Ex Parte Mayer

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Jan 19, 2017

13430794 (P.T.A.B. Jan. 19, 2017)

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.
13/430,794 03/27/2012 William T. Mayer PELCN037USPT01 6704
23403 7590 01/23/2017
SHERRILL LAW OFFICES
4756 BANNING AVE
SUITE 212
WHITE BEAR LAKE, MN 55110-3205
EXAMINER
TANENBAUM, TZVI SAMUEL
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3744
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
01/23/2017 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):
michaels @ sherrilllaw.com
izag @ sherrilllaw.com
docketing @ sherrilllaw.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte WILLIAM T. MAYER
Appeal 2015-004592
Application 13/430,794
Technology Center 3700
Before JAMES P. CALVE, GEORGE R. HOSKINS, and
BRANDON J. WARNER, Administrative Patent Judges.
CALVE, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the final rejection of
claims 1—8. See Br. 5—12. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We AFFIRM.
Appeal 2015-004592
Application 13/430,794
CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER
Claim 1, the sole independent claim on appeal, is reproduced below.1
1. A passive thermally regulated shipping container,
comprising:
a. an outer shell defining a retention chamber,
b. a layer of thermal insulation lining the retention
chamber so as to define an insulated retention
chamber, and
c. a removable phase change material panel
positioned within the insulated retention chamber,
wherein the phase change material panel contains
dual immiscible phase change materials having
different freezing points within a common
enclosed space.
REJECTIONS
Claims 1—5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over
Williams (US 2009/0039088 Al, pub. Feb. 12, 2009) and Christ (US
2008/0230203 Al, pub. Sept. 25, 2008).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over
Williams, Christ, and Hillman (US 7,328,583 B2, iss. Feb. 12, 2008).
Claims 7 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable
over Williams, Christ, and Corder (US 2011/0147391 Al, pub. June 23,
2011).
1 The version of claim 1 that appears in the Claims Appendix to the Appeal
Brief includes amendments that Appellant submitted after the Final Action.
The amendments incorporated limitations of original claim 3 and canceled
claim 3. See Amendment and Response After Final, filed May 27, 2014, at
2,4. The Examiner did not enter this amendment. See Advisory Action,
mailed June 19, 2014.
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Appeal 2015-004592
Application 13/430,794
ANALYSIS
Claims 1—5 as unpatentable over Williams and Christ
Appellant argues claims 1—5 as a group. Br. 5—9. We select claim 1
as representative. 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(l)(iv). Claims 2—5 stand or fall with
claim 1.
The Examiner found that Williams teaches a shipping container, as
recited in claim 1, having an outer shell (container 14), a thermal insulation
layer (insulation panels 16), and phase change material panel 18 or 20, but
noted that Williams lacks immiscible phase change materials 18, 20 within a
common enclosed space and with different freezing points. Final Act. 3.
The Examiner found that Christ teaches two different and immiscible
phase change materials 104, 106 with different phase change temperatures in
a common enclosed space 112 to provide a phase transition over a range of
temperatures and maintain a desired temperature during the transport of heat
sensitive goods. Id. at 4. The Examiner determined that it would have been
obvious to combine dual phase change material panels 18, 20 of Williams in
a single panel containing dual immiscible phase change materials, as taught
by Christ, to reduce the weight and/or volume of shipping container 10 of
Williams. Id.
Appellant argues that Williams employs the phase change materials as
separate PCM panels that can be conditioned separately so a panel with one
PCM material can thermally buffer another panel with a PCM material with
a different phase change temperature. Br. 6—8. Appellant also argues that
the separate panels allow the use of “unsuited” PCM panels with a phase
change temperature that is outside the desired temperature range of the
payload to be buffered by a PCM panel within the desired range. Id. at 8—9.
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Appeal 2015-004592
Application 13/430,794
The Examiner’s reason for modifying the phase change materials of
Williams to be contained in a common enclosed space, as taught by Christ,
to reduce the weight/volume of the shipping container while maintaining the
payload within a desired temperature range during shipping is supported by
rational underpinning. See Final Act. 4; Ans. 3^4. Williams teaches that the
proper selection of phase change materials can maintain the temperature of
the payload in the package within the desired temperature range throughout
the delivery process based on anticipated ambient temperatures during the
