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 .
Applicant’s response filed on 02/10/2026 has been entered and considered. Upon entering claims 16-19, 21, 24-29 were pending; and claims 1-15, 20, and 22-23 have been canceled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 02/10/2026 have been fully considered, however they are not persuasive for following reasons:
Applicant argues that Miyazaki does not teach “the first resistor, the inductor and the second electrical energy storage are connected in parallel”.
The examiner respectfully do not agree because Miyazaki clearly discloses the first resistor (fig. 1@ 11), the inductor (fig. 1@ 7) and the second electrical energy storage (fig. 1@ 10) are connected in parallel (see figure 1).
Therefore, the rejection is maintained.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 16-19, 21, and 24-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kirbie (US 2002/0186577) in view of Miyazaki (US 2015/0002113).
Regarding claim 16, Kirbie teaches an electrical pulse generating arrangement (see figures 4-6) connected or connectable to a load (fig. 4@ load 300), the electrical pulse generating arrangement comprising: an electrical pulse generating module (see figure 5) comprising: a first electrical energy storage module (fig. 5@ 522); and a power supply (fig. 5@ Power supply 110) configured to selectively charge the first electrical energy storage module (522), (see par. [0050] “Power supply 110 is operated to charge capacitor 522”); wherein the electrical pulse generating module is configured to generate one or more electrical pulses by charging and discharging of the first electrical energy storage module, wherein when the first electrical energy storage module is discharged, an electrical pulse is created to be conveyed to the load (see par. [0050-0051]); and an electrical pulse shape adjustment circuit (see figure 4: DROOP COMP. 270; figure 6: 270) connected or connectable in series with the load (300), the electrical pulse shape adjustment circuit comprising at least a first resistor (fig. 6@ 274), an inductor (fig. 6@ 272) and a second electrical energy storage module (fig. 6@ 276), the first resistor (274), the inductor (272) and the second electrical energy storage module (276) being interconnected (see figure 6).
However, Kirbie does not explicitly teach wherein the first resistor, the inductor and the second electrical energy storage are connected in parallel.
Miyazaki teaches the first resistor (fig. 1@ 11, the inductor (fig. 1@ 7) and the second electrical energy storage (fig. 1@ 10) are connected in parallel (see figure 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kirbie with the teachings of Miyazaki by having the first resistor, the inductor and the second electrical energy storage are connected in parallel in order to allows for independent control of pulse characteristics, enables the generation of more complex pulse trains by managing energy recovery and absorption, and can be more efficient in specific applications by controlling the voltage across each component.
Regarding claim 17, the combination teaches an electrical pulse generating arrangement, wherein the electrical pulse shape adjustment circuit further comprises a second resistor (fig. 1@ 9) connected in series with the second electrical energy storage module (fig. 1@ 10), wherein the series connection of the second resistor (9) and the second electrical energy storage module (10), the first resistor (11), the inductor (7) and the second electrical energy storage (10) are connected in parallel (see figure 1; Miyazaki).
Regarding claim 18, the combination teaches an electrical pulse generating arrangement according to claim 16, further comprising a transformer (fig. 5@ 250a), the transformer being arranged such that any electrical pulse generated by discharge of the first electrical energy storage module (522) is conveyed to the load (300) via the transformer (250a) (…); wherein the electrical pulse generating module comprises a switch unit (fig. 5@ 508) controllably switchable between at least a conducting state and a non-conducting state, wherein the switch unit (508) is connected to the power supply (110) and to the first electrical energy storage module (522), respectively, such that the power supply charges the first electrical energy storage module (522) by way of a charging current supplied by the power supply, or the first electrical energy storage module is discharged so as to create an electrical pulse to be conveyed to the load, based on switching of the at least one switch unit between at least the conducting state and the non-conducting state thereof (see figures 4 and 5; and par. [0050]; Kirbie).
Regarding claim 19, the combination teaches an electrical pulse generating arrangement, wherein the electrical pulse shape adjustment circuit (270) is connected between the switch unit and the transformer (250a), (see figures 4-6; Kirbie).
Regarding claim 21, the combination teaches an electrical pulse generating arrangement, wherein the electrical pulse shape adjustment circuit (270) is connected between the transformer and the load (300), (see figure 4; Kirbie).
Regarding claim 24, the combination teaches an electrical pulse generating arrangement, wherein a resistance of the first resistor and an inductance of the inductor are selected such that an RL time constant of the first resistor and the inductor corresponds to a desired pulse duration of any electrical pulse generated by the electrical pulse generating arrangement, (see par. [0067]; Kirbie).
Regarding claim 25, the combination teaches an electrical pulse generating arrangement, wherein the second electrical energy storage module comprises a capacitor, and wherein a capacitance of the second electrical energy storage module is in a range 1 μF to 200 μF, (see par. [0067]; Kirbie).
Regarding claim 26, the combination teaches an electrical pulse generating, wherein a resistance of the first resistor is in a range 1 mΩ to 200 mΩ, and an inductance of the inductor is in a range 0.1 μH to 100 μH, (see par. [0067]; Kirbie).
Regarding claim 27, the combination teaches an electrical pulse generating arrangement wherein a resistance of the second resistor is in a range 1 mΩ to 100 mΩ (see par. [0067]; Kirbie).
Regarding claim 28, the combination teaches an electrical pulse generating arrangement, wherein the electrical pulse generating arrangement is configured such that the pulse duration of any electrical pulse generated by the electrical pulse generating arrangement is in a range from 0.5 μs to 25 μs, (see par. [0032]; Kirbie).
Regarding claim 29, the combination teaches a system comprising a load (300) and an electrical pulse generating arrangement connected to the load (300) (see figures 4 and 5; Kirbie).
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 XUAN LY whose telephone number is (571)272-9885. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rexford Barnie can be reached at 571-272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/XUAN LY/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
/REXFORD N BARNIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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