Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 22, 2026
Application No. 18/877,460

HEAT DISSIPATION DEVICE FOR AN ELECTRONIC COMPUTER

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Dec 20, 2024
Priority
Jul 05, 2022 — FR 2206810 +1 more
Examiner
SMITH, COURTNEY L
Art Unit
2841
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Continental AG
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
6m
Est. Remaining
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allowance Rate
1092 granted / 1277 resolved
+17.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +12% lift
Without
With
+11.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
30 currently pending
Career history
1321
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.1%
-39.9% vs TC avg
§103
41.3%
+1.3% vs TC avg
§102
33.3%
-6.7% vs TC avg
§112
23.1%
-16.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1277 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claim(s) 1-6, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Regarding Claim 1; “the thickness” is unclear; whereas a thickness has not been previously asserted and does not appear to be presented in an intended manner since a casing when presented alone does not necessitate only one thickness or thickness relative to a particular shape, dimension or direction—if so intended and further a fan housed in a thickness reads on more than plausible claim construction, wherein interpretation of the limitation may construe the fan as disposed within a thickness of a wall of the casing or between two particular surfaces intersecting a height direction of the casing. Regarding Claim 4; “a cooling device as claimed in claim 1” is unclear; whereas it cannot be readily ascertained if a cooling device as claim in claim 1 is intended to refer back to “a heat sink device” asserted in claim 1 line 1 or otherwise intended to newly assert a different feature or device coupled thereto etc. Regarding Claim 5; “A vehicle” and “an antenna module” in line 1 are each unclear; whereas claim 4 already asserts a vehicle and a roof antenna module. 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) 1, and 3-5, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (Kohn 2014/0254097). Regarding Claim 1; Kohn discloses a heat sink device (as constituted by an air guide and/or radiators 7 and 9—as set forth by para.’s 0031-0032, and 0044) for an electronic computer (as set forth by para.’s 0002 and 0004—whereas electronic apparatus is connected to a computer) comprising a casing (4 and/or including 2-3) composed of a frame (4 and/or 3) and of a lower cover (2), a fan housed in the thickness of the casing (whereas a fan-18 is atleast in part disposed between atleast a portion of 2 and 3 and/or planes thereof—as depicted by Fig. 1), and a ramp formed by a portion of the frame positioned facing the outlet of the fan (as further depicted by Fig.’s 2-3—whereas 22 ramps toward an outlet of the fan), the fan being configured to circulate an air flow from a lower face of the casing toward the top of the casing via said ramp (as depicted by Fig. 2—whereas 22 is configured to circulate air which flows over a face of the lower cover-2), the device comprising: the bottom portion of the ramp is truncated in order to form a spacing between said ramp and the fan (as depicted by Fig. 2—as constituted by a spacing defined between 22 and 18), and a deflector is positioned at the outlet of the fan in order to direct the air flow toward said ramp (as constituted by 21-as depicted by Fig.’s 2 and 3). Except Kohn does not explicitly the fan is a radial fan; and to enable a liquid to flow from an upper portion toward the bottom of the casing. However, the fan may be employed as a radial fan in accordance with the type of computing device an associated inlet thereof relative the fan, a desired air quantity, and/or a desired orientation of the heat sink device relative to the computing device and the inlet thereof, and thus it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987). Going further, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the ramp to enable a liquid to flow from an upper portion toward the bottom of the casing since it was known in the art that so as to prevent any condensation, external liquids from mixing with dust and clogging fan blades and causing undesired air resistance and/or causing the fan motor to work harder to move a required amount of airflow. Regarding Claim 3; Kohn discloses the device as device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the deflector is oriented so as to direct the air flow in a direction substantially parallel to the ramp (as depicted by Fig. 2—whereas 21 in-part guides airflow as depicted by dashed line PI substantially parallel over the ramp). Regarding Claim(s) 4-5; Kohn discloses a cooling device as claimed in claim 1 (as constituted by the already asserted heat sink device), except explicitly disclosing a roof antenna module for a vehicle and/or a vehicle comprising an antenna module. However, enhanced multimedia communications may be employed to optimize signal performance, and thus it has been held that a recitation with respect to the manner in which a claimed apparatus is intended to be employed does not differentiate the claimed apparatus from a prior art apparatus satisfying the claimed structural limitations. Ex parte Masham, 2 USPQ2d 1647 (1987). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2, 6, 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. Regarding Claim 2; the device as claimed in claim 1, such that the deflector is formed by a portion of the stator of the fan. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 10334753 B2 Chu; Yi-Pai et al. Fig.’s 1-4 US 8644023 B2 Wang; Shin-Yi et al. Fig. 3 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to COURTNEY SMITH whose telephone number is (571)272-9094. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5p. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jayprakash Gandhi can be reached at 571-272-3470. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /COURTNEY L SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 20, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
86%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+11.9%)
2y 4m (~6m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1277 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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