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 .
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.
Response to Amendment
The Non-Final Rejection of 17 June 2025 has been withdrawn, however, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made as provided below.
Claim Objections
Claims 25-26 and 32 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In Claim 25, line 4 “the gas storage containers” should likely read “the one or more gas storage containers”.
In Claim 26, line 4 “the gas storage containers” should likely read “the one or more gas storage containers”.
In Claim 32, line 3 “at least one of the side surfaces” should likely read “at least one side surface of the plurality of side surfaces”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 21, 23-25, 27-32 and 36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 21 recites the limitation "the lower surface" of the gas storage container in line 16. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For purposes of examination “the lower surface” in line 16 will be interpreted as being the same as “a flat lower surface” of the casing from Claim 1, line 6.
Claim 21 recites the limitation “wherein the gas storage container has a protrusion or a recess on the lower surface”. Since the lower surface is being interpreted as the flat lower surface of the casing, it is unclear how a flat surface can have a protrusion or a recess. Therefore, this limitation is unclear.
Claim 30 recites the limitation "the gas storage containers" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for the plurality of storage containers in the claim.
Claim 36 recites the limitation "the gas storage containers" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for the plurality of storage containers in the claim.
Claims not specifically referenced are rejected as being dependent on a rejected base claim.
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.
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) 21, 23, 25 and 27-31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable as obvious over Haden et al (WO 2016/146766) in view of Asari et al (US 2020/0240589) in further view of Roy et al (US 10800338).
Regarding Claim 21, Haden et al disclose a pedestal (100 generally) for contactlessly supplying power (via 5 or 50 and 40) to a gas storage container (10 generally; page 1, lines 6-10). The pedestal comprising:
a bottom portion (see Annotated Figure A); and
a side portion (see Annotated Figure A);
wherein the gas storage container (10 generally) comprises a casing (the tank wall) with a flat lower surface (sitting on 80 shown in Annotated Figure A);
a measurement module comprising a power receiving member (40; which supplies power to valve 20 containing sensors for measurement; page 3, lines 21-31) for a contactless power supply (from 5 to supply power contactlessly to the battery at 30);
at least one power supplying portion with a power supplying member (5 or 50);
wherein the bottom portion (see Annotated Figure A) is configured to rest the gas storage container by contacting the lower surface of the casing (see Annotated Figure A);
wherein the side portion (see Annotated Figure A) is configured to support the gas storage container (10 by holding the cylinders in place as discussed at page 10, lines 7-10);
but fails to expressly disclose wherein the gas storage container comprises a casing with a flat upper surface and is vertically stackable;
a gas container installed in the casing; and
a gas remaining amount measurement module;
wherein the side portion comprises at least one power supplying portion with a power supplying member corresponding to the power receiving member; and
wherein the gas storage container has a protrusion or a recess on the lower surface, and the pedestal has a recess or a protrusion on the bottom portion corresponding to the protrusion or the recess on the gas storage container.
Asari et al teach a gas storage container (Figures and ¶ 44), comprising:
a casing (200 in Figure 16) with a flat upper surface (Figure 16; ¶ 64) and a flat lower surface (Figure 16; ¶ 64) and is vertically stackable (¶ 64);
a gas container (300; ¶ 65) installed in the casing (Figure 16; ¶ 65);
and a gas remaining amount measurement module (¶ 66).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Haden et al with the gas storage container as taught by Asari et al for the advantage of providing a gas storage cylinder that is easy to transport and install, as taught by Asari et al (¶ 5).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the arrangement of the at least one power supplying portion with a power supplying member located within the side portion since rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for doing so would be to provide an optimal arrangement of the power supplying member based on user defined criteria, such as access to the power supplying member for inspection, maintenance or repair.
Roy et al teach a storage container (200 in Figure 15) wherein the storage container has a protrusion or a recess on the lower surface (recess 220 in Figure 15), and the pedestal (where Haden et al teach the pedestal and the floor 302 of Roy et al is provided as the bottom portion) has a recess or a protrusion (protrusion 300) on the bottom portion (302) corresponding to the protrusion or the recess on the gas storage container (¶ 61; Figure 17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Haden et al, as modified by Asari et al with the protrusion and recess structure as taught by Roy et al for the advantage of providing the storage container to be properly aligned to facilitate proper position of the storage container on the pedestal, as taught by Roy et al (Col 12, lines 46-54).
