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 .
Summary
This is the response to the RCE filed on 12/30/2025.
Claims 1, 3-4, 6-9, 11-12 and 14-20 remain pending in the application.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/30/2025 has been entered.
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) 1, 3-4, 9, 11-12, 17 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (CN103259458 with provided machine English translation) in view of Ren (CN111750565 with provided machine English translation) and Francesconi et al. (EP3264479).
Addressing claims 1, 9 and 19-20, Wang discloses a device (figs. 1-4) comprising:
an electronic system requiring electricity to operate (direct current motor of the wind power generation device, [0008]) to operate in a body of water (sea, lake, pond, [0005]) with an atmosphere having a first temperature TD1 above a surface of the body of water (temperature of the atmosphere surrounding the system in fig. 1 above the surface of the body of water) and a body of water depth temperature, TD2, at a depth that is below the surface of the body of water (fig. 1), and
a generator comprising a first thermally conductive structure (6+7+8+9), a second thermally conductive structure (cold end 11 + upper water tank 12), a plurality of water transporting tubes 15, and a thermoelectric device 10,
wherein each of the water transporting tubes has a respective inner surface and a respective outer surface,
wherein, of each of said inner surfaces and each of said outer surfaces, only the inner surfaces are configured to draw the first portion of water from the body of water from the depth and to provide the first portion of water from the body of water to the second thermally conductive structure, and
wherein said thermoelectric device is configured to generate electricity based on the difference between TD1 and TD2 so as to operate the electronic system [0025].
Wang further discloses tubes 15 are surrounded by the body of water 19 (fig. 1).
Wang is silent regarding the capillary tubes with only the inner surfaces are configured to draw a first portion of water from the body of water via a capillary force and a stabilization structure configured to surround said plurality of capillary tubes and to insulate at least a portion of each said respective outer surface to reduce heat transfer between the first portion of water from the body of water inside said plurality of capillary tubes and water of the body of water surrounding the plurality of capillary tubes.
Ren discloses a thermoelectric system (fig. 1) comprising a capillary tube (capillary water absorption column 50) having an inner surface (interior surface of the barrel 51 that is filled with capillary water absorption column 53 shown in fig. 3 and disclosed in paragraph [0045]) and an outer surface (the outer surface of the barrel 51); wherein, only the inner surface is configured to draw a first portion of water from a body of water via a capillary force [0045 and 0079].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the generator of Wang by substituting the known capillary structure 51 with the known capillary tube disclosed by Ren in order to obtain the predictable result of absorbing water to cool one side of the thermoelectric generator by heat dissipation (Rationale B, KSR decision, MPEP 2143).
Francesconi discloses a thermoelectric generator comprising a plurality of liquid conducting pipes that are substantially surrounded by thermal insulation in order to reduce heat loss from the fluid within the pipe to the surrounding thus minimizing the reduction in the temperature difference between the hot and cold sides of the thermoelectric generator that leads to lower power output [0046].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the device of Wang in view of Ren with surrounding the plurality of water conducting pipes with thermal insulator as disclosed by Francesconi in order to reduce heat loss from the fluid within the pipe to the surrounding thus minimizing the reduction in the temperature difference between the hot and cold sides of the thermoelectric generator that leads to lower power output [0046]. In the modified device of Wang in view of Ren and Francesconi, the plurality of water transporting capillary tubes are surrounded by the thermal insulator in order insulate the portions of the capillary tubes that would have been surrounded by the body of water thus reduce heat transfer between the first portion of water from the body of water inside the plurality of capillary tubes and the water of the body of water surrounding the plurality of capillary tubes as claimed. The thermal insulator that surrounds the plurality of tubes disclosed by Francesconi corresponds to the claimed stabilization structure.
Addressing claims 3 and 11, figs. 1-4 of Wang show the first and second thermally conductive structures are positioned at or above the surface of the body of water; therefore, the modified device of Wang in view of Ren meets all of the claimed structural requirements.
Addressing claims 4 and 12, Wang discloses in figs. 1-4 water reservoir (the interior of the tank 12) configured to receive the first portion of water from the body of water from said capillary tube. Wang is silent regarding the claimed fluid conduit.
