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 § 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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bouche-Pillon (US Patent no. 4,952,298) in view of Murata (JP 2019-099905).
Regarding claim 1, Bouche-Pillon discloses a controller system for controlling:
a water supplier that supplies water to a water electrolysis stack provided with a membrane electrode assembly including an electrolyte membrane, an anode electrode, and a cathode electrode (col. 2, lines 40-65; col. 3, lines 36-40; col. 10, lines 1-4);
a water temperature regulator that regulates a temperature of the water supplied to the water electrolysis stack (col. 2, lines 8-22; col. 3, lines 13-22; col. 4, lines 8-30); and
a power supply device that supplies electric current to the membrane electrode assembly (a power supply is inherently present to apply current between the electrodes - col. 2, lines 40-65; col. 3, lines 36-40),
wherein the controller comprises one or more processors that execute computer-executable instructions (col. 3, lines 23-32), when receiving the instructions to activate the water electrolysis stack, the controller controls the water supplier and the water temperature regulator to supply the water at a temperature lower than a predetermined temperature to the water electrolysis stack (col. 2, lines 8-22; col. 3, lines 13-22; col. 4, lines 8-30; col. 10, first table shows inlet brine temperature is lower than the outlet temperature).
Bouche-Pillon fails to explicitly teach that the controller controls the power supply device to raise a current value of the electric current supplied to the membrane electrode assembly from zero to a rated value at once.
Murata discloses a PEM water electrolysis unit equipped with a controller for controlling a current supply from a power source to the water electrolysis cell in order to prevent potential fluctuation of the current. When the oxygen electrode catalyst is exposed to a low potential, the surface of the electrode catalyst is temporarily in a reduced state. When the potential rapidly rises from such a state, the elution of the oxygen electrode catalyst proceeds and deterioration of the electrolysis cell resulting from fluctuation in input power is suppressed (abstract; paragraph 11).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to rapidly rise the current value of the current supply of Bouche-Pillon from zero to a desired value at once, because as taught by Murata, when the potential rapidly rises from a reduced state, the elution of the oxygen electrode catalyst proceeds and deterioration of the electrolysis cell resulting from a fluctuation in input power is suppressed.
Regarding claim 2, Bouche-Pillon further teaches wherein the controller controls the water temperature regulator to adjust the temperature of the water supplied to the water electrolysis stack to be at a predetermined temperature when the pressure detected by a pressure sensor provided on a flow path communicating with the electrolyzer exceeds a threshold after the electric current starts to be supplied to the membrane electrode assembly (col. 9, lines 8-14 and 26-35).
Regarding claim 3, the controller of Bouche-Pillon controls the water temperature regulator to adjust the temperature of the water supplied to the water electrolysis stack to be at a predetermined temperature when a predetermined time elapses after the electric current starts to be supplied to the membrane electrode assembly (col. 2, lines 8-35; col. 3, lines 13-22; col. 4, lines 8-30; col. 13, lines 29-36).
Regarding claim 4, Murata discloses when receiving the instructions to stop the water electrolysis stack, the controller controls the power supply device to gradually reduce the current value and controls the water temperature regulator to gradually reduce the temperature of the water (paragraphs 11, 14, 16, 38, 43, 52-53). It has been held by the courts that apparatus claims must be distinguished from the prior art in terms of structure rather than function. Functional limitations do not serve to further limit apparatus claims beyond imparting the limitation that the device is capable of performing a claimed function. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
Conclusion
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/ZULMARIAM MENDEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794
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