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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
1. 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 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 of this title, 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.
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.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GAO (U.S. PG Pub No.: 2021/0368655 A1), hereinafter referred to as GAO ‘655, in view of XIANG (English Translated Chinese Pub No.: CN 106559968 A), hereinafter referred to as XIANG ‘968, further in view of Winkel et al (U.S. PG Pub No.: 2020/0260613 A1), hereinafter referred to as Winkel et al ‘613.
Regarding claim 1, Gao ‘655 discloses a processor (301) comprising one or more circuits associated with at least one modular unit (201), the modular unit to be in fluid coupling with a cold plate (303), the one or more circuits to cause the at least one flow controller to pass fluid through the microchannels to extract heat from at least one computing device (CPU) and to pass the fluid through the heat exchanger to enable dissipation of the heat by forced air from the variable speed fan {as shown in Figs. 1-3: ¶¶ [0003], [0025], [0027], [0029-0032], [0034], [0036-0042], [0045] and [0051]}.
However, Gao ‘655 fails to disclose the limitations of the least one modular unit that comprises a heat exchanger, a variable speed fan, and at least one flow controller, the modular unit adapted to be swappable; and the cold plate comprising microchannels.
XIANG ‘968 teaches: the concept of the least one modular unit that comprising a heat exchanger (314), a variable speed fan (302), and at least one flow controller (304) {as shown in Fig. 3: page 8, ¶¶ 1-4]}.
Applicant should note that claim limitations that employ phrases of the type: “ADAPTED TO”, “CAPABLE OF”, “SUFFICIENT TO” and “FOR” doing something are typical of claim limitations which may not distinguish over the prior art. It has been held that the recitation that an element is “adapted to” perform or is “capable of” or is “for” performing a function is not a positive limitation but only requires the ability to so perform. Since the prior art structure in the instant case is capable of performing the intended use, it meets the claim see MPEP § 2114 (II).
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Gao ‘655 modular unit by the modular unit of XIANG ‘968 so as to include the use of a heat exchanger, a variable speed fan, and at least one flow controller, in order to facilitate the cooling capacity of the heat exchanger {XIANG ‘968 – page 8, ¶4}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Gao ‘655 in view of XIANG ‘968 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 6.
Winkel et al ‘613 teach: the concept of the cold plate comprising microchannels {see ¶ [0192]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Gao ‘655 cold plate by the cold plate of Winkel et al ‘613 so as to include the use of microchannels, in order to provide fluid flow across an upper surface of the cold plate {Winkel et al ‘613 – ¶ [0192]}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Gao ‘655 in view of Winkel et al ‘613 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 1.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Winkel et al ‘613 disclose and teach the processor of claim 1, Gao ‘655 further teaches comprising: an output to provide signals for one or more of: the at least one flow controller or the variable speed fan, the one or more flow controllers to enable flow of the fluid through the cold plate, the variable speed fan to enable the forced air at different speeds {see ¶¶ [0039], [0049] and [0059]}.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Winkel et al ‘613 disclose and teach the processor of claim 1, Gao ‘655 further teaches comprising: an input to receive sensor inputs from sensors associated with the at least one computing device or the fluid, the processor to determine a change in a coolant state based in part on the sensor inputs and to cause or enable one or more of: the at least one flow controller to stop or cause a change of a flow of the fluid, the one or more circuits to cause a change to the variable speed fan or use of the modular unit {see ¶¶ [0036] and [0039]}.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GAO ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Winkel et al ‘613 as applied to claim 3 above, further in view of Dietz et al (U.S. PG Pub No.: 2020/0041589 A1), hereinafter referred to as Dietz et al ‘589.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Winkel et al ‘613 disclose and teach the processor of claim 3, Gao ‘655 further teaches comprising: one or more networks to receive the sensor inputs and to infer the change in the coolant state {see ¶¶ [0002], [0025-0026], [0037] and [0059]}.
However, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Winkel et al ‘613 fail to disclose the limitation of one or more neural networks.
Dietz et al ‘589 teach: the concept of a neural networks {see ¶ [0044]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Gao ‘655 network by the neural network of Dietz et al ‘589 so as to include the use of a neural networks, in order to facilitate establishing corrections between data of different types where the machine learning approaches can be used to train and hence parameterize an artificial intelligence algorithm {Dietz et al ‘589 – ¶ [0044]}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Gao ‘655 in view of Dietz et al ‘589 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 4.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GAO ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Winkel et al ‘613 as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Fontaine et al (U.S. PG Pub No.: 2021/0301940 A1), hereinafter referred to as Fontaine et al ‘940.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Winkel et al ‘613 disclose and teach the processor of claim 1, Gao ‘655 further teaches comprising: a secondary cooling loop (225) or a primary cooling loop (223), the one or more circuits to cause the at least one flow controller to enable cooling from the modular unit {see ¶¶ [0026] and [0036-0037]}.
However, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Winkel et al ‘613 fail to disclose and teach the limitation of one or more neural networks to infer a failure of the secondary cooling loop or the primary cooling loop.
Fontaine et al ‘940 teach: the concept of the processor comprising the neural networks to capable of infer failure of the secondary cooling loop or the primary cooling loop {see Figs. 1, 2 and 4: ¶¶ [0024], [0038], [0043], [0058] and [0073]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Gao ‘655 the processor by the processor of Fontaine et al ‘940 so as to include the use of a neural networks infer a failure, in order to automatically resolve the failure and restore normal operation with direct human involvement {Fontaine et al ‘940 – ¶ [0082]}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Gao ‘655 in view of Fontaine et al ‘940 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 5.
Claims 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GAO ‘655, in view of XIANG ‘968; further in view of Winkel et al ‘613; and Fontaine et al ‘940.
Regarding claim 6, Gao ‘655 discloses a processor (301) comprising one or more circuits associated with a modular unit (201), and adapted to be in fluid coupling with a cold plate (303), the one or more circuits to train one or more networks to infer, from sensor inputs of sensors associated with fluid of the cold plate or the modular unit, that a change in a coolant state has occurred, the processor to cause or enable one or more actions, the one or more actions comprising at least one flow controller (250) to stop or change a flow of the fluid, a change to a speed in a variable speed fan the modular unit, or use or replacement of the modular unit {as shown in Figs. 1-3: ¶¶ [0003], [0025-0027], [0029-0032], [0034], [0036-0042], [0045] and [0051]}.
However, Gao ‘655 fails to disclose the limitations of the modular unit the modular unit comprising a heat exchanger, a variable speed fan, and at least one flow controller, the module unit adapted to be swappable; the cold plate comprising microchannels; and a neural network to infer, from sensor inputs of the sensors.
XIANG ‘968 teaches: the concept of the modular unit comprising a heat exchanger (314), a variable speed fan (302), and at least one flow controller (304) {as shown in Fig. 3: page 8, ¶¶ 1-4]}.
Applicant should note that claim limitations that employ phrases of the type: “ADAPTED TO”, “CAPABLE OF”, “SUFFICIENT TO” and “FOR” doing something are typical of claim limitations which may not distinguish over the prior art. It has been held that the recitation that an element is “adapted to” perform or is “capable of” or is “for” performing a function is not a positive limitation but only requires the ability to so perform. Since the prior art structure in the instant case is capable of performing the intended use, it meets the claim see MPEP § 2114 (II).
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Gao ‘655 modular unit by the modular unit of XIANG ‘968 so as to include the use of a heat exchanger, a variable speed fan, and at least one flow controller, in order to facilitate the cooling capacity of the heat exchanger {XIANG ‘968 – page 8, ¶4}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Gao ‘655 in view of XIANG ‘968 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 6.
Winkel et al ‘613 teach: the concept of the cold plate comprising microchannels {see ¶ [0192]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Gao ‘655 cold plate by the cold plate of Winkel et al ‘613 so as to include the use of microchannels, in order to provide fluid flow across an upper surface of the cold plate {Winkel et al ‘613 – ¶ [0192]}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Gao ‘655 in view of Winkel et al ‘613 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 6.
Fontaine et al ‘940 teach: the concept of the processor comprising the neural networks capable of inferring from sensor inputs {see Figs. 1, 2 and 4: ¶¶ [0024], [0038], [0043], [0058] and [0073]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Gao ‘655 the processor by the processor of Fontaine et al ‘940 so as to include the use of a neural networks to infer, from sensor inputs, in order to facilitate establishing corrections between data of different types where the machine learning approaches can be used to train and hence parameterize an artificial intelligence algorithm.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Gao ‘655 in view of Fontaine et al ‘940 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 6.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968, Winkel et al ‘613 and Fontaine et al ‘940 disclose and teach the processor of claim 6, Gao ‘655 further teaches comprising: an output to provide signals for one or more of: the at least one flow controller or the variable speed fan, the one or more flow controllers to enable flow of the fluid through the cold plate, the variable speed fan to enable the forced air at different speeds {see ¶¶ [0039] and [0049]}.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968, Winkel et al ‘613 and Fontaine et al ‘940 disclose and teach the processor of claim 6, Gao ‘655 as modified by Fontaine et al ‘940 further teach the limitations comprising: the one or more neural networks to receive the sensor inputs and to be trained to infer the change in the coolant state as part of an analysis of prior sensor inputs and prior coolant states {see ¶¶ [0024] and [0073]}.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968, Winkel et al ‘613 and Fontaine et al ‘940 disclose and teach the processor of claim 6, Gao ‘655 further teaches comprising: an output to provide signals for the at least one flow controller to engage the modular unit based in part on a first threshold cooling requirement for the at least one computing device and to engage the secondary cooling loop based in part on a second threshold cooling requirement for the at least one computing device {see ¶¶ [0020], [0037], [0039-0043], [0050], [0057-0060]}.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968, Winkel et al ‘613 and Fontaine et al ‘940 disclose and teach the processor of claim 6, Gao ‘655 as modified by Fontaine et al ‘940 further teach the limitations of comprising: an input to receive the sensor inputs associated with a temperature from the at least one computing device or the fluid, the one or more neural networks trained to infer that the change in the coolant state has occurred based in part on the temperature and on prior temperature, the one or more circuits to cause a change in speed of the variable speed fan based in part on inference trained to be made by the one or more neural networks {see ¶¶ [0036] and [0039]}.
