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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
The factual inquiries 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(s) 1 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Knight et al [5718573], further in view of Helmsen et al [20100311001].
With respect to claim 1, Knight discloses: A total primary combustion burner, comprising, a burner body (2) with an air-fuel mixture chamber (8, 10) into which an air-fuel mixture of a fuel gas and primary air is supplied [col 3, line 14-37]; and a combustion plate portion (22, 24) covering an opening surface, which faces the air-fuel mixture chamber, of the burner body, wherein a backfire suppressing plate portion (20) is disposed opposite the combustion plate portion with a gap inside the air-fuel mixture chamber [col 3, line 1-13], wherein the air-fuel mixture passing through the backfire suppressing plate portion is configured to eject from the combustion plate portion and undergoes combustion [see FIG 2, col 3, line 38-col 4, line 10], and wherein hydrogen gas is utilized as the fuel gas [col 4, line 32-44].
Knight however does not show the sintered sheet as claimed.
Helmsen makes up for these deficiencies by teaching a burner (1) [see abstract] and
{cl. 1, cont’d} wherein the backfire suppressing plate portion (6) has a sintered sheet formed by sintering an aggregate of metallic fibers or beads [paragraph 0016].
Knight further shows:
{cl. 6} The total primary combustion burner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the combustion plate portion has a sintered sheet formed by sintering an aggregate of metallic fibers or beads [paragraph 0016].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the apparatus of Knight with the teachings of Helmsen because Helmsen provides a known manner in which to provide an easily serviceable backfire suppression plate.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 and 7 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Modifying the prior art to include the claim limitations of 2-5 and 7 would require modifying a teaching reference.
Conclusion
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/AVINASH A SAVANI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
8/25/2026
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