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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/30/2026 has been entered.
Applicant’s amendment filed 6/30/26 is acknowledged. Claims 1-4,8-11,13-16, 18-20 and 22 are pending.
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 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Meyer IV et al. (US 20120279687) in view of Hoffman Paul et al. (US 20090025910A1). Meyer IV et al discloses (figures 1 and 3) a heat pipe comprising a container (10) being a tubular body, the container having an end surface of one end portion and an end surface of another end portion, the end surfaces each being sealed; a wick structure (20) provided inside the container; and a working fluid enclosed inside the container, wherein the wick structure includes a first wick portion (21) and a second wick portion (22) in at least one cross section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the container, the second wick portion (22) being integral with the first wick portion, the second wick portion extending outward from the first wick portion, the second portion being thinner than the first wick portion; and the second wick portion includes a flat portion extending in a direction perpendicular to a height direction of an internal space of the container (see figure A). Meyer further discloses (figure A) that an end of the second wick portion is not in contact with an inner surface of the container facing the end of the second wick portion (the end of the second wick portion is spaced from the inner surface of the container facing the end of the second wick portion) ; the flat portion extends from the first wick portion toward the inner surface over a predetermined length (length of the flat section) while maintaining a predetermined thickness. (the predetermined thickness is shown as height of second wick portion, shown in figure A). Meyer IV et al. further discloses (figure 3 and A) that in the one cross section, the wick structure has a gradual change portion between a top portion of the first wick portion and the flat portion, the gradual change portion being a portion in which thickness of the wick structure continuously reduces in a direction perpendicular to the height direction of the internal space of the container. Meyer IV further discloses (figure 3) that the first wick portion consists of powder of a single type of material and the second wick portion consist of powder of a single type material. (figure 3 discloses that the first wick portion (21) and the second wick portion (22) are made from same type of material.
Meyer IV does not disclose that the average particle size of the powder in the first wick portion and that of the second wick portion are different. Hoffman et al. discloses (figures 15A or figure 18) a heat pipe that has a wick comprising a first and second wick portions (12’,12) that has different average particle sizes or the size of the particles decreases or increase with distance for a purpose achieving the boiling and fluid flow properties as desired. (paragraph 93 and 96). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use Hoffman’s teaching in Meyer’s device for a purpose of achieving the boiling and fluid flow properties as desired.
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Figure A: the modified figure corresponds to figure 3 with limitations shown.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4,8-11, 13-16 and 18-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: The prior art of record either taken singularly or in combination fail to disclose the invention as claimed. In particular, reference to Myer IV and Hoffman are the closest prior art but fail to disclose that the first wick portion and the second wick portion are made of powder of different material types.
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
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/THO V DUONG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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