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 domestic priority under 35 U.S.C. 120. The PCT Application Number PCT/KR2022/009992, being filed on July 8, 2022.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in present Application No. 18/577,654, filed on January 8, 2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed January 8, 2024 has been submitted for consideration by the Office. It has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered.
Drawings
The drawings were received on January 8, 2024. These drawings are approved.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words. It is important that the abstract not exceed 150 words in length since the space provided for the abstract on the computer tape used by the printer is limited. The form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as "means" and "said," should be avoided. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, "The disclosure concerns," "The disclosure defined by this invention," "The disclosure describes," etc.
Extensive mechanical and design details of apparatus should not be given.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because in line 1, the abstract recites the terms “According to ……of the present invention”, which is improper language for the abstract. The applicant should delete the terms, to provide the abstract with proper language. Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yong et al (JP Pat Num 20200053667 A, herein referred to as Yong). Yong discloses an electrical power saving device (Fig 1) that absorbs harmonics and thermal noise of AC power supplied to an electrical appliance by utilizing ferroelectric mixture (Paragraph 4). Specifically, with respect to claim 1, Yong discloses an passive harmonic removal device (100) comprising a material part (140) connected to an electric line (130) in an electrically insulated state and including N (N > 2) metal materials (Paragraph 50) to which thermal energy of the electric line (130) is conducted and which the thermal energy is removed (Paragraph 49-50). With respect to claim 2, Yong discloses that the material part (140) is in close contact with an electrode part (140) made of a material (i.e. copper) having electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity (Paragraph 70) and a thermal energy of the electric line (130) electrically connected to the electrode part is conducted to the material part (140) and removed by the material part (140, Paragraphs 49-50). With respect to claim 3, Yong discloses that the material part (140) is configured to remove the thermal energy generated in the electric line (130) and primarily conducted to the electrode part (145, Fig 1, Paragraphs 49-50). With respect to claim 4, Yong discloses that the material part (140) removes the thermal energy generated in a designated source (i.e. motor) electrically connected to the electric line (130), primarily conducted to the electric line (130), and then secondarily conducted to the electrode part (145, Fig 1, Paragraphs 49-50). With respect to claim 5, Yong discloses that the material part (140) maintains a thermal equilibrium state corresponding to a surface temperature within a preset allowable temperature range with respect to a temperature of the electrical line (130) while power of the electric line (130) is applied to the electrode part (145, Paragraph 52). With respect to claim 6, Yong discloses that the passive harmonic removal device (100) is capable of while power of the electric line (130) is applied to the electrode part (145), the material part (140) maintains a thermal equilibrium state corresponding to a surface temperature of atmosphere temperature or less (145), while power of the electric line (130) is applied to the electrode part (145, Paragraph 52). With respect to claim 8, Yong discloses that the material part (140) is outside the thermal equilibrium state, the plurality of material parts (140) is maintained in the thermal equilibrium state (Paragraph 78) by increasing a volume or a surface area of the material part (140) by multiply-connecting the plurality of material parts (140) to the electric line (130, Fig 1) by a preset electrical connection method (Fig 1, Paragraph 78). With respect to claim 9, Yong discloses that the N metal materials include n (1 < n < N ) metal materials through which no current flows and which have magnetism to prevent a short circuit between terminals (Paragraph 67). With respect to claim 10, Yong discloses that the N metal materials are maintained in a state of being pulverized into a preset particle size range and distributed uniformly in the material part (140, Paragraph 57). With respect to claim 11, Yong discloses that the material part (140) is maintained in a state resulting from mixing the N metal materials pulverized into a preset particle size range with a preset binder while matching with a preset weight% ratio range and then drying and hardening the mixture (Paragraphs 54-55). With respect to claim 12, Yong discloses that the (Currently the binder prevents the N metal materials from contacting oxygen in an atmosphere (i.e. materials are oxidized in a drying furnace, Paragraph 66). With respect to claim 13, Yong discloses that the material part (140) is maintained in a state of being hardened with a compressive strength range of at least 85 kgf/cm2 or more (Paragraph 93). With respect to claim 15, Yong discloses that the N metal materials include oxides having electrical insulation characteristics and thermal energy removal characteristics (Paragraph 54-55). With respect to claims 16-17, Yong discloses that the material part (140) is outside the thermal equilibrium state, a plurality of electrode parts (145) being in contact with a plurality of material parts (140) is multiply-connected to the electric line (130, Fig 1) by a preset electrical connection method to increase a volume or a surface area of the material part (140) and thereby maintain the thermal equilibrium state (Paragraph 78). With respect to claim 18, Yong discloses that the material part (140) is maintained in a state of being hardened with a compressive strength range of at least 85 kgf/cm2 or more (Paragraph 93).
Yong doesn’t necessarily disclose the thermal energy removal characteristics include characteristics of reducing intensities of 2nd to 50th harmonics existing in the electric line connected to the electrode part (claim 1), nor the material part maintains a thermal equilibrium state corresponding to a surface temperature within a preset temperature range in a range of 18 0C to 35 (claim 7), nor the material part includes characteristics of causing no crack at a low voltage while a voltage of 1,000 V or more is applied to the electrode part for one minute or more, or characteristics of causing no crack at a high voltage while a voltage of 12,000 V or more is applied to the electrode part for one minute or more (claim 14).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the electrical power saving device of Yong to comprise the thermal energy removal characteristics include characteristics of reducing intensities of 2nd to 50th harmonics existing in the electric line connected to the electrode part, a surface temperature within a preset temperature range in a range of 18 0C to 35, and the material part including characteristics of causing no crack at a low voltage while a voltage of 1,000 V or more is applied to the electrode part for one minute or more, or characteristics of causing no crack at a high voltage while a voltage of 12,000 V or more is applied to the electrode part for one minute or more, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or workable ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please refer to the enclosed PTO-892 form for the citation of pertinent art in the present case, all of which disclose various electrical power saving devices.
Communication
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM H MAYO III whose telephone number is (571)272-1978. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Thurs (5:30a-3:00p) Fri 5:30a-2p (w/alternating Fridays off).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Imani Hayman can be reached on (571) 270-5528. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/William H. Mayo III/
William H. Mayo III
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2847
WHM III
November 17, 2026