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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/15/2026 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 7/15/2026. These drawings are accepted.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/05/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Notice of Allowance on 4/3/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Prosecution on the merits of this application is reopened on claims 1-24 considered unpatentable for the reasons indicated below:
The indicated allowability of claims 1-24 is withdrawn in view of the newly discovered reference(s) to Agnon (WO2012/011096, as newly cited in the IDS filed 7/5/2026). Rejections based on the newly cited reference(s) follow.
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)(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.
Claims 1-5, 7, 13-21, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Agnon (WO2012/011096, as cited in the IDS).
Re Claim 1. Agnon teaches a thermoacoustic device (50, 100) comprising: a resonator (32); wherein the resonator comprises a stack (34); wherein during operation, a cold zone (106) of the stack is configured to receive at least one fluid from a hot zone (104) of the stack; wherein a temperature of the hot zone exceeds a temperature of the cold zone; and a conveyor (34) for conveying at least some of the at least one fluid from the cold zone of the stack to the hot zone of the stack (Figure 4B, 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 24. Agnon teaches a method of operating a thermoacoustic device (100), the method comprising: receiving, by a cold zone (106) of a stack (34) of a resonator (32) of a thermoacoustic device (100), at least one fluid (34) from a hot zone of the stack; wherein a temperature of the hot zone exceeds a temperature of the cold zone; and conveying, by a conveyor (34) of the stack, at least some of the at least one fluid from the cold zone of the stack to the hot zone of the stack (Figure 9; Page 19-20 teaches using the thermoacoustic device to transport thermal energy; Page 31 teaches the method of operating the device).
Re Claim 2. Agnon teaches the at least one fluid is an at least one phase changing fluid (Figure 9; Page 31).
Re Claim 3. Agnon teaches the conveyor is the stack (Figure 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 4. Agnon teaches the stack comprises multiple stack structural elements that form multiple stack channels (Figures 4B, 9; Page 21 teaches “The term "stack medium", as used herein, refers to a solid structure having a multitude of internal surfaces separated by gaps.…Representative examples of stack media suitable for the present embodiments include, without limitation, a honeycomb medium, an arrangement of generally parallel plates, an arrangement or of tubes, a random porous medium, a nanostructure medium which includes a plurality of deposited or grown nanostructures, e.g., carbon nano tubes, and the like. The sorbent medium can be deposited on the surfaces of the stack medium or the stack medium itself can be made sorbent”).
Re Claim 5. Agnon teaches at least some of the stack structural elements are made from a porous material that comprises capillary conduits for conveying the at least some of the at least one phase changing fluid from the cold zone of the stack to the hot zone of the stack (Figures 4B, 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 7. Agnon teaches at least some of the stack structural elements are shaped to form external capillary conduits for conveying the at least some of the at least one phase changing fluid from the cold zone of the stack to the hot zone of the stack (Figure 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 13. Agnon teaches the stack comprises multiple stack structural elements that form multiple stack channels wherein the multiple stack structural elements are undulating along a traverse direction that is oriented to a longitudinal axis of the stack (Figure 9; Page 21, 31; Page 21 teaches the stack can be random porous medium, wherein such a configuration would create an undulating flow channel).
Re Claim 14. Agnon teaches the conveyor is an auxiliary phase changing fluid supplier (44 is a supplier for 34) (Figure 4B, 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 15. Agnon teaches the auxiliary phase changing fluid supplier comprises a collector (at 106) for collecting phase changing fluid from the cold zone, a fluid conduit (at 34) for conveying the phase changing fluid, and a wicking element for providing the phase changing fluid to the hot zone (Figure 4B, 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 16. Agnon teaches the fluid conduit is located outside the stack channels (Figure 4B, 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 17. Agnon teaches the auxiliary phase changing fluid supplier is a spraying element (44 is a sprayer) (Figure 4B, 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 18. Agnon teaches the stack comprises multiple stack structural elements that form multiple stack channels that are curved (Figure 4B, 9; Page 21, 31; Page 21 teaches the stack can be random porous medium, wherein such a configuration would create curved channels).
Re Claim 19. Agnon teaches the stack comprises multiple stack structural elements wherein at least one of the multiple stack structural element is porous (Figures 4B, 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 20. Agnon teaches the stack comprises multiple stack structural elements wherein at least one of the multiple stack structural element is semi-permeable (Figures 4B, 9; Page 21, 31).
Re Claim 21. Agnon teaches the at least one fluid is at least one sorption inducing fluid (Page 14, 21).
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.
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.
Claims 6, 8-12, 22, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Agnon (WO2012/011096, as cited in the IDS).
Re Claim 6. Agnon teaches the porous stack (Page 21) but fails to specifically teach the porous material is cellulose. However, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to select cellulose as the porous material, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Re Claim 8-11. Agnon teaches using a phase change material (Page 31) but fails to specifically teach the at least one phase changing fluid is a mixture of phase changing fluids that have different boiling temperatures, wherein the temperature of the cold zone is lower than each one of the different boiling temperatures, wherein the temperature of the hot zone is higher than each one of the different boiling temperatures, or wherein the temperature of the hot zone is lower than at least one of the different boiling temperatures. The examiner takes Official Notice of the use of mixtures of phase change materials to achieve various boiling temperatures for heat exchangers. One of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand the different benefits and means of implementation of phase change material mixtures. Additionally, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to select a desired phase change material composition, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Re Claim 12. Agnon the stack comprises multiple stack structural elements that form multiple stack channels (Figures 4B, 9; Page 21 teaches “The term "stack medium", as used herein, refers to a solid structure having a multitude of internal surfaces separated by gaps.…Representative examples of stack media suitable for the present embodiments include, without limitation, a honeycomb medium, an arrangement of generally parallel plates, an arrangement or of tubes, a random porous medium, a nanostructure medium which includes a plurality of deposited or grown nanostructures, e.g., carbon nano tubes, and the like. The sorbent medium can be deposited on the surfaces of the stack medium or the stack medium itself can be made sorbent”).
Re Claim 22. Agnon teaches a fluid but fails to specifically teach the at least one fluid is at least one hydrates formation inducing fluid. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to select hydrates formation inducing fluid, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Re Claim 23. Agnon teaches a fluid but fails to specifically teach the at least one fluid is at least one sublimation inducing fluid. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to select sublimation inducing fluid, since it has been held to be within the general skill of a worker in the art to select a known material on the basis of its suitability for the intended use as matter of obvious design choice. See MPEP 2144.07.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRAVIS RUBY whose telephone number is (571)270-5760. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jianying Atkisson can be reached at 571-270-7740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRAVIS RUBY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3763
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