DETAILED ACTION
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 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, 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.
In claims 2 and 3 the verb “has” does not agree with its subject “microstructures”.
The word “respectively” is misused in claims 2-4.
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 Chen (US 2006/0213648).
Regarding claim 1, Chen teaches a heat dissipation plate comprising a plate member (32) formed of a stamped metal sheet (stamped is treated as a product by process limitation and the sheet blank of Chen is indistinguishable from one formed via stamping) with a plate upper and lower side (see Fig. 3a) the upper side is provided with a receiving space recessed toward the plate lower side (recessed via the rolling of 30, 40, 50, 60) having at least one heat source contact area (the entire surface is intended as a heat source contact area) provided therein; the heat source contact area is processed by forging (the rolling process is treated as a subset of forging) to form a plurality of convex or concave microstructures one the plate upper side (via rollers) to provide the plate member with largely increased heat dissipation areas (surface areas of 27 are largely increased from the smooth original blank sheet).
Chen further teaches that: the microstructures have an outer surface consisting of a plurality of heat dissipation surfaces (27) densely distributed over the plate upper side (when forming the lower plate of Fig. 2) and the lower side (when forming the upper plate of Fig. 2), per claims 2-3, or alternatively, the definition of upper and lower can be reversed in interpreting Fig. 3a as the plate is not yet claimed as being a part of a final product; the microstructures are respectively cuboid in shape (see Fig. 4b), per claim 4; the plate member is connectable to another plate member (bottom and top plates of Fig. 2) to together constitute a two-phase flow heat dissipation unit (20) which internally defines a chamber with a working fluid and wick structures (27) provided on inner wall surfaces with the plate lower side being in contact with a heat source (26; see Paras. [0020]-[0021]), per claim 5.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Devon Lane whose telephone number is (571)270-1858. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, 9-4.
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/DEVON LANE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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