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 .
Response to Amendment
The previous 112 rejections are moot in view of the amendments.
Th previous made 102 rejection is moot in view of newly applied art necessitated by the amendments.
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 –
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ichinose et al JP 2003164166A.
Ichinose teaches:
1. An uninterruptable power supply device comprising:
a semiconductor switch (128, FIG1) that is connected between a first AC power supply (200) and a load (400a);
an inverter (100) that converts DC power supplied from a DC power supply into AC power; and
a control device (300) configured to control the semiconductor switch and the inverter wherein
i) when the control device detects that the first power supply has a power failure, the control device is configured to turn off the semiconductor switch and control the inverter to supply the AC power to the load (See translation @ [0016] noting “if the power system 200 becomes abnormal” state), and
ii) when the control device detects that the first AC power supply is normal, the control device is configured to turn on the semiconductor switch and control the inverter to supply an assist current to the load if a load current is larger than a threshold current (CT3 via 600 input to 300, [0016]), the assist current being a difference between the load current and the threshold current (see [0016] with emphasis on “peak cut” state and FIG2 and corresponding specification with emphasis on the “current command Isys and associated calculated equation (1) @ [0016]).
Claim 3. The uninterruptible power supply device according to claim 1, wherein, if the control device detects that the load current is smaller than the threshold current (CT3 via 600 input to 300, [0016]) when the first AC power supply is normal, the control device is configured to set the inverter is set to a standby state in which the inverter does not transmit and receive a current to and from the first AC power supply and the load (See “GP” signal from controller 300 to inverter and corresponding spec. @ [0016] noting “standby state” read on by said GP signal not being sent).
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichinose et al JP 2003164166A.
Ichinose fails to teach:
2. The uninterruptible power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the threshold current is set to a rated current of the semiconductor switch or lower.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to set the current threshold to a value including a value equal to a rated current of the semiconductor switch or a value lower than the semiconductor switch, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 5 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.
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 DANIEL CAVALLARI whose telephone number is (571)272-8541. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 0900-18:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rexford Barnie can be reached at (571)272-7492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DANIEL CAVALLARI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
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