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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-5, 10-13, 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CN 114607490 A to Zhou et al. (Zhou). A machine translation was relied upon for the basis of this rejection.
In reference to claim 1, Zhou discloses a system comprising: a controller (800, Fig. 8; par. 0135) coupled to an engine and an aftertreatment system, the controller configured to: receive a first temperature value regarding a temperature change over time regarding the aftertreatment system (“preset rate of change”; par. 0077) and a second temperature value associated with the engine (exhaust temperature upstream of DOC; par. 0060); determine, based on the first temperature value being below a first threshold (“first preset change rate”; pars. 0079-0080), that a thermal management mode is a first thermal management mode, wherein the first thermal management mode is a warm up mode (pars. 0081, 0083); determine, based on the first temperature value being at or above the first threshold (“first preset change rate”), that the thermal management mode is a second thermal management mode, wherein the second thermal management mode is a keep warm mode (pars. 0081, 0083); determine, responsive to the thermal management mode being the first thermal management mode and based on comparing the second temperature value to a second threshold (“preset temperature”, par. 0082), an operating mode for the first thermal management mode, wherein the operating mode includes at least one of a first operating mode or a second operating mode; and initiate at least one of the first operating mode or the second operating mode (par. 0084).
In reference to claim 2, Zhou discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the first temperature value is the temperature change over time of a selective catalytic reduction system (see pars. 0079-0084).
In reference to claim 3, Zhou discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the second temperature value is a temperature of an engine fluid (engine exhaust, par. 0060).
In reference to claim 4, Zhou discloses the system of claim 1, wherein determining the operating mode is further based on one or more engine operating parameters, the one or more engine operating parameters comprising at least one of an engine speed or an engine torque (pars. 0104-0106).
In reference to claim 5, Zhou discloses the system of claim 1, wherein determining the operating mode for the first thermal management mode comprises determining that the operating mode is the second operating mode based on the second temperature value being below the second threshold (pars. 0074, 0082), wherein the second operating mode is an intake-air throttle (IAT) mode (par. 0075).
In reference to claim(s) 10-13, under the principles of inherency, the prior art apparatus of Zhou would necessarily perform the method(s) claimed in its normal and usual operation and thereby meets the limitations of the claim(s). See rejections of claims 1-3 and 5 above; the same rationale applies.
In reference to claims 17 and 18, Zhou discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (pars. 0041-0042) storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations substantively identical to what is recited in claims 1 and 5. See rejections of claims 1 and 5 above; the same rationale applies.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9, 14-16, 19 and 20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In reference to claims 6-9, 14-16, 19 and 20, the prior art of record when considered as a whole, alone or in combination neither anticipates nor renders obvious without improper hindsight, determining the operating mode for the first thermal management mode comprises determining that the operating mode is one of the first operating mode or the second operating mode based on the second temperature value being at or above the second threshold, wherein the first operating mode is a cylinder deactivation (CDA) mode and the second operating mode is an intake-air throttle (IAT) mode.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: CN 115405403 A, US 2022/0371575 A1, and US 2017/0130635 A1 disclose systems and methods regarding aftertreatment heating modes using a temperature change over time that are relevant to claims 1-20 and may be relied upon in a subsequent Office action.
Conclusion
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/JONATHAN R MATTHIAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3746
28 January 2026