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 .
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.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 28 March 2025 and 11 Dec 2025 were filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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) 1-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable as obvious over Denso Corp (EP 0688986; provided by Applicant on the IDS dated 11 Dec 2025).
Regarding Claim 1, Denso Corp disclose cooling module (Figure 12). The module comprising:
a manifold (18) being made of resin (¶ 46); and
a rotary valve (17 generally) formed by arranging a valve body (17) rotating about a rotation axis (via 22) in a cylindrical valve chamber formed in the manifold (Figure 12), wherein the manifold includes a plurality of internal flow paths through which fluid flows (19, 20 and 21) and a plurality of ports (to each 19, 20 and 21) that are connected to a plurality of the internal flow paths (Figure 12) and through which the fluid flows in or flows out (Figure 12), and
the rotary valve has a full communication mode in which, when the fluid is flowed in from one port of a plurality of the ports, the fluid can be flowed out from all the other ports (Figure 12),
but fails to expressly disclose including a plurality of housings joined to each other.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a plurality of housings joined to each other, since it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routine skill in the art. The motivation for doing so would be to allow easier access to the valve and the flow paths for maintenance or repair.
Regarding Claim 2, Denso Corp discloses where the rotary valve (17 generally) includes a partition plate (the portion between 17b and 17c in Figure 12) that partitions the valve chamber in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the valve body (Figure 12), and a part of the valve body on an upper side of the partition plate (Figure 12 at 17b) and the valve chamber form a multi-directional valve (Figure 12) and a part of the valve body on a lower side of the partition plate and the valve chamber also form a multi-directional valve (Figure 12 via 17c).
Regarding Claims 3 and 5, Denso Corp discloses where the manifold (18) includes a plurality of preliminary chambers (the insides of channels 19, 20 and 21) connected to the valve chamber outside the valve chamber (Figure 12), each of a plurality of the preliminary chamber is connected to at least one of a plurality of the internal flow paths (Figure 12), and
the valve body (17) includes a flow-through hole connecting each pair of the preliminary chambers adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction of the valve chamber in the full communication mode (Figure 12).
Regarding Claims 4 and 6, Denso Corp discloses where the rotary valve (17 generally) has a regular mode in which communication with at least one of the internal flow paths of a plurality of the internal flow paths is cut off (when 22 is rotated), and,
in the regular mode, each of the flow-through holes is opposed to one of the preliminary chambers (Figure 12).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICOLE GARDNER whose telephone number is (571)270-0144. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8AM-4PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisors, KENNETH RINEHART (571-272-4881) or CRAIG SCHNEIDER (571-272-3607) can be reached by telephone. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NICOLE GARDNER/
Examiner, Art Unit 3753
Prosecution Insights