DETAILED ACTION
The Information Disclosure Statements filed on August 15, 2023, September 27, 2024 and January 29, 2025 have all been reviewed and considered by the Examiner.
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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1 and 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Horiuchi (WO 2019/146179).
Horiuchi discloses a railway-vehicle power conversion apparatus comprised of a converter unit 100A, an inverter unit 100B and a cooler 150. The converter unit and the inverter unit are disposed at a predetermined interval on the cooler, and an overvoltage suppression unit 114 is disposed on the same cooler on which the converter unit and the inverter unit are disposed. The overvoltage suppression unit 114 is disposed between the converter unit and the inverter unit in the power conversion unit.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert J McCarry Jr. whose telephone number is (571)272-6683. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00-3:00.
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/Robert J McCarry Jr/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3615
RJM
January 6, 2026