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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 08/13/2024, 08/21/2024, and 08/19/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Regarding the limitation “a high-pressure pressure sensor configured to detect temperature of the refrigerant condensed in the water heat exchanger”, the specification does not provide adequate written description on how this function would be practiced by one of ordinary skills in the art without undue experimentation.
In other words, the application does not provide enough supporting details/explanation on how the pressure sensor detects temperature of the refrigerant.
As the concerns of the examiner regarding the aforementioned claimed limitation is not satisfactorily resolved, doubts are consequently raised with respect to the possession of the claimed invention at the time the invention was made.
Based on the evidence regarding the each of the wands factors listed below, the specification, at the time the invention was made, would not have taught one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the full scope of the claimed invention.
A: Nature of the invention.
The claimed invention requires that the “pressure sensor detects temperature of the refrigerant”. One skilled in the art would not ascertain how the pressure sensor detects temperature of the refrigerant; as the art recognizes using a pressure sensor to detect pressure and a temperature sensor to detect temperature. The mechanism by which the pressure sensor detects temperature has not been disclosed by the specification.
B: The amount of direction provided by the inventor.
The claimed invention requires that the “pressure sensor detects temperature of the refrigerant”. As the specification does not provide enough guidance on how to use a pressure sensor to detect a temperature of a refrigerant, one skilled in the art would not be able to practice the claim invention without additional guidance from the inventor.
C: Existence of working examples.
The existence of working examples illustrating the mechanism by which the pressure sensor detects temperature of the refrigerant is lacking. As the specification does not provide enough guidance on how the pressure sensor detects temperature of the refrigerant, additional instruction would be needed in order to provide one skilled in the art with the necessary information to produce a working example.
Dependent claims 2-13 are rejected under 112(a) for depending upon a claim that fails to comply with the written description requirement.
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 1-13 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 1 recite the limitations “a high-pressure pressure sensor configured to detect temperature of the refrigerant condensed in the water heat exchanger” in lines 9-10. It is unclear as to how the pressure sensor detects temperature of the refrigerant condensed in the water heat exchanger. The art recognizes using a pressure sensor to detect pressure and a temperature sensor to detect temperature. Because the manner by which the pressure sensor detects temperature has not been disclosed by the specification; the scope of the claim is indefinite. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 calls for the limitation “the refrigerant condensed in the water heat exchanger” twice in lines 5 and 8; which limitation lacks antecedent basis. Appropriate correction is required.
Applicant is encouraged to recite “the refrigerant from water heat exchanger” in lieu of the above.
Claim(s) 2-13 is/are indefinite for their dependency on an indefinite base claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-15 are allowed.
The examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance is indicated below.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Claims 1-13 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The closest prior art of record, Okada (EP 1972871 A2), discloses a heat pump (Fig. 1) comprising a compressor #1; a water heat exchanger #10 that exchanges heat between a refrigerant and water ([0007]); an expansion valve #6 configured to expand the refrigerant condensed in the water heat exchanger; an outdoor heat exchanger #9 configured to exchange heat between the refrigerant expanded in the expansion valve and outdoor air ([0011]); a high-pressure pressure sensor #Tix configured to detect temperature of the refrigerant condensed in the water heat exchanger ([0010]); a water output temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of water having undergone heat exchange in the water heat exchanger (inherently present. See discussion in [0013]); and a controller, comprising circuitry configured to determine a target condensation temperature of the refrigerant based on a result of detecting of the water output temperature sensor; and compares the target condensation temperature with a current condensation temperature to control an operation of the compressor ([0013]). Similar arrangements are disclosed by Tamaki (US 9951962 B2), Kasai (US 20220057122 A1), Kawagoe (US 20130213072 A1), Ballet (US 20100236283 A1), and Ushijima (US 20090199581 A1). However, neither Okada nor the other prior art documents above disclose wherein the controller compares the target condensation temperature with a current condensation temperature detected by a high-pressure pressure sensor; and control an opening degree of the expansion valve based on a result of the comparing. There is no teaching in the prior art of record that would, reasonably and absent impermissible hindsight, motivate one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the teachings of the prior art above to incorporate the aforementioned limitations. This reason of allowance also applies to the associated method claim 14.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tamaki (US 9951962 B2), Kasai (US 20220057122 A1), Kawagoe (US 20130213072 A1), Ballet (US 20100236283 A1), and Ushijima (US 20090199581 A1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIONEL W NOUKETCHA whose telephone number is (571)272-8438. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon - Fri: 08:00 AM - 04:00 PM.
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, Frantz Jules can be reached on 571-272-6681. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LIONEL NOUKETCHA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763