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
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by McDougall et al (6,236,545 from IDS of 12-18-24).
McDougall discloses a method for controlling a superconducting electrical supply line, the method being carried out in a control circuit 9 of said supply line 4 and comprising the steps: obtaining a piece of information representative of a first electric current in said superconducting electrical supply line; comparing said piece of information representative of a first electric current in said superconducting electrical supply line with a first predetermined threshold value; and, wherein when said piece of information representative of a first electric current is greater than or equal to the first predetermined threshold value, generating a current, referred to as the second current, in a superconducting coil 5 arranged in the vicinity of said superconducting electrical supply line 4 and configured to emit a magnetic field, said superconducting electrical supply line 4 being configured to receive said magnetic field, the value of said second current being determined on the basis of said piece of information representative of said first current (see Abstract).
With regard to the melting of a calibrated break zone (claims 2 and 4), element 15 connected in series with superconducting element 4 addresses this limitation, which describes an intrinsic type of fuse protection.
With regard to claim 5, coil 5 shown positioned around superconducting line 4 is also a superconductor (see Abstract).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McDougall et al (6,236,545).
McDougall discloses a method for controlling a superconducting electrical supply line, the method being carried out in a control circuit 9 of said supply line 4 and comprising the steps: obtaining a piece of information representative of a first electric current in said superconducting electrical supply line; comparing said piece of information representative of a first electric current in said superconducting electrical supply line with a first predetermined threshold value; and, wherein when said piece of information representative of a first electric current is greater than or equal to the first predetermined threshold value, generating a current, referred to as the second current, in a superconducting coil 5 arranged in the vicinity of said superconducting electrical supply line 4 and configured to emit a magnetic field, said superconducting electrical supply line 4 being configured to receive said magnetic field, the value of said second current being determined on the basis of said piece of information representative of said first current (see Abstract).
The method and control circuit disclosed by McDougall differs from the claims by not being said to be used with or part of an aircraft (claims 6 and 7) and by not having computerized control system design considerations (claims 8 and 9).
It would have been obvious to persons of ordinary skill at the time of filing the invention to use the teachings of McDougall to meet the claims because no inventive step is involved with the use of a superconducting device in an aircraft environment due to the well-known use of cryogenically cooled devices such as IR imagers in aircraft and computerization of control devices is extremely common in the art, with there having been significant technical advances since the time of McDougall that make the use of program driven devices ubiquitous.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN W JACKSON whose telephone number is (571)272-2051. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30-3:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Monica Lewis can be reached at 571-272-1838. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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SWJackson
June 25, 2026
/STEPHEN W JACKSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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