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Annotated Figure A
Regarding Claim 23, Haden et al as modified by Asari et al and Roy et al teach all essential elements of the current invention as discussed above but fails to expressly disclose where the bottom portion is further configured to be laterally connectable to a bottom portion of another pedestal.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the bottom portion to include where the bottom portion is further configured to be laterally connectable to a bottom portion of another pedestal since mere duplication of essential working part of device involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for doing so would be to provide increased storage capacity by providing multiple pedestals for the gas cylinders.
Regarding Claim 25, Haden et al disclose a gas storage system (Figure 3; page 1, lines 6-10). The system comprising:
one or more gas storage containers (10 in Figure 3 shown with at least two); and
one or more pedestals (Figure 3) according to claim 21 (as discussed above);
wherein each of the gas storage containers (Figure 3) comprises a casing (the tank wall) with a flat lower surface (sitting on 80 shown in Annotated Figure A);
a measurement module comprising a power receiving member (40; which supplies power to valve 20 containing sensors for measurement; page 3, lines 21-31) for a contactless power supply (from 5 to supply power contactlessly to the battery at 30);
but fails to expressly disclose a casing with a flat upper surface and is vertically stackable; a gas container installed in the casing; and a gas remaining amount measurement module.
Asari et al teach a gas storage container (Figures and ¶ 44), comprising:
a casing (200 in Figure 16) with a flat upper surface (Figure 16; ¶ 64) and a flat lower surface (Figure 16; ¶ 64) and is vertically stackable (¶ 64);
a gas container (300; ¶ 65) installed in the casing (Figure 16; ¶ 65);
and a gas remaining amount measurement module (¶ 66).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Haden et al with the gas storage container as taught by Asari et al for the advantage of providing a gas storage cylinder that is easy to transport and install, as taught by Asari et al (¶ 5).
Regarding Claim 27, Asari et al teach where at least a part of the gas remaining amount measurement module is installed in a space between the casing and the gas container (¶ 66).
Regarding Claim 28, Asari et al teach where the gas remaining amount measurement module comprises at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of a pressure sensor, a liquid level sensor, a temperature sensor, and a gyro sensor (¶ 49 discloses where the gas remaining amount measurement module comprises at least a temperature sensor and a pressure sensor).
Regarding Claim 29, Asari et al teach where the gas remaining amount measurement module is configured to perform wireless communication (¶ 49 discloses where the gas remaining amount measurement module comprises a CPU configured to perform wireless communication and therefore the gas remaining amount measurement module performs wireless communication).
Regarding Claim 30, Haden et al disclose where the side portion is provided with a certain number of the power supplying portion corresponding to the number of the gas storage containers to be loaded (Figure 3 shows each of the gas storage containers to be loaded has their own power supplying portion either 5 or 50 and as discussed in Claim 18, modifying the arrangement of the at least one power supplying portion with a power supplying member located within the side portion since rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art).
Regarding Claim 31, Haden et al disclose where the side portion (120) comprises a plurality of side units (at least three shown in Figure 3), being connectable to each other (via at least the bottom portion 110), but fails to expressly teach where each of the plurality of side units comprising at least one power supplying portion.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the arrangement of the at least one power supplying portion where each of the plurality of side units comprising at least one power supplying portion since rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for doing so would be to provide an optimal arrangement of the power supplying member based on user defined criteria, such as access to the power supplying member for inspection, maintenance or repair.
Claim(s) 22, 26 and 33-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable as obvious over Haden et al (WO 2016/146766) in view of Asari et al (US 2020/0240589) in further view of Brennan (US 10865015).
