DETAILED ACTION
This is the first Office Action regarding application number 18/724,527, filed on 06/26/2024, which is a 371 of PCT/JP2022/046827, filed on 12/20/2022, and which claims foreign priority to JP 2021-214740, filed on 12/28/2021.
This action is in response to the Applicant’s Response received 07/14/2026.
Election of Restricted Inventions
The Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I and Species A1 (claims 1-5) in the reply is acknowledged.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-16 are pending.
Claims 6-16 are withdrawn.
Claims 1-5 are examined below.
No claim is allowed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 and 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by SUN (“Stretchable fabric generates electric power from woven thermoelectric fibers”).
Regarding claim 1, SUN teaches a thermoelectric conversion element (Fig. 1) comprising: a heat insulating material (acrylic fibers that wrap each TE fiber) having a predetermined thickness (thickness of acrylic fibers); and
a thermoelectric conversion member (p-type and n-type thermoelectric ) having a thread-shape having a diameter of 150 µm or more (carbon nanotube fiber is produced to have a diameter of about 280 micrometers composed of thousands of multiwalled CNTs, pg. 3, left. col, para. 1), having a portion disposed inside the heat insulating material and having a predetermined length in a thickness direction of the heat insulating material (the CNTFs are within the acrylic fibers), and generating electromotive force due to a temperature difference in the thickness direction of the heat insulating material (it is a TE device generating electrical power).
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Regarding claim 3, SUN teaches the thermoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, wherein the thermoelectric conversion member includes a carbon nanotube and a binder binding the carbon nanotube (the TE fiber may include PEDOT with the CNTs, an electrically conductive resin).
Regarding claim 4, SUN teaches the thermoelectric conversion element according to claim 3, wherein the thermoelectric conversion member further includes a dopant (p- and n-type dopants added to CNTs, pg. 3, cols. 1-2).
Regarding claim 5, SUN teaches the thermoelectric conversion element according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the thermoelectric conversion member is coated (surface coated with acrylic insulating layer, Fig. 1).
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 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.
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over SUN (“Stretchable fabric generates electric power from woven thermoelectric fibers”) in view of NAKAYA (US 2014/0174495 A1).
Regarding claim 2, SUN teaches the thermoelectric conversion element according to claim 1 (see rejection above), but does not disclose expressly that the heat insulating material includes at least one of glass wool, rock wool, and calcium silicate.
NAKAYA teaches a thermoelectric conversion element having a heat insulating material surrounding portions of the thermoelectric legs, and this material is glass wool or rock wool (para. 121), and adding this material as described provides low thermal conductivity and higher thermoelectric conversion efficiency (para. 122).
Skilled artisans would have found it obvious to modify SUN and add glass wool or rock wool as a heat insulating material in order to provide low thermal conductivity and higher thermoelectric conversion efficiency as taught by NAKAYA.
Conclusion
No claim is allowed.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELO TRIVISONNO whose telephone number is (571) 272-5201 or by email at <angelo.trivisonno@uspto.gov>. The examiner can normally be reached on MONDAY-FRIDAY, 9:00a-5:00pm EST. The examiner's supervisor, NIKI BAKHTIARI, can be reached at (571) 272-3433.
/ANGELO TRIVISONNO/
Primary Examiner
Prosecution Insights