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 .
Status of Claims
The status of the claims as filed in the submission dated 3/4/2026 are as follows:
Claims 1-19 are pending and are being examined.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked. As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Currently, no claim limitations invoke 112(f).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu (CN116118429, as cited in the IDS, machine translation utilized).
Re Claim 1. Liu teaches a vehicle thermal management system (Figure 1), comprising:
a refrigerant system including a compressor (21), a water-cooled condenser (15), a chiller-side expansion valve (262), and a chiller (23) (Figure 1; Page 6 paragraph 9 to page 7 paragraph 3); and
a coolant system including a cabin heater (16), a battery (12), a power electronics (PE) component (13 is an electric motor, which is considered a power electronics component, see Page 6 2nd paragraph which states “the motor is electrically connected with the battery, the electric energy of the battery is converted into mechanical energy to drive the electric vehicle”), and a control valve unit (11) (Figure 1; Page 5 last two paragraphs to Page 6 paragraph 8),
wherein the water-cooled condenser (15) includes a refrigerant passage (lower passage in 15) through which a refrigerant passes, and a coolant passage (upper passage in 15) through which a coolant passes (Figure 1; Page 4, Page 6 paragraph 6 and 12; The condenser has passages for coolant and refrigerant as seen in Figure 1), and
wherein the control valve unit is configured to allow the coolant passage of the water-cooled condenser and the cabin heater to be fluidly connected to or disconnected from each other (Figure 1; Page 4, Page 6 paragraph 6 and 12; The water-cooled condenser and the cabin heater are connected to each other as seen in Figure 1, thereby satisfying the alternative limitation).
Re Claim 2. Liu teaches the control valve unit is configured to allow the coolant passage of the water-cooled condenser and the battery to be fluidly connected to or disconnected from each other (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 3. Liu teaches the control valve unit includes a first cabin port (6 or 7) and a second cabin port (other 6 or 7) configured to fluidly communicate with the cabin heater (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
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.
Claims 4-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu (CN116118429, as cited in the IDS, machine translation utilized) in view of Enomoto (US2015/0217622A1, as previously cited).
Re Claim 4. Liu teaches the control valve unit the water-cooled condenser is in series with the cabin heater (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths), thus Liu fails to teach the control valve unit includes a first condenser port and a second condenser port configured to fluidly communicate with the coolant passage of the water-cooled condenser.
However, Enomoto teaches a control valve unit (21) comprises includes a first condenser port (21e) and a second condenser port (21b) configured to fluidly communicate with the coolant passage of the water-cooled condenser (32) (Figure 9, Paragraph 123). Thus, Enomoto teaches it is known to form the condenser as a separate fluid circuit connected to the valve unit.
Therefore, in view of Enomoto's teaching, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to form first and second condenser ports for the condenser in order to allow for selective connection to the condenser, thereby providing greater modes of operation by using the condenser for other components of the thermal management system.
Re Claim 5. Liu as modified by Enomoto teach the control valve unit is configured to allow the first cabin port and the first condenser port to be fluidly connected to or disconnected from each other, and wherein the control valve unit is configured to allow the second cabin port and the second condenser port to be fluidly connected to or disconnected from each other (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 6. Liu teaches the coolant system includes a cabin pump (19) configured to fluidly connect to the first cabin port (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 7. Liu teaches the control valve unit includes a battery port (5) configured to fluidly communicate with the battery, and a component port (9) configured to fluidly communicate with the PE component (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 8. Liu as modified by Enomoto teach the coolant system includes a battery pump (24 of Enomoto) configured to fluidly connect to the battery port (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths; Enomoto Figure 9).
Re Claim 9. Liu teaches the coolant system further includes a radiator (14) configured to fluidly connect to the control valve unit, and wherein the control valve unit includes a radiator port (2 or 3) configured to fluidly communicate with the radiator (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 10. Liu as modified by Enomoto teach the coolant system includes a radiator pump (23 of Enomoto) configured to fluidly connect to the radiator port (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths; Enomoto Figure 9).
Re Claim 11. Liu teaches the control valve unit is configured to allow the coolant passage of the water-cooled condenser and the radiator to be fluidly connected to or disconnected from each other (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 12. Liu teaches the control valve unit is configured to allow the radiator to be fluidly connected to at least one of the PE component or the battery (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 13. Liu teaches the chiller includes a refrigerant passage (bottom portion of 23) through which the refrigerant passes, and a coolant passage (top portion of 23) through which the coolant passes (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 14. Liu teaches the control valve unit includes a first chiller port and a second chiller port configured to fluidly communicate with the coolant passage of the chiller (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 15. Liu teaches the control valve unit is configured to allow the battery port to be fluidly connected to at least one of the first chiller port, the radiator port, or the first condenser port (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 16. Liu teaches the control valve unit is configured to allow the component port to be fluidly connected to at least one of the radiator port or the first chiller port (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 17. Liu teaches the control valve unit is configured to allow the radiator port to be fluidly connected to at least one of the component port, the first condenser port, or the battery port (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 18. Liu teaches the coolant system further includes an auxiliary pump (18) configured to be fluidly connect to the control valve unit, and wherein the control valve unit further includes an auxiliary port configured to fluidly communicate with the auxiliary pump (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Re Claim 19. Liu teaches the control valve unit is configured to allow the auxiliary port and the second chiller port to be fluidly connected to or disconnected from each other (Liu Figure 1, Pages 9-11 describe various operating modes for controlling the valve and flow paths).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/4/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on page 6 of the reply that “Liu does not disclose that the ten-way valve (11) is configured to selectively permit or block fluid communication between the water-cooled condenser (15) and the warm air core (16). Accordingly, the control valve unit (30) of the present disclosure differs from the ten-way valve (11) disclosed in Liu”. Liu teaches a control valve unit (11) that comprises a plurality of selectable ports for controlling fluid flow to various components (Figure 1; Page 4, Page 6 paragraph 6 and 12). The water-cooled condenser (15) and the cabin heater (16) are connected to each other as seen in Figure 1, thereby satisfying the alternative limitation. In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., “the ten-way valve (11) is configured to selectively permit or block fluid communication between the water-cooled condenser (15) and the warm air core (16)”) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). Therefore, the applicants’ arguments are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on page 6 of the reply that “Enomoto does not disclose a valve that selectively disconnects/isolates the water-cooled condenser from a heater (warm air core). More particularly, Enomoto only discloses the components being connected, without teaching selective connection/disconnection. Thus, the cited references, whether taken alone or in combination, fail to teach or suggest: "wherein the control valve unit is configured to allow the coolant passage of the water-cooled condenser and the cabin heater to be fluidly connected to or disconnected from each other", as recited in claim 1”. This argument is moot in view of no such rejection based on Enomoto for this limitation was made in the office action.
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 TRAVIS RUBY whose telephone number is (571)270-5760. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9AM-5PM.
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, Jianying Atkisson can be reached at 571-270-7740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRAVIS RUBY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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