shipment and other factors. Williams H 2, 6—8, 25, 33, Fig. 3; see Ans. 3.
Christ teaches two different, immiscible phase change materials that may be
combined in a graphite matrix and used to maintain a desired temperature
during the transport of heat sensitive goods, like food and medical goods.
Christ 132; Ans. 6. In view of this disclosure, we are not persuaded by
Appellant’s argument that Christ does not contemplate using a PCM panel in
an insulated retention chamber of a thermally insulated container (see Br. 9),
particularly when Christ discloses the materials in container 112 and teaches
their use for transporting heat sensitive goods. Christ H 20, 32, Fig. 1.
We are not persuaded by Appellant’s arguments that the proposed
modification would render Williams unsuitable for its embodiment of using
one PCM panel as a thermal barrier to a second, different PCM panel in the
same container to protect a payload. See Br. 6—9. First, a person of ordinary
skill is a person of ordinary creativity who can select materials for the PCM
panels to provide the desired cooling/heating of the payload to maintain the
payload in the desired temperature range. Ans. 6. Williams and Christ both
provide a range of PCM materials, including paraffin and water, to maintain
a payload within a desired temperature range. Williams 115; Christ 121.
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Appeal 2015-004592
Application 13/430,794
Second, Williams contemplates a variety of configurations of its PCM
panels 18, 20 and its insulation panels 16 to include combining container 14
and phase change panel 18 into an integrated structure or combining one or
more phase change material panels 18, 20 with insulation panel(s) 16 into
one or more structures. Williams 128. Williams thus recognizes that PCM
panels may be combined with one another, insulation panels, or a container.
Christ teaches that dual, immiscible phase change materials may be
enclosed in a common space, i.e., container 112. Christ 120. Christ teaches
a configuration that increases the thermal conductivity of the phase change
materials so that they charge and discharge more quickly. Id. H 5—6. Christ
also teaches that combining immiscible phase change materials in a common
enclosed space allows the materials to maintain their separate phase change
temperatures, which may differ in a range up to 50 K, and also to exhibit a
phase transition over a range of temperatures between these different phase
change temperatures. See id. H 11—12, 27, 35 (Example 1), Fig. 3.
In view of the wide range of materials that Williams and Christ teach
as suitable for use in a combined, dual, immiscible PCM panel, and Christ’s
teaching that the phase change temperatures can vary over a wide range and
even include additional, intermediate phase change temperatures, we are not
persuaded that the combined teachings would render Williams unsuitable for
one of its preferred embodiments. These teachings allow a skilled artisan to
select PCM materials either to avoid any need for an internal thermal buffer,
or to effectively thermally buffer the payload by providing a wider range of
phase change temperatures, including intermediate temperatures suitable for
a particular payload. Christ also contemplates the use of water as a PCM
material. Id. If 21.
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Appeal 2015-004592
Application 13/430,794
Even if the combined teachings could be viewed as negating or even
ameliorating the effectiveness of a thermal buffer configuration discussed in
a preferred embodiment of Williams, which we do not view to be the case, a
skilled artisan could view the advantages gained by using a single, combined
panel with dual, immiscible PCM materials having different phase change
temperatures, as outweighing any loss in thermal buffering capacity in some
undefined capacity. The modification could reduce the weight or volume of
the container (Final Act. 4) and thus offset the cost of using PCM materials
other than water, if necessary, and increase the phase change temperatures
beyond those of the materials themselves, to allow a skilled artisan to design
the PCM panels for any payload and environment without any buffering.
Accordingly, we sustain the rejection of claims 1—5.
Claims 6—8 as unpatentable over Williams, Christ, and Hillman/Corder
Appellant argues that the Examiner’s reliance on Hillman or Corder to
teach features of claims 6—8 does not remedy the deficiencies of Williams
and Christ as to claim 1, from which claims 6—8 depend. Br. 10—11; see
Final Act. 5—8. Because we sustain the rejection of claim 1 as unpatentable
over Williams and Christ, this argument is not persuasive and we sustain the
rejection of claims 6—8.
DECISION
We affirm the rejections of claims 1—8.
No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with
this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(l)(iv).
AFFIRMED
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