Ex Parte FornageDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardMay 31, 201613116587 (P.T.A.B. May. 31, 2016) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR 13/116,587 05/26/2011 Martin Fornage 54698 7590 06/02/2016 MOSER TABOADA 1030 BROAD STREET SUITE 203 SHREWSBURY, NJ 07702 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www .uspto.gov ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. EE050 5781 EXAMINER GBLENDE, JEFFREY A ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2838 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 06/02/2016 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address( es): docketing@mtiplaw.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte MARTIN FORNAGE Appeal2016-002480 Application 13/116,587 Technology Center 2800 Before: ELENI MANTIS MERCADER, CARLL. SILVERMAN, and SCOTT B. HOWARD, Administrative Patent Judges. MANTIS MERCADER, Administrative Patent Judge. STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from a Final Rejection of claims 1-14 and 21-26. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We reverse. THE INVENTION The claims are directed to method and apparatus for power converter input voltage regulation. Abstract. Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: Appeal2016-002480 Application 13/116,587 1. A method for regulating an input voltage to a DC/ AC power conversion module, comprising: computing a voltage regulation threshold based on an AC line voltage of a power grid to which the DC/ AC power conversion module is coupled; comparing a value of the input voltage of the DC/ AC power conversion module to the voltage regulation threshold; and modifying the input voltage to generate a modified input voltage when the value of the input voltage exceeds the voltage regulation threshold, the modified input voltage has an average voltage value that is less than the voltage regulation threshold such that the input voltage or modified input voltage is maintained at a level that is less than the voltage regulation threshold. REFERENCES The prior art relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the claims on appeal is: Tsutsumi Kitagawa Hamilton Nagai Sack Mumtaz Fomage Tomiyoshi us 5,742,496 us 5,831,418 US 6,455,931 B 1 US 6,465,913 Bl US 2007 /0223257 Al US 2008/0266922 A 1 US 2009/0244947 Al US 2009/0262556 Al REJECTIONS The Examiner made the following rejections: Apr. 21, 1998 Nov. 3, 1998 Sept. 24, 2002 Oct. 15, 2002 Sept. 27, 2007 Oct. 30, 2008 Oct. 1, 2009 Oct. 22, 2009 Claims 1, 8, and 21 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fomage in view of Tomiyoshi. 2 Appeal2016-002480 Application 13/116,587 Claims 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, and 14 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fomage in view of Tomiyoshi and Kitagawa. Claims 3 and 10 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fomage in view of Tomiyoshi, Kitagawa, and Knowles. Claims 5 and 12 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fomage in view of Tomiyoshi, Kitagawa, and Sack. Claims 6 and 13 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fomage in view of Tomiyoshi, Kitagawa, Sack, and Tsutsumi. Claim 22 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fomage in view of Tomiyoshi and Knowles. Claims 25 and 26 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Fomage in view of Tomiyoshi and Mumtaz. THE ISSUE The pivotal issue is whether the combination of Fomage and Tomiyoshi teaches the limitation of modifying the input voltage to generate a modified input voltage when the value of the input voltage exceeds the voltage regulation threshold, the modified input voltage has an average voltage value that is less than the voltage regulation threshold such that the input voltage or modified input voltage is maintained at a level that is less than the voltage regulation threshold[,] as recited in claim 1. 3 Appeal2016-002480 Application 13/116,587 ANALYSIS Appellant argues, inter alia, that Fomage does not disclose, teach, or suggest determining whether an AC line voltage sample or another parameter exceeds an initial AC line voltage sample, as would be done for a threshold and as such, the output from the AC line voltage sampler is not a threshold, in particular a voltage regulation threshold (App. Br. 12). Neither does Tomiyoshi, according to Appellant, teach or suggest computing the voltage regulation threshold (App. Br. 12). Appellant concludes that neither reference either alone or in combination teaches or suggests a voltage regulation threshold as recited in Appellant's claims 1, 8, and 21 (App. Br. 12). We are persuaded by Appellant's argument. We do not agree with the Examiner that under the broadest reasonable interpretation the initial AC sample constitutes a threshold and that subsequent samples of AC voltage that are above or below the initial sampled AC cause controller 120 to change operation (Ans. 4--5). As per the Examiner's provided definition, the threshold has to be "a level, point, or value above which something is true or will take place and below which it is not or will not" (id. at 4 (emphasis added)), whereas in the instant case, whether the AC voltage is above or below the initial sampled AC, just as long as it is not the initial sampled value, it will cause the controller 120 to change operation. Accordingly, we reverse the Examiner's rejection of claims 1, 8, and 21 and for the same reasons the rejections of claims 2-7, 9-14, and 22-26. 4 Appeal2016-002480 Application 13/116,587 CONCLUSION The Examiner did err in finding that the combination of F omage and Tomiyoshi teaches the limitation of modifying the input voltage to generate a modified input voltage when the value of the input voltage exceeds the voltage regulation threshold, the modified input voltage has an average voltage value that is less than the voltage regulation threshold such that the input voltage or modified input voltage is maintained at a level that is less than the voltage regulation threshold[,] as recited in claim 1. DECISION For the above reasons, the Examiner's rejections of claims 1-14 and 21-26 are reversed. REVERSED 5 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation