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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3 March 2026 and 6 May 2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments/Amendments
Applicant's amendment filed 5 March 2026 regarding the claim 1 objection has been corrected and the objection is withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 5 March 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant provides two main arguments against the prior art (US 2006/0114642 by Liu et al.): Liu fails to disclose a controller which can “dynamically match the electrical power supply” and Liu fails to disclose “wherein the dispatchable electrical energy storage components operate at different timescales, including at least one timescale sufficient to remove or reduced harmonic distortion in the electric power supply.”
Regarding the first argument, the system of Liu uses grid power to produce hydrogen by way of an electrolyzer [see Figure 1, (18)] as discussed in paragraph 0025, “producing hydrogen 26 that may be utilized for useful purpose, for example, as fuel for hydrogen-based vehicles or as fuel to operate the fuel cells to generate electricity.” As discussed further in paragraph 0026, the electrolyzer uses energy as a “reverse fuel cell” that produces hydrogen (stored energy) which can later be utilized by the fuel cells to generate electricity. This satisfies the requirement of storing energy when available electric power is plentiful. When the grid is temporarily unavailable, the system of Liu utilizes the energy stored (hydrogen produced by the electrolyzer) to generate electricity by way of the fuel cells as stated in paragraph 0044, “or to generate electricity via fuel cells when power from the grid is temporarily unavailable…” Whereas the Applicant argues that the hydrogen is “collected and transported” as disclosed in paragraph 0031 of Liu, this is merely one example and it is stated in paragraph 0032 of Liu states “the electrolyzer could be coupled to a fuel cell assembly, where the hydrogen produced by the electrolyzer is used to produce electricity.” Therefore, the system can directly produce electricity.
Further, claim 1 states “dynamically storing energy in one or more of the dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components when the available electric power exceeds that required by the one or more loads, and/or dynamically supplying electrical energy from one or more of the dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components when the available electric power is less than that required by the one or more loads” regarding operation. As such, only one of these limitations is required. Therefore, the rejection is maintained.
Regarding the second argument, the limitation “wherein the dispatchable electrical energy storage components operate at different timescales” is broad. All that is required from the language present in this limitation is that any component within the system operates at a different timescale. Timescale is interpreted as its general definition as an interval. The system of Liu has both active and passive components. The controller, [see Figure 1, (22)] requires a “timescale” to actively monitor and control the other active components. The active switches, for example (92)-(114) of Figure 7, within the converters [see Figure 1, (14) and (16)] would operate at a different “timescale” than the passive components such as capacitors in Figure 7 (128) and (130). The system of Liu is disclosed to operate at a “timescale sufficient to remove or reduced harmonic distortion in the electric power supply” in at least paragraph 0026 “while also providing the power grid 12 with controllable reactive power acting as a VAR compensator” and paragraph 0039 “allow for the generation of waveforms close to a desired sinusoidal shape to reduce the amount of filter required to eliminate high frequency components.” If this limitation is meant as the intervals for which the electrical power apparatus of the Applicant actively removes or reduces harmonic distortion, it needs to be stated more clearly. As such, the rejection is maintained.
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 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2006/0114642 by Liu et al. (Liu hereinafter).
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses an electrical power apparatus [see at least Figure 1] for coupling between an electrical power supply [see at least Figures 1 and 2, (12)] and one or more electrical power loads [see at least Figure 2, (36); paragraph 0024], including: a plurality of dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components providing at least one of dynamically dispatchable energy storage thereto and energy retrieval therefrom [see at least Figures 1 and 2; paragraph 0031, “collected and transported”]; and a controller to dynamically control the operation of the one or more dynamically dispatchable energy storage components in order to dynamically match the electrical power supply to the one or more loads by dynamically storing energy in one or more of the dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components when the available electric power exceeds that required by the one or more loads, and/or dynamically supplying electrical energy from one or more of the dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components when the available electric power is less than that required by the one or more loads [see at least paragraphs 0027 and 0046]; wherein the dispatchable electrical energy storage components operate at different timescales, including at least one timescale sufficient to remove or reduce harmonic distortion in the electric power supply [see at least paragraphs 0033 and 0035]; and wherein the dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components include at least one of a dynamically dispatchable hydrogen production and storage component providing dynamically dispatchable energy storage thereto, and a dynamically dispatchable generator fueled at least in part by hydrogen and providing dynamically dispatchable energy retrieval therefrom [see at least paragraphs 0030-0032].
