DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-6 of U.S. Application 18/719232 filed on June 12, 2024 are presented for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on June 12, 2024 and May 16, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
5. The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims.
The features of claim 6, lines 2-3 “a cooling medium channel is provided in a vicinity of the exposed portion of the extending portion that is exposed through the insulating resin” are not shown in the drawings.
Therefore, the features must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
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. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Taguchi (WO 2015151214, see English Machine Translation attached).
Regarding claim 1, Taguchi teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 below) a stator (10) (Abstract), comprising:
a stator core (11) including a yoke (11a) and a plurality of teeth (11b) (Abstract; page 2);
a plurality of coils (11) that are wound one-to-one onto the plurality of teeth (11b) (pages 2-3);
a busbar (14-17) disposed adjacent to the stator core (11), the busbar (14-17) including joining portions (14e, 15e, 16e, 17e) to which end portions (13a) of the coils (13) are joined and an extending portion (see annotated fig. 6 below) that extends in a circumferential direction of the stator core (11) (Abstract; pages 3 and 5);
an insulating resin (12) that is molded (molded is a product by process limitation not given patentable weight, see below) integrally with the busbar (14-17) in a state in which the extending portion (see annotated fig. 6 below) is partially exposed (Abstract; pages 2-3); and
a sealing resin (19) formed of a resin with higher thermal conductivity than the insulating resin (12) (since it is the sealing resin 19 that is used to remove heat from the device, Abstract; pages 4 and 6),
the sealing resin (19) sealing in at least an exposed portion of the extending portion (see annotated fig. 6 below) that is exposed through the insulating resin (12) (Abstract; pages 4 and 6).
The Examiner points out the limitation of “an insulating resin that is molded” is considered as a product-by-process limitation. “Even though product-by-process claims are limited by and defined by the process, determination of patentability is based on the product itself. The patentability of a product does not depend on its method of production. If the product in the product-by-process claim is the same as or obvious from a product of the prior art, the claim is unpatentable even though the prior product was made by a different process.” In re Thorpe, 777F, 2d 659, 698, 227 USPQ 964, 966 (Fed. Cir. 1985); see also MPEP 2113.
PNG
media_image1.png
722
546
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
724
528
media_image2.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image3.png
894
670
media_image3.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 2/1, Taguchi teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 above) a portion of the extending portion (see annotated fig. 6 above) is exposed through the insulating resin (12) in an axial direction of the stator core (11) (figs. 2 and 5; Abstract; pages 2, 3 and 5).
Regarding claim 3/2/1, Taguchi teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 above) the exposed portion of the extending portion (see annotated fig. 6 above) that is exposed through the insulating resin (12) is a surface at one plate thickness direction side of the extending portion (see annotated fig. 6 above) (figs. 2 and 5; Abstract; pages 2, 3 and 5).
Regarding claim 4/1, Taguchi teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 above) a portion of the extending portion (see annotated fig. 6 above) is exposed through the insulating resin (12) in a radial direction of the stator core (11) (fig. 5; Abstract; pages 2, 3 and 5).
Regarding claim 5/1, Taguchi teaches (see figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 above) the stator core (11), the plurality of coils (13) and the insulating resin (12) are sealed in by the sealing resin (19) (Abstract; pages 4 and 6).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. 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.
9. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Taguchi in view of Naito (JP 2016032316, see English Machine Translation attached).
Regarding claim 6/1, Taguchi teaches the device of claim 1 but does not explicitly teach a cooling medium channel is provided in a vicinity of the exposed portion of the extending portion that is exposed through the insulating resin.
However, Naito teaches (see figs. 3 and 4 below) a cooling medium channel (53) is provided in a vicinity of the exposed portion of the extending portion (61a, 61b, 61c) that is exposed through the insulating resin (50) Abstract) in order to provide improved cooling efficiency (Naito, Abstract).
PNG
media_image4.png
440
864
media_image4.png
Greyscale
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the device Taguchi and provide a cooling medium channel is provided in a vicinity of the exposed portion of the extending portion that is exposed through the insulating resin as taught by Naito in order to provide improved cooling efficiency (Naito, Abstract).
Conclusion
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEXANDER A SINGH whose telephone number is (571)270-0243. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am to 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, Seye Iwarere can be reached at 571-270-5112. 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.
/ALEXANDER A SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834