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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to a paper filed on 11/04/2025 in which claims 1-20 are pending and ready for examination.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 7-16 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Winn et al (hereinafter Winn) (US 2005/0200205 A1).
As to claims 1 and 11, Winn discloses an electrical system (see Fig 1A) comprising:
a ring bus (Fig 1A, 124);
generators (Fig 1A, 110) electrically coupled to the ring bus;
uninterruptible power supplies (Fig 1A, 128) (UPSs) electrically coupled in parallel to the ring bus;
a UPS switchgear (Fig 1A, 140) electrically coupled to the ring bus and to the UPSs: and
a control system configured to monitor power quality and generator availability, and
dynamically allocate load between the generators and the UPSs (see parags [0026])
As to claim 2, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 1, wherein each of the UPSs include an AC/DC converter, a DC/AC converter, (Fig 1A, 128) and an energy storage device (Fig 1A, 154) electrically coupled to the DC/AC converter and the AC/DC converter, and is controlled to regulate output voltage and frequency responsive to the control system.
As to claim 3, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 1, wherein the UPS switchgear includes a power electronic switching stage operable to transition each UPS between double-conversion (Fig 1A, 128, an UPS has double-conversion mode) and economy operating modes.
As to claim 7, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 1, wherein the generators are arranged in power blocks (Fig 1A, 102) configured to provide modular generator capacity.
As to claim 8, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 1, further comprising a utility switchgear (Fig 1A, 160) electrically coupled to the ring bus and to the UPSs.
As to claim 9, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 1, further comprising automatic transfer switches (ATS) (Fig 1A, 120) configured to coordinate transition between utility and standby operation.
As to claim 10, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 9, further comprising switchgear (Fig 1A, 140) and load panels (Fig 1A, 122) configured to receive conditioned power from the UPSs and supply the power to information technology and mechanical loads of a facility.
As to claim 12, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the power generation modules include distributed generators (Fig 1A, 110).
As to claim 13, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 11, wherein each UPS module includes a plurality of UPSs electrically coupled together in parallel (Fig 1A, 128, UPS bank) and controlled by a control system to proportionally share load
based on available generator capacity (see parag [0026]).
As to claim 14, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 11, wherein the control system manages power distribution separately to mechanical and information technology loads (see parags [0015], [0036-0038]).
As to claim 15, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 14, further comprising a control system separately manages power distribution to information technology and mechanical loads based on system operating conditions (see parags [0015], [0036-0038]).
As to claim 16, Winn discloses an electrical system (see Fig 1A) comprising:
a utility switchgear (Fig 1A, 160);
a ring bus (Fig 1A, 124) electrically coupled to the utility switchgear;
an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) switchgear (Fig 1A, 140) electrically coupled to the ring bus;
modular UPS containers (Fig 1A, 128, ups bank) coupled to the UPS switchgear, the modular UPS containers including inverter and chopper units and/or UPS units (Fig 1, 128) integrated with variable frequency drive components and energy storage devices (Fig 1A, 154); and
a power electronic switch (PES) switchgear (Fig 1A, 120) coupled to the UPS
switchgear.
As to claim 18, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 16, wherein at least one modular UPS container includes UPSs coupled together in parallel (Fig 1A, plurals of UPS 128 connected in parallel) and controlled by a master control system to proportionally share load (see parags [0022], [0026], [0033]).
As to claim 19, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 16, further comprising distribution switchgear (see parags [0015], [0018-0021]) configured to reconfigure load paths upon a detected power fault.
As to claim 20, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 16, further comprising a control system (see parag [0022]) configured to monitor the UPS switchgear and power electronic switchgear to isolate faults and maintain continuous operation.
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.
Claim(s) 4-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Winn et al (hereinafter Winn) (US 2005/0200205 A1) in view of Morton et al (hereinafter Morton) (US 2019/0258212 A1).
As to claim 4, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 1, wherein generators include medium voltage (MV) generators (see parag [0028]) directly coupled to the ring bus.
Winn does not disclose low voltage (LV) generators coupled to the ring bus via step-up transformers.
However, Morton discloses low voltage (LV) generators coupled to the ring bus via step-
up transformers (see Fig 3, 312, parag [0031]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of Winn to include low voltage generators as taught by Morton in order to alternately provide power to the system using low voltage system.
As to claim 5, the combination of Winn and Morton discloses the electrical system of claim 1, wherein at least one generator includes an electrical generator configured to generate electricity using fossil fuels (Morton, implicit, parag [0095]).
As to claim 6, the combination of Winn and Morton discloses the electrical system of claim 1, wherein power from the generators is conditioned through interface transformers configured to match generator output to operating voltage of the ring bus (Morton, see Fig 5B, generators 512 provide power to the switchgear 514 through transformers).
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Winn et al (hereinafter Winn) (US 2005/0200205 A1) in view of in view of Mondal (US 2018/0269782 A1).
As to claim 17, Winn discloses the electrical system of claim 16, wherein at least one modular UPS container includes:
inverter and chopper units (see Fig 1A, 128, components of UPS unit).
Winn does not disclose a multiple tap step-up transformer configured to match inverter output to ring-bus voltage.
However, Mondal discloses a multiple tap step-up transformer (see Fig 1, 113) configured to match inverter output to ring-bus voltage. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of Winn to include the transformer as taught by Mondal in order to boost the output power of the UPS.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 10-11, filed on 11/04/2025, with respect to claims 1-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The nonstatutory double patenting has been withdrawn.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC M PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-5026. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
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/DUC M PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2836 February 3, 2026
/REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836