Regarding claim 2, Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components provide only dynamically dispatchable energy retrieval therefrom [see at least paragraphs 0030-0032; when storing].
Regarding claim 3, Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components provide only dynamically dispatchable energy storage thereto [see at least paragraphs 0030-0032; when providing].
Regarding claim 4, Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components provide both dynamically dispatchable energy storage thereto and dynamically dispatchable energy retrieval therefrom [see at least paragraphs 0030-0032].
Regarding claim 5, Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 3, wherein the dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components include the dynamically dispatchable hydrogen production and storage component [see at least paragraphs 0030-0032].
Regarding claim 6, Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 5, wherein at least a portion of hydrogen generated by the dynamically dispatchable hydrogen production and storage component is not used by the apparatus to generate energy but is transported elsewhere [see at least paragraph 0031].
Regarding claim 7, Liu discloses the apparatus of any one of claim 1, wherein the plurality of dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components includes an electromagnetic energy storage component operating at a timescale sufficient to remove or reduce harmonic distortion in the electric power supply by operating as a dynamically variable sink of electric power, or as a dynamically variable source of electrical power [see at least paragraphs 0033 and 0035].
Regarding claim 8, Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the electromagnetic energy storage component includes a first dynamically reconfigurable magnetic core configured to operate as a dynamically variable sink of electric power, and a second dynamically reconfigurable magnetic core coupled to the electric power supply and configured to operate as a dynamically variable source of electrical power [see at least paragraph 0035; claim 9; claim 11].
Regarding claim 9, Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 7, wherein the electromagnetic energy storage component includes a set of capacitors to store electrical energy [see at least Figure 3, (46); Figure 10, (180), (182) and (184)].
Regarding claim 10, Liu discloses the apparatus of any one of claim 7, wherein the or each electromagnetic energy storage component includes at least one dynamically reconfigurable magnetic core coupled to the electric power supply and configured to mitigate harmonic distortion in the electric power supply [see at least paragraph 0033].
Regarding claim 11, Liu discloses the apparatus of any one of claim 1, wherein the plurality of dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components includes an electromagnetic energy generation component [see at least paragraph 0033; claim 11].
Regarding claim 12, Liu discloses the apparatus of any one of claim 1, including a controller and a switching matrix of power electronics converter cells coupled to the dynamically dispatchable hydrogen production and storage component [see at least Figures 6-7], wherein the controller is configured to dynamically cause the switching matrix to act as at least one of a rectifier to convert AC to DC, and an inverter to convert DC to AC [see at least paragraph 0034].
Regarding claim 13, Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to control the switching matrix to dynamically connect and disconnect the dynamically dispatchable hydrogen production and storage component from the electric power supply [see at least paragraphs 0030-0035; claim 12].
Regarding claim 14, Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein each of the power electronics converter cells includes SiC, GaN or insulated-gate bipolar power transistors and respective diodes configured to perform high speed switching [see at least Figure 10; paragraph 0041].
Regarding claim 15, Liu discloses in an electrical power apparatus as claimed in any one of claim 1, a computer-implemented process, including dynamically controlling the operation of the one or more dynamically dispatchable energy storage components in order to dynamically match the electrical power supply to the one or more loads by dynamically storing energy in one or more of the dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components when the available electric power exceeds that required by the one or more loads, and/or dynamically supplying electrical energy from one or more of the dynamically dispatchable electrical energy storage components when the available electric power is less than that required by the one or more loads [see at least paragraphs 0030-0035; the controller is programmed].
Regarding claim 16, Liu discloses a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to execute the process of claim 15 [see at least paragraphs 0030-0035; the controller is programmed].
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 Joel Barnett whose telephone number is (571)272-2879. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST.
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/JOEL BARNETT/Examiner, Art Unit 2836
/REGIS J BETSCH/SPE, Art Unit 2836
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