Ex Parte HottoDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardSep 28, 201713750239 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 28, 2017) Copy Citation United States Patent and Trademark Office 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 APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 13/750,239 01/25/2013 ROBERT HOTTO 1065.025 7017 24955 7590 10/02/2017 ROrTTT7 fr ASSOPTATRS EXAMINER Jeanne Gahagan 4420 Hotel Circle Court STAPLETON, ERIC S SUITE 230 ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER SAJN Ull .t iU, ( A vl IU/S 3742 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 10/02/2017 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): Noelle@rogitz.com eofficeaction @ appcoll.com John@rogitz.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte ROBERT HOTTO Appeal 2016-005129 Application 13/750,239 Technology Center 3700 Before MICHAEL C. ASTORINO, CYNTHIA L. MURPHY, and BRUCE T. WIEDER Administrative Patent Judges. MURPHY, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL The Appellant1 appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the Examiner’s rejection of claims 10, 15, 20, and 21.2 We have jurisdiction over this appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We REVERSE. 1 “The real party in interest is EnergyYield, LLC.” (Appeal Br. 2.) 2 Claim 16 has been withdrawn from consideration (see Final Action 7); and although the Appeal Brief lists claim 16 in the Claim Appendix (see Appeal Br., Claims App.), the Appellant’s arguments reflect an understanding that claim 16 is not on appeal (see id., at 3—4). Appeal 2016-005129 Application 13/750,239 STATEMENT OF THE CASE The Appellant’s invention “relates generally to vibrational energy harvesting heaters in double container systems for heating fluid or other substances in the inner container using relative motion between the inner container and outer container.” (Spec. 1.) Illustrative Claim 10. An apparatus that experiences movements when transported, comprising: a first container which defines a chamber configured for holding a substance; at least one energy transducer coupled to the first container to transform motion of the first container to output which is introduced on or in the first container when the first container moves; an electrical connection between the energy transducer and the inner container to transmit the output of the energy transducer to the inner container to thereby heat the inner container; and an outer container enclosing the first container and movably engaged with the first container such that as the apparatus vibrates the outer container moves into contact with the energy transducer to cause the transducer to generate the output. Rejection The Examiner rejects claims 10, 15, 20, and 21 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by Wild.3 (Final Action 4.) ANALYSIS Claim 10 is the sole independent claim on appeal, with the rest of the claims on appeal (i.e., claims 15, 20, and 21) depending directly or indirectly 3 US 5,189,332 issued February 23, 1993. 2 Appeal 2016-005129 Application 13/750,239 therefrom. Independent claim 10 recites an apparatus comprising “a first container” and “an outer container enclosing the first container and movably engaged with the first container such that as the apparatus vibrates the outer container moves into contact with the energy transducer to cause the transducer to generate the output.” (Appeal Br., Claims App.) The Examiner finds that Wild discloses an apparatus comprising the first container and the outer container required by independent claim 10, and supports this finding by providing an annotated version of Wild’s Figure 2. (See Final Action 5.) The Examiner’s annotated drawing is reproduced below. In this annotated drawing, two arrows point to two separate regions of Wild’s housing 11. One annotated arrow, labeled “first container,” points to an upper region located below the housing’s upper lip 12 and above a plate 16 positioned in the housing’s interior 11a. The other annotated arrow, labeled “outer container,” points to a lower region located above the housing’s lower end 13 and below plate 16. 3 Appeal 2016-005129 Application 13/750,239 The Appellant argues that “Wild shows only one container, not two.” (Reply Br. 2; see also Appeal Br. 4.) We are persuaded by the Appellant’s position because, in our view, Wild’s housing 11 forms a single container that perhaps has an upper compartment and a lower compartment. Insofar as these upper and lower compartments could be considered separate containers,4 neither compartment encloses the other compartment. And, as indicated above, independent claim 10 requires “an outer container enclosing the first container and movably engaged with the first container such that as the apparatus vibrates the outer container moves into contact with the energy transducer to cause the transducer to generate the output.” (Appeal Br., Claims App.). Thus, we do not sustain the Examiner’s rejection of claims 10, 15, 20, and 21 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by Wild. DECISION We REVERSE the Examiner’s rejection of claims 10, 15, 20, and 21. REVERSED 4 According to the Examiner, “a container is defined as ‘anything that contains or can contain something.’” (Final Action 9.) 4 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation