DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to claims filed on 09/12/2024. Claims 1-18 are pending.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 11/17/2024, 06/09/2025, and 03/26/2026 were filed after the filing date of the application. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1 & 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101, therefore Claims 2-17 are rejected by being dependent on claim 1, because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. For claim 1 the controller is a generic computer that does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. For claim 18 “acquiring and determining”, which is data gathering and observation. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because claim 1 can be done by a generic computer and claim 18 can be performed in the human mind by routine activity. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because although in claim 1 the motor drive device, motor, and the controller are not abstract, but are mentioned at a high level of generality and are well known and common knowledge in the art. In claim 18 the acquiring and determining are just instructions that is considered human activity and nothing more.
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.
Claims 1 & 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, therefore Claims 2-17 are rejected by being dependent on claim 1, 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. It is unclear how to interpret “when the signal is a DC signal, a frequency of the first frequency component is a frequency of a specific frequency component.” It could be interpreted as the two frequencies can have the same value or that first frequency component frequency and the specific frequency component are literally the same frequency, as in one frequency. Clarification is needed to properly examine the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kang et al. teaches US 20160053754 A1 teaches the apparatus for controlling the linear compressor 1 may include a detection unit or detector 50 that detects an operating state of the linear compressor 1, a control unit or controller 60 that determines an operating state of an operating frequency (fc) of a linear motor based on the operating state of the linear compressor 1 detected by the detector 50 and generates a correction signal, and a drive signal generation unit or generator 70 that generates a drive signal of the linear compressor 1 in accordance with the correction signal generated by the controller 60 and transmits the generated drive signal to the linear compressor 1. Park et al. US 20190383284 A1 teaches the control unit may determine whether or not the operation state of the linear compressor is normal using the control parameter, and control the motor using the output of the deep learning operation unit when the operation state of the compressor is normal.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CORTEZ M COOK whose telephone number is (571)270-7954. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30-5pm.
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/CORTEZ M COOK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2837