Claims 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GAO ‘655, in view of XIANG ‘968; further in view of Fontaine et al ‘940.
Regarding claim 11, Gao ‘655 discloses a processor (301) processor comprising one or more circuits, the one or more circuits comprising one or more networks to infer, from sensor inputs of sensors associated with fluid of a modular unit (201), that a change in a coolant state has occurred and to cause or enable one or more actions, the one or more actions comprising at least one flow controller (250) to stop or change a flow of the fluid, a change of a speed in the variable speed fan of the modular unit, or use or replacement of the modular unit {as shown in Figs. 1-3: ¶¶ [0003], [0025], [0027], [0029-0032], [0034], [0036-0042], [0045], [0049], [0051] and [00519}.
However, Gao ‘655 fails to disclose the limitations of a swappable modular unit comprising a heat exchanger, a variable speed fan, and at least one flow controller; and a neural network to infer, from sensor inputs of the sensors.
XIANG ‘968 teaches: the concept of a swappable modular unit comprising a heat exchanger (314), a variable speed fan (302), and at least one flow controller (304) {as shown in Fig. 3: page 8, ¶¶ 1-4]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Gao ‘655 modular unit by the modular unit of XIANG ‘968 so as to include the use of a heat exchanger, a variable speed fan, and at least one flow controller, in order to facilitate the cooling capacity of the heat exchanger {XIANG ‘968 – page 8, ¶4}.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Gao ‘655 in view of XIANG ‘968 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 11.
Fontaine et al ‘940 teach: the concept of the processor comprising the neural networks capable of inferring from sensor inputs {see Figs. 1, 2 and 4: ¶¶ [0024], [0038], [0043], [0058] and [0073]}.
Since all claimed elements were known in the art at the time of the invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Gao ‘655 the processor by the processor of Fontaine et al ‘940 so as to include the use of a neural networks to infer, from sensor inputs, in order to facilitate establishing corrections between data of different types where the machine learning approaches can be used to train and hence parameterize an artificial intelligence algorithm.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the Gao ‘655 in view of Fontaine et al ‘940 to obtain the invention as specified in claim 11.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Fontaine et al ‘940 disclose and teach the processor of claim 11, Gao ‘655 further discloses comprising: an output to provide signals for one or more of: the at least one flow controller or the variable speed fan, the one or more flow controllers to enable flow of the fluid through the cold plate, the variable speed fan to enable the forced air at different speeds {see ¶¶ [0039-0040], [0049] and [0059]}.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Fontaine et al ‘940 disclose and teach the processor of claim 11, Gao ‘655 as modified by Fontaine et al ‘940 further teach the limitations comprising: the one or more neural networks capable of receiving the sensor inputs and to infer the change in the coolant state as part of an analysis of prior sensor inputs and prior coolant states {see ¶¶ [0032], [0038], [0043], [0045] and [0058]}.
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968 and Fontaine et al ‘940 disclose and teach the processor of claim 11, Gao ‘655 further comprising: an output to provide signals for the at least one flow controller to engage the modular unit based in part on a first threshold cooling requirement for the at least one computing device and to engage the secondary cooling loop based in part on a second threshold cooling requirement for the at least one computing device {see ¶¶ [0019-0020], [0030-0031], [0033], [0036], [0042] and [0059]}.
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Gao ‘655, XIANG ‘968, and Fontaine et al ‘940 disclose and teach the processor of claim 11, Gao ‘655 as modified by Fontaine et al ‘940 further teach the limitations comprising: an input to receive the sensor inputs associated with a temperature from the at least one computing device or the fluid, the one or more neural networks to infer that the change in the coolant state has occurred based in part on the temperature and on prior temperature, the one or more circuits to cause a change in speed of the variable speed fan based in part on inference made by the one or more neural networks {see [0029], [0036], ¶¶ [0039]}.
Response to Arguments
2. Applicant's arguments, see pages 6-10, filed 01/12/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) claim(s) 1-15 under 35 USC § 103(a) have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection as detailed above.
Conclusion
3. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new grounds of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EMMANUEL E DUKE whose telephone number is (571)270-5290. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday thru Friday; 6:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FRANTZ JULES can be reached on (571)272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EMMANUEL E DUKE/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
03/07/2026
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