Ren discloses the reservoir 40 configured to receive a first portion of water from the body of water from said capillary tube and a fluid conduit (circular tube 30 with air hole 34) configured to enable air from above the body of water to enter said water reservoir and to enable a portion of the first portion of water from the body of water to evaporate out from said water reservoir and into air above the body of water in order enhance heat dissipation via evaporation [0049].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the device of Wang with the fluid conduit disclosed by Ren in order to enhance heat dissipation at the cold side of the thermoelectric generator via evaporation (Ren, [0049]).
Addressing claim 17, Ren discloses the cool side of the thermoelectric generator includes heat dissipation fin 11 (fig. 1) in contact with the water being transferred thereto by the capillary tubes 50 to accelerate heat dissipation by evaporation [0049]. Therefore, at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the device of Wang with the heat dissipation fin in the second thermally conductive structure as disclosed by Ren in order to accelerate heat dissipation via evaporation (Ren, [0049]).
Claim(s) 6-8 and 14-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (CN103259458 with provided machine English translation) in view of Ren (CN111750565 with provided machine English translation) and Francesconi et al. (EP3264479) as applied to claims 1, 3-4, 9, 11-12, 17 and 19-20 above, and further in view of Kim et al. (US2023/0140254).
Addressing claims 6-7 and 14-15, figs. 1-4 of Wang disclose lenses 2 and 4 for concentrating sunlight onto the corresponding receiving surface of the thermally conductive structure (7+8+9) [0024-0025].
Wang is silent regarding a photovoltaic cell configured to receive sunlight and generate a second amount of electricity based on the received sunlight.
Kim discloses energy harvesting system comprising a photovoltaic cell 110 configured to receive sunlight and generate a second amount of electricity based on the received sunlight in conjunction with the electrical energy generated by the thermoelectric generator 130 (fig. 1). The energy harvesting system of Kim further includes a solar absorbing material 120 disposed on the thermoelectric generator 130, wherein the photovoltaic cell is disposed on the solar absorbing material 120 and is transparent to an infrared spectrum such that infrared light of the received sunlight transmits through said photovoltaic cell (paragraph [0082] discloses “interface layer 120 transfers heat generated when the solar cell 110 is exposed to sunlight and heat generated by absorbing infrared rays (IR) that passing through the solar cell 110 to the thermoelectric element 130”) and is absorbed by said solar absorbing material so as to heat said solar absorbing material, which heats the underlying thermoelectric generator [0053].
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the device of Wang in view of Ren with the solar cell and the interface layer positioned above the first thermally conductive structure of the thermoelectric generator as suggested by Kim in order to generate additional electrical power from sunlight using the solar cell as well as increasing the temperature differential between the first and second thermally conductive structures of the thermoelectric generator with the interface layer absorbing IR that transmitted through the solar cell (Kim, [0052-0054]).
Addressing claims 8 and 17, Kim discloses a radiative cooling layer 140 positioned on the cold side of the thermoelectric generator in order to increase the temperature difference between the hot and cold sides of the thermoelectric generator [0103 and 0105]. The radiative cooling layer emit a portion of the absorbed heat has infrared radiation, thus reducing a temperature of the cold side of the thermoelectric generator [0037]. Therefore, at the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the device of Goodman with the radiative cooling layer 140 for absorbing heat from the second thermally conductive structure on the cold side of the thermoelectric generator in order to increase the temperature difference between the hot and cold sides.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (CN103259458 with provided machine English translation) in view of Ren (CN111750565 with provided machine English translation) and Francesconi et al. (EP3264479) as applied to claims 1, 3-4, 9, 11-12, 17 and 19-20 above, and further in view of Milnes (US 2,232,961).
Addressing claim 18, Ren discloses the heat dissipating fin is made of copper [0042].
Wang and Ren are silent regarding the claimed material.
Milnes discloses heat dissipating fin is made of copper or silver (column 1 ln 29-33).
At the time of the effective filing date of the invention, one with ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to modify the device of Saito in view of Ren by substituting the known copper material for heat dissipating fin with the known silver material disclosed by Milnes in order to obtain the predictable result of dissipating heat via thermal conducting fin (Rationale B, KSR decision, MPEP 2143).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-4, 6-9, 11-12 and 14-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/BACH T DINH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726 01/12/2026