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 foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN202111135533.7, filed on 09/27/2021.
Drawings
The objections to the Drawings are withdrawn in view of the amendments to
the Claim 9.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference characters "203" and "204" have both been used to designate the second-type component, the PCIe card, in Figure 1-2, 6, 9.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “2212” has been used to designate both "top of the liquid outlet tank" and "circulation pipe" in Figure 4.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The objections to the Title is withdrawn in view of the amendments to
the Title.
Claim Objections
The objections to the Claims 1-20 are withdrawn in view of the amendments to
the Claims 1, 10, 13 and 15.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) to the Claim 14 are withdrawn in view of the amendments to the Claims 14.
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 4, 18 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.
The term “height threshold” in claims 4 and 18 a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “height threshold” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. There are no parameter, quantitative information or specification information in the claim or specification to provide what the height threshold may be, whether the height threshold is a size or volume clearance or a specific range of dimension between two objects.
REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
With respect to Claim 1-5, 7-8, 10-13, the allowability resides in the overall structure of the device as recited in independent Claim 1 and at least in part because Claim 1 recites
“wherein the separator has a hollow-out region, and wherein when the separator is fastened in the cavity of the server, the hollow-out region is configured to avoid a circulating pump of the liquid-cooling assembly”.
The aforementioned limitations in combination with all remaining limitations of Claim 1 are believed to render said Claim 1 and all claims dependent therefrom (Claims 2-5, 7-8, 10-13) patentable over the art of record.
While He teaches many of the limitations of Claim 1 as per page 8-10 of the non-final office action, neither He nor Sanada nor Sakamoto nor Naganawa nor Cheon nor Yeh nor any other art of record – either alone or in combination – teach or suggest the above-mentioned limitations of Claim 1.
With respect to Claim 15-19, the allowability resides in the overall structure of the device as recited in independent Claim 15 and at least in part because Claim 15 recites
“wherein the separator has a hollow-out region, and wherein when the separator is fastened in the cavity of the server, the hollow-out region is configured to avoid a circulating pump of the liquid-cooling assembly”.
The aforementioned limitations in combination with all remaining limitations of Claim 15 are believed to render said Claim 15 and all claims dependent therefrom (Claims 16-19) patentable over the art of record.
While He teaches many of the limitations of Claim 15 as per page 11-13 of the non-final office action, neither He nor Sanada nor Sakamoto nor Naganawa nor Cheon nor Yeh nor any other art of record – either alone or in combination – teach or suggest the above-mentioned limitations of Claim 15.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steven Ngo whose telephone number is (571)272-4295. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 7:30AM - 4:00PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jayprakash Gandhi can be reached at (571) 272-3740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/S.N./Examiner , Art Unit 2841
/Jayprakash N Gandhi/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2841
Prosecution Insights