DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the Preliminary amendment filed on November 04, 2024.
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 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.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on November 04, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were filed on November 04, 2024. These drawings are accepted by the Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
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 14-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (U.S. Pub. No. 2011/0291606 A1, reference provided as part of the Information Disclosure Statement “IDS”).
In re claim 14, Lee discloses an electrolysis plant, comprising:
an electrolyzer (load);
a circuit arrangement (200) having an input for connection to an external DC source (120) and an output connected to said electrolyzer;
said circuit arrangement including a transformer (transformer of 220) having a primary side and a secondary side, an inverter (210) connected on said primary side and a rectifier (230) connected on said secondary side, and enabling a direct current to be supplied to said electrolyzer (load).
In re claim 15, Lee discloses wherein said rectifier (210) is at least one of a controllable rectifier or a three-phase rectifier (Para. 0060-0064).
In re claim 16, Lee discloses wherein said rectifier is a B6 bridge rectifier (Para. 0060-0064).
In re claim 17, Lee discloses wherein said circuit arrangement is configured for an AC frequency thereof to be set to a predetermined value (Para. 0041-0044).
In re claim 18, Lee discloses wherein said circuit arrangement is designed for an AC frequency that is greater than a grid frequency in a range of 50-60 Hz (Para. 0041-0044).
In re claim 19, Lee discloses wherein said circuit arrangement is designed for an AC frequency of 500 Hz to 50 kHz (Para. 0041-0044).
In re claim 20, Lee discloses wherein said circuit arrangement is designed for an AC frequency of 10 kHz to 30 kHz (Para. 0041-0044).
In re claim 21, Lee discloses wherein said transformer has a transformation ratio of less than 10 (Para. 0060-0064).
In re claim 22, Lee discloses wherein the transformation ratio of said transformer lies between 1.5 and 7.5 (Para. 0060-0064).
In re claim 23, Lee discloses wherein said transformer has a primary-side neutral point that is not grounded (Para. 0060-0064).
In re claim 24, Lee discloses wherein said transformer has a secondary-side neutral point that is not grounded (Para. 0060-0064).
In re claim 25, Lee discloses wherein said transformer has a secondary-side neutral point that is not grounded (Para. 0060-0064).
In re claim 26, Lee discloses a plant network (Fig. 1), comprising:
an electrolysis plant according to claim 14 (see rejection as explained above); and
a renewable energy plant (130) having an output for providing a direct current, said renewable energy plant having an output forming the DC source connected to the input of the circuit arrangement of said electrolysis plant (Para. 0041-0044).
In re claim 27, Lee discloses wherein said renewable energy plant comprises a wind energy plant (Para. 0042).
In re claim 28, Lee discloses wherein said wind energy plant includes a rectifier with an output connected to said input of the circuit arrangement of said electrolysis plant (Para. 0041-0044).
In re claim 29, Lee discloses wherein said renewable energy plant comprises a photovoltaic plant (Para. 0042).
In re claim 30, Lee discloses wherein said photovoltaic plant includes a DC chopper with an output connected to said input of the circuit arrangement of said electrolysis plant (Fig. 1).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAFAEL O. DE LEÓN DOMENECH whose telephone number is (571)270-0517. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hammond Crystal can be reached at (571) 270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAFAEL O DE LEON DOMENECH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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