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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in Germany on 11/28/2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the DE 10 2022 131 311.5 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Double Patenting
A rejection based on double patenting of the “same invention” type finds its support in the language of 35 U.S.C. 101 which states that “whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process... may obtain a patent therefor...” (Emphasis added). Thus, the term “same invention,” in this context, means an invention drawn to identical subject matter. See Miller v. Eagle Mfg. Co., 151 U.S. 186 (1894); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Ockert, 245 F.2d 467, 114 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1957).
A statutory type (35 U.S.C. 101) double patenting rejection can be overcome by canceling or amending the claims that are directed to the same invention so they are no longer coextensive in scope. The filing of a terminal disclaimer cannot overcome a double patenting rejection based upon 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claim 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as claiming the same invention as that of claims 1-11 of prior U.S. Patent No. 12,537,432. This is a statutory double patenting rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because claim 10 recites "a computer program product" and claim 11 recites "a computer-readable medium" which both claims as currently written encompass transitory signals, therefore failing to comply with conditions and requirements under 35 USC 101.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-11 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, set forth in this Office action.
The examiner found the following prior art references to be the closest to the amended claims, however, the examiner was unable to find a suitable combination of the reference which would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art:
Bieniek et al. (US 20160134102 A1)
Bettenwort et al. (US 20130043880 A1)
Spesser et al. (US 20210099005 A1)
Regarding Claim 1, the prior art teaches:
A method for compensating leakage currents in a protective conductor of an electrical power converter, electrical power converter further having a neutral conductor (N) and at least one phase conductor (L), the method comprising:
determining a differential current depending on a phase conductor current in the at least one phase conductor (L) and on a neutral conductor current in the neutral conductor (N) in a first differential current sensor;
generating and feeding a compensation current into the at least one phase conductor (L) and/or into the neutral conductor (N), said compensation current compensating a leakage current caused by the differential current, by means of a first compensation circuit;
The prior art fails to disclose the further inclusion of and combination with:
capturing a signal representing a remaining residual leakage current by means of a second differential current sensor associated with a guard circuit;
converting the signal representing the residual leakage current to a frequency domain; generating a compensation signal that is suitable for compensating at least parts of the residual leakage current in a frequency-selective manner;
converting the compensation signal to a time domain;
supplying the compensation signal converted to the time domain to the first compensation circuit or to a second compensation circuit; and
feeding a residual compensation current corresponding to the compensation signal into the at least one phase conductor (L) and/or into the neutral conductor (N), by means of the first compensation circuit or the second compensation circuit.
Claims 2-6 and 10-11 are considered allowable subject matter because they depend on Claim 1.
Independent Claim 7 is considered allowable subject matter for similar reasons as claim 1.
Claims 8-9 are considered allowable subject matter because they depend on Claim 7.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AIMAN BICKIYA whose telephone number is (571)270-0555. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 - 6 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Julian Huffman can be reached at 571-272-2147. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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