Ex Parte SmithDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardMay 18, 201814252995 (P.T.A.B. May. 18, 2018) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE 14/252,995 04/15/2014 28395 7590 05/22/2018 BROOKS KUSHMAN P.C./FG1L 1000 TOWN CENTER 22NDFLOOR SOUTHFIELD, MI 48075-1238 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR Mark G. Smith 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. 83390752 5632 EXAMINER OSWALD, KIRSTIN U ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3744 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 05/22/2018 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@brookskushman.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte MARK G. SMITH 1 Appeal2017-007280 Application 14/252,995 Technology Center 3700 Before JAMES P. CAL VE, WILLIAM A. CAPP, and ANTHONY KNIGHT, Administrative Patent Judges. CAL VE, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Final Office Action rejecting claims 1-20. Appeal Br. 1. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b ). We AFFIRM, but designate our affirmance, in part, as a NEW GROUND OF REJECTION pursuant to our discretionary authority under 37 C.F.R. § 41.50(b). 1 Ford Global Technologies, LLC is identified as the real party in interest and also is the applicant pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 1.46. See Appeal Br. 2. Appeal2017-007280 Application 14/252,995 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER The claims are directed to a system that diverts refrigerant from an air conditioning system for passengers in a vehicle to absorb heat from other vehicle components such as batteries. Spec. ,r 13. Claims 1, 8, and 17 are independent. Claim 1 is reproduced below. 1. A vehicle comprising: a cooling arrangement including a condenser and cooling loops arranged to cool each of cabin air and a battery via the condenser; and a controller programmed to, in response to a battery cooling request received while the cooling arrangement is cooling the cabin, increase at a specified rate fluid flow through portions of the cooling loops arranged to cool the battery to dampen a rate of increase in cabin air temperature. Appeal Br. 9 (Claims App'x). REJECTIONS Claims 1, 8, 9, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I02(a)(2) as anticipated by Kamada (US 2012/0297805 Al, pub. Nov. 29, 2012). Claims 2-7 and 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § I03(a) as unpatentable over Kamada and Tischer (US 5,083,745, iss. Jan. 28, 1992). ANALYSIS Claims 1, 8, 9, and 16--20 Rejected As Anticipated By Kamada Appellant argues claims 1 and 1 7-20 as one group and claims 8, 9, and 16 as another group. Appeal Br. 4--8. We select claims 1 and 8 as representative claims of each group, with claims 17-20 and claims 9 and 16 standing or falling with their respective claim. 37 C.F.R. § 4I.37(c)(l)(iv). 2 Appeal2017-007280 Application 14/252,995 Claims 1 and 1 7-20 Appellant's main argument is that Kamada "prevents the temperature of the air being used to cool the cabin from increasing and causing passenger discomfort" whereas "[ u ]nlike Kamada, the temperature of the cabin air in claims 1 and 17 of the current application is allowed to increase." Appeal Br. 6. Appellant also argues that a zero rate of change in value does not fall within the claim scope. Id. at 4. Appellant illustrates these arguments with annotations on Appellant's Figure 6, which is reproduced below. Id. at 7. P::~fHf~n <1{ ~{}{~d. hB,:~ 70 d·e.pii~S.8 .:~ typk--;~l ~i~(·.n::.::~s:c ·~n .:..:ahin ifrr fl:r~;pi:..:1-~i~tr:-{· tb~H {X' . ..".~~t·~ \:{hf::B -:.'X)f~~::i~$; HB~~,.;J is f;.,'.)):~'\':li inti~ Hw p~)tl~.:}n {)i ~h,: i;.).~{>!-ln,g: .l'\>t)f:~ ~httt ,:.>t){•~ th~: bt~Ui::ryl;1n;,;..~i1:.:1J)' ·:..H1.it { FIG·, 6 ] tt~-npe:r:.;fut~= th.:H. ,x~~··t~n~ \t·h.~2n {>(nsJk~g fiBi(! 3s fii:>Vf(~~~ int~> ~hf p<.}t~ion x)f tlli? )..~{_){)!h1g ~,x:-p~-;; th~lt ~:n~)t tl1t': }mhi:.~ty/~t:3x.i~~n:ry ;~fa :/nntr~)~htd fiB(: th:$~ .,\;:3-c.·u:h~ t":-~ Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation