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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species B in the reply filed on 7/13/26 is acknowledged. Claims 1-2, 4-14, 18-19, and 21-25 read on the elected species.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/24/24 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 10-11, 13-14, 18, 21 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rawlings, US 5,338,369.
Regarding claims 1 and 18:
Rawlings discloses a roofing system, comprising:
a roof deck (7); and
a plurality of photovoltaic modules installed on the roof deck, wherein each PV modules includes
at least one solar cell (45)
an encapsulant (46) encapsulating the at least one solar cell, and
a backsheet (49), wherein the backsheet is below the encapsulant (refer to Fig. 3A), wherein the backsheet comprises a first layer which comprises a plurality of cavities.
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Regarding claims 4, 10-11, 21 and 25:
Rawlings discloses wherein the cavities are open channels such that air is free to circulate within the cavities, thereby disclosing a filler material of air.
Regarding claims 13 and 14:
Rawlings discloses wherein the cavities comprise at least two channels extending between opposite end of the first layer along a major dimension of the PV 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.
Claims 2, 4-9, 19 and 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rawlings, US 5,338,369 in view of Diao et al., CN 111350292.
Regarding claims 2, 4, 7-9, 19, and 21-24:
Rawlings discloses a roofing system with a photovoltaic module as set forth above.
Rawlings does not disclose a backsheet that specifically includes a closed cavity and a filler material in at least one cavity.
Diao discloses a photovoltaic module (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2) having a plurality of cavities (11-14) wherein at least one of the cavities is closed (refer to Figs. 4-7) and further comprising a filler material in at least one cavity of the plurality of cavities, the filler material comprising a fire-retardant material that is a liquid and a phase-change material comprising hydrated salts of calcium or sodium.
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Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to incorporate the closed cavities and fillers as suggested by Diao into the PV roofing system of Rawlings in order to increase energy storage capacity.
Claims 4, 10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rawlings, US 5,338,369 in view of Fernandes et al., US 2017/0194895.
Regarding claims 4, 10 and 12
Rawlings discloses a roofing system with a photovoltaic module as set forth above.
Rawlings does not disclose a backsheet that specifically includes a closed cavity and a filler material in at least one cavity.
Fernandes discloses a photovoltaic module (10, Fig. 2) having a backsheet (18) forming plurality of cavities wherein at least one of the cavities is closed (the sheets are sandwiched together and hold an inert gas implying a closed cavity) and further comprising a filler material in at least one cavity of the plurality of cavities, the filler material comprising an inert gas (para. 0036).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to incorporate the closed cavities and inert gas as suggested by Fernandes into the PV roofing system of Rawlings in order to increase the efficiency of the solar cells (para. 0036).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENT W HERRING whose telephone number is (571)270-3661. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 7:30a-6:00p MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Glessner can be reached at (571)272-6754. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRENT W HERRING/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3633
