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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/20/2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 –
Claim(s) 1, 2, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sagi et al. [Sagi] (US PGPub 2015/0240784).
As to claim 1
Sagi discloses a front-of-the-meter (FTM), grid-facing flexible data center (wind farm controller 140, see Fig. 1) configured to communicate with and receive data (control set point182, see Fig. 1) from an independent system operator (ISO) (ISO 180, see Fig. 1) and assist in managing transmission of electrical energy to energy consumers (wind turbines 120, see Fig. 1) in response to received data from the ISO, the FTM flexible data center being configured to dynamically modulate power consumption characteristics (individual storage power set points 134, see Fig. 1) to thereby correct any real-time electrical grid frequency fluctuations (frequency droop; see paragraph 0003, line 7/regulate frequency on power grid; see paragraph 0030, lines 4-5) and allow the electrical grid to maintain a stable alternating current (AC) frequency (see paragraph 0030, lines 2-8 and paragraph 0033, lines 8-18).
As to claim 2
Sagi discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 1, wherein FTM flexible data center is configured to:
receive, in real-time or near real-time, a plurality of signals from the ISO associated with an AC frequency of the electrical grid (grid frequency control set point; see paragraph 0030, line 16); and
dynamically adjust power consumption characteristics if a signal indicates that the AC frequency of the electrical grid crosses a predetermined threshold as set by the ISO (see paragraph 0030, lines 5-20).
As to claim 18
Sagi discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 2, wherein the ISO transmits each of the plurality of signals associated an AC frequency of the electrical grid every two seconds (see paragraph 0031, lines 1-11).
As to claim 19
Sagi discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 1, wherein the stable AC frequency is approximately 60Hz (see paragraph 0030, lines 1-8).
As to claim 20
Sagi discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 1, wherein the received data from the ISO comprises at least one of signals associated an AC frequency of the electrical grid, day-ahead generation scheduling, and day-ahead electrical grid capacity scheduling (see paragraph 0031, lines 1-11).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 3-8 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sagi et al. [Sagi] (US PGPub 2015/0240784) in view of Porter (US PGPub 2017/0179722).
As to claim 3
Sagi discloses the FTM flexible data center as cited in claim 2; however, Sagi fails to specifically disclose the FTM data center wherein the FTM flexible data center is configured to transition between a steady-state power consumption mode and a curtailed-state power consumption mode in response to the AC frequency of the electrical grid crossing the predetermined threshold.
Porter discloses a FTM data center (control module 120, see Fig. 1) wherein the FTM flexible data center is configured to transition between a steady-state power consumption mode (normal operating mode; see paragraph 0040, line 31) and a curtailed-state power consumption mode (frequency regulating operating mode; see paragraph 0040, lines 4-5) in response to the AC frequency of the electrical grid crossing the predetermined threshold (threshold frequency; see paragraph 0040, line 3) (see paragraph 0040, lines 1-9 and lines 28-31).
Sagi and Porter are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, which is electrical system frequency regulation. At the time of invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sagi’s invention with Porter’s in order to change modes of Sagi’s wind farm controller 140, since doing so would reduce the likelihood of undesirably overcharging or undercharging (see Porter paragraph 0022, lines 25-28).
As to claim 4
Porter discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 3, wherein, if a given signal indicates that the AC frequency of the electrical grid drops below a predetermined threshold, the FTM flexible data center is configured to transition to the curtailed-state power consumption mode and thereby perform dynamic load shedding in real-time (see paragraph 0032, lines 13-20).
As to claim 5
Sagi discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 4, wherein electrical grid frequency fluctuations are associated with consumption of electrical energy from energy consumers (see paragraph 0002, lines 1-12).
As to claim 6
Porter discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 5, wherein increased consumption of electricity from energy consumers reduces the AC frequency of the electrical grid (see paragraph 0040, lines 20-31).
As to claim 7
Porter discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 5, wherein decreased consumption of electricity from energy consumers increases the AC frequency of the electrical grid (see paragraph 0040, lines 20-31).
As to claim 8
Sagi discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 5, wherein non-spinning generators increase the overall net generation of electricity in the electrical grid and increase inertia required to alter AC frequency of the electrical grid (see paragraph 0003, lines 1-8).
As to claim 10
Porter discloses the FTM flexible data center of claim 4, wherein energy consumption within the curtailed- state power consumption mode is less than 5% of energy consumption within the steady-state power consumption mode (see paragraph 0029, lines 6-14).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sagi et al. [Sagi] (US PGPub 2015/0240784), in view of Porter (US PGPub 2017/0179722), and further in view of Schroeder et al. [Schroeder] (US PGPub 2021/0276442).
As to claim 9
Sagi and Porter disclose the FTM flexible data center as cited in claim 4, wherein the FTM flexible data center is configured to transition from the steady-state power consumption mode to the curtailed-state power consumption mode (see Porter paragraph 0039, lines 1-19); however, Sagi and Porter fail to specifically disclose the FTM flexible data center configured to stabilize in less than five seconds.
Schroeder discloses a system configured to stabilize in less than five seconds (see paragraph 0091, lines 1-7).
Sagi, Porter, and Schroeder are analogous arts because they are from the same field of endeavor, which is electrical system regulation. At the time of invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sagi’s invention, Porter’s invention with Schroeder’s in order to ensure power interruptions are only several seconds in duration, since doing so would prevent rapid cycling as suggested by Schroeder.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Sagi and Porter disclose the FTM flexible data center of claim 4, wherein the FTM flexible data center comprises:
a power control logic system (forecasting processor 142, see Sagi Fig. 1) configured to receive data, including the plurality of signals, commands, and/or input, from the ISO; and
a distributed capacitor system (energy storage element 130, see Fig. 1) operably associated with the power control logic system. However, Sagi and Porter; individually or in combination; fail to specifically teach the distributed capacitor system being configured to engage in dynamic load shedding based on commands received from the power control logic system in response to the data, plurality of signals, commands, and/or input from the ISO, thereby transitioning the FTM flexible data center from the steady-state power consumption mode to the curtailed-state power consumption mode (in regards to dependent claim 11).
Accordingly, dependent claim 11 and the claims which depend upon it (dependent claims 12-17) include allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael J. Brown whose telephone number is (571)272-5932. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 5:30am-4:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kamini Shah can be reached at (571)272-2279. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Michael J Brown/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115