Regarding Claim 22, Haden et al disclose a pedestal (100 generally) for contactlessly supplying power (via 5 or 50 and 40) to a gas storage container (10 generally; page 1, lines 6-10). The pedestal comprising:
a bottom portion (see Annotated Figure A); and
a side portion (see Annotated Figure A);
wherein the gas storage container (10 generally) comprises a casing (the tank wall) with a flat lower surface (sitting on 80 shown in Annotated Figure A);
a measurement module comprising a power receiving member (40; which supplies power to valve 20 containing sensors for measurement; page 3, lines 21-31) for a contactless power supply (from 5 to supply power contactlessly to the battery at 30);
at least one power supplying portion with a power supplying member (5 or 50);
wherein the bottom portion (see Annotated Figure A) is configured to rest the gas storage container by contacting the lower surface of the casing (see Annotated Figure A);
wherein the side portion (see Annotated Figure A) is configured to support the gas storage container (10 by holding the cylinders in place as discussed at page 10, lines 7-10);
but fails to expressly disclose wherein the gas storage container comprises a casing with a flat upper surface and is vertically stackable;
a gas container installed in the casing; and
a gas remaining amount measurement module;
wherein the side portion comprises at least one power supplying portion with a power supplying member corresponding to the power receiving member; and
wherein the casing of the gas storage container has a plurality of side surfaces and further comprises a grip on an outer edge between the lower surface and at least one of the side surfaces, and the pedestal further comprises a fixing member for physically connecting the bottom portion with the grip.
Asari et al teach a gas storage container (Figures and ¶ 44), comprising:
a casing (200 in Figure 16) with a flat upper surface (Figure 16; ¶ 64) and a flat lower surface (Figure 16; ¶ 64) and is vertically stackable (¶ 64);
a gas container (300; ¶ 65) installed in the casing (Figure 16; ¶ 65);
and a gas remaining amount measurement module (¶ 66),
wherein the casing (200 in Figure 16) of the gas storage container has a plurality of side surfaces (see Annotated Figure B) and further comprises a grip on an outer edge between the lower surface and at least one of the side surfaces (see Annotated Figure B).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Haden et al with the gas storage container as taught by Asari et al for the advantage of providing a gas storage cylinder that is easy to transport and install, as taught by Asari et al (¶ 5).
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Annotated Figure B
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the arrangement of the at least one power supplying portion with a power supplying member located within the side portion since rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for doing so would be to provide an optimal arrangement of the power supplying member based on user defined criteria, such as access to the power supplying member for inspection, maintenance or repair.
Brennan teaches a storage container (104) with a casing (the walls of storage container 104 shown in Figure 1) and a pedestal (102 and 114 together), the pedestal further comprises a fixing member (108) for physically connecting the bottom portion with the grip (Figure 3; where Haden et al teach a bottom portion of the pedestal and Asari et al teach the grip).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Haden et al, as modified by Asari et al, with the fixing member as taught by Brennan for the advantage of providing a mechanism to secure the storage container against unauthorized access or stealing, as taught by Brennan (page 1, lines 29-42).
Regarding Claim 26, Haden et al disclose a gas storage system (Figure 3; page 1, lines 6-10). The system comprising:
one or more gas storage containers (10 in Figure 3 shown with at least two); and
one or more pedestals (Figure 3) according to claim 21 (as discussed above);
wherein each of the gas storage containers (Figure 3) comprises a casing (the tank wall) with a flat lower surface (sitting on 80 shown in Annotated Figure A);
a measurement module comprising a power receiving member (40; which supplies power to valve 20 containing sensors for measurement; page 3, lines 21-31) for a contactless power supply (from 5 to supply power contactlessly to the battery at 30);
but fails to expressly disclose a casing with a flat upper surface and is vertically stackable; a gas container installed in the casing; and a gas remaining amount measurement module.
Asari et al teach a gas storage container (Figures and ¶ 44), comprising:
a casing (200 in Figure 16) with a flat upper surface (Figure 16; ¶ 64) and a flat lower surface (Figure 16; ¶ 64) and is vertically stackable (¶ 64);
a gas container (300; ¶ 65) installed in the casing (Figure 16; ¶ 65);
and a gas remaining amount measurement module (¶ 66).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Haden et al with the gas storage container as taught by Asari et al for the advantage of providing a gas storage cylinder that is easy to transport and install, as taught by Asari et al (¶ 5).
Regarding Claim 33, Asari et al teach where at least a part of the gas remaining amount measurement module is installed in a space between the casing and the gas container (¶ 66).
Regarding Claim 34, Asari et al teach where the gas remaining amount measurement module comprises at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of a pressure sensor, a liquid level sensor, a temperature sensor, and a gyro sensor (¶ 49 discloses where the gas remaining amount measurement module comprises at least a temperature sensor and a pressure sensor).
