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 .
Status of the Claims
The status of the claims as filed in the reply dated 5/27/2026 are as follows:
Claim 1 is amended,
Claims 1-9 are currently pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mishkinis (European Patent Publication EP3376148A1, previously cited).
Regarding claim 1, Mishkinis discloses an evaporator assembly (fig 3b) comprising: at least one compensation chamber (9a, 9b) and at least one capillary pump (see annotated fig 3b below) comprising a primary wick (4), the evaporator assembly including a secondary wick (5) extending through the at least one compensation chamber and the at least one capillary pump and directly contacting the primary wick thereof, the primary wick surrounding the secondary wick,
Wherein the at least one compensation chamber and the at least one capillary pump are arranged parallel to one another along respective distinct axes (see annotated fig 3b below),
Wherein the compensation chamber and the capillary pump are hydraulically connected in parallel (via pipe 12, see annotated fig 3b below) at both their axial ends through respective manifolds (see annotated fig 3b below), the secondary wick (5) extending through said manifolds.
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Regarding claim 2, Mishkinis further discloses a plurality of compensation chambers (9a, 9b) and a plurality of capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3b above) arranged parallel to one another.
Regarding claim 3, Mishkinis further discloses a plurality of parallel branches (see annotated fig 5a below), each branch including two capillary pumps (see annotated fig 5a below).
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Regarding claim 4, Mishkinis further discloses a first manifold (see annotated fig 3b below) connected to a liquid inlet port (see annotated fig 3b below) and to first ends of the compensation chambers (9a, 9b) and a second manifold (see annotated fig 3b below) connecting respective second ends of the compensation chambers (9a, 9b) and first ends of the capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3b below).
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Regarding claim 5, Mishkinis further discloses wherein the compensation chambers (9a, 9b) are disposed at opposite sides of the evaporator assembly, the capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3b below) being arranged between the compensation chambers.
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Regarding claim 7, Mishkinis further discloses further discloses the capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3b below) form a tube bundle connected by common thermally conductive plates (3, connected via 12, 14) configured to extract heat from an extended surface area.
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Regarding claim 8, Mishkinis further discloses further discloses wherein vapor outlet ports (12) of the capillary pumps (see annotated fig 3b above) are connected to a common vapor outlet manifold (14).
Regarding claim 9, Mishkinis further discloses a loop heat pipe (LHP) system including at least one evaporator assembly as claimed in claim 1 and at least one condenser (see fig 3b).
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, 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.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mishkinis as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of An (Korean Patent Publication KR20170026205A).
Regarding claim 6, Mishkinis discloses all previous claim limitations. However, Mishkinis does not explicitly disclose wherein the capillary pumps form a tube bundle of a finned heat exchanger configured to extract heat from a gas flow. An, however, discloses an evaporator assembly wherein a capillary pump (17) is a finned heat exchanger configured to extract heat from a gas flow. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the claimed invention for Mishkinis to provide the fins of An in order to allow for heat exchange with a gas flow. This would result in the capillary pumps forming a tube bundle of a finned heat exchanger.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/27/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues (pages 5-9) that Mishkinis does not teach the limitations of amended claim 1. However, outlined above in the rejection of claim 1, Mishkinis does teach these limitations.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 HARRY E ARANT whose telephone number is (571)272-1105. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10-6 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jianying Atkisson can be reached at (571)270-7740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HARRY E ARANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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