DETAILED ACTION
This is a first action on the merits of application 18903551.
Claims 1-13 are pending.
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 –
(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.
Claim(s) 1-8, 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a as being anticipated by Broughton US 12427892.
Claim 1, Broughton discloses a watercraft [100] for operating on a body of water, the watercraft comprising: a hull [130]; a deck [120] supported by the hull; a propulsion system [150] supported by the hull and configured to propel the watercraft; an electric motor [152] operatively connected to the propulsion system to drive the propulsion system; a battery [156] electrically connected to the electric motor [152] for powering the electric motor; and at least one heat exchanger [250/290] supported by the hull, the at least one heat exchanger at least partially extending out of the hull such that at least a portion [271 channel fig. 5] of the at least one heat exchanger is in contact with the body of water, a first cooling circuit [210] being in thermal communication with the at least one heat exchanger and at least one of the battery and the electric motor, the first cooling circuit being configured to circulate a heat exchange fluid therein, a second cooling circuit [220] being in thermal communication with another one of the at least one of the electric motor and the battery, the second cooling circuit being in fluid communication with the body of water during operation of the watercraft for circulating water from the body of water in the second cooling circuit during use. See figs 2-5; col. 7 line 1 – col. 10 line 65.
Claim 2, Broughton discloses a charger [159] electrically connected to the battery [156]; and an inverter [162] electrically connected to the battery. See fig. 4; col. 9 lines 30-45.
Claim 3, Broughton discloses the first cooling circuit [210] is further in thermal communication with at least one of the charger [159] and the inverter [162]. See figs. 4-5.
Claim 4 , Broughton discloses the first cooling circuit [210] is arranged to transfer, when in operation, heat from the at least one of the battery [156] and the electric motor [152] and the at least one of the charger [159] and the inverter [162] to the body of water via the at least one heat exchanger; and the second cooling circuit [220] is arranged to transfer, when in operation, heat from the other one of the battery and the electric motor to the body of water. See fig. 4-5
Claim 5, Broughton discloses the at least one of the battery [156] and the electric motor [152] is the battery, the first cooling circuit [210] being in thermal communication with the battery; and the other one of the battery and the electric motor [152] is the electric motor, the second cooling circuit [220] being in thermal communication with the electric motor. See figs 4-5
Claim 6, Broughton discloses wherein the second cooling circuit [220] is further in thermal communication with at least one of the charger [159] and the inverter [162]. See figs. 4-5
Claim 7, Broughton discloses the first cooling circuit [210] is arranged to transfer, when in operation, heat from the at least one of the battery [156] and the electric motor [152] and the at least one of the charger [159] and the inverter [162] to the body of water via the at least one heat exchanger; and the second cooling circuit [220] is arranged to transfer, when in operation, heat from the other one of the battery and the electric motor to the body of water. See fig. 4-5
Claim 8, Broughton discloses a first pump [295] forming a portion of the first cooling circuit [210], the first pump being arranged to cause the heat exchange fluid to circulate through the first cooling circuit. See fig. 5 col. 13 line 54 – col. 14 line 25.
Claim 11, Broughton discloses the battery [156], the charger [159], and the inverter [162] are isolated from the body of water. See figs. 4-5
Claim 12, Broughton discloses the first cooling circuit [210 col. 14 lines 45-55] is a closed cooling loop; and the second cooling circuit [220 col. 14 lines 55-65] is an open cooling loop.
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) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Broughton et al.
Claims 9-10, Broughton discloses the aforementioned limitations of claim 1, he does not disclose a second pump forming a portion of the second cooling circuit, the second pump being arranged to cause water from the body of water to circulate through the second cooling circuit and the second pump forms a portion of the propulsion system. It has been held that a duplication of parts is of ordinary skill since the system already has 1 pump this limitation of a second pump would not be novel, also the prior art discloses the one pump forms a portion of the propulsion system see figs 3-5. Thus, it 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 to have modified Broughton in the manner above to provide pump redundancy to the cooling system in case of a pump failure.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Broughton et al. and further in view of Menard US 6544085.
Claim 13, Broughton discloses the aforementioned limitations of claim 1, he does not disclose a straddle seat supported by the deck; and wherein the watercraft is a personal watercraft. Menard discloses a personal watercraft in fig. 1 with straddle seat. Thus, it 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 to have modified Broughton with Menard to have the said cooling system placed on personal watercraft since this type of vessel needs means to cool electronic components.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The prior art made of record are relevant because they are watercrafts with thermal heat exchanger cooling loops.
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/JOVON E HAYES/Examiner, Art Unit 3615
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