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. 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, 2, and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by Kato (JP 2012-117140 A) . 57150 948690 0 0 See figs. 1 and 2, reproduced herein. Elements taught by Kato: a node-side channel (12); membrane electrode assembly (11); cathode-side channel (1 3) ; and, separator (15 or 17). The membrane electrode assembly included (see paragraph [0021]) catalyst layers on opposite sides of the central electrolyte layer. Kato et al teach (see paragraph [0030]) the anode-side channel (12) being made from a porous material (titanium mesh or metal plate with holes). Although not expressly described as porous, the cathode-side channel (13) is inherently porous since it must allow fluid communication between the flow path (16) and the cathode-side catalyst layer on the membrane electrode assembly. The anode-side porous channel (12) is larger (see plan view in fig. 2 and paragraph [0022] ) than the cathode-side porous channel (13). Regarding claim 2, the cell of Kato included an anode-side supply hole (2 9 ), an anode-side exhaust hole (26), a cathode-side supply hole (28), and a cathode-side exhaust hole (27) at ends in the plane direction. The anode-side porous channel (12) connected the anode-side supply hole (29) to the anode-side exhaust hole (26) and the cathode-side porous channel ()13) connected the cathode-side supply hole (28) to the anode-side exhaust hole (27). Regarding claim 4, Kato teaches (see paragraph [0030]) that the anode-side porous channel (12) and the cathode-side porous channel (13) were formed of a metal non-woven fabric. 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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato (JP 2012-117140 A) in view of Speranza et al (US 2002/0106551) . Kato teaches (see figs. 4 and 5 and paragraphs [0065]-[0069]) an alternative embodiment with a cell construction comprising the anode-side porous channel (12), the membrane electrode assembly (11, cathode-side porous channel (13) and a separator (103 or 105) as required by claim 1. Kato further teaches the presence of a first frame (111) and a third frame (112) having openings that accommodate the anode-side porous channel and cathode-side porous channel, respectively. Although not expressly shown, the arrangement of anode-side supply hole, anode-side exhaust hole, cathode-side supply hole, and cathode-side exhaust hole seen in figure 2 would have been provided within the frames (111 and 112). Kato fail to teach th e presence of a second frame that accommodates the membrane electrode assembly. In the same field of endeavor of water electrolysis cells, Speranza et al teach (see fig. 2, paragraph [0021]) providing three frames (48, 40, 54) around the anode-side porous channel, the membrane electrode assembly, and the cathode-side porous channel, respectively. Speranza et al teach (see paragraph [0020]) that the frame around the membrane electrode assembly eliminated a gap between a flow field (i.e. the porous channels as claimed) and the frame, thereby lessening the chance of leaks. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the cell of Kato according to the suggestion of Speranza et al by adding a second frame accommodating the membrane electrode assembly for the purpose of removing the gap between a flow field and the frame to reduce the chance of leaks. Note that Speranza et al also show (see e.g. fig. 7) providing the supply holes and exhaust holes in the frames are required by this claim. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato (JP 2012-117140 A) in view of Ramunni et al (US 6,022,634 A) . Kato fails to teach gas diffusion layers disposed between the porous channels and the catalyst layers. In the same field of endeavor of water electrolysis cells, Ramunni et al teach (see abstract, fig. 1, col. 3, lines 23-52) providing porous channels (current collectors 3) for both the anode and cathode side and gas diffusion layers (5) located between the porous channels (3) and the membrane electrode assembly. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have combined the gas diffusion layers taught by Ramunni et al with the electrolysis cell of Kato between the membrane electrode assembly and the porous channels for the purpose of improving the gas phase interaction with the electrodes, i.e. the known purpose of gas diffusion layers. See MPEP § 2143.I.A. The porous channels of Ramunni et al were the same size as the gas diffusion layers. Kato suggests (see paragraph [0030]) that the location with the highest pressure (cathode-side porous channel) was made with the smallest area and that the location with the lowest pressure (anode-side porous channel) was made with the largest area so that the entire plane portion of the low pressure side supported the membrane against the higher pressure. One of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have been motivated to have made the entire progression of layers (including the gas diffusion layers suggested by Ramunni et al) from largest on the anode-side (where pressure was lowest) to lowest on the cathode-side (where pressure was highest) to provide the continued plane of support across each layer . 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