seen in figure 8, the transfer switches (module 1 and module 2) do not add/connect energy sources (utility, solar, battery) to the energy management system (110). The energy sources of figure 8 are added/connected to house loads with the transfer switches.
For purposes of examination, this limitation will be interpreted as--modular transfer switches configured to add to a load one or more energy sources--.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "each switching module" in lines 9-10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
For purposes of examination, this term will be interpreted as—each modular transfer switch--.
Claim 7 includes similar issues to those discussed above in claim 1.
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.
Claims 1, 6, 7, and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welch, JR. (US 2016/0172900; “Welch”; reference of record) in view of Narla et al. (US 2018/0048159; “Narla”; reference of record).
Regarding claim 1, Welch teaches a double-throw switching system (Figures 2, 3, and 9) in that double-throw switches add energy resources (10), the double-throw switching system comprising:
an energy management system (110) configured to switch between a plurality of energy sources (10a-10g) to enable flexible configurations thereof, wherein the plurality of energy sources includes a utility (10a, 10c, 10g), a solar power energy (10f) and an energy storage component including a battery (10e); and
a plurality of double-throw switches (120; details in figure 2) as modular transfer switches configured to add to a load (20) one or more energy sources (10) that are configured to be coordinated by the energy management system (110),
wherein each modular transfer switch (120) is a double-throw switch such that by using multiple double-throw modular transfer switches (120), the double throw switching system (figures 2, 3, 9) realizes substantially the same functionalities as in a quadruple switching system (This limitation defines a quadruple switching system as one that is formed “by using multiple double-throw modular transfer switches”, which is taught in figure 9 of Welch.),
wherein each double-throw switch (120) is made of n (n=2) throws, and wherein adding each double-throw switch (120) adds n-1 (2-1=1) energy resources including the utility (10a, 10c, 10g), the solar power energy source (10f) and the energy storage component including the battery (10e),
wherein the switching system includes a charging switch (150) to select the battery (10e), and
wherein the double-throw switches (120) are interlocked with one connection possible at a time so that only one energy resource (10a-10g) is connected to an output of each double-throw switch at the time (As seen in figure 2, switch modules 120 receive two inputs and connect one input to the output of the switch).
Welch fails to teach wherein the switching system includes a net-metering switch to allow energy from the solar power energy source to be sold back to the utility.
Narla teaches a switching system for multiple energy sources comprising a switch (126 in figure 1) that allows energy from a solar power energy source (102) to be sold back to a utility (106) to reduce energy costs to a customer (para. [0021]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide excess solar power from the PV array (10f) of Welch to the utility (10a, 10c, 10g) because such a modification would have provided the benefit of reducing energy costs to a customer utilizing the system of Welch.
Regarding claim 6, Welch teaches wherein the energy management system (110) is configured to automatically coordinate between different switches of the plurality of double-throw switches (Para. [0034] teaches the operation of controller module 110).
Regarding claims 7 and 12, the methods as recited in the claims are inherently present in the structure discussed above in the rejection of claims 1 and 6.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/18/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding Applicant’s comments directed to the rejection of claims 1, 6, 7, and 12 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Welch in view of Narla, Applicant argues:
Argument #1: “Welch’s switching modules do not add energy resources as claimed.” See bottom of page 4 of Applicant’s remarks.
Response to Argument #1: As seen in figure 8 of the instant application, adding an energy resource is performed by connecting an energy resource to a load. This is the same functionality taught by Welch. As seen in figure 9 of Welch, switches 120 connect energy resources 10 to a load 20.
Argument #2: “Welch does not achieve the claimed functional equivalence to a quadruple switching system.” See top of page 5 of Applicant’s remarks.
Response to Argument #2: As discussed above, this limitation defines a quadruple switching system as one that is formed “by using multiple double-throw modular transfer switches”, which is taught in figure 9 of Welch.
Conclusion
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/LEVI GANNON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2849 January 12, 2026