Regarding Claim 35, Asari et al teach where the gas remaining amount measurement module is configured to perform wireless communication (¶ 49 discloses where the gas remaining amount measurement module comprises a CPU configured to perform wireless communication and therefore the gas remaining amount measurement module performs wireless communication).
Regarding Claim 36, Haden et al disclose where the side portion is provided with a certain number of the power supplying portion corresponding to the number of the gas storage containers to be loaded (Figure 3 shows each of the gas storage containers to be loaded has their own power supplying portion either 5 or 50 and as discussed in Claim 18, modifying the arrangement of the at least one power supplying portion with a power supplying member located within the side portion since rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art).
Regarding Claim 37, Haden et al disclose where the side portion (120) comprises a plurality of side units (at least three shown in Figure 3), being connectable to each other (via at least the bottom portion 110), but fails to expressly teach where each of the plurality of side units comprising at least one power supplying portion.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the arrangement of the at least one power supplying portion where each of the plurality of side units comprising at least one power supplying portion since rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for doing so would be to provide an optimal arrangement of the power supplying member based on user defined criteria, such as access to the power supplying member for inspection, maintenance or repair.
Regarding Claim 38, Haden et al as modified by Asari et al and Grennan teach all essential elements of the current invention as discussed above but fails to expressly disclose where the bottom portion is further configured to be laterally connectable to a bottom portion of another pedestal.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to modify the bottom portion to include where the bottom portion is further configured to be laterally connectable to a bottom portion of another pedestal since mere duplication of essential working part of device involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for doing so would be to provide increased storage capacity by providing multiple pedestals for the gas cylinders.
Claim(s) 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable as obvious over Haden et al (WO 2016/146766) in view of Asari et al (US 2020/0240589) in further view of Roy et al (US 10800338) in further view of Sand (US 2008/0251074).
Regarding Claim 24, Haden et al disclose where the gas storage container (Figure 3) comprises a battery (30; Figure 3) chargeable by the contactless power supply (by 40 shown in Figure 3) but fails to expressly disclose the power supplying portion further comprises a lamp for indicating a state of charge of the battery.
Sand teaches a lamp (¶ 13) for indicating a state of charge of the battery (a low battery state taught in ¶ 13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the battery of Haden et al with the lamp as taught by Sand for the advantage of providing a way to inform a user to system faults, as taught by Sand (¶ 13).
Claim(s) 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable as obvious over Haden et al (WO 2016/146766) in view of Asari et al (US 2020/0240589) in further view of Roy et al (US 10800338) in further view of Brennan (US 10865015).
Regarding Claim 32, Asari et al teach where the casing (200) has a plurality of side surfaces (see Annotated Figure A) and further comprises a grip (see Annotated Figure A) on an outer edge between the lower surface and at least one of the side surfaces (see Annotated Figure A; with the surface as shown in the orientation of Figure 15 with the gas outlet on a side surface),
But fails to expressly disclose and the pedestal further comprises a fixing member for physically connecting the bottom portion with the grip.
Brennan teaches a storage container (104) with a casing (the walls of storage container 104 shown in Figure 1) and a pedestal (102 and 114 together), the pedestal further comprises a fixing member (108) for physically connecting the bottom portion with the grip (Figure 3; where Haden et al teach a bottom portion of the pedestal and Asari et al teach the grip).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Haden et al, as modified by Asari et al, with the fixing member as taught by Brennan for the advantage of providing a mechanism to secure the storage container against unauthorized access or stealing, as taught by Brennan (page 1, lines 29-42).
Claim(s) 39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable as obvious over Haden et al (WO 2016/146766) in view of Asari et al (US 2020/0240589) in further view of Brennan (US 10865015) in further view of Sand (US 2008/0251074).
Regarding Claim 39, Haden et al disclose where the gas storage container (Figure 3) comprises a battery (30; Figure 3) chargeable by the contactless power supply (by 40 shown in Figure 3) but fails to expressly disclose the power supplying portion further comprises a lamp for indicating a state of charge of the battery.
Sand teaches a lamp (¶ 13) for indicating a state of charge of the battery (a low battery state taught in ¶ 13).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the battery of Haden et al with the lamp as taught by Sand for the advantage of providing a way to inform a user to system faults, as taught by Sand (¶ 13).
Conclusion
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/NICOLE GARDNER/
Examiner, Art Unit 3753
/REINALDO SANCHEZ-MEDINA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3753