DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . This is the initial office action based on the 19/153,491 application filed August 4, 2025. Claims 1-15 are pending and have been fully considered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) dated September 15, 2025, September 22, 2025, and April 9, 2026 are noted. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98. Accordingly, the IDS are being considered by the Examiner.
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, 2, 9, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Umehana et al. (JP 2011052668 A, herein “Umehana”). Note: Umehana was cited by Applicant in the IDS dated September 15, 2025.
Regarding Claim 1, Umehana discloses an ammonia gas supply system (see Figure 1 and paragraph [0027]) that includes an ammonia storage tank (20) configured to be capable of storing liquid ammonia (see paragraph [0027]), a tank heater (10) configured to heat the ammonia storage tank and gasify the liquid ammonia stored inside the ammonia storage tank (see paragraph [0029]), and an ammonia gas introduction line (22) for introducing an ammonia gas obtained by gasifying the liquid ammonia inside the ammonia storage tank to an internal combustion engine (see paragraph [0027]).
Regarding Claim 2, Umehara discloses that the tank heater (10) is configured to heat the liquid ammonia stored in the ammonia storage tank with exhaust heat discharged from the internal combustion engine at the time of operation of the internal combustion engine (see paragraph [0029]).
Regarding Claim 9, Umehara discloses that an exhaust gas introduction line for guiding exhaust gas discharged from the internal combustion engine to the tank heater (see paragraph [0029]).
Regarding Claim 15, Umehara discloses an internal combustion engine with the ammonia gas supply system of Claim 1 (see rejection of Claim 1 herein, and see Umehara paragraphs [0027], [0029]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 and 10-14 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Specifically, various references are cited that provide detail of relevant gaseous supply systems for internal combustion engines.
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/GRANT MOUBRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3747
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