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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1 and 14, the term “hot fluid” in each claim is a relative term which renders the claims indefinite. The term “hot fluid” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Specifically, one of ordinary skill in the art would not reasonably recognize what fluid temperature level would or would not be considered to be “hot”. For examination purposes the claim is presumed to describe rejecting heat from the heat exchanger to a fluid circuit as appears to be shown in Fig. 1.
Regarding claims 2-13 and 15-19, the claims are rejected due to dependence from rejected claims.
Further regarding claims 4, 6, and 7, the terms “medium temperature” and “low temperature” in each claim are relative terms which render the claims indefinite. The terms “medium temperature” and “low temperature” are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Specifically, one of ordinary skill in the art would not reasonably recognize what temperature level would or would not be considered to be “medium” or “low”. For examination purposes the claim is presumed to describe the configuration shown in Fig. 1 where it appears as though evaporator 30B and 18B operate to provide relatively cooler temperatures than evaporator 30A and compressor(s) 18A.
Examiner Note
Claims 1-19 are considered to read over the prior art of record because the prior art of record does not teach or suggest the claimed combination of features including a heat recovery system having a gas cooler with first and second refrigerant paths that transfer heat between each other. For example, US 10,502,461 (see Fig. 3A) and US 5,826,433 (see Fig. 1) each teach similar systems to that as claimed, wherein one or more valves are utilized to control flow through heat reclaim exchangers and a gas cooler. However, there is nothing in the prior art of record that would, reasonably and absent impermissible hindsight, lead one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the references to utilize a gas cooler with first and second flow paths configured in the specific manner as required by the claims.
However, these claims cannot be considered to be "allowable” at this time due to the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112 set forth in this Office Action. Therefore, upon the claims being rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112 set forth in this Office Action, further consideration of these claims with respect to the prior art will be necessary.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN BRADFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-5199. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:00 ET.
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/JONATHAN BRADFORD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763