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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 12-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mancini et al. (US 20210331554), hereinafter referred to as Mancini.
Re claim 1, Mancini teaches a heat management system configured to perform heat management of a vehicle using a heat medium, comprising:
a first flow passage (e.g. 1014) in which a reserve tank is not provided;
a second flow passage (e.g. 1012) in which a reserve tank (344) is provided;
a switching device (e.g. 208) configured to switch between coupling and uncoupling of the first flow passage and the second flow passage to and from each other (see Fig 22 and 26); and
a control device (e.g. 212) configured to control the switching device, wherein
the control device is configured to, when coupling conditions including that the vehicle is stationary are met, make the heat medium flow through the first flow passage and the second flow passage that have been coupled to each other by the switching device (see Fig 22-23 and ¶ 120-121, “when plugged into a charger in extremely cold ambient conditions”).
Re claim 2, Mancini teaches the heat management system according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to:
when the coupling conditions are met, prohibit the switching device from uncoupling the first flow passage and the second flow passage from each other (see Fig 22-23); and
when the coupling conditions are not met, permit the switching device to uncouple the first flow passage and the second flow passage from each other (see Fig 26B).
Re claim 12, Mancini teaches the heat management system according to claim 1, wherein the switching device includes one or more a four-way valve.
Re claim 13, Mancini teaches a vehicle comprising the heat management system according to claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-11 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (see PTO-892).
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/NELSON J NIEVES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763 9/5/2026
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