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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: each instance of “fuse” should be amended to --switch-- to more accurately describe the invention.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 5, 8, and 14-16 are objected to because of the following informalities: each instance of “fuse” should be amended to --switch-- to more accurately describe the invention. Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Bloom et al (2025/0087995).
In re Claim 1, Crevenat teaches a surge protection circuit for transmitting electromagnetic signals of an operational frequency band, the surge protection circuit as seen in Figures 1, 4, and 10 comprising: (a) a transmission line (running from LINE to LINE_OUT) connecting an input terminal (LINE) to an output terminal (LINE_OUT); (b) a surge suppression device (306/406, paragraph 43) for treating any high-voltage, transient electromagnetic energy received by the transmission line, the surge suppression device having an operational state that transitions between an active operational state and an inactive operational state (paragraph 41), the surge suppression device connecting the transmission line to a ground terminal (paragraph 34), the surge suppression device being connected to the transmission line between the input terminal and the output terminal (as seen in Figure 4); and (c) a subcircuit (1002) for monitoring the operational state of the surge suppression device (paragraph 67).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 2-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bloom et al (2025/0087995) in view of Crevenat (2018/0102640).
In re Claims 2-4, Bloom teaches that the subcircuit 1002 includes a fuse 1006 that switches from a conducting to non-conducting state when the GDT 306 fails into a short circuit state when conducting a surge overvoltage (paragraph 66 and 67).
Bloom does not specifically teach that the fuse reacts to a thermal response of the GDT.
Crevenat teaches that when a GDT reaches end of life, it begins to short circuit and cause a thermal response (paragraphs 6 and 8). Crevenat further teaches utilizing a fuse 3 that is thermally coupled to a GDT 4 and configured to blow when a temperature of the GDT exceeds a threshold (paragraph 114).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to thermally couple the fuse 1006 to the GDT 306 of Bloom as taught by Crevenat since Crevenat teaches that by doing so a failure of the GDT can further be detected based on a temperature response of the GDT.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-17 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.
In re Claim 5, Bloom further teaches a monitoring port U1 connected with the fuse 1006 as seen in Figure 10, but Bloom fails to teach that the fuse 1006 is normally in an open switching state.
Claims 6-17 are dependent on claim 5.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER JAY CLARK whose telephone number is (571)270-1427. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 10:00am - 6:00pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thienvu Tran can be reached at 571-270-1276. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER J CLARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
/THIENVU V TRAN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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