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 .
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 6 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.
Regarding Claim 6, Applicant recites, “determine whether outputs of fuel cell stacks that is not replacement targets are settable”. Its unclear how a settable output further limits the control unit. Appropriate action is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamaguchi et al. (US 2022/0393208 A1)
In view of Claim 1, Yamaguchi et al. teaches a fuel cell system (Fig. 2) comprising a plurality of fuel cell stacks (Fig. 2, #3) and a control unit (Fig. 2, #12a), wherein the control unit is configured to set a first output of a replaced fuel cell stack to differ from a second output of another unreplaced fuel stack when a part of the fuel cell stacks are replaced (Fig. 4 – Paragraph 0011, 0050-0058 – 2 years after fuel cell A1 is replaced its set to high load while fuel cell C1 is set to a low load).
In view of Claim 2, Yamaguchi et al. is relied upon for the reasons given above in addressing Claim 1. Yamaguchi et al. teaches that the first output is an output serving as a predetermined refresh operating point at which performance of the replace fuel cell stack is increased (Fig. 4, Fuel cell a1 is to high load).
In view of Claim 3, Yamaguchi et al. is relied upon for the reasons given above in addressing Claim 1. Yamaguchi et al. teaches that the first output is an output serving as an optimum operating point of the replaced fuel cell stack (Fig. 4, Paragraph 0011, 0050-0058, fuel cell a1).
In view of Claim 4, Yamaguchi et al. is relied upon for the reasons given above in addressing Claim 1. Yamaguchi et al. teaches that the control unit is configured to record output characteristics of fuel cell stacks that is not replacement targets before replacement of the part of the fuel cell stacks (Fig. 7 & Paragraph 0069). Yamaguchi et al. teaches that the control unit is configured to set outputs of the fuel cell stacks that are not the replacement targets by unevenly distributing a load that is based on an output requested by the fuel cell system to cause a third output of a fuel cell stack that is not relatively deteriorated to be higher than a fourth output of a fuel cell stack that is relatively deteriorated among the fuel cell stacks that are not replacement targets (Fig. 4, compare fuel cells C0, D0, E0 to F0 – Paragraph 0050-0058) during/after replacement of the fuel cell stack that is a replacement target (Fuel cell A0/B0).
In view of Claim 5, Yamaguchi et al. is relied upon for the reasons given above in addressing Claim 1. Yamaguchi et al. teaches that the control unit is configured determine whether the replacement of the part of the fuel cell stacks is necessary (Fig. 7 & Paragraph 0069) when a power generation request is made from the fuel cell system before replacement of the part of the fuel cell stacks (Paragraph 0053 – the degradation measurement is happening constantly), the control unit is configured to record output characteristics of fuel cell stacks that are not replacement targets before the replacement of the parts of the fuel cell stacks (Fig. 7 & Paragraph 0069) when the control unit determines that the replacement of the part of the fuel cell stacks is necessary (Paragraph 0053 – the degradation measurement is happening constantly, if a particular fuel stack goes under the predetermined value, it would indicate to the control unit that replacement is necessary).
In view of Claim 6, Yamaguchi et al. is relied upon for the reasons given above in addressing Claim 1. Yamaguchi et al. teaches that when a power generation request is made from the fuel system after replacement of the part of the fuel cell stacks (the power generation requests happen as soon as the ship is in motion, if a fuel cell stack is replace and a degradation measurement occurs constantly then this limitation occurs) the control unit is configured to determine when outputs of fuel cell stacks that are not replacement targets by unevenly distributing a load that is based on an output requested by the fuel system (Figs. 4 & 7), the control unit is configured to distribute the load of power unevenly by setting the outputs of fuel cell stacks that are not replacement targets by unevenly distributing the load to cause a third output of a fuel stack that is not relatively deteriorated to be higher than a fourth output of a fuel cell stack that is relatively deteriorated (Fig. 4, Cells C0/D0/E0/F0) and that the control unit is configured to set the outputs of the fuel cell stacks that are not replacement targets by evenly distributing the load (Fig. 6 & Paragraph 0064).
In view of Claim 7, Yamaguchi et al. is relied upon for the reasons given above in addressing Claim 1. Yamaguchi et al. teaches that when part of the fuel cell stacks are replaced that the first output of the replaced fuel cell stacks is higher than the second output of the other unreplaced fuel cell stacks with priority (Fig. 4 – Paragraph 0011, 0050-0058 – 2 years after fuel cell A1 is replaced its set to high load while fuel cell C1 is set to a low load).
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamano (US 2022/0320563 A1).
In view of Claim 1, Yamano discloses a fuel cell system (Fig. 1 & Paragraph 0025) comprising a plurality of fuel cell stacks (Fig. 1, #1) and a control unit (Fig. 1, #2 – Paragraph 0044), wherein, the control unit is configured to, when a part of the fuel cell stacks is replaced (Paragraph 0085-0086), set a first output of a replaced fuel cell stack to differ from a second output of another unreplaced fuel cell stack (Fig. 5A – high output power and medium output power or compare Figs. 6A-B & Paragraph 0073).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL P MALLEY JR. whose telephone number is (571)270-1638. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-430pm EST.
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/DANIEL P MALLEY JR./Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726
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